Stephanie Cowell (on Writing Historical Novels)

“How much is real? What is true?” I always hear these questions when I speak about my novels. I try to give an overall view. I say, “We can’t know what great people said behind the closed bedroom door,” and they all nod modestly in agreement. [...]
So is what the historical novelist writes fact or fiction? “Both,” I say. “In a sensitive, creative, respectful and sometimes daring combination.”
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Historical novelist Stephanie Cowell at http://writinghistoricalnovels.com/2013/01/26/historical-novels-fact-and-fiction-by-stephanie-cowell