8 Breeds of Historical Fiction

Historical fiction is flourishing, and its advantages are many. For readers, it combines the familiar with the unknown, as novelists imagine the motivations and thoughts of historical figures. For writers, it provides grounding. Certain characters are already known and even defined. Better yet, the real world produces the most improbable characters. What fiction writer would dare create a character so complex and powerful as Abraham Lincoln? Yet historical fiction comes in many flavors. Here, for starters, are eight:

The Original One-Man Show

Authors are the only ones truly flying solo.

Books Alive! Presents: Joan Nathan

Meet one of the renowned writers participating in the Independent's annual Books Alive! conference.

Interview with Lamar Herrin

In Fractures, novelist Lamar Herrin explores the splintering effects of gas drilling both on families and on the land on which they live.

A Farewell to Yarns

When is it OK to quit a book?

Rejected Titles, Feb. 2014

In honor of the literary game the late Christopher Hitchens used to play with his friend Salman Rushdie, “Titles That Didn’t Quite Make It,” here are some well-known book names that seem, um, less compelling with just one synonym swapped out.

Twenty Years In, Red Hen Press Rises Above the Flock

An L.A. publisher that, like the Independent, embraces its nonprofit status.