Historical Accuracy (Or lack thereof)

It makes me giggle when my books are criticized for not being historically accurate. So, for the record: I don’t write historical fiction. It’s just not in my wheelhouse.

Do I try to maintain a historical feel? Absolutely. But I end up taking details from whatever bygone era catches my fancy and mashing them all together. If I do want to check on a historical component, I’ll research the renaissance era, but I know that the dress, architecture, speech, food, etc… of my books don’t match up to any one era. If that bothers you, I’m sorry. I certainly never meant to suggest that my books were historically accurate. However, I absolutely understand why people might go into my books with that expectation. My books get categorized as Historical by Amazon sometimes. In fact, last night I saw that Saving Marilee is the #1 Best Seller in Teen & Young Adult Historical Romance. SEE!!!

Of course, I am beyond thrilled and may or may not have done a little jig when I saw this. To be #1 in ANY category is more that I ever aspired to. But at the same time, I’m slightly worried that when people see it categorized as historical, they expect it to be really, truly, genuinely, historically accurate. And it’s just not. It’s more like…Historical Fantasy. Or a Fairy Tale without the fairies.

Granted, my books also get categorized as inspirational.

I don’t have much control over what categories they end up in. Yes, I suggest appropriate categories when I set them up to be published, but that doesn’t mean they are limited to those that I choose. My only claim is that my books are clean and they are romance.

And also that you should read them. But that’s just the girl-doing-the-jig talking.