We all love a good Victorian romance. We imagine the sweeping gowns, the brooding dukes, and the tension of a stolen glance in a candlelit ballroom. But let’s be honest: those novels are heavily filtered. While we imagine our protagonists smelling like lavender and living in pristine marble halls, the actual Victorian era was a lot messier, smellier, and frankly, more hazardous than fiction suggests. If you’re ready to ruin the magic just a little bit, here are the top ten un

Writing historical fiction requires more than imagination. It demands careful research, attention to detail, and respect for the real people and events behind the story. My newest short story focuses on Mary Webster, a woman from 1600s New England who was hanged but survived. This remarkable event inspired me to dig deep into history and bring her story to life. Here, I want to share how I researched Mary Webster’s story, the methods I used, and why keeping an annotated bibli