How My Editor Helped Me Understand Historical Fiction • The Reedsy Blog

How My Editor Helped Me Understand Historical Fiction The Reedsy Blog How My Editor Helped Me Understand Historical Fiction Dan Cross' debut novel, Caesar of Mercenaries, has been shortlisted for the 2018 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Award. In this post, he talks about the responsibility historical fiction writers have when it comes to blending fact and fiction - and the advice his editor ultimately gave him that set him on the path to success.I have long possessed a fascination with history. I find it incredible how extraordinary events can be traced back, sometimes hundreds of years, to seemingly innocuous moments.Even more fascinating: some of these moments are due to the actions of one person or a small group who remain relatively unknown today. To me, these men and women are the lost champions of human history, and I delight in using my other passion, writing, to bring them into contemporary consciousness and to give them personalities worth remembering.Historical fiction is enjoying something of a resurgence in popular media today, including television and video gaming. But in no other medium is it more prevalent than the written word. From Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth to Phillipa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl, there are countless examples of authors reimagining past lives and events to create an entertaining and educational story.Caesar of MercenariesIn 2017, I learned of Captain Roger de Flor: a Templar who became a pirate, and then later the Megas Doux (or Caesar) of Constantinople. Reading the little information in the historical record, I became fascinated by this man and his adventures across the world. I wondered why Hollywood hadn’t made a movie about him yet, and then became excited about the prospect that I could be the one to tell his story. (You can read the synopsis for Caesar of Mercenaries here). Are you a historical fiction writer who's straddled the line between fact and fiction? Leave any questions or comments for Dan Cross in the comments below!