This is the first in my series on the backstory and other fun stuff about The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle. In The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, Kat Bateson faces change in the early days of World War 2: The pieces that made up Katherine Bateson’s world were scattered across the landscape and over… Read more »
Janet Fox
England’s Entry Into World War 2
Nanci Turner Steveson SWING SIDEWAYS Cover!
Several years ago I had the absolute joy of meeting Nanci Turner Steveson at a Highlights workshop, where I was a TA. Nanci’s breathtaking novel captured me then, and now I’m pleased to reveal the cover for her debut middle grade, SWING SIDEWAYS, due out from HarperCollins on May 3, 2016. Watch for this one… Read more »
The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle – Preview
My next novel, The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle (out from Viking 3/15/16), is a middle grade mystery that’s part fantasy, part historical fiction. It’s set in Scotland in 1940, although it also contains a parallel story in a much earlier timeline. I thought it would be fun to run a series of blog posts… Read more »
Kent Davis and A RIDDLE IN RUBY
I’m so pleased today to welcome my friend – and critique partner – Kent Davis. Kent’s debut middle grade novel, A RIDDLE IN RUBY, is out now and is a terrific page-turner, imaginative and loads of fun. Here’s the description from his publisher, Greenwillow Books: “Ruby Teach, daughter of a smuggler and pirate, has been… Read more »
FAITHFUL and the Yellowstone Volcano
Beneath my fingers, the ground was alive. It rumbled, creaked, and groaned – with each spray, the earth heaved. And as I sat there helpless and trembling myself, I began to sense the rhythm of it, just as the sea had a rhythm that I knew. I geyser roared and ebbed and roared again, like… Read more »
The Wild, Wild West
“Four men straddled the road, barring our way. They wore scarves that covered their faces except for their eyes; they carried what looked like long sticks. I shook, trying to clear my head of confusion. Four horses, tied to a nearby tree, whinnied anxiously. Then I realized that the men were carrying rifles, not sticks,… Read more »
Yellowstone In 1904
“This is nothing. Just wait! You and your pa heading out on the Tour today?” “No.” I stared over the milky-white terraces, avoiding his eyes, plucking at my gloves. Whatever the Tour was, it would cost money. Which apparently we had none of. I sighed. “What is the Tour, anyway?” “It’s a tour through the… Read more »
Social Norms of 1904: A FAITHFUL Reflection
Mary’s ball had been the last debut of the season, held on an August night that began so hot and still, even the flies seemed drunk with stupor…Lightning flickered on the far horizon, echoing the tiny lights strung from branch to branch in the gardens outside. Page 27, FAITHFUL My previous post discussed the fashion… Read more »
Fashion & Food in 1904
One gown hung from the door of my wardrobe. Black and white, with lace at the throat, and tight through the waist, where a crushed satin belt was a slash of scarlet. Page 27, FAITHFUL. One of the fun things (for me) about writing historical fiction is researching food and fashion of the time. Of… Read more »
Trains and World Fairs: Progress in 1904
Today I’m posting the second in my series about 1904, the time period for my YA novel FAITHFUL. (For the first post, see here.) Maggie’s father tells her that he is taking her across the country on a pleasure trip. In 1904, the best way to travel was by train. Maggie and her father would… Read more »