As I discussed in my last post, gangsters were one negative aspect of the Twenties. Here’s another: The Wall Street Bombing of…1920? The Wall Street Bombing of 1920 plays an important role in SIRENS, as the brother of one of the characters died in that blast, and the brothers of two other characters may be… Read more »
Janet Fox
The “Roaring Twenties” You May Not Know: Post 7 – Radicals
The “Roaring Twenties” You May Not Know: Post 6 – Gangsters
Last post I talked about Prohibition. Here we see the result: 1920s: Gangsters, Gun Molls, and Gin Joints Danny Connor, in SIRENS, is a gangster. Lou is his moll, or girlfriend. While both are fictional characters, I could envision that when the very real Al Capone left New York for Chicago in 1921, someone had… Read more »
The “Roaring Twenties” You May Not Know: Post Five – Prohibition
In my last post I referenced Prohibition. Here’s what it meant: No More Booze! (Really?) Prohibition in the 1920s In SIRENS, Jo Winter’s father is a bootlegger, a middle man for the sale of alcohol. That gets him into big trouble because it means he’s doing something illegal in 1925; and worse yet, he may… Read more »
The “Roaring Twenties” You May Not Know: Post 4. Flappers
My previous post addressed 1920s fashion. Here’s what happened to behavior: New York City in 1925: Up All Night In one scene in SIRENS Jo goes to a New York speakeasy. She can see that Melody is “up all night” most nights. So were most young people in the cities, which is one reason they… Read more »
The “Roaring Twenties” You May Not Know: Post 3. The Women’s Fashion Revolution
In my previous post, I addressed women’s suffrage. Now let’s look at another impact on behavior. Fashion really took a turn in the 1920s, due in part to the influence of Coco Chanel… Kicking Up Their Heels: The Women’s Fashion Revolution of the 1920s Flappers were defined in part by how they looked. When in… Read more »
The “Roaring Twenties” You May Not Know, Post 2
In my previous post, I addressed the impact of World War 1 on the Roaring Twenties. Now let’s see what happens…. When Women Got the Vote and Left Their Corsets Behind Both Jo and Lou in SIRENS are conflicted about their roles as women. The men in their lives don’t value them as individuals. In… Read more »
A New Series: The “Roaring Twenties” You May Not Know, Post 1
As a follow-up to my research on SIRENS (Penguin, 2012) I wrote a series of ten articles that summarize different aspects of the 1920s. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting them here so that they’ll be available in my archives. Here’s the first in the series… Home From World War 1: Returning From… Read more »
Writing the Killer Query Letter
Writing a great query letter is an art, but once you’ve created your synopsis, you’ve got the bones. Here’s the rest of the story: Your synopsis forms the basis for your query letter. Almost all queries today are email cover letters; your manuscript or pages are sent as a Word attachment – but these are… Read more »
Darlene Beck Jacobson and Her Historical Fiction WHEELS OF CHANGE
Today on the blog I’m pleased to host an interview with Darlene Beck Jacobson, whose debut middle grade novel WHEELS OF CHANGE is an inventive look at a window of history as the car was making its debut. Here’s just a bit of the great review Kirkus gave the novel: “Twelve-year-old Emily loves helping her father in… Read more »
Loglines and Elevator Moments
If you read my “Synopsis” post, you’ll see that you’ve already got a start on crafting a logline. But we’re going to take it a step further. A logline is a one-sentence summary of your story. Think about a movie poster, with its brief but compelling summary, or the cover grab of your favorite best-seller…. Read more »