CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?  How to Craft Authentic Voices for Characters From the Past

Readers of historical fiction know that a novel must be based in sound, accurate details of the time and place involved if it's to be convincing. Most importantly, they recognize that a novel sinks or swims by virtue of the authenticity of its characters' voices, whether shared through a 1st or 3rd person narrator.

In this hands-on workshop, Rivers will share her methods for creating compelling and believable voices from the past, methods she employed while writing her Civil War-era novel, The Second Mrs. Hockaday (Algonquin Books, 2017) as well as her early 20th century milltown novel, Troublefield, which will be published in 2021. These techniques involve intensive research digs for primary source material including letters, newspaper stories, inquest reports, memoirs, journals, diaries, and oral histories.

Bring a character profile with you if you're currently working on an historical novel, or a specific period of time in a particular region. And don't forget your notebooks!

Rivers will read from The Second Mrs. Hockaday and sign books from 5:00 pm-5:50 pm, prior to class. The workshop will be held in the same room from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.

ALL EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS AT UPSTATE WRITING MONTH ARE FREE! However, you are asked to register in advance for workshops. Log on to the Upstate Writing Month website to register, and contact Brock Adams, badams@uscupstate.edu for more information. No registration is required for the 5:00 reading and signing. https://www.uscupstate.edu/academics/college-of-arts-humanities-and-social-sciences/languages-literature-and-composition/upstate-writing-month/

To park free at The George, turn off E. St. John’s on N. Liberty, turn left to enter garage. Coming out on ground floor, enter building through Entrance, take elevator to second floor. Come out of elevator to rotunda, turn right into the long hallway and follow it to Room 280 on the left.