Kendy Pearson
Meet Kendy Pearson : Award Winning Historian Fiction Author
Kendy Pearson is a veteran high school teacher and an accomplished musician. She is also a music instructor, worship leader, Bluegrass fiddler, and Civil War reenactment enthusiast.
When she discovers a pocket of American history omitted from the schoolbooks, she enjoys digging in and turning that pocket inside out. Her novels lead fictitious characters through real historical events and settings, engaging with period personalities—and she always includes a romantic thread to warm the heart. Every story is a journey through tragedy, secrets, regrets, and God’s undeniable grace. She is the recipient of five Cascade Awards, two Genesis Awards, and a Crown Award.
Kendy enjoys public speaking and teaching writing workshops. She also relishes ice cream, snowy days, fireplaces, and Maple trees. Kendy is the mother of four grown children and lives with her sweet hubby and two amusing miniature dachshunds.
Connect with Kendy:
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Historical Fiction with Kendy Pearson
After our radio talk, Kendy shared . . .
As I do the research and take notes, a story begins to take shape (which spurs more research).
I have four stacks of note cards:
1) Possible conflict opportunities
2) Possible characters
3) Events to put on a timeline
4) Misc. thoughts/ideas/story sparks.
After I make the timeline, I swim through all the note-cards (a strangely daunting and exhilarating experience) until the story emerges, woven through the true historic timeline of events.
Definitely 19th Century America.
There is so much to learn and write about: the different wars, immigration, plagues, westward expansion, the railroad, the Wild West, the pony express, the telegraph, medical advances, great faith movements.
The opportunities for story fodder are endless!
I find the themes that show up are those we all face, such as: forgiveness, trusting God for what we cannot see, doing the right thing even when the choices seem all wrong, turning our back on God when life gets too painful to bear alone.
These are themes in my West Virginia: Born of Rebellion’s Storm Civil War series.
And since the Bible is a manual for everyday people and every day life, verses naturally occasionally appear within the pages, either as an epigraph or part of dialogue.
I hope readers see some of themselves in my stories and look inward, and possibly even upward.
I also hope they cry through all the same scenes I cried through as I was writing them.
I’ve heard from many a reader how they cried at a certain part of each book.
One reader said she “ugly cried.”
Book one is referred to as “an emotional roller-coaster” by a few reviewers. It was for me, too.
One thing I hear consistently is that the reader feels they are right there in the story.
I do enjoy writing in “close POV” to immerse the reader versus telling the story to the reader.
Another thing I hear a lot is that the reader appreciates the research apparent within the pages.
Some historical fiction stories can be set pretty much anywhere and they still work. Mine are definitely not like those.
For my fellow nerds, I even include a detailed Author Notes section in the back-matter because readers tend to enjoy knowing what was fiction and what wasn’t.
Don’t write for yourself or acclaim or money.
Write for the reader and write to bear fruit for God’s purposes, not your own.
Even fiction can influence someone’s life more than you realize.
There are more options available for book writers today than ever before.
I suggest educating yourself on the differences between what is required of the author with each type of publishing option.
Each one is a unique animal, requiring different time, money, and/or skill sets from the author.
All of them are viable on some level depending on your goal.
There used to be only Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing.
Now there is everything between, plus a myriad of ala carte services available to Independent publishers.
And like with any business, people can get scammed and duped.
Talk to published authors and ask a lot of questions about their journey and what they would do differently.
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