I’m as old-fashioned as they come, so historical novels are a perfect fit for me—both reading and writing. As a reader, I love the nostalgia and all the life lessons one can learn from those who’ve gone before us. But as a writer, I enjoy delving into the past and researching the time period, more specifically the nineteenth century. When writing a historical romance novel, research is a must to ensure the book is true to the time period.

The well-known facts are easy to achieve. My debut novel, Under This Same Sky, took place on the Illinois prairie in the mid-1800s. Most everyone knows settlers lived in log cabins, but do they know how the cabins were erected and what materials were used to chink the log walls?

It’s widely known that covered wagons were often used when traveling across the prairie, but not many will know that a bucket of tallow was kept handy so that when the wheels began to squeak and squeal they had to be greased much like a car engine needs oil to run smoothly.

There are so many questions I have to ask as I write my novels: What type of clothing was worn in 1854? What farming equipment was available? Had screen doors been invented? How would my characters cross the Mississippi? What would the city of St. Louis have looked like back then? What type of lighting was used? It’s these fine details that make a novel either believable or, if left out, leave readers with a less than satisfied reaction.

Though research is a vital part of writing a historical novel, that’s not to say a writer can’t have a little fun creating fictional people and places along with the true ones.

Under This Same Sky is a blend of fictional and real. My main character, Becky Hollister grows up a few miles outside of the fictional town of Miller Creek, IL, but later travels to the very real town of St. Louis, Missouri. Only one of my characters is based on a real person. The others are products of my imagination.

Though mainly fictional, my second novel, Under Prairie Skies, includes a very real cattle drive that traveled along a route from Sedalia, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois.

What’s wonderful about historical fiction is that we can have the best of both worlds—the reality of the past blended with the creativity of fiction.

A match that — in this author’s opinion, can’t be beat!

**Connect with Cynthia Roemer on Facebook and Twitter. Read more of her writing at: Putting on the New Blog.

Read how God works in the lives of Cynthia’s characters in her Inspirational, Historical Romance (Prairie Sky) Series:
BOOK 1: UNDER THIS SAME SKY
BOOK 2: UNDER PRAIRIE SKIES Both available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble