Stories Worth Reading: Robert Pike

At the start of The Darkness Under the Water, the days of log drives down the Connecticut River are ending. They began to wane around 1915, as manufacturing needs changed and railroads and trucks took over where the river once had priority. But the construction of Commerford Dam -- the first on the river to have no sluice gate for logs to pass through -- sealed the era.

To read tales of the logging days from Waterford, Vermont's own Robert Pike, pick up either his SPIKED BOOTS or the companion volume, TALL TREES AND TOUGH MEN. And get some up-to-date perspective on the books and the vanished days of river runs from Pike's daughter, Helen Chantal Pike, at her web site, www.helenpike.com.

History/Fiction: How Historical Fiction Works

Where are the "lines" in a book of historical fiction, so you can tell what's really from history and what's the story crafted by the author? Gosh, it would be nice in some ways to have the sections in different colors of ink on the page, so readers could know for sure!

But that's not what historical fiction does -- and I don't think it should. I think historical fiction lets readers enter into what a fictional person could have experienced during a particular time period in a particular situation. The best historical fiction, like THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND by Elizabeth George Speare, or like JIP by Katherine Paterson, or M. T. Anderson's THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING, TRAITOR TO THE NATION, keeps you reading while also traveling in time and tasting another person's life -- along with its complications, risks, adventures, and often courage and success.

This Saturday, January 10, when I visit Otter Creek Used Books in Middlebury, Vermont, owner Barbara Harding and I will pull out books from the crowded shelves there, to demonstrate how to start the historical research that lies behind each such novel -- and also how to chase down the tiny details that add reality and truth to the story as you write. I'll talk about how this applies to THE DARKNESS UNDER THE WATER, and maybe to some of the other books in the shop. Hope to see you there!

I'll also visit Northshire Books (Manchester, VT) at 2 p.m. on the same day. We won't have such an unusual program format there -- but Northshire has a stunning selection of books, and if your travels are more likely to take you to Manchester, I'll see you "down south" for sure. Many thanks to both of these shops for making these special times for talking about books, about story, and about why we read!