by Jess Montgomery | Oct 29, 2020 | History, The Stills
Two weeks ago, I wrote about a goofy aspect of my experience doing historical research–diving down a research rabbit hole about, of all things, egg beaters! But of course I do a lot of serious background research for each of my novels. For...
by Jess Montgomery | Oct 15, 2020 | History, Humor, Writing Life
I’m often asked at writer’s workshop and book club gatherings about how I research my novels. Do I: (a) Do all the research and then write my novel? (b) Do a bit of research, and then mix writing and researching? For me, the answer is...
by Jess Montgomery | May 22, 2020 | Book Clubs, History, The Hollows
One of the comments I receive most often when I visit with book clubs is shock at the revelation of the existence in the 1920s-30s of the WKKK–the Women’s Ku Klux Klan. The shock is often expressed in comments like: I wouldn’t have thought women...
by Jess Montgomery | Apr 16, 2020 | History, Inspiration, Story Behind the Story, The Hollows, The Widows
My protagonist, Lily Ross, is inspired by Ohio’s true first female sheriff in 1925, Maude Collins. In real life, Maude’s husband, Fletcher, was killed in the line of duty as sheriff of Vinton County, Ohio. Maude worked as his jail matron. After his non-mysterious but...
by Jess Montgomery | Aug 22, 2019 | Gratitude, History, Story Behind the Story, The Widows
One of the many delights (and challenges) of writing historical fiction is finding specific historical details that are new to me. In writing THE WIDOWS, I researched coal mining history, specifically in southeastern Ohio and the nearby region. I was stunned to come...
