Deviating from the Script of History
There are some cool elements to writing historical fiction, like names and time markers and larger historical events. But it can also be constraining when you take your artistic license and change things. In the case of Portia Adams for example, I decided to make 221B an upstairs apartment to a house that was at 221 Baker Street (deviating from Arthur Conan Doyle’s canon of Holmes & Watson living at 221B the house). I liked the idea that housing had changed between 1895 and the 1930s when Portia got to London.
In the case of The Laura Secord Chronicles, I’m finding it expedient to marry Elizabeth Ingersoll (Laura’s younger sister) off before Laura. It helps my story and the tension in the first few chapters if Laura has a foil who is on the path to a traditional family life.
There will be more deviations I’m sure, but I like my fans to know that these are mindful choices I’m making, they’re not mistakes. Sometimes the muse drives you in a direction that is not exact in it’s historical details. Ideally, it doesn’t take people out of the story.