Today S. Woffington shares her journey from reluctant history student to avid author of historical fiction. Her new novel, Unveiling, is available as an ebook and in print on Amazon. Unveiling is the story of Sara—a spirited, young Saudi woman—who is passionate about preserving and expressing her ancient heritage through her art. But this seemingly simple goal puts her at odds with her prominent family and the traditions of her heritage, which demand she veil her artist’s eyes. Forced to choose between her two greatest passions, Sara escapes to America, only to find that unveiling entails far more than the removal of a black piece of cloth. This act of defiance thrusts Sara into a perilous triangle involving family, government, and a relentless suitor. Only by finding the courage to unveil her own heart can she paint her destiny. To learn more about this new novel, view the book trailer.
Writing Historical Fiction
Round about middle school, I realized that I hated history class. That distaste lasted all through high school. English included fun fictional stories, and I loved to write; science fascinated me; I even liked math. But history required memorizing names and dates and learning about people long dead. What was the point?
What changed that was a novel. For my nineteenth birthday, a friend gave me Susan Howatch’s Cashelmara, a novel set in 19th century England and New York, shortly after the Irish famine. I nodded and said, “Thank you,” to my friend with a thought not to read it. But I opened the book, and I finished it quickly. Through a fictional setting and characters, history suddenly, emotionally, and forevermore came to life for me. I couldn’t wait to pick up the next novel, and I turned to the classics, Madame Bovary and stories from 1001 Arabian Nights, the latter of which was fortuitous, since I moved to Saudi Arabia when I was twenty-two.
