Weaving Fact & Fiction

One of my favorite questions to ask authors, is how they weave facts in with their fiction, and what true facts inspired the story. So today I thought it'd be fun to show how some of those real-life aspects have woven into my own books.

For my Christmas book, The Swaddling Clothes, I actually had to study the art of weaving. In order to craft a story about the creation of the swaddling clothes, I had to study how threads were spun, how many threads would be used to create a fabric, etc. I was amazed at the amount of skill it would take to weave thousands of tiny threads into a single piece. Weaving stories is much the same. We have to take history, truth,

inspiration, character, faults, habits, then draw in something likable about the character, a plot twist, a red herring...and before you know it there are a thousand threads that make up the story. This information molded the beginning portion of the book when King David summons all the skilled weavers of the land to choose one to create the swaddling clothes for his soon-to-be-born son, Solomon. In addition to selecting the weaver, he then has to carefully choose the threads, because color, thickness, texture, all affects the fabric and each and every thread has to be able to work with the others.


In The Healer's Touch, (the first book in the Days of Messiah series) I wanted to write a story about a leper healed by Jesus. This required study of the Hebraic laws on leprosy. Most of us know that they typically lived in leper colonies segregated from the rest of society. But it was much more than that. Many of them never saw their families again. And if they happened to be out and about when someone 'normal' was coming toward them, they had to shout out a warning proclaiming themselves 'unclean' so that individual could avoid them. All of this tradition and law made it especially hard on my poor Aaliyah. Appearing before Jesus, especially with the size of the crowd that was always around Him, made such an act life-threatening. Because being caught among 'clean' people meant they could (and probably would) stone you for endangering the health of others.

In Dawn of Liberty, Samuel Adams and the Declaration of Independence were my subjects. There's LOTS of fun history to draw from there. I dug pretty deep into the lives of many of the members of Congress, and I found out so many juicy tidbits. There were several delegates that were opposed to the Declaration, so I studied out WHY. What I came away with was a story of how those delegates changed their minds or decided to abstain their votes so that liberty could pass.

Now it's your turn! What have been your favorite instances of fact woven in fiction? (This can be a book you read, or for you authors, one you wrote.)

 Tell me the book and author in the comments below to get your name in the drawing for A Flute in the Willows by Carole Brown!

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Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  Her title, Dawn of Liberty, was awarded the 2017 CSPA Book of the Year award in Historical Fiction. She lives in Colorado and spends half her time volunteering in the Ozarks. Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at www.AmberSchamel.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!