Historical fiction writers and historians are not the same. While a historian stands firmly planted in the present and looks back into the past, a historical novelist sets readers directly in the past and shows them forward. The job of a historical fiction writer is to make readers feel the victories and defeats, joys and pains, as if they were there. James Alexander Thom guides aspiring writers through the creation of historical fiction. He includes tips on problems many writers face, including: how much credibility is too much?; telling facts from opinions and seeing through the bias; knowing when to embellish and when not to; researching with archives, genealogy, site visits, journals, and memories. Highlighted with humor and personal anecdotes, Thom's detailed guides uses invaluable insights from himself and other historians and historical novelists to help the reader create a novel that is true to what was then, when then was now.