Don't immediately jump on me for that title. It's a quote from my seventeen year old niece. The comment came up during a discussion of her college classes.
Sad to say, that seems to be the attitude of many people. Those of us of a "certain" age remember the warning about learning from our past mistakes so we don't repeat them.
I did my best to explain the necessity of knowing how past wars started and having the ability to hold an intelligent political conversation.
If she can recite the words to a Taylor Swift song, she can explain the Monroe Doctrine. Wait, I'm not sure I could do that. Hmm, better come up with a better example. Thinking it over, I realized that to her, the 9/11 tragedy is history since she was a toddler at the time. Dang, I'm old.
I'm currently working on a historical novella set in the late 1800's. Thankfully, my critique partner, Caroline Clemmons writes historical romance and has offered to check it for accuracy. I realized I needed help when I needed to know what a female mule is called and what type of plates would people be eating off of.
The historical romances I used to read in the 80's (1980's) are very different from those published today. Inaccuracy irritates me. Yeah, I've noticed the trend to be politically correct or completely avoid the nastier parts of our history. But, that's another rant that I won't go into today. My heroine is alone in a log cabin about to have a baby!
Brenda, do you remember being 17? I agree that history has to be accurate and you have a great adviser in Caroline. She makes history come alive in her books! But at 17 I can't say I was that interested in history. I thought the same thing - it's just old stuff. Now I care a lot more!
ReplyDeleteSadly, I was a history nerd.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I loved history from age eight onward. I probably would have loved it sooner if I'd known what it was. LOL
DeleteSadly, I was a history nerd.
ReplyDeleteAt least by writing historical romance and getting the facts straight we can teach a new generation some history and entertain the at the same time. ;)
ReplyDelete