Writer thoughts, updates on the novel, general posts about being an author
I’m thrilled to share that I’ve won 2nd place in the Historical Romance category at the The BookFest Fall 2025 Awards for my novel The Girl in the Jitterbug Dress Dances in the Dark. This is a wonderful achievement and a moment to celebrate not just winning awards, but what it signifies for indie authors […more…]
by Tam Francis What do moonlit swing dances and desolate dystopian cities have in common? More than you’d think. If you’ve read my vintage fiction, you know I’m obsessed with the rhythm of swing music, the swish of a gored skirt, the romance of a well-dressed man, and of danger behind a flirtatious glance. But […more…]
A character’s clothing isn’t just what they wear—it’s who they are. Learn how to dress your characters in vintage style. In historical fiction, fashion can be a doorway into personality, class, culture, and conflict. With just a few well-chosen details, you can conjure a whole life in the tilt of a hat or the tug […more…]
Smells like Ink & Dust: Writing Vintage Settings by Tam Francis Writing Vintage Settings: Vibes There’s a kind of magic in a room lined with cracked bookshelves, the scent of old paper lingering in the air, a slow fan humming quietly in the corner. When you’re writing a novel with a vintage slant, setting becomes […more…]
Why Look for a Fashion Archeytpe? As I am growing older, I find myself attending more funerals and memorials than I’d like to and while sitting in a church, garden, or hall listening to eulogies, I contemplate my own. What will people say about me when I die? What impression have I left people with? […more…]
Three New Audio Books (Finally, right?) Folks have been asking about audio books and I tried creating books through Amazon’s ACX for Audible, but the talent I was working with disappeared in the middle of production and yours truly can only afford to do the royalty split production path for audio books at this time. […more…]
I met author Nicole Thorne through Instagram of all places. We shared a love of indie authors, each being one and supporting them. She reached out to me for an article about indie and or self-publishing author services and my experience with them. Below is a portion her article (an interview with yours truly). For […more…]
Has anyone else noticed the amount of hate and inequitable critiques indie and self-published authors receive? It got me thinking about editing, story-telling, the art of writing, style, writing fads, goals and what it says about us as human beings. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to refer to indie, hybrid, and self-published […more…]