One of the first things I read back in March 2014 when I actually started posting to Wattpad was read a sublime piece of historical fiction by @CarolinaC.
Ste.-Menehould is a short story in six parts that @CarolinaC entered in the Historical Fiction Smackdown of 2013 (whatever that is). Telling the story of a minor royal bureaucrat's involvement in a key event of the French Revolution, it is a delightful piece of writing that brings the past to life.
It is full of little touches that hooked me straight off. Snippets of Monsieur Drouet's life are efficiently described without bogging the reader in pointless exposition. You will not get terrible, noddy descriptions like, “It is 1789 and France burns the flames of revolution,” with @CarolinaC. Instead, you have to work out what is going on yourself from the clues she weaves in to her work.
Drouet's story unfolds gradually, the apparent randomness of the real event given a reasoned background that explains his role. It is difficult to write of the story without giving away the whole thing – suffice to say that in most history books, Drouet's part in the great events around him is nothing but a footnote, he himself is usually just described as a provincial post-master. @CarolinaC gives him (and his life) significance. She is really showing us that when great events occur, it is usually ordinary people who witness them.
Another little short to check out is Victory at Sea. It reads beautifully even though it seems like little more than an experiment in scene setting and description. I was transfixed, utterly transported by the story. A long time fan of the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian (I started reading them after the publication of The Wine Dark Sea), I was a sucker for a sea story from the age of sail. I only wish she'd write another. I started writing my own Cutthroats of the Coast after reading this as an experiment of my own. Since I'm currently working on Chapter 26, I can certainly say I have a soft spot for Victory at Sea.
If you can snag @CarolinaC as a reader you will thank the heavens above. She is phenomenally well read, which is really helpful if you are a writer of HF. The quality of her contributions to the clubs really raise the bar for others to aspire to and her assistance is always detailed and to the point. She is an impressive Wattpadder.
However, what Ste.-Menehould also shows is @CarolinaC's talent as a writer. When she posts work it is worth reading. I've yet to plumb the full range of her work but a quick scan through her published works shows her versatility. HF vies with sci-fi and old fashioned adventure. I have “Daring Dashwood” on the radar for a nice long afternoon with no disruptions.
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