Close your eyes and try to describe in exact detail what you remember about any given historic event.  Oh, so you can hardly recall anything but the major event itself?  What if you were trying to write a story of fiction set in the 1920s, the 1950s, the ‘80s or any era, for that matter?  Could you just go do it? 

Do you remember what cars were driven?  What movies were popular?  What historical events happened that shaped the time?   Who were the important figures who influenced the era?  What did they look like?  What did they wear? 

It’s the details that give a story dimension and firmly imprint the characters and events in our minds as readers. And that’s exactly what Gene Shelton will address, “Details, Details,” when he speaks to the Silver Leos Writers Guild at the April 13th meeting. 

Shelton feels very strongly about the power of research in finding the correct details to flesh out a story. He says it doesn’t matter if you are writing romance, historical fiction, nonfiction, essays, science fiction, et al, details matter. Accurate ones. 

Shelton will give information on where to find information in order to more accurately pinpoint a story in its proper historical context. He says it’s what brings a story to life for the reader and gives it relevance.  He said it’s those “minor details that show the writer’s intent to inform the reader what the times were like…The broad brush of research provides the framework of the story; accuracy in details shape the characters who tell their stories.  By the time we’ve finished a story, we should know more than we’ll ever use on the page.”  If you don’t get the historical details right, you’ll crash and burn by committing the writers’ sin of anachronism.

Set in the 1830s, Mann was a pistol-toting mama who was the only woman to successfully combat Sam Houston in a verbal confrontation and win.  Mann was the ultimate good “bad” girl who ran a brothel but turned it into a hospital when disease broke out in the nubile city of Houston. This is certainly the essence of which legend is made.  Shelton will share his inside scoop on how to get the right details to get the story right.

Originally written in the 1990s, the manuscript was shelved for 20 years when his publishing firm, Doubleday, collapsed.  In 2015, a friend in the publishing industry asked Shelton if he had anything ready for digital publication. After some polishing and rewriting, Shelton says he had it ready in several weeks’ time. It is currently available on AmazonPrime.

Shelton is an award-winning writer who grew up in the Texas Panhandle where, as a young man, he worked as a ranch hand and a horse trainer. His college degree from West Texas State University (sister school to the former East Texas State University in Commerce, now Texas A&M-Commerce) was in biology and psychology.  And what does any biologist/psychologist with a background in ranching and horse training do for a living?  Write for newspapers across Texas, of course!

From Amarillo, to Dallas, to Plano, to Sulphur Springs, to Tyler and Longview, Shelton has both copy-edited and written as a journalist spanning a 35-year history of his own.  Along the way, he has managed to pen 27 novels and countless articles. His preferred genre is Western historical fiction—a sort of natural gravitational pull after his early years in the Panhandle. Come hear Gene Shelton share his secrets for successful writing and getting the facts straight when writing any genre.

Silver Leos Writers Guild meets on the second Wednesday of each month from 1:00-4:00 p.m. in the Alumni Center on the campus of TAMU-C.  Refreshments are served from 12:30-1:00. The guild is a charter member of the Alumni Association at TAMU-C, but it is not necessary for members to have attended the university.  Any writer 21 and up is welcome from the novice to the experienced published author. 

The purpose of the guild is to foster a sense of community and encouragement among writers. Members may submit original stories and pieces for small group assessment. Peer-editing and critiquing is a vital aspect of the guild in order to help writers hone and improve their craft in a friendly, supportive atmosphere. Annual dues are $20. 

For more information, please call Bobbie Purdy at 903-886-6120 or Vivian Freeman at 903-886-8953, or you may email them at bobbie@arlanpurdy.com or vivian_freeman@tamuc.edu. Please see also http://silverleos.net or visit our Facebook page.