Blog

Before I became a novelist, I was a faculty member at UCLA and at Reed College. Sometimes I kind of miss running with the professors, so every so often I sneak off to an academic conference. It gives me a chance to share my research in a whole other way than writing fiction, and to learn from the research being done by scholars around the world (some of which I can than sow back into another novel).

With JULIET'S NURSE set in 14th-century Verona, Italy, I was really delighted to be invited to present at the International Congress of Medievalists last week. One of my presentations was on a roundtable called Faking It. If you've ever wondered what professors do when they are let loose in the wild, you can read about it here.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at the Material Collective for understanding that when it comes to how we learn about history, Faking It and Making It are two-sides to the same (only slightly counterfeit) coin!