Monthly Archives: August 2013

We’ve put together a forum/workshop on archaeological fiction for the 79th Annual Meetings of the Society for American Archaeology in Austin, Texas, April 23-27, 2014. The session chair will be Dr. Kevin T Jones, author of SHRINKING JUNGLE, a novel about the Ache Indians in Paraguay and a long-time friend. Michael will co-host and help keep rein on the discussants in the two hour session. We don’t have a date or time scheduled yet, but will post as soon as we do. When it comes to writing prehistoric fiction, most authors do it poorly. In the late 90s, a host of authors, mostly from the Romance genre attempted to write archaeological fiction, spring-boarding from the success of Jean Auel, William Sarabande, Sue Harrison, and our work. At a trade show, one such aspiring author, a Romance novelist of some note, happily told us, “I just love writing prehistory! You can make up anything you want because no one knows anything about it!” Um, okay. Her book flopped. And that’s the problem. Most novelists aren’t archaeologists, and most archaeologists aren’t novelists. Two very important masters must be served in order for prehistoric or archaeological fiction to be well written. First, the author has to be intimately familiar with the archaeological data and well grounded in anthropology. Second, he must understand the basic construction and form of the novel. Both fields take in-depth study. Nor, in these days of MFA (Master of Fine Art) literature, is the craft of good fiction taught at the university. In the publishing world, MFA is considered to be its own genre like Western, Thriller, Romance, or Mystery. It has its own rules and very limited readership. The only way these days to learn how to write a successful novel is to read novels voraciously, study the construction, and go to writers ‘conferences where established novelists talk about the writing process. In our two-hour session, we’ll attempt to at least lay the ground work for archaeologists who want to write fiction about their research and findings. Why is it even important? Because ultimately the public pays for archaeological research. John Q. Public doesn’t care about the latest statistical package for the analysis of ceramic rim sherds; he wants to know about the people and culture who thrived at places like Chaco Canyon and Cahokia. Who where they? How did they live? What did they feel? Were they really that different from him? Archaeological fiction is the best way to make those cultures come alive. When the past lives, and the story is told, archaeologists can communicate the wonder and magnificence reflected from their research. And what better justification in an age of dwindling resources can there be?

Quote of the day… In an op-ed piece opposing the National Security Administration’s metadata collection program, the author of the USA Patriot Act, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, wrote: “This is how freedom is lost — bit by bit, one secret decision at a time, out of necessity or for some higher purpose that we later come to regret.” Amen.