Ask The Right Question

Marketing 101 for an author: know thy audience. In my writing workshops, I love to ask kids to raise their hands high if they love researching history. There are always a few budding history geeks with eager hands in the air, aglow with the idea of learning about the past (sniff, happy tears). But the majority of kids roll their eyes, moan, and facepalm in derision, as if I had asked if they’d attend school for eternity. This is when I eagerly rub my hands together, accepting the challenge to convert the unbelievers and lead them away from the dark side. 

I then ask if any of them like the Indiana Jones or the National Treasure movies. Immediately, the same unbelievers shoot their hands into the air as if Hitler had just walked into the room and they had a Luger jabbed into their ribs. I smirk and tell them to put their hands down. “No, you don’t. You just told me you don’t like researching history. You can’t possibly like those movies. Their entire plot lines involve RESEARCH!” 

Hunt for Treasure

While the lightbulbs start going off above their impressionable little heads, I explain that they don’t love researching history because they don’t understand what it truly is—a treasure hunt. I explain that they have to put their Indiana Jones hats on and go hunt this stuff down. Then I proceed to share some of my daring research escapades: setting off the alarm at Patrick Henry’s house and having two Sheriff’s deputies bust in the door pulling guns on me, getting thrown out of the Mamertine Prison in Rome because I wanted to linger behind the tour group to soak up the ambience of Peter and Paul in that dungeon, spending two nights in C.S. Lewis’s house in Oxford where the Chronicles of Narnia were written, dining in Paris with the Marquis de Lafayette’s fifth great-grandson. “Yeah, researching history is SUCH a drag. Why would anyone ever want to do it?” Then I glance around the room to see jaws hanging open and know I’ve got them right where I want them. I blow the smoke off my sarcastic sleight of hand and slide it back into my holster.

Make it Fun

When history gets old for kids, make it new with your pen. You have to make it relatable—help kids understand that they also have a role to play in HIStory. You have to make it exciting. You have to make it fun. Enter the genre: historical fiction fantasy, in that order. You first must exhaust your research, getting to the end of all we know. Look for those moments where we don’t know how, why, or who made something happen. You can then slide in a fictional explanation, but it must be plausible. Why can’t I have George Washington launch a nuclear warhead at King George III? The technology wasn’t around, of course, but it also wouldn’t be true to his character. You must be true to the real history of people, places, and events when you add the second layer of fiction. 

But the most powerful third layer of the genre for reaching kids is fantasy. I use talking animals that work behind the scenes of pivotal moments in history. They are the ones who make the unknowns of history happen, while the humans haven’t a clue. They also act as tour guides through history, explaining what’s going on to each other—and subliminally doing the same for the reader. No kid will pick up a 650-page biography on Patrick Henry. But they’ll follow my talking animals across 650 pages of that same history, because I’ve made it relatable, exiting, and fun. So, sharpen your quill and make some history new for kids today. Our future depends on it.

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Award-winning author and speaker Jenny L. Cote, who developed an early passion for God, history, and young people, beautifully blends these three passions in her fantasy fiction series, Epic Order of the Seven®. Likened to C. S. Lewis by readers and book reviewers alike, shes peaks on creative writing to schools, universities, and conferences. Jenny has a passion for making history fun for kids of all ages, instilling a desire to discover their part in HIStory.

Jenny’s books are available online, worldwide in stores, e-book, and audio formats. Jenny has been featured by FOX NEWS on Fox & Friends and local Fox Affiliates, as well as numerous Op-Ed pieces on FoxNews.com. Jenny lives with her family in Roswell, Georgia. To learn more about Jenny and her books, please visit www.epicorderoftheseven.com.