Paul Jariabek's Historical Fiction Blog

Historical fiction is an exploration of what the past felt like to the people who lived inside it.

This is my home for essays, research notes, book reflections, and behind-the-scenes writing on historical fiction. For now, much of it grows out of the world behind Sic Parvis Magna—Francis Drake, Tudor England, the sea, ambition, danger, faith, violence, loyalty, and the small choices that change the course of a life.

Here you’ll find pieces on the craft of making the past feel lived in, not merely described. I write about the historical stories that allow you to experience the real people and events, the books that have influenced me, and the questions that surface while building a story from historical fragments.

If you enjoy immersive historical fiction—stories of courage, ambition, consequence, and characters trying to make their way through a dangerous age—you’re in the right place.