Cecelia Holland facts for kids

Cecelia Holland, born on December 31, 1943, is an American writer. She is famous for her historical novels. These are stories set in the past, but with made-up characters and events.

Early Life and Education

Cecelia Holland was born in Henderson, Nevada, on December 31, 1943. She grew up in Metuchen, New Jersey. She started writing stories when she was just 12 years old. She wrote them for fun and to entertain herself.

Why History?

From the very beginning, Cecelia focused on history for her stories. She explained that when she was 12, she didn't have many stories of her own. History seemed like an endless supply of exciting material to her.

Becoming a Published Author

Holland attended Pennsylvania State University for a year. She then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965 from Connecticut College. There, she took a creative writing class. Her teachers, poet William Meredith and writer David Jackson, encouraged her a lot.

David Jackson even took a novel Cecelia wrote for his class to an editor. This led to her first published novel, The Firedrake, in 1966. At that time, she had just left graduate school at Columbia University. She was working as a clerk in a bookstore in Manhattan. Since then, Cecelia Holland has been a full-time professional writer.

The Firedrake was actually the fourth novel she had written. Her book Jerusalem is a later version of one of her earlier, unpublished works. Parts of her other early stories also found their way into her published books.

Cecelia Holland's Writing Style

Cecelia Holland is known for her unique way of telling historical stories. David Jackson, who wrote for The New York Review of Books, said that her main strength is her focus on action, both physical and mental.

How She Creates Characters

Holland often takes a well-known historical time period. Then, she creates a main character, called a protagonist, who is usually not the most famous person of that time. This character is often smarter than the powerful leaders they are connected to or threatened by. Her heroes don't usually sacrifice themselves for modern ideas of right and wrong.

Versatility in Historical Settings

Sarah Johnson, writing for the Historical Novel Society magazine Solander, praised Cecelia's work. She noted that Cecelia is not only productive but also very versatile. This means she can write about almost any historical period and make it her own.

Research and Detail

Cecelia Holland includes many details about life in the past, even the difficult parts. She does a lot of research to make her stories accurate. Her plots often focus on the main male character's point of view.

While her books have plenty of action, like exciting battle scenes, they also explore how people thought in different cultures. She also focuses on politics, which means how power and society worked in kingdoms, feudal times, or tribal groups.

Language in Her Novels

In her novels set in the Middle Ages, she makes characters like the Huns and Mongols speak in everyday English. This helps readers feel like they are listening to a real conversation from that time.

Most of her novels develop slowly in her mind, often after she writes articles or essays. However, The Belt of Gold and The Lords of Vaumartin were written quickly because her editor asked for them. She doesn't choose settings just because other writers haven't used them much. But she has said she wouldn't write about the American Civil War. She feels it's too well-known, with too many details, which would make it hard to write freely.

Science Fiction Work

In 1976, Cecelia Holland also wrote a science fiction novel called Floating Worlds. It has a similar writing style to her historical books. This epic story is set far in the future, around the 40th century AD. By then, people have colonized the Solar System, and many different political systems exist. The story follows Paula Mendoza, a former prisoner from Earth, who becomes a diplomat. She also falls in love with one of the Styth, who are a type of human living in cities that float.

Personal Life

As of 2011, Cecelia Holland lived in Fortuna, a small town in rural Humboldt County, California. She has three daughters and five grandchildren.

For ten years, Holland taught creative writing classes at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California. She was also a visiting professor of English at Connecticut College in 1979. In 1981–1982, Cecelia Holland received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which is a special award for people doing important work in arts or sciences.