Write what you know, writing instructors preach. But what if the subjects are long ago and far away? We asked two writers of recent novels how they sailed from historical fact to historical fiction, projecting readers not just into the physical reality of the past, but the mindset of people of the era.

“;There's a lot of role-playing that goes into character creation, trying to imagine the background swirl of events that characters might be obsessing about even as they fulfill their parts,”; said Paul Malmont, author of “;Jack London in Paradise.”; “;I try to make the characters as contemporary as they can be. I'm not creating a museum piece; I'm trying to create something of relevant resonance.”;

Although Bill Riddle's re-creation of 1920s Hawaii for “;Dead Downwind”; is packed with dozens of period images to help set the scene, and Malmont relied solely on words, the hardest part of literary time travel was to avoid anachronistic thinking. People of the past might have had different views of society.

“;For each character there are sociologic traits that are going to be different than ours today, regarding race and class and culture, and those are the filters through which I try to peer while I'm seeking to understand a character,”; explained Malmont.

“;After spending hours immersed in research, it was impossible to ignore the different mindset of the people of the era,”; said Riddle. “;Reviewing period newspapers was an incredible education. I was unexpectedly attracted to print advertisements that were invaluable to getting the feel of the time.

“;There were many distinct differences in attitude in the '20s. I tried to subtly convey those distinctions. 'It was a simpler time' is an overused adage, but it did apply. The military way of thinking in the mid-'20s was another hurdle. Trying to get into the heads of such personalities as Adm. William Moffett, Gen. Billy Mitchell and my protagonist Cmdr. John Rodgers was challenging but fun. I found that writing minibiographies of each before I even began the novel helped.”;

Both Malmont and Riddle were writing about famous people who had public personas. Were they surprised or pleased or shocked by anything that turned up in research?

“;The great thing about somebody who lives a lot of their life in public is that there are bound to be gaps and questions—and therein lies room for fiction,”; said Malmont. “;I discovered three interesting mysteries. What happened to Wolf House, the wonderful mansion (London) was building that burned down? ... And how did he die? ...

“;I had read so much about Jack and (second wife) Charmaine's perfect relationship that when I discovered it was a very messy and complicated marriage headed for disaster, I knew I had a story.”;

Said Riddle, “;Generally speaking, the private lives of all of my characters, fictional and actual, were wholly my imagination. In the case of real persons, I attempted to paint them consistent with the knowledge I had at the time. Exaggerations and distortions of characters' personas were both inevitable and necessary on occasion, and I did take poetic license. ... Many of the personal touches were based on tidbits I uncovered. John Rodgers' eyesight problems and his divorce were factoids of particular importance, and they dramatically affected the direction of the plot.”;

“;I'm not writing a biography, I'm creating a fictional character who happens to share certain personality and historical traits with someone who was real,”; continued Malmont. “;The rules of drama have to apply to what I'm doing. In other words, the characters I'm creating have to go on a journey. That journey then has to fit into the public record about what's known about the real person. I have to change things to suit my plot in the end, but I think it's in service (of) trying to capture a greater truth about London's art and creativity.”;

“;You need to remain consistent with the facts, yet you are obliged to occasionally massage them to attain better readability,”; said Riddle. “;I attempted to depict the major historical events as they occurred. ... I did alter some lesser events for the sake of dramatic license. For example, the Duke Kahanamoku heroic rescue scene is factually accurate and an unexpected discovery, but I had to move the date several weeks forward to have it dovetail with my plot.”;

Kahanamoku is also a secondary character in Malmont's novel. Did the authors try to balance the reality of Hawaii and the touristy mythology of it?

Riddle's research revealed that “;although tourism was in its infancy, it was already a factor in Hawaii's future. At the time, the only 'tourist' hotel was the Moana. I melded the subdued elegance of the Moana with the exotic reflections of a hula performance somewhat titillating to mainland palates of the time.”;

Malmont said he had “;so many misconceptions of what Hawaii was, and is, that I had to start from scratch. I was really wrong in my understanding of how settled the islands were. I imagined Jack sitting in a rough-hewn cabin on a deserted beach instead of a comfortable bungalow near beautiful hotels. What I had in mind was closer to Robert Louis Stevenson's Waikiki than Jack's. Much of the Hawaii of Jack's era still exists if you just squint a little.”;

Real people, unlike fictional characters, have living descendants.

“;I have spoken with two descendants of Navy pilot Byron Connell, a secondary character in the tale but a hero in his own right,”; said Riddle. “;Although both praised my historical accuracy, one felt disappointed in my portrayal of John Rodgers' personal life. This was interesting since that person did not know that Rodgers had been married and divorced. The other person fully understood that the book was a historical novel, and was excited this incredible story might now get a greater audience.”;

“;I would hope that any descendant of any real person I'm writing about would appreciate that I'm only undertaking the painfully slow process of creating a novel like this because I think the lives and works of their ancestors deserve to be acknowledged by our generation,”; said Malmont.

Riddle recounts his amazement at learning of the true attempt by Navy Cmdr. John Rodgers to fly from California to Hawaii in a wood and canvas-winged biplane. “;This attempt occurred two years before Lindbergh flew the Atlantic! As a sailor who had done that same crossing, this particularly impressed me when I considered just how difficult it must have been to navigate.

“;I was further intrigued when I learned that Honolulu International Airport had originally been named John Rodgers Airport. Even today the main building there is John Rodgers terminal, and the road leading into the airport is Rodgers Boulevard. Who was this guy and what was the real story?”;

From little questions like that, great tales are born.