“We must tell and retell, learn and relearn, these women’s stories, and we must make it our personal mission, in our everyday lives, to pass these stories on to our daughters and sons.”
– Hillary Rodham Clinton, speech at Seneca Falls, New York, July 16, 1998.
Mission Statement
Nicole Evelina writes stories of strong women from history and today, including historical fiction and non-fiction that bring the lives of little-known women to light.
Personal Brand
Authenticity is key to everything I do. I believe in being who I am in all things, so you what you see is what you get. I am human and can (and do) make mistakes, so I will not pretend to be perfect. But I will show you the real me in interviews, on social media and in person.
Core Values Reflected in My Writing
- Feminism – Because I write about women’s stories, it’s perhaps not surprising that I’m a feminist. I define feminism as the belief that men and women should be treated equally. Yes, we are different, but we should also be equal in terms of rights, laws, pay, expectations, etc. Throughout history, there have been women who shared this belief, even when it was not the prevailing one in their culture. These are the stories I seek to share with the world.
- Faith – Spirituality is very important to me personally and I find the mystical aspects fascinating. No matter what the faith of my characters, you will often see the spiritual aspect of their lives in my work, which is in keeping with historical reality that religion permeated people’s lives until the last 50 years or so. I may not write inspirational fiction, but that doesn’t mean my characters can’t have a relationship with the God/gods. I don’t hold one faith above another; I simply write what my characters believe.
- Strength – Women have more physical, mental and spiritual strength than most people give us credit for. I want to show the inner fortitude of women in everyday situations in their lives and how we take action to direct our lives, even when we appear to have few options. Strength is at the essence of what it means to be female and I want to show it in its many and varied manifestations.
- Education – Part of the reason I write historical fiction – and unknown/little known stories in particular – is to educate readers about people history has forgotten. The vast majority of what I learn in my research doesn’t end up in my books, so I blog about it. I love sharing the information I learn and I hope my readers enjoy learning from it.
- Love for/respect of history – As a historical fiction author, I love history. I may not be a historian, but I have a deep love for and respect of history, and I do my best to remain accurate to the historical record, even when telling a fictional story. If I do deviate, I will explain in my authors notes, and likely in my blog posts, what I did and why. This is also why each of my books has a research list on this site. I want others to be able to consult my sources to learn more or clarify questions.