They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore by Eileen O'Finlan

 

                               

Whenever I do research for a new historical novel, I always find things that surprise me. Currently, I'm working on the research for the third book in my Children of Ireland series. Like Erin's Children, this one will also be set in Worcester, Massachusetts but a decade later during the American Civil War.

Naturally, I have to research the politics of the time, life in the military and on the home front, as well as the war itself. Equally important is research on everyday life at that time. That is my favorite type of research. I find it fascinating to learn about how people lived, what they wore, what they ate, what they did for work and leisure, and what things they had in their homes.

Recently, I read about some types of furniture that were common in the mid-19th century. I was amazed to learn that patent - that is, convertible, collapsible, or folding furniture - was all the rage in American middle-class homes. These included such items as sofas and lounges that converted to a bed, a bed or a bath tub that converted to a wardrobe, or a bench that doubled as a table.

Wanting to see for myself what some of these furnishings looked like, I did an online search for images of 19th century American patent furniture. My favorite is the Wooton Patent desk. Closed it looks like a intricately carved work of art. Open its double doors to reveal a multitude of drawers and cubby holes, many of them on the inside of the doors, and a pullout platform for writing. It is a masterpiece of a desk.

Another favorite is the metamorphic desk chair. Closed it's a round table, but pull it open and you have a chair with a rounded back attached by a hinge to a half-moon table with a drawer.

These are just a few of the innovative designs of 19th century furniture. I would welcome either as additions in my own home. I'm sure I will find a place for some of these items in my next novel. Meanwhile, I have more research to do. I wonder what else will surprise me.

There's Always a Silver Lining by Eileen O'Finlan

 

 

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Recently I've been dealing with some very serious health issues. In early April I was hospitalized for almost five days with peritonitis. I was released after the IV antibiotics did their work, but the cause was still unknown. After more tests, I was back in the hospital by mid-May having major surgery. It turned out that I had ovarian cancer. Thankfully, my very skilled surgeon was able to remove it all. So, now I'm off from my day job for six weeks while I recover from a full hysterectomy.

It has been a rough couple of months, but they have not been without several silver linings. First, if I hadn't had the peritonitis, I would not have had the tests that led to the surgery and I would not have known I had cancer. It was caught and removed in the earliest possible stage. Had I not had those tests and that surgery I'd still be walking around with cancer unawares, probably until it was too late. Having a very painful case of peritonitis probably saved my life. That, along with three amazing doctors who would not give up on finding out the cause and then moving on it extremely quickly. Thank you Dr. Kelly O'Callahan, Dr. Leah Rothstein, and Dr. Larissa Mattei. I am forever grateful to you!

The other silver lining is that not being able to go to work or do much of anything for several weeks means that I've been spending a lot of my time camped out on the living room couch with books and notebooks doing research for my next historical novel. I still don't have a working title, but it will follow my Irish characters from Kelegeen and Erin's Children. Like Erin's Children, it will be set in Worcester, Massachusetts but moving forward into the 1860s. This means that it will in large part include the American Civil War. This entails a lot of research for which I had previous been finding little time to accomplish. Suddenly, I have loads of time to devote to what for me is a fascinating subject.

As usual, I have Autumn Amelia, to help. While she plays nurse and hangs out with me 24/7, I am getting a lot done. No doubt she is also multi-tasking as my Cat Tales muse. I'm sure that as I read and take notes on the history of the War and Worcester in the 1860s, my subconscious mind is whirling with ideas for the third book in the Cat Tales series thanks to her constant healing presence.

Research on the Porch by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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We've finally entered my favorite season. I wait all year for summer, so when it finally arrives I do all I can to soak it up. It just doesn't last long enough in New England. However, writing, for me anyway, tends to be an indoor pursuit. If I'm working on a novel, I'm at my laptop indoors. If I'm doing research for a future novel I'm usually in my home library, on the internet, or at a pertinent historial site - mostly indoors. This is not condusive to enjoying summer weather. Yet I can hardly take the summer off from researching and writing especially given that I work a full-time job - also indoors. And, frankly, I wouldn't want to.

I think I have hit upon a solution. Recently, on an absolutely gorgeous weekend day, I took the book I'm currently using for research for my next Irish novel out onto my front porch along with my notepaper. I have a little bistro set out there with just enough room to set up what I needed. It was perfect. 

The next book in this series, which will follow Kelegeen and Erin's Children, will be set in Worcester, Massachusetts. Since it takes place during the 1860s the American Civil War will figure prominently in the story which means a lot of in-depth research for me. Fortunately, I love this part of writing historical fiction.

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Although I am in love with my new home library, I think the porch will be hosting me and my research books a lot this summer. After all, it's hard to resist this view...

                                  

...especially when it's combined with the company of my favorite muse:

Autumn Amelia

Back to the Research by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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Ask almost any author of historical fiction and we'll tell you we love doing the research for our books almost as much as we love writing them. My favorite was the research I did for Erin's Children, the sequel to my debut novel, Kelegeen. The reason it was extra enjoyable was because I set Erin's Children in Worcester, Massachusetts, the city in which I have worked for almost 20 years. 

I grew up in Holden and I still live there. The town line runs down my street so all I have to do is walk across the street and I'm in Worcester. Despite living so close to Worcester and working in that city for so long, I didn't know much about its history until I started researching it for my novel. Once I got into it, I found the history of Worcester in the 1850s to be a fascinating study.

I don't know if it was because of the setting or because I was already familiar with several of the main characters, they having come from my first book, Kelegeen, but I had more fun writing Erin's Children than any other book I've written. That's saying a lot since I greatly enjoy the writing process.

Now that I've decided to write a third (and, possibly, a fourth) book in this series, I am excited to dive back into the research. This time it will be Worcester in the 1860s which will take the reader into the time of the American Civil War. Most of the characters will remain on the northern home front, but I will be sending a few of them to the battlefields. To write this story accurately, I need to research Worcester at that time, the volunteers sent by the City to serve in the Union Army and what life was like for them, as well as the war itself, not to mention everyday life in 1860s Worcester. 

The books have been amassed, the map of 19th century Worcester unrolled and spread out on the table, the notebooks ready to be filled, and trips to the Worcester Historical Museum await. As is true for every author of historical fiction, I know my research will encompass much more than I will actually use in the story. I'm also sure I'll travel down a great many rabbit holes in the process. All of that is okay. More than okay - it's welcomed. It is the joy of research! 

I am determined that the books I write are as historically accurate as possible. I found from the response to Erin's Children that readers love finding out the history of Worcester and "seeing" it played out on the page, especially readers who know the City. So, I know it will be a pleasure to offer them more as well as to learn about it myself.

The timing on this turns out to be perfect since I recently met a local author, Mary Anne Kalonas Slack, who has just released her debut novel, The Sacrificial Daughter, also set in Worcester and featuring an Irish family. We are now planning some author talks together this spring focusing on our Irish in Worcester books. Talking to readers about Erin's Children should really galvanize my momentum towards digging into the research so I can start putting words on the pages of the next book. I truly love those characters and can't wait to revisit my old friends!

The table in my home library where I read and take notes.

The book open on the table contains the annual reports of the City of Worcester from 1861 through 1865.

Among these books are several on the American Civil War and its aftermath.

My steadily growing collection of books on Worcester's history.

My 1870s map of Worcester. 

It's been rolled up for so long I needed to put something on every corner to hold it down.

Historical Research by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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Have you ever wondered why it seems that a lot of time elapses between books from authors of historical fiction? It can feel like a long frustrating wait, especially when authors of many other genres seem to pump out books at lightning speed. There are several variables that determine how much time it takes to write a book such as the speed at which any given author writes, the amount of outlining (or lack thereof) done ahead of time, and the number and depth of revisions to name a few. But for most authors of historical fiction, the preliminary research can easily take just as long as the actual writing of the book. Sometimes, longer. This is not to say that authors of other genres don't do any research. They do. But historical research seems to be naturally more in-depth.

I usually take anywhere from six months to a year for research before I even begin to write. Once I start writing, I will still stop several times for more research because something invariably comes up that I didn't realize I was going to need to know about before I started.

So what does that initial research look like? Maybe I'm a bit old school, but I still favor using books for research so that's where I start. Right now I'm in the research phase for the next Irish book (so those of you who are fans of Kelegeen and Erin's Children, there will be a third and, most likely, a fourth book with these characters). The next book will be set during the American Civil War. Even though the setting is Worcester, Massachusetts, some characters will go to fight in the war and at least one of them will be a POV (point of view) character. So part of my research is on the Civil War in general then narrow in to focus on the regiments that were sent from Worcester and the battles in which they took part.

I will also need to know about everyday life in the 1860s including foodways, how holidays were celebrated (Christmas was finally becoming a "thing" in New England by then), fashion, etc. I'll need to know what was happening in Worcester during that time which I will learn about from reading the City's annual reports for that decade. Women were becoming more independent so some of my non-Irish female characters may take up employment. I will need to know where they might have worked and what that was like for them.

The books being used for research for my next Irish novel (yes, all of them!)

While what I plan to write determines what I will need to research, my research also informs what I will write. As I do the research, I often come across something very interesting and decide I want it in my story. Then I may need to learn even more about it. The research and the writing are co-dependent in this way. There are a lot of rabbit holes one can go down while researching. Fortunately, most of them lead to something that can be used, if not in the current manuscript, then in a future one.

I do not stop at books, though. I will also include websites, trips to museums (I foresee several to the Worcester Historical Musuem), chats with Tom Kelleher, my dear friend and favorite historian, and whatever else presents itself as needed.

Like most authors of historical fiction, I strive to create books that are as historically accurate as possible while also being stories in which my readers can totally immerse themselves. And that, dear readers, takes time.

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Research is Fun and Games by Helen Henderson

 

Windmaster by Helen Henderson
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Long before my first published novel or byline in a magazine, history held a special fascination. Now I admit while there is a convenience to the Internet, it comes with challenges. One is validating the accuracy of the information. Another is the time sink. One fact leads to another of even more interest. Open another site while you're there and that single click becomes two or three or four and more hours lost.

Then there is the information itself. Is the source knowledgeable? Is the information from the era or written many years later? When teaching seminars on research techniques I also recommend noting whether the material is primary material that is newly available such as a recent transcription making it available on the internet or is the information simply a rehash of a rehash. Diaries written as events happen provide a unique insight into the world and perceptions of the time.

Since I admit a fondness for books, you might think libraries are a favorite research site. And while I have spent hours (actually days) at the New York City Public Library, the Alexander Library of Rutgers University, and the Library of Congress, my favorite means of gathering information for settings or characters is in-person. Over the years I've ridden on horseback with a saddle, bareback, or with a blanket. Summers were passed with target practice with bow and arrow, rifle,and hatchet. No, I am not one of those firing the cannon. My firearm experience is with more contemporary weapons, not those that use black powder.

 

I have donned period garb and mingled with Revolutionary War and Civil War reenactors to immerse myself in those times. To help stay in tune with the events, a wicker basket concealed my notebook and contemporary camera. For a different perspective I've participated in archaeological digs at  Revolutionary War battlefields and a Civil War Training Ground.

Wearing fatigues and combat boots, I rode a jeep as a journalist embedded with a column of restored World War II military vehicles. The trip started when I reported to the airfield. The guard on duty telephoned "headquarters." A few minutes later, a soldier rode up on a restored WW II bicycle with my "orders." At that point I knew things were going to be interesting as I was told to muster in uniform  and report to a jeep in the middle of the column. I was in essence transported to the 1940s.

That was not the only time I felt I was in another era. Now to set the scene. You are standing beneath the wing of a B-17 bomber, surrounded by men and women in uniform. The swing and big band music being broadcast over the loudspeakers stops mid-note. “Pearl Harbor has just been bombed,” echoes over the tarmac. Even after the crowd of thousands realized it was a replay of a broadcast from December 7th, 1941, they remained in attentive silence, many rubbing goose bumps from their arms. As a side note, I had a similar reaction years later when I stood on the boardwalk near where I lived and saw the twin towers shrouded in smoke.

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The storyline and setting for one  short story came from walking a reenactor camp after the public had left for the day. The eerie notes of "Taps" floating over a fog-filled field that just hours before had the sounds of battle created the impression that an ethereal bugler is summoning the souls of those who died on that hallowed ground centuries before.

~ Off to research a new work. Until next month, stay safe and read. Helen

To purchase the Windmaster Novels: BWL

Find out more about me and my novels at Journey to Worlds of Imagination. Follow me online at Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter.
 

Helen Henderson lives in western Tennessee with her husband. While she doesn’t have any pets in residence at the moment, she often visits a husky and a feisty who have adopted her as one of their pack.

Thinking Ahead by Eileen O'Finlan

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One hundred years ago women won the right to vote in the United States. It’s hard to believe we couldn’t vote until 1920, but that’s the fact. It was a long, hard fought battle, one for which American women owe gratitude to the suffragettes who made it happen.

For several years an idea has been simmering in my brain for a novel set during the struggle for American women’s voting rights. As with many of the yet-to-be-written multitude of novels floating around in my head, scenes from this one play themselves out in my mind every so often. I don’t think this will be the next novel I write (after Erin’s Children, my novel in progress, and sequel to Kelegeen), but certainly it is in the top three currently germinating in my imagination.

As with all good historical fiction, there will be lots of research before and during the writing. Though I may not start the actual writing for a while, when a research opportunity pops up I’m certainly not going to ignore it.

This afternoon I will be attending an event at the Worcester Historical Museum entitled “Suffragist Tea with History At Play”. The play, “How Long Must We Wait?” is a “multi-modal performance art piece detailing the struggle for women’s right to vote and equality” according to the Worcester Historical Museum’s website.

Despite being way ahead of my schedule regarding research for my future novel, I’m not about to pass it up. Something like this might not be available when I’m “officially” ready to start my research. Notes can be kept, memories held, videos replayed (History At Play’s website appears to have videos of many past performances). As an author of historical fiction, research is a high priority. When an opportunity comes my way, I’ll grab it while I can. No need to wait!

My Own Personal Research Historian by Eileen O'Finlan

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As any historical fiction author can attest, an enormous amount of research is necessary before and during the writing of an historical novel. That research can include reading primary and secondary sources, visiting historical sites, museums, and the location of the story’s setting. It may also include Internet searches and the use of digital archives. Speaking with experts, such as I’ve been fortunate enough to do while researching my forthcoming novel, is always of great value. It also tends to lead to more research as often the author is given more book titles and websites to peruse.

I consider myself especially fortunate in that I have tucked away in my pocket, so to speak, my own personal research historian. His name is Tom Kelleher. Tom is a professional Research Historian and Curator for Old Sturbridge Village, (OSV, aka the Village) a living history museum in Sturbridge, Massachusetts which portrays rural life in an 1830s New England town. 

I first met Tom when I worked for Old Sturbridge Village. I was a Museum Assistant in the Department of Research, Collections, and Library during the mid-1990s. My position entailed administrative duties to the Director of Historical Research as well as the all other research historians and curators. Along with the secretarial duties, I got to assist with research projects for books and museum exhibits as well as helping curators catalog the artifacts and reproductions. It was an amazing experience with a fantastic group of people.

Tom had already been working at OSV for many years by the time I started. He began as a costumed interpreter, mostly working in the Blacksmith shop and the saw and grist mills. Before long, he knew the whole village and its crafts well enough to fill in just about anywhere. With a Master’s Degree in History and a Bachelor’s in Education, he moved up the ranks to Historian and Curator.

Tom is one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met in my life. He’s also one of the most capable and self-sufficient. He has a blacksmith shop at his own home. He also does his own coopering, making barrels, butter churns, pails, etc. for gifts or paying customers. He learned to do stone carving so that he could replace the headstones in the Village’s cemetery (not a real cemetery). He was also kind enough to make headstones for my beloved cats when they passed away and I buried them in my backyard. He is adept at tinsmithing, pottery, milling, and any number of 19^th century crafts. He’s sewn some of his own work costumes using his grandmother’s treadle sewing machine. I could go on, but you probably get the point.

Over the years, Tom has created and portrayed many 19^th century characters at Old Sturbridge Village including at dentist, a peddler, an itinerant preacher, and even a phrenologist (yes, he learned to read the bumps on people’s heads, just as the 19^th phrenologists did when it was all the rage.)

Tom’s abilities are a wonder to behold, but they don’t begin to compare with what’s in his head. The amount of knowledge he has in regards to history (and many other things, for that matter) is astounding. I sometimes wonder if he has an eidetic memory. He is especially well-versed in 19^th century American history for obvious reasons, but his Master’s Degree was in European History so he’s got a vast store of knowledge on that as well. In fact, I’m always amazed at what he knows about almost any time period and place.

Tom and I got to know each other very well during the three years I worked for Old Sturbridge Village. Actually, that’s an understatement. We started dating and continued for eight years. We got engaged, almost got married, broke up, and got back together as friends. Tom is probably my best friend in the world and, hopefully, always will be. He is a constant in my life. We were right not to marry, but we were also right to remain friends. Our relationship is stronger than ever today.

One lovely bonus of my deep friendship with Tom is that he is happy to act as my personal research historian. Countless times, I’ve needed an answer that would have taken precious time to look up, if I could find the answer at all. A quick text to Tom and I’ve got what I need in minutes. Here is a sample of some of the texts we’ve shared while I’ve been working on Erin’s Children, the sequel to Kelegeen.

ME: If one 19^th c. person is telling another one not to spend too much money is it okay if he says, “get what you need, just don’t break the bank”? According to Google, the expression goes back to the 1600s, but was it in common use in the 1850s?

TOM: That is fine. Lots of banks broke in 1837.

ME: Did people drink hot chocolate or hot cocoa in the 1850s?

TOM: Yes. Drinking chocolate was the most common way to consume it then. But not cocoa.

ME: Would the man of the house carve the Thanksgiving turkey at the table or is that more of a Norman Rockwell fiction?

TOM: The wife.

ME: Seriously? At the table? The husband led the blessing, though, right?

TOM: Yes to both.

ME: How much did it cost to rent a sleigh and horse for an hour or two in 1851?

TOM: I guess 25 cents is about right. With a driver, make it 50 cents.

ME: Could they have gone for a sleigh ride on a Sunday or would that be against the having too much fun on a Sunday law?

TOM: Not on a Sunday. Sorry. Go to sleep. (Okay, ‘cuz I sent that particular text at 11:00 p.m.)

ME: In what year did most northerners realize civil war [American Civil War] was probably inevitable? Was there a specific incident that made them feel that way? I mean before Fort Sumter.

TOM: Well, people had warned about it since the 1830s at least. But inevitable? No. Even when South Carolina left many thought they could be brought back. Jackson did as much in 1832. When six more deep south states left many thought it could be reversed. When the upper south left many on both sides thought it would be a quick war. The long blood bath surprised most. So no.

This is just a small sample, but it seems as though any history question I have, whether about huge events or the details of everyday life can be answered with a quick text to Tom.

To attest even further to this, when I was speaking with Holly Izard who is the Curator of Collections for the Worcester Historical Museum and a former research historian at Old Sturbridge Village, I happened to mention that I often text Tom with my questions. Holly, who knew Tom years ago when she worked at the Village, said to me, “There are times when I just can’t find an answer to an historical question. When that happens I email Tom. He never fails me. There are just some things I know for a fact only Tom will have the answer to.”

I hear that!

Historian, Curator, and Costumed Interpreter at Old Sturbridge Village,

Tom Kelleher

Many Thanks to Worcester Resident, Randy Bloom

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As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, I’ve been researching Worcester history and the neighborhood in which some of the characters in the sequel would have worked and lived as domestic servants. Randy Bloom, a long time resident of the Crown Hill historic district of Worcester generously opened his 1856 home to me for a private two-hour tour.

Like the residents before him, Randy has kept the interior of his home true to its original. What a treat it was to meander through all those rooms – three floors in the main house plus a two-story carriage house – taking the original gas lighting fixtures and coal burning fireplaces, reproduction wallpaper perfectly replicating the original, the floor-to-ceiling windows and the French doors leading from the parlor to a glassed-in porch, which in the 1850s was use as a greenhouse to lengthen the growing season and as a solar collector to add warmth to the porch and parlor in the colder months.

As I walked through the house and grounds, I was struck with inspiration for exactly how this house will fit into the sequel. I’m not telling, though – no spoilers here!

Again, my gratitude to Randy for his generous hospitality!

Original gas lighting fixture in the dining room. The extra gas jet (visible at front center) allowed for an attached rubber tube to hang down and connect with a gas lamp in the center of the table.

Kindling and coal were burned in the basket at the front of this fireplace. Though the mantel and surround appear to be marble they are really soapstone painted to look like marble right down to the gold veining.

A Greek Adventure and Research by Diane Scott Lewis

Recently we took a trip to Greece, where I met my husband many years ago while stationed at a navy base (closed in 1990).  We attended a reunion of former navy personnel stationed at the base in the waterfront town of Nea Makri. The famous town of Marathon is a few miles to the north.

Author and Husband, navy base front gate

Before we left the U. S. I had an epiphany to write a novel set in Greece, ala Mary Stewart. She wrote so many wonderful romantic suspense novels set in Greece, including my favorite The Moon Spinners. My story, A Spark to the Ashes, takes place in 1955. A running away (from whom?) American woman with a small child seeks employment with a burned-out Englishman, to research ancient Greek pottery. She needs shelter yet desires freedom, he dislikes children and had expected a 'male' assistant. He's scarred from his experience in WWII. Both their pasts will haunt them and put their lives in peril.

I scoured the countryside to get my geography correct, now much research on the era remains.


Cape Sounio, Greece



It was sad to see the neglect of the base (where I married my husband at the base chapel), but wonderful to connect to former Nea Makri buddies, and meet new ones.

Former navy base, Nea Makri, Greece

Greece has a poor economy, but it's a beautiful country with much to offer. The restaurants in Nea Makri are fantastic, with fresh seafood and views of the gulf that flows into the Aegean Sea. The people are friendly, and most speak enough English to make you comfortable.

But to speak of writing--soon my Revolutionary War novel, Her Vanquished Land, will be available from BWL (September), then I dive into the Greece of 1955. Good thing I love research!

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Just a sampling of my novels, mystery, suspense, romance, adventure, with strong female heroines, mostly set in the later eighteenth century.

 

For further information on me and my books, please visit my website: www.dianescottlewis.org

 Diane Scott Lewis grew up in California, traveled the world with the navy, edited for magazines and an on-line publisher. She lives with her husband in Pennsylvania.

Anachronism by J. S. Marlo

J. S. Marlo BWL Author Page

Who hasn't watched the movie Braveheart? It stars Mel Gibson as 13th-century Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace. In the movie, Wallace wears a kilt, Scotland’s most iconic piece of clothing. The only problem is: the kilt wasn't invented until the 18th-century. Ooops!

When I started writing my current novel, a historical/paranormal romantic suspense, I knew I would need to do more research than usual. Don't take me wrong, I love research...I love it too much. Discovering new facts is fascinating, and more often than none, I spend too much time searching details I don't need. Still, I'm trying to avoid the obvious and not-so-obvious "ooops".

My story takes place in 1941 during the war. Rationing wasn't enforced till 1942 in Canada, so I don't need to worry about food stamps. I discovered that less than one on four Canadian own a refrigerator, less than half use an electric or gas stove, and more than a third didn't have running water in their house back then. Needless to say, my heroine doesn't own a dishwasher, and when she injured herself, she didn't have access to antibiotics, but she could spend the night in a motel room for $3, which she didn't have. No credit cards.

All of the above were facts I knew I would need to research, but I didn't expect I would start questioning many of the words and expressions I take for granted. I'm constantly asking myself: Did they use that word in 1941? Did that expression existed back then? You could become very angry in 1941, but nobody went ballistic until decades later.

As a result, writing this story is fun and interesting, but it takes twice as much time than I had anticipated. I'm happy to report I crossed the halfway mark, but it won't be finished by Easter, not unless I lock myself in a hotel room at $150/night, which I can't afford either.

The challenges I encounter are giving me an even greater appreciation and renewed admiration for my fellow historical writers. I've read three books of the Canadian Historical Brides Series so far--nine more to read--and I bow to the talents of these writers. They researched every aspect of their story, in some instances every single sentence, and created compelling and accurate historical tales. Well done, ladies!!!
JS

 J. S. Marlo's Website

Going Away to Write

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March 1, 2019 will mark the first anniversary of the release of my debut novel, Kelegeen.  Much of this year has been spent on a very steep learning curve, one that included educating myself on the publishing industry and, even more so, on marketing. It was obvious I didn’t know what I was doing, so I hired a marketing firm to guide me.  They’ve been extremely helpful, but I still had to do the work of putting my book and myself out there.  It’s been a great experience, one that is ongoing, as I’ve only skimmed the surface.  The problem is it hasn’t left me with much time to write.  My 9:00 – 5:00 day job, teaching online courses for the University of Dayton, and caring for my 92 year old mom who lives with me along  with various other responsibilities and obligations on top of my new marketing tasks has eaten up what little free time I had before this adventure ever began.

When it comes to my writing, the most common question I’m asked these days is, “when will the sequel be out?”  My answer is usually a non-committal “working on it.”  It seems I’ve been in the historical research phase forever.  That’s not just because there’s a large amount of research to be done, but because I’m not finding the time to do it.  I knew something had to give.  An overwhelming desire to get away from every distraction and ensconce myself somewhere that would allow me to laser focus on the sequel drove me to find a solution.

Enter my cousin, Patty.  Patty is retired, her children grown, and her mate fully capable of taking care of their dogs on his own for a week.  Patty is also very fond of my mom and lately has been repeatedly expressing a desire to visit her.  So, in one of my hair-pulling moments of frustration at not having time to research or write, Patty’s genial, smiling face flashed into my mind. 

I texted Patty, laying out my plan before her.  If she could come down for a week (she lives in Vermont) and stay with my mom, I could use some of my vacation time from work and go away to write.  She loved the idea.  Mom loved the idea.  I’m head-over-heels in love with the idea.  It didn’t take long to find a time that worked for all of us, so I quickly booked a weeklong stay at a studio suite in a local hotel. 

Before this month is over, I will have spent a week doing nothing but research and writing.  That entire week will be all sequel, sequel, sequel.  No distractions, no other responsibilities.  No, I won’t be able to write an entire novel in a week, but I do expect to make serious inroads on both the research and the writing.  Once I get that fully underway, I hope to be able to run with it from there on out.

Though I’m all too well versed in Murphy’s Law and the best laid plans of mice and writers, I am hopeful.  As long as all goes according to plan, or at least close to it, my post next month should be all about what an awesome, productive week I had.

Ada Lovelace, a cameo in “Victoria”

Happy Belated Birthday, Dear Wolfgang!

261 years young & still delighting audiences...

http://www.bookswelove.net/authors/waldron-juliet/

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Ada’s cameo in “Victoria”

Like other history fans, I’ve been watching Masterpiece Theater’s latest offering, Victoria, wand marveling over the sets, costumes, as well as admiring the work of the actors. Here, in the title role, Jenna Coleman, (who I was not a great fan of during her Dr. Who days,) shows what she can do—and, let’s face it, anyone with a neck like she has deserves all the starring roles she acquire!

Much of “Victoria” is concerned with the royal family's sturm und drang. At simplest, the series is a high-minded and elegantly dressed soap opera, but it's also a wonderful entertainment for history junkies like myself. Beyond the scope of this television series, the Queen’s lengthy reign--only recently surpassed by that of her descendant, Elizabeth II—ranged from the birth of railways and wide scale industrial development, through the time of Industrial Robber Barons,  and all the way to 1901.

“Victoria” has been giving me fascinating glimpses of politicians whose doings I studied for “O” and “A” levels, figures like Victoria’s first Prime Ministers, the aristocratic, old-school Lord Melbourne, and his opposite, Sir Robert Peel, son of a wealthy industrialist. Peel, a Liberal in Tory clothing, championed modern criminal laws and policing, and even managed to pass a “radical” 3% income tax upon the rich. Although he did not do so quickly enough to have much impact on the horror of the Irish famine, he eventually repealed the protectionist, onerous-to-the-poor Corn Laws.

I was beyond delighted the other night , however, when Charles Babbage and his friend, Countess Ada Lovelace, and appeared on the scene. In “Victoria,” Lady Lovelace and Charles Babbage speak with the Queen while Babbage's complex and never completed “Difference Machine” (a forerunner of the calculator) is on display.

Ada was a rare bird in her time, an aristocratic woman who joyfully engaged with mathematics and logic. She has been credited, along with her mentor and friend, the inventor Charles Babbage, with having laid the groundwork for modern computing.  (Babbage’s scientific fame initially came from his work creating a book of Logarithm tables, a handy resource that until recently, every engineer kept close at hand.)

The Difference Machine, a calculator, hand cranked and hand-made, 

2,000 brass parts now resides in Science Museum of London. 

This too makes a brief, cameo appearance in "Victoria."

Babbage was working on an “Analytical Engine,” a machine which could do long computations mechanically, thereby removing the risk of human error. After he’d spoken before an Italian Scientific Society about his plan, one of the attendees, Luigi Menabrea, wrote a long in-depth article describing it from copious notes he’d taken. Ada enters the story when she offered to translate the article from Italian for Babbage.

Charles Babbage by Samuel Laurence (Wikipedia)

I’ll now quote Stephan Wolfram, mathematician and famed creator of Mathematica: 

   

“As something of a favor to Babbage, she (Ada) wrote an exposition of the Analytical Engine, and in doing so she developed a more abstract understanding of it than Babbage had — and got a glimpse of the incredibly powerful idea of universal computation.”*

“Ada Lovelace was the first person ever to glimpse with any clarity what has become a defining phenomenon of our technology and even our civilization: the notion of universal computation.”

As pleasurable to me as was the scene of the meeting between Ada and the Queen--as well as introducing Prince Albert into the equation (he was a patron of the sciences and all the new technologies)--well--my inner researcher/a.k.a. KILLJOY simply had to discover whether this had actually happened. That led me to Professor Wolfram’s comprehensive Wired article. Sadly, like many tantalizing scenes from historical movies, it transpired that neither Ada nor Babbage ever met Victoria or her forward-thinking husband in any sort of semi-informal, discursive social situation. 

Still, I'm grateful to the creators of "Victoria" that they gave us a warm, sympathetic glimpse of Ada, Countess of Lovelace, who has been justly elevated to be one of the 19th Century heroines of science. She's a fascinating human interest story for any little girls who are about to begin tackling math and science in elementary school.  

Who knows what Ada and Charles might have devised together had she lived-- and had been able to keep the roving interest of her polymath mentor focused on the Analytical Engine? But instead, tragically, and at what loss to science we shall never know, Ada died at 36 of ovarian cancer. Stephen Wolfram, in the article linked below, was sufficiently intrigued to speculate about what might have happened if she's survived as far into the century as her mentor Babbage. What a subject for any writer of alternate history!

Florence Nightingle, nursing pioneer and another of Ada's famous friends, wrote: “They said she could not possibly have lived so long, were it not for the tremendous vitality of the brain, that would not die.”

Ada, The "first software programmer," from iQ UK

If you are interested in learning more about Ada, check out these articles:

 iQ

https://iq.intel.co.uk/ada-lovelace-the-first-computer-programmer/

Wired(c), Untangling the Tale of Ada Lovelace by Stephen Wolfram, 12.22.15

https://www.wired.com/2015/12/untangling-the-tale-of-ada-lovelace/

The Mathematica site, for Wolfram's revolutionary mathematical "assistant":

http://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/

~~Juliet Waldron
See all my historical novels @
https:www.julietwaldron.com

http://www.bookswelove.net/authors/waldron-juliet/

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