Writing a historical or non-fiction book
can be something of a challenge as it is essential to get the facts right.
There is nothing worse than reading something in either genre that you know is
wrong. Not only does it make you shake your head, but in my case often is the
cause of me casting that book aside. If the author didn’t fully invest
him-or-herself in the book why, as the reader, should I?
I tend to be something of a nit-picker. I
know this because I am a Virgo but have to say that I am more mellow now I’m
older and have learned to be kinder—not only to other authors—but also to
myself. However, getting historical facts right is not always easy to do
without a lot of research and asking people who are experts for help.
Over the years I have found that
librarians, historians, and other authors have been flattered to have their
opinions sought and are usually very helpful. I remember days spent in the
bowels of a library, either trolling the shelves or the stacks, for that nugget
of information that was on the edge of my cognizance but remained elusive. Now
there is Google and I can surf the net to my heart’s content without ever
having to leave the house.
Google’s drawback for me is that it is a
bit like going down the rabbit hole. One thing leads to another and unless I am
very strict with myself it’s easy for me to be drawn off-topic. Pages get
bookmarked, some get printed, all get noted to some degree if it is the
information for which I’ve been looking. For my second Regency book, His Ocean
Vixen, I needed information about the West India docks in London. I found some
fascinating material, including some old dock plans and it all added that spice
of real life to my text.
My last book, Brides of Banff Springs, is
set in 1935 and although a more recent historical period than my Regency books,
still required a great deal of research both in reading and talking to people. Learning
about a slower but no less stressful part of history, tends to put my life into
perspective and I appreciate all the more the conveniences I have today.
How people lived, what they ate, what they
wore, where they shopped and where the goods they bought came from, never fail
to fascinate me. Some details don’t make the pages of my book, but it’s all a learning
curve and I never know what may come in useful at some point in one of my
stories.
http://bookswelove.net/authors/chatham-victoria/
www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaChatham
http://victoriachatham.blogspot.ca
No comments:
Post a Comment