Researching the Middle Ages...

How's everyone's morning coming along? I just came back from an hour long walk with my black Labrador. A lot of my stories come up when I'm out walking, but that doesn't mean that I don't have to do some research. 

For instance, The Mercenary Tales are all based on an imaginary medieval age. Due to this I had to research on several topics. One of the things I tried to look into detail was medieval town life. Throughout The Lost Mercenary Gregorii would make two stops at different towns: One, the busy Kingdom capital, Sieghard, The other, a growing kingdom city, Karpathian. 

For my research I used some books. For instance: True Swordsman, a guide to become a true, modern swordsman, written by Adam Sharp or Manners, Customs and Dress During the Middle Ages. I also used several websites, among them, “Medieval England - daily life in medieval towns” was extremely useful, or A brief history of Brothels, an article on The Independent was also quite handy.

Below is a super short excerpt so you can have a glimpse of how this research affected The Lost Mercenary:

Gregorii leaned against the wagon’s wheel and smiled softly. Sitting under the shade with other hired men, he watched the buoyant market square from afar. Men and women hurried around buying, trading or selling goods. Amused, he watched a city constable chase a young thief through the crowds, the tattered boy quicker and with much more wits than the man in red livery. Pigs and geese wandered about while peddlers attempted to sell them, clamoring their price at the top of their lungs. Wagons both empty and packed skipped and bounded over the cobbled terrain, causing the crowd to travel slowly on the teeming street. Near his wagon, a buxom woman bargained loudly with his new employer, the carpet merchant, Reed.

Remember to leave a comment on  the bottom if you'd like to win a copy of The Lost Mercenary!

Elyzabeth 

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Lunch at Last! Hope You're Not FULL!

By this time, some of you have won a drawing from Goddess Fish Promotions! WOOT!! Isn't it wonderful? And while we're discussing all this food, research and writing, I'm taking down email addresses and I'll be drawing after midnight tonight for my own special prizes. BUY MY BOOK today through Astraea Press for a Kindle (or Nook) cover zipper pull! Send your purchase info to megmims (at) yahoo (dot) com or through a Facebook message.

Secondly, we'll be getting to the MEAT of what inspired me to write Double Crossing. But first, it's lunch time!What's on the menu? These are offerings at my favorite place, Sweet Afton Tea Room in Plymouth, Michigan, shown above. First of all, a pot of tea (decaff this time, perhaps peppermint) and creamy soup – asparagus with dill, cream of tomato or butternut squash (the best of all three!)  These are my usual favorite lunch choices on their menu. Sorry I don't have pictures -- I was too busy enjoying them!

The Tavern Sandwich

Crusty Parmesan bread is warm and stacked with your choice of Black Forest ham, smoked turkey breast or roast beef and served with a cup of our homemade, seasonal soup, a crispy dill pickle and honey mustard on the side.  Delicious!! I usually choose the ham and add cheese. The roast beef is also very good.

Shepherd’s Pie

Our own version of the classic meat pie from northern Great Britain is made with ground round, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and topped with whipped potatoes. This is fabulous. It's often gone by the time I get to the tea room (I am usually running late) so I fall back on the Tavern Sandwich. 

Okay, down to business while we're munching. Oops, a bit of mustard... where's my napkin?

As I mentioned before, one wonderful place that inspired my love for history is Greenfield Village. Another is the Detroit Historical Museum and their Streets of Old Detroit in the basement. They also had a huge train display, and so did my dad (in our basement.) Odd how I'm now writing about trains! But a good friend, Jean Jacobs Coon, gave me several coffee-table sized books about the transcontinental railroad. She knew I loved research. It took a few years, but I managed to absorb a lot of the details about how the UP and CP's joining in Utah really changed American history. Another great resource was Westward by Rail written by William Rae Fraser, published around 1870.

 Here's another image of the "balloon" style smokestack engine... and a lot of the sparks and soot invaded the cars. I love adding realistic details and how characters have to deal with such things, just like we do now.

So it's true that writing a historical involves lots of research. In fact, someone pointed out in the latest draft that I'd messed up on a tiny detail -- RATS!! She was right, too! Since I take pride in being as accurate as possible (although it *is* fiction, it's still important to subtly introduce or add to readers' knowledge of history), I had to make a quick change. Personally I find it incredibly annoying to read modern ideas of what life was like over a 100 years ago, when simple research is easy to find.

In fact, my good friend Cheryl St. John, herself an incredibly accurate award-winning historical author, chided me long ago when I first began writing (the earliest version of Double Crossing.) She gently pointed out that I need to do more research on Omaha's history. I hadn't done much research at all, to be honest. So I was glad she encouraged me. So thanks, Cheryl, for the necessary cattle prod! LOL

She plans to stop by around 2:30 p.m. to "chat" -- I'm so happy, because Cheryl is a wonderful writer of both historical and contemporary romance.

I bet you think writing contemporary fiction is a piece of cake in comparison. Think again! I plan to write a contemporary murder mystery set in a courtroom. My grand jury experience will sure came in handy. Without sitting in that seat for nearly six months (yes, months) I would never have known the ins/outs of such details. Even writing about a car traveling down a Memphis highway -- if you've never been there, how do you know what types of signs, trees, drivers, suburbs, stores, etc. you will see? Chances are YOUR READERS will.

So don't assume. You know what that means. ;-)

Here's an excerpt with more food -- and not all that great, given the conditions along the railroad...

Half a dozen black flies, the ones that pestered and bit, crawled on the beehive-shaped screens shielding platters on our table. The greasy potatoes soaked up blood from the close-to-raw beefsteak. The limp pale cabbage wedge also curbed my appetite. Charles and Kate discussed the springtime ceremony that had united the Union Pacific railroad with the Central Pacific in Utah, but my mind dwelled on Porter’s store. Had it been my imagination? Perhaps a good Samaritan had found my bag on a barrel after all. Maybe I’d been too quick to judge.

I jumped when Kate poked my arm. “You’re so distracted, Lily. You haven’t heard a word we’ve said to you. Is something wrong?”

“I’m worried about my uncle, and I can’t wear this suit on the train tomorrow.” I poked the mess on my plate. “I also don’t like beef that looks fresh from the cow.”

A maid carried soiled plates to the kitchen and returned with a pot of coffee. Hotel guests devoured their meals as if they didn’t expect to get another decent meal until reaching California. My head throbbed from the chatter that mingled with rattling wagons, horse cars and pedestrians outside.

Poor Lily! She has no idea there's worse to come. Join me for high tea at 4 p.m. Enjoy, and don't forget to comment!

Cheryl St.John: How Much Research is Too Much?

There are definitely plenty of things a writer needs to know before she starts to write her book. Characters don’t exist in a vacuum; they have occupations and homes and families and histories and nationalities and all number of things we need to know to make them three-dimensional and bring realism to the story.

I often set books in the same state and even same geographical area. I own shelves of picture books, reference books and maps as well as books on plants and animals and it's just wise to get the most out of study and resources. Besides the convenience, a location can to chosen to support an important part of the story, like railroads, natural resources, weather and any number of things you might want to feature.

I once wrote a book about a German family who owned a brewery. I had no idea how much work I was in for. I had to select a setting conducive to cold water streams. I had to know enough about brewing beer to decide which method they used and why, and which year would be workable. I chose a year when bottling was first being introduced and also a year that there was a huge Exposition in Denver. So my actual location and the brewery were fabricated, but everything about the people and production and operation and the time period were factual. Keeping facts as close to real as possible makes the reader believe.

I also had to know something about my hero who came to this Colorado town from Alaska, where he’d been delivering mail between tent towns and postal stations. That research was probably the most difficult, because all the facts easily found about Juneau and the Yukon pertain to the gold rush, which didn’t happen until after my time period. So that part of my education took more searching. So besides looking up breweries, their operation and types of brewing methods before I started, I searched for information on sled dogs, Alaskan temperatures, modes of travel and traditional Bavarian foods. I ended up with a binder full of facts and pictures. 

Sometimes I have to make an additional folder on one subject, like say liveries or beer making. In my opinion, you can’t ever know too much about your location or your topic or the cultures of your people.

Confession: I’m a paper person. I’ve learned to use PBWiki, personal online storage, but even though I have that ability and I’ve bookmarker the online information, I still want to be able to flip through my binder and put my finger on that list of names I was going to use. I need to see the paragraph about the competitive advantages of lager brewing over ale. That’s just me. If you are a writer, maybe you’ve got a smarter way to store your research, and if so, I applaud you. The important thing is that your method works for you, and you’re not losing writing time searching for something you’ve lost.

Now just because I have all that info doesn’t mean I will ever need to or that I ever should use it all. A writer knows far more about her subjects than she should ever use in a story. But she needs to know it, because if she didn’t, she’d make mistakes. I have many writer friends who love the research part so much that it takes on a life of its own. Once they start, they can’t stop.

Here’s how to know when to quit researching: If your study is cutting into your production, you’re researching too much. If you get caught up in the fact-finding and aren’t tallying a page count, you’re doing too much research. If you’re not putting words on pages, you’re avoiding writing. Give your study a rest and write the story. You can learn the rest of the details as you need them. I learn enough to get started and then I begin. When I get to something I don’t know, I simply google the subject. If I’m on a roll and need to know something, I leave an asterisk and come back to it after the muse is burned out for the day.

So, yes there is a lot a writer needs to know, but the wise writer knows when to call a halt get down to business.

I have three books out this year:

Marrying the Preacher's Daughter, LIH 6/11
Her Wyoming Man, HH 7/11
Snowflakes and Stetsons, HH 10/11

Visit me on the web: http://www.cherylstjohn.net/
From the Heart: http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/