Greetings friends & readers.
RESEARCH: "careful, systematic study and investigation in some field of knowledge". (Webster). I know I've mentioned the tediousness of research before, but if a person wants to write historical novels, they absolutely must do their research. How easily we glide through pages of a favorite book not thinking at all of what lay behind the pages; the 'before' book, the 'back story'. Oh, there is a back story, and especially in anything that has the word 'historical' attached to it.
This author has stepped out of her comfort zone, that being the Civil War era. Much research went into Tanglewood Plantation and Tanglewood II (as I endearingly call it). But to step backward from the 1800's to the 1600's is a giant leap! Think of this: What was the fashion of the day? We can easily find what the blue-bloods wore, but what did the peasants wear? What kind of underwear did both sexes wear beneath their clothing? How did people speak? And, as for ships that sailed the seas, what did they look like both outside and in? How many sailors were necessary to run a merchant ship? What did they wear? What are the proper names for the rigging and sails of a seventeenth century vessel? How did Native Americans dress in the new world? What were their villages like? Etc...etc...etc....
We all remember the pilgrims, the first Thanksgiving, the reciprocal gathering of Englishman and native, smoothing the way before the big take-over and smothering out of native culture. It was a far different story south of the Mason/Dixon line; it was not a religious group (who were also early colonist), but hearty, adventuresome and brave souls who came to reap the treasures of a land yet discovered; groups who came not for religious freedom, but for pillage and plunder. This second group is very appealing to me, for here is the real grit and guts of America.
In conclusion it all boils down to this: this author, who very much slept through history class in high school, has jumped deep into the pool of historical knowledge, finding it very exciting. At this rate, I will be very, very smart by the time I leave this earth and what good will it do me then?
RESEARCH: "careful, systematic study and investigation in some field of knowledge". (Webster). I know I've mentioned the tediousness of research before, but if a person wants to write historical novels, they absolutely must do their research. How easily we glide through pages of a favorite book not thinking at all of what lay behind the pages; the 'before' book, the 'back story'. Oh, there is a back story, and especially in anything that has the word 'historical' attached to it.
This author has stepped out of her comfort zone, that being the Civil War era. Much research went into Tanglewood Plantation and Tanglewood II (as I endearingly call it). But to step backward from the 1800's to the 1600's is a giant leap! Think of this: What was the fashion of the day? We can easily find what the blue-bloods wore, but what did the peasants wear? What kind of underwear did both sexes wear beneath their clothing? How did people speak? And, as for ships that sailed the seas, what did they look like both outside and in? How many sailors were necessary to run a merchant ship? What did they wear? What are the proper names for the rigging and sails of a seventeenth century vessel? How did Native Americans dress in the new world? What were their villages like? Etc...etc...etc....
We all remember the pilgrims, the first Thanksgiving, the reciprocal gathering of Englishman and native, smoothing the way before the big take-over and smothering out of native culture. It was a far different story south of the Mason/Dixon line; it was not a religious group (who were also early colonist), but hearty, adventuresome and brave souls who came to reap the treasures of a land yet discovered; groups who came not for religious freedom, but for pillage and plunder. This second group is very appealing to me, for here is the real grit and guts of America.
In conclusion it all boils down to this: this author, who very much slept through history class in high school, has jumped deep into the pool of historical knowledge, finding it very exciting. At this rate, I will be very, very smart by the time I leave this earth and what good will it do me then?
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