Getting the history right...

Every year I judge a few contests. It's one of the ways I like to give back to RWA. And every year I find myself so frustrated by people who don't seem to do their research. Now there are some things that are obscure and hard to find out, and that's fine.

But there are basic things that can be found easily with a quick search that just seem to be ignored. And words that get used that yank me right out of the story. And it frustrates me. Why bother writing a historical if you're not going to do the research? Now obviously, we can't write in Middle English, but don't use words that are so clearly out of period. And again, a quick check at Etymonline and Dictionary.com (which seems to have added some etymological entries) will tell you whether or not you're way off base.

And don't assume you know something about a period. Really - that's very dangerous. I can't even count the number of times I've been caught out by that - thinking I KNOW something, when in fact I'm dead wrong.

But I still go back to my question - why write a historical if you don't want to at least make a half-decent attempt at recreating that world? Is it the pretty costumes? The heroes in armour? What?

This is a plea to all those who want to write a historical romance - do your research. Please. Even if it's just a wall paper historical, you need to get the basics right.

Ok - rant over.

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch
Link of the Day: History Buff - Author Michelle Moran's blog

Books and reading...

Melissa's post got me thinking about books and reading. Like her, I've been reading for as long as I can remember. I get this from both sides of the family, especially my mum's side:

That's my Nana as a young girl. SHE was a reader and my mum and my aunts are as well - don't know so much about my uncles. Interesting that it runs in families - is it nature or nurture? Would I have been a reader if my mum hadn't been? I've no way of knowing. But it's a bond that holds us all together. I remember writing to Nana about books I'd read and was touched when my mum chose a couple from her collection for me when she died.

My babcia read a lot as well,


as did my paternal aunt.

Similarly, my sister is also an avid reader, and her kids are too, especially my older nephew who read Harry Potter himself when he was seven and is happy to curl up with a book pretty much any time.

Like Melissa, I'll buy books and leave them alone for years before actually reading them. It's comforting knowing they're there, waiting for just the right time :)

Fortunately I married someone who appreciates books and reading as much as I do! He understands my need to acquire new "friends", though does insist from time to time that I send some out for adoption so there's room for the new ones *g*. In fact, when I go to the big book sale in aid of the Sechelt library next weekend, I'll have to remember not to bring home the friends I sent out for adoption *vbg*.

That's why I love volunteering at the library - I meet people who are book lovers like me. And find all kinds of interesting things to read in the stacks there - the collection is quite varied. And I love seeing all the children in there.

I catalogue my books using Book Collector (I know I've mentioned this before) and hope at some point to be able to get the CueCat Barcode scanner or maybe even the very fancy laser scanner, to help speed up the process. I enter books as I buy them now, but am still way behind on inputting much of my collection.

Are books a big part of your life?

Teresa

Currently Reading: I'm trying to decide what to read next
Link of the Day: My collection at Library Thing

Thanks and family history, again...

First - thanks to all for the encouragement and advice. Yes, chocolate does help :) I did manage to do a bit yesterday. Mainly starting a chart to show how my three stories link together and try to figure out how to make sure the threads stay untangled. And hoping that I might spark some ideas. I also have my contemp story that has started to nag again. Hmmmm.

Meanwhile, Sean sent me a link the other day for passenger lists for ships leaving the UK b/w 1890 and 1960. I was able to find two of my uncles, but not my dad, aunt or babcia. Very strange. Even using wildcards didn't help, yet I'm certain they didn't fly over here.

That however, got me started at the overall website, FindMyPast.com and I was off and running. I managed to track down the info for the death certificates for quite a few of my relatives. Of course, they cost seven pounds a pop, so I won't be able to order more than one or two at a time. But I'm hoping the info contained therein will help me work back even further.

One cool thing I did discover when looking through some of the paperwork I already have, is a child born to my great-great-grandparents in 1859/60 who doesn't appear in the family tree. Why? Because she must have died young. She's there in the 1861 Census return (aged 1), but not in 1871. Coincidentally enough, the only daughter of one of my cousins has her name.

Family history has a way of just dragging me in. My background, like so many of us here in North America, is quite varied - one branch of my mum's family is descended from Sephardic Jews, while waaaaaay back in my maternal grandmother's heritage are the Teutonic knights. I LOVE reading through the original docs when I can find them, noting down street addresses etc. A friend of mine has written the history of one side of her family and I'd love to do the same, though narrowing it down to which particular story to tell isn't easy, as there's so much to choose from.

What about you? Are you into genealogy/family history?

Teresa

Currently Considering ReReading: The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch
Link of the Day: Family Search