July 27, 2007

Thanks to all who have submitted questions for Readers Ask so far! If you have a question, send it to me via email at questions at colleengleason dot com, and if I choose to answer it, you'll be entered in a drawing to win a copy of The Bleeding Dusk. I'll be giving away multiple copies in the fall when the Advance Copies are available, so there will be multiple chances to win!

Now, on to this week's question, which comes from Chris of Stuff As Dreams Are Made On. He asks:

I've had a question I've been wanting to ask since I started book one. Seeing that the books are set in England and most recently in Italy, did you travel to do research for the books? Have you been to London, Venice, Rome? And aside from just locations, what other research was involved for these books…as far as the time period, dress, formalities of society, etc.? 

The short answer to the question is, no, I didn't travel to research these locations (much to my dismay, believe me!). I would love to go to Italy and you'd think that writing two books set there (Dusk is set in Rome) would be a great excuse to do so…but it just wasn't in the cards.

However, I have been to England and spent several days in London, about ten years ago. So that has helped a bit with the feel for the city–taking into account the fact that it's two hundred years later than when my books are set.

So, yes, I did a lot of research about the geographic locales and historical setting. It helps that I've read many books set in this time period (both contemporary and classic), so I already had a a good sense for the customs, clothing, and lifestyle of 1820s England.

I supplemented this knowledge by doing research on specific things as they came up–what kind of carriage Victoria would ride in to a ball as opposed to the hack that Barth drives…what kind of decor might be used at a debut…whether the waltz was permitted to be danced by unmarried women at this time (yes, it was)…where a place like The Silver Chalice would be located in London, etc.

When it came time to research Italy, a place I'd never been, I started with the Internet. But then I quickly graduated to travel books. They work wonderfully for researching geographic locations–not only do I get photographs of historic buildings, but maps, information like walking distance, and lots of historical tidbits–and all in one place. My travel book about Rome is marked up like crazy!

I also spent some time at the Graduate Library at the University of Michigan (which besides being my alma mater, is a public university and very close to me) reading through some of Lord Byron's journals and letters about his time in Venice (for portions of Rises the Night). The portrayal of his Italian duchess lover was gleaned right from those pages. 

I was also able to find a few really old books–so old that I had to read them in the restricted section (remind anyone of Hogwarts' library?)–about Italian secret societies, like the Carbonari and others. That, of course, was for the development of the Tutela society. 

Great question, Chris, and thanks for playing!

Check back next Friday for another question answered in Readers Ask, and have a great weekend.