Research

Writing historical fiction is really about continuing your education. This past week I've been investigating all sorts of interesting things:

how to speak/read French and Shawnee
the recipe for Martha Washington's Great Cake (served sixty!)
18th-century military discipline (General Washington finally had to court-martial his men for relieving themselves in public)
Indian treaties
George Rogers Clark (an amazing man who ended up a drunk in the gutters of Louisville)
Alcohol in colonial America (ever heard of rum taffia?)
the Marquis de Lafayette (we probably wouldn't have won the war without France)
von Steuben (this man trained Washington's troops and couldn't speak English but could curse in 3 languages)
George Washington's terrible teeth

The list goes on and on. Research is such fun!! I think I mentioned this 2nd book is supposed to be 352 pages. It was about 440 but now has been whittled down to 385. And it wasn't nearly as painful as carving up the first book. Maybe I am learning something! I don't know that I'll get it down to the publisher's number. Am not sure how much it matters at this point.

Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Robert Heinlein (1907-1988)