Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

I'm please to welcome Diane Haeger today to share some of her thoughts about research and the importance of visiting the places in her books.


As an historical novelist with 12 fact-based stories under my belt— each one a tale I am absolutely passionate about, the two questions I am most often asked are: How exactly do you do your research? And, Do you visit the places you write about?

The answers to both questions are actually near and dear to my heart. First, yes, I travel to every place in which I set a novel— that has always been the goal. As much as possible, albeit through the prism of years, I need to see the places my characters saw, walk the roads they might have walked, gaze up at the same sky, smell the same kinds of flowers, listen to the same trees bristle in the distance and, in general, just be a part of the world my characters would have known. I always ask myself, If I can’t make them real for myself, how will I ever make them real for people who read my books?

That was the cardinal rule of the icon and literary giant, Irving Stone, a man who many years ago was a mentor of sorts for me. I was blessed to have met Mr. Stone, the author of such epic novels as The Agony and The Ecstacy and Lust For Life, when I was trying to wrap my mind around the idea of writing my first novel, and unable even to imagine it then being published. In addition to being supportive of this young woman with only an English Literature degree and a far-off dream, he spoke about his passion for making his characters come to life through details. He did that with Vincent Van Gogh, in part by interviewing someone who actually knew Van Gogh, if you can imagine. Later, he pursued the opportunity to sleep in Michelangelo’s house— a circumstance for the author that absolutely breathed life back into that colorful, artistic world for his novel. I was stunned and charmed by the lengths to which Mr. Stone went for his readers.

Taking his early advice, there was four years of research and writing ahead of me, both here and in France, to bring the legendary Diane de Poitiers to readers with a level of detail and passion of which I hope he would be proud. That journey eventually became my first novel, Courtesan. I visited her palatial French homes several times, strolled the grounds, I saw the view from her bedroom window. I was able to view several of her own personal items, as well as a letter she had written in her own hand (and remember she lived over 500 years ago, so that was really something special for me to see!)

Since then, I have walked up the steep, treacherous staircase of a servants wing in an old Savannah plantation, with Spanish moss dripping from the trees outside a small window, for my novel, My Dearest Cecelia... I have sat in a room in George IV’s famous Brighton Pavilion by the sea, among his favorite Chinoiserie, where he entertained his Maria, before I wrote The Secret Wife of King George IV and I have ambled down the cobbled streets of Margherita Luti’s peasant neighborhood in Rome to better be able to bring The Ruby Ring to life.

After immersing myself in the location, there is the challenge of finding source material for historical novels. For me at least, it comes from anything and everything. I love the hunt! There is nothing I enjoy so much after traveling as to root through the dusty, rarely used attic or basement of a library or used book store, searching for a rare old volume. Wonderful used book web sites have in recent years made that less necessary for me, since I can now buy my sources from all over the world with the click of a button. Still, there is something indefinable about the treasure hunt for the old volumes themselves that I never want to give up. I just love the way they look and feel when I open them!

Add to that, finding a incredibly knowledgeable expert who is willing to consult with me on details from which they have made their life’s work, and I am in heaven. As a writer, I have been very blessed with each novel to have found at least one specialist in his field who has been willing to help me bring more realism to my writing. It might be art, music, costume, religion of the times... I never even imagine who it will be before I begin. But searching for that person has become as much a part of the hunt for me, as finding the source material itself.

A writer’s life today is a fast-paced tumultuous one. The literary world is changing at the speed of light it seems, as is publishing in general, to keep up with rapidly evolving technology. But so far, I have been truly blessed with the most loyal fans, incredible editors, an amazing literary agent who has been my cheerleader for almost fifteen years. Last of all, but most importantly, I have found an amazing series of women from history with whom to share my time, and to write about, as I try to tell their stories to a new era and new readers. For an old English Literature major like me, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

 
My thanks to Diane for taking time out of her busy schedule for this great post.  Her latest book, The Queen's Rival, was released on March 1, 2011.  Look for my review later this week.