Some of you may be aware (since I posted about it in March) that I am currently working on a mystery novel that takes place in the 1800s. This will have some rather familiar issues for people who are thinking about the 19th century in general – specifically the Victorian era, as it were. But being a historian, I’m digging around in the past, lining things up and trying to get everything as close to right as I can. The trouble is, when you are writing about a character who has fallen back in time […]
History Chat: Divisions That Would Lead to Civil War
The original disagreements that lead to the American Civil War, just in case anyone forgot, had been apparent since before we declared independence from Britain. Let us not forget that slavery had been the center of the southern colonies economy long before we had even considered abolishing it. And not just that, but it was already a center of British political debate when the war started. What was one of the enticements the southern colonies had to join the resistance at that point? That if they stayed loyal to the British crown, they would likely […]
Understanding Failure
Just a couple days ago I was reading a New Yorker article on Mo Willems. Mo Willems is most famous for his Pigeon books, his Elephant and Piggie series, and for Knuffle Bunny. The Pigeon books started it all with Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. But what he points to in his interview with Rivka Galchen is the fact that he had to fail a lot to get where he was. Even when he was succeeding, he felt like he was failing to a certain extent. I hit that point today where I was thinking much […]
The Science of Deduction
Yes, I’m writing a mystery novel. No, it’s not progressing well. I’ve hit upon the stumbling block that I haven’t done forensic research in a while, so I’m frustrated and reading as many books as I can get my hands on. Apparently my mind has come up with a victim, and a motive. But I don’t know the killer yet, nor do I know the detective. Also, the story changed enough that I can no longer use the title I had in mind. I’m thinking I should just let this one write itself before I […]
Enola: Chapter the First
Please note: The following story is in fact what we call fan fiction. This means that the author is playing around with characters, plot, and settings that were first conceived of by someone else. In this particular case, Enola Holmes is property of Nancy Springer and Sherlock Holmes is property of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The modernization and the plot belong to Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat. Chapter the First My name is Enola Holmes. I am 18 years old and work in central London as the world’s only scientific perditorian – that is, I use […]
Writing, Writing, Writing
It’s very rare these days (although slowly becoming less rare) that I have a day off in which to get things done. Those things are typically chores. (Today I got the oil changed on my car.) But what I really want to be using these days off for is writing. The trouble is the writing doesn’t always come to me at the most convenient times. I have a couple of pages full of writing that I will not be publishing (but contain the gist of an idea) that happened upon me while I was at […]
Musings on Writing
Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing. The ideas bounce around, bumbling, rolling, hitting the walls inside my brain begging to be spilled out into the fathomless unknown of the world around me, wanting to be birthed and read and loved. And I look at them and think, ‘Yes. It’s time. You should come out now.’ But then I sit to write down these words and nothing happens. I stare at a blank screen, my fingers itching to add something, to mark it up with shapes and words and colors. To turn the blank canvas into […]
Eerie Silence
The world stood still. It was quiet. We could feel the shock. It was one thing at three am. But the world held on. The tears would not come any longer. The train station was quiet. The train car was quiet. No cars honked on the way into work. And Boston wasn’t alone. Arriving at work was it’s own thing. No “good mornings” were uttered. We just looked at each other, Dumbfounded. Move on with our day, but look In disbelief As the world feels like it crashes around us. As the day progressed, We […]
History Chat: The Earliest Constitutions
Most of the questions I have involving history are because I heard someone say something that didn’t quite line up with my existing knowledge. Either that or someone posed a question I didn’t know the answer to and had to look it up. Since I spend most of my time either in a classroom or a museum, this happens quite a lot. Today’s inquiry came from a simple statement. John Adams wrote the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, the oldest Constitution in the country. So, I will start with the part that is the easiest to […]
BOTM: Enchanted Islands Parts One and Two
Okay, so I admit, I’m starting this without actually finishing the book, but I needed to take a moment to stop and reflect. The first two parts of this book are really what lead Frances Frankowski to her job and mission in Navel Intelligence. I was beginning to wonder, honestly, when we were going to meet Ainslie Conway, the man we know from the beginning that Fanny is going to marry. That being said, having some clue of where this book was going did make the journey through parts one and two more bearable. We […]