Fact Finding Again

When is the best time to undertake research for your novel? Before you start writing the first draft? Making references to what information is needed as you go along and do the fact-finding afterwards? Having three published novels under my belt now and motoring through novel four, I've come to some conclusions. They are all set in the past and I have increased the research with each one.

The research for Her Mother's Secret, set in 1969, tended to be done as I went along and following up on notes I'd added in the margins - check this, find out about this. The sense of place on which many people have commented was created from having visited the country and a number of islands many times. Having followed an art course in college, I was able to draw on personal experience for Elin's paintings and the exhibition Getting the names right for a certain time is important to me so I researched what were popular Christian names in Wales and Greece for the age of my characters. I remember checking whether Alpha or Mythos beer would be served in a taverna in 1969! Did it really matter some would say? To me, it did. I also researched the effects of LSD for the drug-related part of the plot, world events and pop music at the time to try to add authenticity to the story.

When it came to novel two, Her Sister's Secret, I moved further back in time to 1946 and 1966. This time I needed to do some research before starting to write. The novel starts when WW2 had ended but rationing was still in place and the Black market was rife. I researched what punishments were meted out to spivs who were caught dealing as it was important for one of my characters to be 'away' for a certain length of time. I found out about Prisoners of War working on local farms, their uniforms and typical Italian names of the time. During writing the first draft, I then found out facts that were needed as I went along or made a note to come back and expand this or that point. Google maps were invaluable when setting the Sicily part of the novel. I'd hoped to visit the island but COVID struck and research was only online.

Her Nanny's Secret, my third novel, was set earlier again, in 1941. As I planned the novel, I researched the dates of the German advancement into Northern France, the French resistance movement and the POW Italian chapels built on the prison camps before writing the first draft. I thought it was important to do that before plotting out the story. Other topics I researched during the actual writing process included the everyday routines of a stable girl, wills and inheritance, especially how it differs in France, and the permanence or otherwise of memory loss. The second part of the novel is set in 1963. I found it interesting to revisit an area of France I know well. Again, as in the previous two novels, I researched Christian names to be authentic for the time and social class of the characters in Wales and France as well as common surnames in both countries.

For my WiP, novel four, I have undertaken the most research so far. Again, set in WW2, events in the war needed to be accurate but this time with the addition of the Allied invasion of Sicily. My novel, as always, deals with personal stories of the war rather than the military one but underpinning those, there has to be accuracy even though much of the research will not appear in the novel. My last three blog posts tell of the visit I made to the POW Camp, Hut 9 and my trip to Sicily. The visits have proved invaluable since I now have a wealth of notes and photographs to draw on. On my return, I've also visited Henllan Bridge Prisoner of War Camp 70 in West Wales. The camp was home to 1,200 Italians during the war. The POWs had no place to worship and gave up one of their huts, converting it into a Catholic Chapel. Although I'd read about it, nothing prepared me for the beauty and feel of the chapel and seeing the ingenuity of the POWS by making such a special place from found and scrap materials. I came away with ideas about the role Carlo played in creating a similar chapel for his fellow prisoners in my novel. 

I'm enjoying fully immersing myself in the stories of Sara, Carlo and Claudia. The research I've done is helping me to write without interruption. 

Thank you for reading. How do you approach research for your novels? I'd love it if you left a comment. Thanks.

***** Look out for some guest posts about undertaking research from other authors over the next few weeks.*****

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