Research – Page 2 – I Walk Alone

Research rabbit hole – crime and punishment Southampton 1926

Research is key when writing believable historic fiction. Like most authors, I do the majority before I write a single word. Much of it involves working out the plot, and getting the setting and details right. With Land Fit For Heroes, much of the research revolved around the General Strike, Southampton Docks, and Melbourne Street. Crime and punishment was a theme running through this story, and finding out what happened to Southampton’s law breakers when they got caught led me down an interesting research rabbit hole and changed the direction of the plot completely.

Bluebells, witches and a family grave

The Common looked glorious as we walked towards the last parkrun of April. Everything was fresh, green and bursting with life. The air was crisp and rich with the smell of spring, freshly cut grass and damp earth. It was one of those mornings that make you glad to be alive. Of course, my main aim for the morning was visiting the dead, like I do most Saturday mornings. I was especially interested in the bluebells I’d heard were bursting out everywhere in the Old Cemetery.

Procrastination

One thing all the writers I know have in common is an innate ability to procrastinate, particularly when they’re supposed to be writing. Perhaps it has something to do with having an overactive imagination, or maybe it’s because writing is much harder than people think. Then again, it could all be part of the process. By letting our minds wander or flit from one inconsequential thing to another, we may allow the ideas to come to us. Whatever it is, I know I do it a lot. Today, I thought I’d share a few of the odd things that lead me away from my keyboard.

Who was Tommy Lewis?

Seventh Daughter, the third book in my historic fiction series, is currently being prepared for publication and should be available shortly. The story is set in the summer of 1931 when helping a neighbour unleashes a chain of events that threatens to tear the close-knit but impoverished Northam Street community apart. A few of the characters will be familiar to anyone who has read Plagued and Land Fit For Heroes. One new character is mentioned several times, although he doesn’t make an appearance. Most residents of Southampton will recognise his name, Thomas Lewis, but how many know his story? I think it is about time I got round to telling it.

Stepping back in time ~ 1926

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This may be true, but when it comes to writing historic fiction, a picture can conjure a thousand words, at least for me. My stories might be inspired by family and odd things I’ve read here and there. The details might be sharpened by research using resources like JSTOR, old newspapers, Radio times archives, old OS maps, archived weather reports and local history pages on Facebook. The old photographs and postcards give me a feel for the era I’m writing about, though. They capture the essence of the time and place like words never can.

Homeward bound

Thanks to the blue bin lorry driver’s rather rude and distracting interruption, I never did get round to the final instalment of my epic foggy walk on 11 January. To be honest, I toyed with the idea of leaving it as it was, with me walking through the beautiful misty parks and chatting with the park keeper. The trouble was, I had some wonderfully atmospheric photos I didn’t want to waste, and the area set the scene in both Plagued and Land Fit For Heroes. That area was Northam, and it is well worth a look around.

Bevois Valley in the fog

My foggy walk on 11 January did not end in Dukes Road. Instead, I carried on to Bevois Valley. The area is named after Sir Bevois, who, according to legend, founded the town of Southampton. I’ve written about the story of Sir Bevois before when I explored the Bevois Mount area and its fabulous graffiti, so I won’t repeat myself now. Today, there were other things I wanted to see. Some were connected with my work in progress, some were reminders of Plagued and Land Fit For Heroes, and others were curiosities I wanted to investigate. The fog wasn’t going to make it easy, but I was there, so it was worth a try.

Slum clearance – Northam Street

There have been several rounds of slum clearance in Southampton’s history, notably when the area around Simnel Street was cleared in the 1890’s after the discovery of the body of Ellen Wren. I’ve written about Ellen and her unfortunate demise before, so I won’t repeat myself, but details can be found here if you missed it. More slums were demolished in the 1930s, mostly in a piecemeal fashion under rules brought about by the Housing Act of 1930. Others were not knocked down until the 1960s. Included in the latter were the houses of Northam Street, where my father-in-law, Albert Keates, was born. Seventh Daughter, the third book in my series, is set there. The book will probably be released at the end of the summer. In the meantime, I thought I’d share some of my research into the area.

Mud, paint, park runs and fallen leaves

As 2021 drew to a close my outdoor exercise mostly revolved around parkrun. My first Novel, Plagued, was about to be published and almost every waking moment was consumed by proof reading and panic. The empty boating lake and the bare branches of the trees, like ink blown paintings, were a welcome relief. Even so, my head was buzzing with ideas, flitting between Plagued, in 1918 and my work in progress set in 1937, working title The Luck of the Draw. My plan for the morning was to walk up to the Avenue to try to imagine it with tram lines and trams.

The art of conversation and great escapes

What did people talk about in 1918? This was a question very much on my mind when I began writing Plagued. Dialogue is a key element in any work of fiction, what the characters say, or don’t say, often tells the story. When it comes to historic fiction, the conversations also help set the scene, and the tone and content needs to be right. If it isn’t, readers will notice, or at least they will find it increasingly difficult to suspend their disbelief. Obviously, modern terms and phrases have to be avoided, and I spent a great deal of time Googling the origins of certain words and phrases (like Heath Robinson) to make sure I didn’t let any anachronisms slip in. Reading works written at the time helped with vocabulary too, but the content was another matter.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31