I'm currently researching for a new story - not a Riviera this time, but one set in Wales and featuring an historic garden. Of course as far as I am concerned that means books. I'm an old fashioned academic researcher and the printed word is my catnip. I'm also doing a short course on gardens with the Cardiff University - you will probably hear more about that as the weeks progress - so I have a Reading List. Lots of fun in bookshops and my newly discovered source of supply, the libraries of the Royal Horticultural Society. As a member, which I have been for many years, they will send you books for free, although you have to pay the postage to send them back. Always a thrill when the postman staggers to the door with a large envelope - those gardening books are big and heavy - at least, it is a thrill to me.
As you know. research is a favourite occupation for writers who want to claim to be working but who are not actually producing the words. It's called procrastination. And what a lovely way to do it with a pile of books like the ones currently sitting on the end of the dining room table. I have got some words down on paper and tried them out on an audience of fellow romance writers at a workshop, with some very helpful feedback, so things are moving, honest!
I promise the research will make it into a story eventually and I hope it will be a richer one for the background work. In the meantime, I am having a lot of fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment