Virginia Crow's Blog: Crowvus Book Blog, page 33

Day Fifteen: The First of the Mince Pies

Picture One: A bit blurry, but I love this picture of the three wanderers about to go for a walk!
Picture Two: Dad was very pleased with this "fire sculpture"!
Picture Three: Picture Four: One man and his dog (woof woof).
Picture Five: Orlando loves Kendal Bear. Maybe even more than he loves Kendal Cat!
Picture Six: Orlando giving sloppy kisses.
Picture Seven: The first mince pies! First of all, they looked like this...
Picture Eight: ...then this...
Picture Nine: ...and finally this!
Picture Ten: It's rare to get a decent selfie with Orlando, so this needs celebrating!
Picture Eleven: The first Christmas Rummy! It's very late, but better late than never!
Picture Twelve: We found the snowman! He had been put away during the move and it took us days to work out where he was!
Picture Thirteen: Games Night is always a wonderful way to spend an evening.
Picture Fourteen: Back in time! Here's a photo of an intrepid adventurer on the morning walk.
Picture Fifteen: This low sun is a classic winter sight in Caithness. And this is the road running alongside our house!

Day Fourteen: Readying the House for Christmas

Picture One:The garage to sort...
Picture Two:...And all neatly packed with boxes!
Picture Three:Our Yule Log drying merrily for Christmas Eve
Picture Four:The greenery on display in the window of the porch
Picture Five:No, that's a dustpan handle, not the tree trunk!The conservatory is shaping up well.
Picture Six:The main tree in the bay window
Picture Seven:The horseshoe catching good luck on the doorstep
Picture Eight:Christmas is certainly coming!
Picture Nine:The mantle shelf in the Drawing Room is coming to life with greenery and Christmas cards
Picture Ten:A wax tree decoration made by our Franconian friends.
Picture Eleven:No tree lights, but a bouquet of greenery and a host of reflected lights.
Picture Twelve:We're still dreaming of a white Christmas,and imagining the Burn of Baillie looking just like this!
Picture Thirteen:But our bridge is not quite as picturesque as this!
Picture Fourteen:Dad...No other words!

Day Thirteen: Tidying and Decorating

Picture One:A low sun on the River Forss
Picture Two:Ginny and Orlando looking as though they've fallen out, but in fact they are both admiring the view!
Picture Three:Looking downstream in stunning light
Picture Four:A trip to the tip!Getting rid of all the rubbish the former house owners left behind.
Picture Five:The shadows on the ceiling are one of my favourite things about the Christmas Tree.
Picture Six:The German carousel which was gifted to us by our friends in Weissenberg.Fitting that it's sitting underneath the picture they gave us of their hometown.
Picture Seven:The halls are decked, and the crib illuminated......and it looks awesome!
Picture Eight:A pile of presents...I'm getting there!
Picture Nine:But there's always time to relax in the bath!
Picture Ten:The work on the conservatory is going well.Having a Christmas Tree in there is making it much more enjoyable to work in!
Picture Eleven:But not all the greenery displays are big.Here's a little vase of greenery on the mantlepiece.
Picture Twelve:The Crowvus calendar on the last month.Very atmospheric, don't you think?
Picture Thirteen:The moon through the window and the tree lights reflected there.

Day Twelve: Decorating Weekend Part Deux

Picture One: We decided to get a tiny tree for the birdcage! Hopefully a picture will follow tomorrow when we actually have it in situ!
Picture Two: Orlando loves his windfarm walks! Long shadows followed us all the way today, along with watery winter sunlight. Very Christmassy!
Picture Three: Clem and I loved the walk too - and here we are with the house between us! You can't see it well, but the trees you can see are our wild wood.
Picture Four: The view from the wind turbine in the woods. This one is a bit spooky and the way the wind turbines rise up out of the trees makes me think of mythical winged beasts!
Picture Five: Home now - and chance to enjoy a cup of tea and a chocolate in front of the Christmas tree!
Picture Six: The evergreen garlands have started arriving - courtesy of Clemency - so Ginny and I were in charge of putting them up.
Picture Seven: I had to climb quite high to put this display up on the top of the French dresser, but I'm pleased I did because it looks amazing!
Picture Eight: Clemency is looking unreasonably glamourous on this picture! I thought her hairstyle looked a bit Edwardian - although the snowman earrings maybe not quite so much!!
Picture Nine: This year's Decorating Weekend also took the form of some serious removal stuff! We wanted to get the conservatory looking better, and I think we're doing ok with that. More pictures to follow!
Picture Ten: My poor class aren't able to come into school tomorrow so I have asked them to send in pictures of themsleves with their Christmas trees or decorations. Ginny took this photo of me with the Christmas tree to start the ball rolling!
Picture Eleven: The hall is looking very full of greenery now - looking absolutely stunning! Please excuse the boxes - they are the rest of the Christmas decorations!
Picture Twelve: Another view of the hall - doesn't it look festive?!

Day Eleven: Decorating Weekend (Saturday)

Picture One: Charles on the tree - this is a Christmas tradition! Picture Two: The porch for the summer house was a good place for storing the holly! Picture Three: Believe it or not, these are just branches and not whole trees! Picture Four: Yes, it's unseasonal, but we live in a magic place! Picture Five: Non-alcoholic Gluhwein - part of our house purchase 😂 Picture Six: The lights are going up - teamwork makes the dream work! Picture Seven: My (Judith's) annual fabulous headgear photo! Picture Eight: Clemency's earrings are rather amazing too! Picture Nine: The finished tree - stunning! Picture Ten: And this tree came from our garden! We used white lights and silver and gold ornaments to create this Victorian-style tree for the conservatory. Picture Eleven: But our opulent tree is just something else 😍

Day Ten: The Tree is Up

Picture One: It's not all bad having to have two PCR tests in the space of a week. We got to see the light falling beautifully on these hedges on our way back from the Test Centre! 
Picture Two: We had to cut a tiny bit off the Christmas Tree trunk so it would fit in the holder. And it had a little face! So cute!
Picture Three: It wasn't just the roads around Caithness which were soaking in the light - the Baillie Wind Farm looked pretty impressive too!
Picture Four: And as the light fell, it just got better and better...
Picture Five: ...and I couldn't stop taking pictures of it!
Picture Six: Meanwhile, our tree was finally in place - although it's looking a bit trussed-up on this picture! Nine foot tall and fits like a glove!!
Picture Seven: It's a work in progress, but I have to say it's looking rather wonderful so far!! 
Picture Eight: Orlando loves the advent calendar! He thinks it's where treats come from!
Picture Nine: One step closer to Christmas - our annual viewing of Nativity! 
Picture Ten: The Song of Stempster! Our dog walks usually feature the rising of the sun and the running of the deer. We do have an organ, but none of us have put it to use yet, so here's the piano instead!

Day Nine: Tree Eve!

Picture One:Another beautiful sunrise this morning, leaving the Wild Wood washed in pink.
Picture Two:Setting up a stepladder is very tricky and a little bit beyond me (Judith)!
Picture Three:The low sun gives a beautiful light, which in turn creates wonderful shadows!
Picture Four:No, it's not a giant green sausage - it's a Christmas Tree!And tomorrow we'll be putting it up.
Picture Five:Uh-oh! The delivery man dared to bring us our shopping.Imagine this view, accompanied by barking, for dozens of minutes!
Picture Six:Bringing a used Christmas card envelope to life(if fossil fish could be alive!)
Picture Seven:Okay, the delivery man has gone...Back to puppy cuddles. Picture Eight:Having steamed up windows does make sunrise look amazing!
Picture Nine:Here's the room which will be transformed tomorrow......With a tree!

#HistFicThursdays - Writing Real People

One of the most problematic aspects of this genre is that, inevitably, we end up covering real people in some way, shape, or form. My books have included a range of real people, from kings to outlaws, prime ministers to military captains. It's not really possible to write a convincing historical fiction story without at least referencing someone who was a true historical figure, and with this comes a series of considerations which historical fiction writers have to address.

My multiple-great-grandfather,William the Conqueror(pic: Man vyi)

Firstly, in what way are you choosing to reference this character? It could be one of three things, and each of them have pros and cons attached:

The real person is only mentioned. There is a pretty decent likelihood that your invented characters will know of the people who existed in the real world. This is a cunning way of setting a time and place for your story. The obvious one being a reference to a ruler and, unless you're writing with the very lower classes, most people knew who their leader was.
PRO: No ethical or historical constraints - these people are literally just words on a page!
CON: The main downside to this is that it's easy to lose track of historical accuracy. When people are only names, we can quickly ditch authenticity and this can lead to other plot holes in research.The real person is a friend of a friend. Yes, he fought alongside Wellington, but that was two years ago! This immediately sets your character as "one of them", whoever them might be!
PRO: This works exceptionally well for the old mentor type character. You can see s/he's learnt from the best (or worst!) because history has told us what the mentor's mentor was like.
CON: A person is judged on the friends they keep. Consider what being a friend to this real person might actually have meant to your character. This system requires the most research because you're not just researching the real individual, you're also researching their social circle and their social circle's social circle!Go the whole hog and have the real person as a character in their own right!
PRO: This real person becomes a real character, and your real character at that! You can modify them to whatever you think they would (or even should) have been.
CON: You can't entirely re-write history. Whatever you write about, you should be able to support, even if it's only in a throwaway comment at the bottom of a letter.Next, consider how would they would interact with your fictional characters. Letters are invaluable for this. Most people who we still know of from the past will have written letters, whether or not those letters are available is a different matter! If you are choosing to write from a historical figure's point of view, add diaries and journals to the necessary research documents.
There are also ethical questions. You have to be very careful when handling the issue of real people who living people may be connected to, whether by blood or inclination. I'm not sure whether there is another genre where characters can create such division amongst readers as historical fiction which explores real historical characters.
Girolamo Savonarolaby Fra Bartolomeo
So, having chosen to star a real-life character, how far can you push reality? This is a very fine balance because, after all, you've chosen this character on purpose so that must mean you don't want to completely alter who they were or you would have chosen someone else! Because I am a stickler for authenticity, I tend to really explore who a person was, where they were at any given date (if the information is available), but most of all: how they reacted to other people and events. This is how we really see what a person is like. Here's an example from my current research...
At the moment, I'm delving into the world of 15th Century Florence, and one of the key figures in my novel is Girolamo Savonarola. He is fabulously contentious and so multifaceted that he makes an icosahedron look positively flat. When I first looked him up, the first words which sprang to mind were "zealot" and "destructive", but these were based entirely on the things for which he is best known. A closer look showed he was more complex than even his "outlandish" religious ideas. The aspect I selected to explore was his relationship with Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Here was a friendship which defies pretty much everything which was expected from him, so this was worth exploring... 
...And the rest, as they say, is history!

Day Eight: A Third of Advent!

Picture One:Holding out for a Hero!Well, you're allowed a treat or two in the run up to Christmas, aren't you?!
Picture Two:Another one of the inherited Christmas decorationswhich has also managed to sneak out ahead of the weekend!
Picture Three:Mum's staple reading during Advent.A different sort of feast.
Picture Four:Orlando waiting for his walk.He's exceptionally good at blocking the door so you can't leave without him!
Picture Five:A toasty fire and a furry friend.Perfect for December!
Picture Six:Christmas and Music - the perfect mix!
Picture Seven:A Christmas candle cup......There'll be lots more candles appearing on here over the next few days!
Picture Eight:Not sure about you all, but Orlando it exhausted!Goodnight!

Day Seven: Jack Frost

 

Picture One: Waiting on a PCR test isn't all bad... at least living out in the country it's possible to go for a walk without meeting anyone!
Picture Two: The hard ground frost stayed for most of the day - it was very picturesque!
Picture Three: Frost can be even more fun than snow for leaving messages and pictures! Here's a smile on the car to share with you all!
Picture Four: And nothing can beat nature's frost patterns!
Picture Five: A glorious sunrise this morning, although they're getting later and later!
Picture Six: Judith has been doing more papering in her bedroom...
Picture Seven: ...while Clemency put together this fabulous Merchants' Chest!