Cheryl MacDonald's Blog: Cheryl MacDonald on Writing, Mystery and History
June 17, 2015
Those Devilish Details
Colonel Nichol and the Murder Maiden, my first novel and the first in a proposed series, is just about ready to publish. It's still driving me crazy on a couple of levels, though, especially when it comes to pinning down certain historic facts.
As a historian, when I come up against gaps, there are a few options on how to present material to readers. One is to speculate, based on available information. The other is to simply state that a fact is unknown.
As a novelist, I can't do that, at least not without shattering the illusion of reality I'm trying to create. For instance, early in the novel Nichol and his sidekick Wallace are with General Isaac Brock when they stop at a tavern to rally the Norfolk Militia on their way to Dover (and, ultimately, to the Detroit River.) I think I've got the action down pretty well -- but the setting took some doing. What did the tavern look like? What did Nichol, Brock and Wallace experience as they entered the tavern?
It is a historical fact that William Cullver ran a tavern at the location I'm describing, and that Brock stopped there, but I don't believe any details about its physical appearance survive. So I had to draw on general information about similar establishments. My tavern is a wooden building, part log cabin, part frame, because that was the typical progression at the time. And the main impressions the fellows get on entering are the dimness, compared to the sunlight outside, and the odor: smoke, sweat, suds and shit, or, more precisely, tobacco smoke, human sweat, tankards of ale, and a hint of horse and cattle manure that inevitably would have clung to the shoes and clothing of a group dominated by farmers who either walked or rode on horseback.I'm hoping that's enough to draw readers into the past and keep them there as the action unfolds.
As a historian, when I come up against gaps, there are a few options on how to present material to readers. One is to speculate, based on available information. The other is to simply state that a fact is unknown.
As a novelist, I can't do that, at least not without shattering the illusion of reality I'm trying to create. For instance, early in the novel Nichol and his sidekick Wallace are with General Isaac Brock when they stop at a tavern to rally the Norfolk Militia on their way to Dover (and, ultimately, to the Detroit River.) I think I've got the action down pretty well -- but the setting took some doing. What did the tavern look like? What did Nichol, Brock and Wallace experience as they entered the tavern?
It is a historical fact that William Cullver ran a tavern at the location I'm describing, and that Brock stopped there, but I don't believe any details about its physical appearance survive. So I had to draw on general information about similar establishments. My tavern is a wooden building, part log cabin, part frame, because that was the typical progression at the time. And the main impressions the fellows get on entering are the dimness, compared to the sunlight outside, and the odor: smoke, sweat, suds and shit, or, more precisely, tobacco smoke, human sweat, tankards of ale, and a hint of horse and cattle manure that inevitably would have clung to the shoes and clothing of a group dominated by farmers who either walked or rode on horseback.I'm hoping that's enough to draw readers into the past and keep them there as the action unfolds.
Cheryl MacDonald on Writing, Mystery and History
Thoughts and questions on writing about the past, both factually and fictionally.
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