"Help! I've fallen (into 1875) and I can't get up!"
It's a good thing I started doing the research for my NaNoWriMo project way ahead of time. I am writing a Historical Novel, which is something I have always wanted to do but never quite had the patience for. I spent the entire afternoon the other day in the library, researching this particular area in our Florida Room. I have a stack of books to go through on the history of Riviera Beach, Dade County and the Palm Beaches.
As I wade through all this history, I keep thinking of more things that I need to narrow down in order to increase believability and add depth to my characters. I need to know what they wore, what they ate, how they traveled, what life was like, and most of all.... What was a common reason for death in the year 1875 among Scotch-Irish immigrants?
My main character's father dies when she is sixteen, leaving her alone in the world. She is shuffled off to Florida to stay with a close friend of her father's, a very rich man. How does my character deal with the sexual and physical abuse that was inflicted upon her as a child, by her own father? How does she adjust to life in Dade County?
I know the plot lines, but in order to make it believable, I have to know the 1800s inside and out. Talk about a huge undertaking.
As I wade through all this history, I keep thinking of more things that I need to narrow down in order to increase believability and add depth to my characters. I need to know what they wore, what they ate, how they traveled, what life was like, and most of all.... What was a common reason for death in the year 1875 among Scotch-Irish immigrants?
My main character's father dies when she is sixteen, leaving her alone in the world. She is shuffled off to Florida to stay with a close friend of her father's, a very rich man. How does my character deal with the sexual and physical abuse that was inflicted upon her as a child, by her own father? How does she adjust to life in Dade County?
I know the plot lines, but in order to make it believable, I have to know the 1800s inside and out. Talk about a huge undertaking.
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Marty
(new)
Oct 10, 2011 01:18PM
May I recommend a book by Tim Robinson, A Tropical Frontier; Pioneers and Settlers of Southeast Florida 1800-1890. 650 pages of info. Expensive, but worth it. I never work on history stuff without being able to reach out and touch it.I use it a LOT. Tim is also writing some historical fiction which is up your alley, but it is not published yet. He takes a family and plants them on Biscayne Bay and then follows them through the years up to Indian River, fun stuff for me because I know the "roots" of his characters.
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Marty wrote: "May I recommend a book by Tim Robinson, A Tropical Frontier; Pioneers and Settlers of Southeast Florida 1800-1890. 650 pages of info. Expensive, but worth it. I never work on history stuff without ..."Very cool, thank you for the suggestion! I work at the North Palm Beach Library, which is also where my office is (I am the Village historian) and we have a great collection in the Florida Room. We may actually have that book, it sounds somewhat familiar. I also may be able to have our library order that, if we don't have it.
