Mary

Mary asked Sherwood Smith:

What did you do to research ships and nautical life for the Inda series? (which I love!)

Sherwood Smith That was a very long process. It began with tracking down as many of course sources that Patrick O'Brian used as I could, then reaching even farther back, to Mahan and others' descriptions of the evolution of war ships. (I had to figure out what ships would look like, and the strategy and tactics that would evolve if gunpowder was not invented, which meant studying Viking ships, triremes, etc)

Then I went back and found as many memoirs by sailors as I could get my hands on.

Probably the best source (and the most expensive, alas!) is Harland's SEAMANSHIP IN THE AGE OF SAIL. Another extremely technical (with beautiful inset drawings) is Longridge's THE ANATOMY OF NELSON'S SHIPS, and also Wilbur's THE PICTURE BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION'S PRIVATEERS.

More Answered Questions

Angela

Angela asked Sherwood Smith:

Thanks for your response about a Lhind the Thief sequel. Could you recommend another great author/books since we seem to have a lot of the same books in common. I enjoy your comments & reviews, & I'm desperate for another really great read. I love books like Crown Duel, Trouble with Kings, Graceling & Fire, Chima's Seven Realms series, Megan Whalen Turner...? You get the idea. Thanks so much!

Bt asked Sherwood Smith:

Crown Duel is one of my favorite books! I know the new editions are "re-edited" and there seems to be a lot of re-wording and re-phrasing. Why was that done and what was the impetus behind the re-editing? Were you aiming to change the tone or feel of the text? Were other, bigger changes made? I've read (and reread) the old Firebird edition and loved it and never noticed any issues, so I'm very curious. Thanks so much!

Casey

Casey asked Sherwood Smith:

Should fans reach out to DAW to push publishing A Sword Named Truth? I wasn't sure if any movement was made by them yet.

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