Lauren Conrad
asked
Tracy Chevalier:
I am fascinated by the fact that you were or are an expat. What made you move from the US to the UK? Since you've written historical novels that take place in the US and Europe, how does living in London make research easier or harder?
Tracy Chevalier
Hi Lauren--
Yep, I'm an expat. I have a British passport but still an American accent, though I've lived in the UK for over 30 years. I first came to London as a student, doing a semester abroad when I went to Oberlin College. I fell in love with the city and after I graduated decided to come back to live for a few months before getting serious about my life. I guess you could say I never got serious, as I am still here!
Living in London makes research easier, as the British Library (temple of research and all kinds of wonderful things) is just down the road from me. And it's easy to get to other places, as it's a hub of transportation. But of course it's also harder researching American settings, as it's much further away.
When I research I tend first to read a lot about a time and place, and start writing so I know what scenes will be set where. Then I go to the place - for instance, California and its sequoia groves last summer while writing At the Edge of the Orchard - and am either confirmed in what I've researched and felt about a place, or change everything because it's so different from what I imagined. Sometimes it's a combination of the two. I absolutely LOVE going to the place, soaking it in, thinking about what I've set there and making changes and coming up with new ideas. The research trips are charmed, every time.
Also (I know this is more than you've asked for!), I end up driving a lot - esp in the US trips - and start listening to a lot of music, and some of it becomes sort of the soundtrack to the book. So: Edge of the Orchard was the Avette Brothers and Radical Face. The Last Runaway was Gillian Welch and the Punch Brothers.
Yep, I'm an expat. I have a British passport but still an American accent, though I've lived in the UK for over 30 years. I first came to London as a student, doing a semester abroad when I went to Oberlin College. I fell in love with the city and after I graduated decided to come back to live for a few months before getting serious about my life. I guess you could say I never got serious, as I am still here!
Living in London makes research easier, as the British Library (temple of research and all kinds of wonderful things) is just down the road from me. And it's easy to get to other places, as it's a hub of transportation. But of course it's also harder researching American settings, as it's much further away.
When I research I tend first to read a lot about a time and place, and start writing so I know what scenes will be set where. Then I go to the place - for instance, California and its sequoia groves last summer while writing At the Edge of the Orchard - and am either confirmed in what I've researched and felt about a place, or change everything because it's so different from what I imagined. Sometimes it's a combination of the two. I absolutely LOVE going to the place, soaking it in, thinking about what I've set there and making changes and coming up with new ideas. The research trips are charmed, every time.
Also (I know this is more than you've asked for!), I end up driving a lot - esp in the US trips - and start listening to a lot of music, and some of it becomes sort of the soundtrack to the book. So: Edge of the Orchard was the Avette Brothers and Radical Face. The Last Runaway was Gillian Welch and the Punch Brothers.
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