How much historical research do you have to do to write each book?

E.C. Jarvis Not a lot. Most of the research I end up doing is about specific items that I want to include in the book but that I know nothing about. For example, the machine in 'The Machine' is loosely based on a nuclear fission reactor. Now, I'm no fancy scientist/engineer with a phd in whatever the hell you need a phd in to know about that stuff, I'm a writer, right? So, I did a little light reading on the construction and operation of said machines, just enough so I could write a passage or two and make it sound reasonably realistic.

Similarly, I recently had to read up on the operation and construction of steam locomotives. There is a LOT of info out there for the enthusiast, which is both a blessing and a curse to a writer. I don't want to have to read through ten thousand pages in order to knock out a single paragraph on a subject, but that's better than no information at all.

For the most part, the style and settings of the books are based on what I know of and remember from school. Being British, our history is sort of ingrained in us from all directions. When someone says Victorian England, you almost instantly know what that means with regard to a setting and the people, and there isn't much research needed.

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