This would be the third installment in my little “How I write a book” series; click the tag below for all of them.  It’s my continuing effort to understand myself and have a cogent answer for people when they ask me that dreaded “are you a plotter/pantser/pepper” question.

Warning:  Overextended analogies ahead.

At this point in my process, I have characters.  I have this constellation of “moments” that I believe I can string a plot around.  My next step is to take all these wild ideas I have–like, “Ooh, what if she gets on a ship for the West Indies!” or “Ooh, what if he runs for Parliament!” and let historical reality crush them.  Mua ha ha.

No, not really.

For a writer of historical romance–okay, at least for this writer of historical romance–research is a chicken-and-egg thing.  Meaning, I eat a lot while I do it.

No, okay, seriously.  It usually starts out as, “Here’s the story I want to tell.  How can I make it historically plausible?”  (Note, I am relatively unconcerned about it being historically probable. It’s more than okay with me if I have my characters doing highly unlikely things–that makes for good story, IMO.  I just try to avoid having them do chronologically impossible things.)

So I crack open that egg and start the research, and discover all the defects in that perfect, fluffy adorable little chick of a plot I’d been dreaming about.  I have the inevitable moments like these:  … Read More »