Oh boy, is this a treat today. My darling editor, who is also one of my dearest friends, is here visiting over Christmas. Which means I have to get a manuscript finished pronto for her. For those of you who are writers and are wondering how to beat writer's block, have your editor in the same house as you for a while. That should cure it.
Anyhow, I met Anne a long time ago when we were both doing master's degrees in History. It's to my credit that she knows a heck of a lot about England. It's to her credit that I know a lot about Newfoundland. For several years I've hounded her to start her own blog. She hasn't. Yet. But I did convince her to write a guest post on mine. Maybe we can get her doing this monthly?
From the Editor’s desk:
This is a shot Anne sent me ages ago of her work space when she was hard at work on the Heart's Ease series.
Victoria has asked me to stop contemplating commas for a moment and say a few words about editing and historical writing.
Since this is a history-themed blog series, I’d like to take you all back in time to the year 2010 A.D. when Victoria sent me Chapter One of the Regency she was writing. I loved it. And I’ve been waiting four years to see Chapter Two.
When it does arrive, these will be what I’ll be looking for when it comes to the historical side of things:
— Accuracy. Now, strictly speaking, it’s up to the author to fact-check; however, I’m an obsessive double-checker and if something doesn’t sound right—be it facts, vocabulary or attitudes—I’ll either check it out myself or challenge it. There is one giant caveat here: liberties are sometimes necessary with facts and events to tell the story.
— “I didn’t know that!” moments. Following the above, I love to find out aspects of history I didn’t know before. I appreciate the work that goes into researching the fine details in historical writing and it suggests that the author, like me, loves doing research.
HMS Victory. Admiral Nelson's 104 gun ship of the line. Anne saw this when she was in Portsmouth. I love this picture!
— A good mix of England and Newfoundland. That's pretty specific to the works of Victoria Barbour. I’m intrigued to see how Victoria takes the standard setting for a Regency and incorporates Newfoundland into it. Sure, it will mean more work for me looking up unfamiliar vocabulary and arguing over prepositions (Re: The Great “on the porch” vs “in the porch Debate of 2014), but Newfoundland is one of my favourite places in Canada and I want know more about its strategic place in the Atlantic world during the 19th century.
—Swoon-worthy naval officers. Okay, that’s the reader side of me coming out. But am I right?
Thanks for having me Victoria. I'm watching you. PS: Fetch me a cup of tea. And then churn out 5000 words by lunch. That is all.