For Anna, I have to figure out in as much detail possible what was going on in the Peninsular Wars in the summer and fall of 1811, so I can figure out the best way to get her widowed, captured by the French, and determined to escape.

Have you read Heyer's "The Spanish Bride"? It covers that in exquisite detail (the campaign itself). Based on a true story.

"Random Shots from a Rifleman" was John Kinkaid's memoir of his years on the Peninsula, but I think it's been OOP for decades. Which sucks. Because it was a brilliant vivid memoir.

There's also Harry Smith's memoir, which I find rather dry. Heyer got all the good bits of it.

Betsy, me too - I never finished Smith's. Kinkaid's was lovely, though.

It makes me so sad that the Smiths never had children. That has to have been devastating for them.

Oooh. Check out this page on the 95th.

Juana would have made an interesting parent, methinks. Not too much sentiment in there, if I've read her right.

Damn! Now I really want a copy of Kinkaid's book. Last seen in the library of a friend in London, who now lives in Australia.

edit; SUSAN!

[link]

t bookmarking away

Shallow of me, but I decided to make the hero of Anna's story from the 95th largely because I think the rifle uniforms are extremely sexy, but don't feel that way about your standard issue redcoat.

Hmmm. I have the cast bloat problem, too. It started as texture, but I know it's gotten out of hand. I'm just unsure of who needs to be trimmed and who needs to be axed entirely. I can combine characters... this may be the best way. Some of my early irritants serve plot purposes later on...

I went to such painstaking lengths to learn facts like how far can the average person walk in a day? For how many hours is there daylight at a certain lattitude at a certain time of year? Will fast-falling snow melt on a the coat of a horse who's laboring through drifts? What sort of plants were commonly cultivated for medicinal purposes at the time the story takes place, and what was the staple diet of a commoner before discovery of the New World, i.e., no potatoes, tomatoes, corn (maize), etc., likewise, no New World medicinals.

I think I almost like research better than the writing. Almost.

Susan and Beverly, you have two excerpts from my novel "The Jewel of Kemar" insent.

It's a rush just to type that phrase "my novel". That's how drought stricken my writing life has been.

Off to bleed on another page. Heh.