Researching for Whispers in Time (Article)

When I decided to write my first book, I wanted to write about time travel. I’ve always been fascinated by the notion of what would happen if a modern-day woman (or man) were to suddenly find themselves in the past. How would she react? What would he experience in such a different environment? What would the smells be like, the sounds?

So, I knew I wanted to write a time travel romance novel, but what would the premise be – how, exactly, would the heroine be thrust into the past? Where and when in history would she end up? I had to think of something that made sense, in a fantasy fiction kind of way, of course. Because, really, as far as I know, time travel hasn’t been achieved…yet.

I decided on time-travel-by-ancient-stone-artifact. What I then needed to do was create an explanation for the Stone’s mystical powers. It just made sense to use Celtic folklore as a basis for the Stone’s magic. I did some research into the Celtic gods and goddesses and linked a couple of them to the Stone.

Damon and Gabriella (3D illustration rendered by Author)

I chose nineteenth-century England because that’s a time period I enjoy reading about in the form of romance novels, and being an American, I’m intrigued by the world of the nobility of that era. And, being American, I had no idea how to properly address a member of the “peerage” or what the order of the hierarchy (titles) was, other than what I’d read in books.

I had to learn the order of importance (Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Baron, and Baronet) and how a peer of the realm was addressed depending on the circumstances, how a wife was addressed, a daughter, a married daughter, the eldest son, younger sons, wife of the younger son, or the mother.

There’s the formal announcement or correspondence (His Grace the Duke of Glastonbury, K. G.), the salutation on formal correspondence ("My Lord Duke,"), an informal announcement or social correspondence (His Grace The Duke of Glastonbury, K. G.), the salutation on social correspondence ("Dear Duke of Glastonbury," or, more familiarly, "Dear Duke,"), the address in speech ("Your Grace" (by inferiors) or "Duke" (by social equals) the first time in conversation, followed by "Sir" (or "Glastonbury," if addressed by a very close friend or relative), the reference in speech ("His Grace" (by inferiors), or "The Duke" (by social equals)), and the signature on social correspondence (Glastonbury).

Whew! It’s a very complex system and I still need to refer back to my notes once in a while!

Once I got all that out of the way, I was ready to construct my story. But first I had to create my characters. I had to decide what Gabriella would look like, such as her hair color, eye color, skin tone, body type, and what kind of personality she would have. The same went for Damon and all the other characters. And voila, with Whispers in Time we get Gabriella, a confident modern-day American woman meets stuffy nineteenth-century aristocrat, and turns his world upside down.

 

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