I have never believed in the adage Write What You Know. How boring is that? Frankly, my life’s just not that interesting. Instead, I prefer to write what I want to learn.
Case in point, I travelled to Yorkshire, England to do location research for Tea with Jam and Dread, the newest Tea by the Sea mystery. I’ve been to London several times but never to Yorkshire. In earlier books in the series it was mentioned that the grandmother character, Rose Campbell, had been a kitchen maid at a grand manor house near Halifax in her youth before marrying a visiting American, and moving to his country.
When I decided I wanted to take Rose back to Thornecroft Castle House, which is now a hotel, for the hundredth birthday celebrations of Elizabeth, the Dowager Countess of Frockmorton, I knew right away I’d have to make the trip myself before I could take my characters there.
These days you can do an enormous amount of research on the internet. Examine historical records, check up on the weather and the climate, study other people’s tourist photos, follow the layout of roads and streets on maps and zoom in at the level of an individual house or pan out to see the spread of the coastline.
You can travel down entire streets, turning and retracing your steps as needed in Google Earth. Read restaurant menus and have a peek at hotel bedrooms and dining rooms.
But even all of that doesn’t come close to the real experience. Tasting the food, braving the traffic, feeling the wind on your face or the strength of the rain, seeing the mist or the sunshine on the green hills and hearing the sheep.
Traveling to previously-unknown places also provides inspiration for entire plots or small scenes. The very first scene in my book was directly inspired by our experiences trying to maneuver our way safely through the roundabouts (three lanes, seven exits!), and down the tiny streets. In the pouring rain, when even the GPS isn’t entirely sure of the way. Driving on the “wrong” side of the road to boot.
While in Yorkshire my daughter and I stayed at Holdsworth House Hotel, a gorgeous old stately house (the original parts date from 1633), now a hotel, and that inspired much of the landscaping and decor of Thronecroft Castle House and Hotel, as well as some of the history.
The rolling green, sheep-dotted fields provided a hefty dose of atmosphere. Remember that my characters are visitors to this new place, and they see everything though tourist eyes (much as we did.)
We visited traditional and historic Yorkshire pubs, so my characters could do so also, and we lined up at the bar to order drinks. (No table service in English pubs). We ate bangers and mash and enjoyed meat pies with thick gravy and mashed potatoes.
When my daughter tasted her first mouthful of mushy peas, I used her exact expression for the character Bernie in the book when she tries the mushy peas. (Spoiler alert—not favorable!) That’s the sort of detail you just can’t get sitting at home and browsing the internet, no matter how thorough you try to be.
In the books, Lily Roberts owns an afternoon tearoom on Cape Cod, so of course my daughter and I had to treat ourselves to a proper afternoon (not high!) tea. Although our Yorkshire hotel provided afternoon tea, we didn’t have time with all the research and tourist expeditions we went on, including a visit to the town of Haworth to visit the Bronte Parsonage, so we saved that treat until we were back in London. We went to The Wolseley in Piccadilly.
At The Wolseley we greatly enjoyed the coronation chicken sandwiches. Coronation chicken was the official coronation dish of Queen Elizabeth. It was intended that everyone in the nation would be able to participate in a common experience on her coronation day.
Originally a salad, a topping for fresh greens, it’s now a common afternoon tea sandwich. The mango chutney and curry power are intended to represent the empire. (For King Charles, the official dish was a quiche.)
I know Lily will want to try making and serving the sandwiches in her own tearoom, so when I got home, I found a recipe, tested it myself (my dedication to research is impressive!). That recipe made its way into the book.
Another example of NOT writing what you know, but what you want to learn.
I believe a writer should have fun with research. Learn new things, travel to new and interesting places. All that helps to bring the book and your characters to life.
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