Hello, and apologies for my absence. I have been unwell. Hopefully, all fingers crossed, I am on the mend, and ready to engage with you all once again! Despite some really rubbish days, I have managed to work on steadily with 'Lady Serena's Secret' when feeling up to it, so it's time for a progress report.
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| The proposed book cover. Lady Serena is actually more blonde than this, but it is surprisingly difficult to find true blondes in book cover designs. Copyright LitAtelier (Etsy) |
As I have mentioned before, doing the research for these books is probably the most enjoyable bit involved in the process of producing a book. My brain takes me walkabout in its hidden recesses, chivvying out half known facts and forcing me to learn something more solid about them. So the sacred lotus flower of the East comes up during the latter part of the book, and though I knew roughly what it looked like, to make sure I didn't make a massive horticultural faux pas, I did a little bit of research. (We are so fortunate to have the Internet - the information we need is literally at our finger tips. I would have had to seek out some botanical tome or write to someone at Kew pre-Google and Wikipedia). But I digress.
So the sacred Lotus flower. Though the flower looks like a water lily (Nymphaea) it is from a completely different different plant group - Nelumbo. It is also different in form, having a much larger flower and can stand up to eight feet above the mud in which it grows. Water lilies grow in water and rarely stand above the surface more than eight inches.
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| Lotus flower. Copyright: T.Voekler, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
However, it was the symbolism that really interested me. It has different meanings in different cultures, the primary ones being Purity, Rebirth and Overcoming Adversity. Other attributes are Beauty, Strength and Enlightenment. Whilst I refuse to let slip some spoilers, you can be sure that the lotus flower's appearance in the story is somewhat significant, bearing in mind its symbolism.
My other recent area of research is Malaria. Our hero, Hew d'Arras, Earl of Blencathra (not giving away too much here as this information appears at the beginning of the book), is reluctantly returning to England from India, because he has been told that remaining in the country would mean his early demise from disease and the effects of an unfriendly climate. We are not actually told that he has had Malaria, but as he has come back armed with cinchona bark (the only effective treatment for Malaria at that time, though it was used to help with other types of fevers), it's a reasonable conclusion to make. Also, people could have relapses, even after they appeared to have thrown off the disease. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about possible plot lines involving those facts.
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| A depiction of the train for George IVs Coronation. The invited Peers had the dubious honour of being told to wear Tudor or Stuart dress. The acceptable designs were placed on display at the College of Arms. Levens Hall has one of the original Page's costumes (in remarkably good condition considering it is over 200 years old. The silk fabric is truly beautiful) on display Copyright:Edward Scriven (after Francis and James Stephanoff), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
Finally, towards the end of the book, the Coronation of King George the IV takes place. Though the actually ceremony doesn't play a part in the plot, per se, the hoo-ha and eyewatering expense surrounding it, does. Finding original sources has led me around the world (digitally, that is), though it pains me to see that other countries value our history more than we do. Once more I digress! There is a particularly deliciously funny scene involving Theo which makes me laugh just thinking about it.
The first draft is nearly finished - hooray! Turning it into a good story, rather than just a collection of connected events, starts probably in the next week or two. That's when the going gets tough!
Best regards, Detta
