Let's Research, Mama
Sharing my long ass bibliography & why I DNF some of them
Hey Y’all!
This one will be a quickie. First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who came through to see me at the National Book Festival! I had a blast and I hope y’all did too. If you’ve never been to the Nat Book Fest, you definitely need to put it on your calendar next year. The Library of Congress really knows how to throw a party. As promised on our panel, I’m sharing my bibliography for the Forge & Fracture Saga.
Read a Book, Read a Book, Read a MF Book
Let me start off by saying that this is an incredible number of research books and sites. If you’re writing your own historical novel (be it fantasy or no), you do not need to have this many reference texts. I am a history & research nerd first and foremost. I was the kid who had to read the source books for every movie I saw. It was all fun & games until I read The Hunchback of Notre Dame and researched the execution of the Grand Duchess Anastasia in middle school. Would not recommend.
But there’s also no worries if your bibliography gets lengthy but more on that after y’all see the goods. I’ll link them all on Bookshop.org as they’re available for easy access.
Arnold, Catharine. Globe. Simon and Schuster, 2015.
Bate, Jonathan. Soul of the Age. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2010.
Cooper, Lucy. The Element Encyclopedia of Fairies. HarperCollins, 2014.
Crystal, Ben. Shakespeare on Toast. Icon Books Ltd, 2015.
Hall, Kim F. Things of Darkness. Cornell University Press, 2018.
Holmes, Martin. Proud Northern Lady, 1590-1676. Phillimore, 2001.
Kaufmann, Miranda. Black Tudors. Simon and Schuster, 2017.
Korda, Natasha. Labors Lost. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.
Larkin, David. Faeries. Bantam, 1978.
Mason, John. ORÚOÌ : New World Black Gods. Y.T.A. Publications, 2016.
Nicholl, Charles. The Lodger Shakespeare. Penguin, 2009.
Picard, Liza. Elizabeth’s London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2013.
Porter, Stephen. Shakespeare’s London. Amberley Publishing Limited, 2009.
Pritchard, R. E. Shakespeare’s England. The History Press, 2003.
“Shakespeare’s World | Discover | Shakespeare’s Globe.” Shakespeare’s Globe, https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/shakespeares-world/. Accessed 13 June 2023.
Shapiro, James. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. Harper Collins, 2009.
---. The Year of Lear. Simon and Schuster, 2016.
Southworth, John. Shakespeare the Player. The History Press, 2011.
Stewart, Alan. The Cradle King. St. Martin’s Press, 2014.
Tames, Richard. Shakespeare’s London on 5 Groats a Day. 2018.
Teems, David. Majestie. Thomas Nelson, 2010.
“The Agas Map.” MoEML: The Map of Early Modern London, https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/agas.htm. Accessed 13 June 2023.
Wells, Stanley. Shakespeare and Co. Penguin UK, 2013.
---. Shakespeare, Sex, and Love. Oxford University Press, 2010.
A long ass list of resources, just like I said. But here’s the key, while I’ve read each and every one of these books, I haven’t finished them all. That’s the key with research.
DNF to Save Your Writing Soul
For folks who don’t know, DNF means Did Not Finish and it is the only way you can successfully research for your novel. There comes a point in the process where searching out facts shifts from necessary prep work to ultimate procrastination tool. We as writers have to become attuned to these moments of self-sabotage—because that’s absolutely what it is—and get back to the real work: finishing the novel.
Not reading reference text can be a frightening prospect, I know. What if we miss something essential? What if we get a fact wrong? Child, that’s what edits are for, to recalibrate. And your research books aren’t going anywhere. Even if you’ve borrowed them from the library. You can always look at them again so go forward and draft with confidence. Plus, new things will come to light. I was maybe three drafts in on That Self-Same Metal before I came across the book Labors Lost—about women’s participation in Early Modern English/Shakespearean theatre. Suddenly, I found that the world of the Globe I’d populated with male characters was an illusion and I happily recalibrated.
Don’t stress, trust the process & yourself, and put down those damn research books! Your future self will thank you.
More News for the Internation Set
The Forge & Fracture Saga is coming to the UK! Thanks to my publisher Faber & Faber, there will be beautiful paperbacks of the whole trilogy with gorgeous new covers.
Also, as an announcement for ‘Verse-ers only right now, the trilogy will also be translated into Spanish! Labrada del Mismo Metal will hit shelves in the fall thanks to Roca Editorial.
My Mic Sounds Nice, Check 2
Episode 2 of Inkbottle with
is live. Give it a listen, shoot us a question, and leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts.
Events
I have one upcoming event to put on y’all’s radar. There are a few more on the way, but I can’t share those just yet.
October 28: Louisiana Book Festival - Baton Rouge, LA
Schedule TBD
This did end up being a little longer than I expected but I hope you find it all useful. One last thing before you go. What kind of preorder campaign goodies do you like to see from authors?
Now that’s all for real until next time.
Love y’all!
Brittany
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Love the bibliography!
Terrific post! Thank you.