Erica George is a writer of young adult fiction. She is a graduate of The College of New Jersey with degrees in both English and education, and is currently an MFA student at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She resides in scenic northern New Jersey, but spends her summers soaking up the salty sea air on Cape Cod. Many themes in Erica’s writing rotate around environmental activism and helping young people find their voice. When she’s not writing, you can find her exploring river towns, whale watching, or engrossed in quality British drama with her dog at her side.

What typically comes first for you: a character? An era? A story idea? How do you proceed from there?

I think that a character definitely comes first for me. For Words Composed of Sea and Sky, I knew that I wanted a contemporary poet on Cape Cod writing about someone from the past. I’ve always been fascinated by whaling (with complete and total disgust), and I thought it might be interesting to combine whaling with a mid 19^th century poet, thus the relationship between Leta Townsend and Benjamin Churchill was born. Leta’s words are what matter most, and her discovery that she never needed to hide behind the name of a prominent male sea captain really is the arc of her story.

How do you conduct your research? 

Again, it all starts with the characters. First, I need to know what my historical characters must accomplish within their own stories. Once I know their storyline, I’m able to narrow down what historical elements I have to research. In the case of Leta, I was constantly researching the style of 19^th century American poets. I researched the fashion of the 1860s. I needed to know what the etiquette was for people attending high society balls. For Ben, I did a lot of research about what it must have been like for a young man who spent his life whaling. I visited the houses (now museums) of actual whaling captains, I read books and firsthand accounts of whaling in the 19^th century. I studied what whales frequented the shores of Cape Cod in the 1800s, and I’ve gone on more whale watches than I can count. I climbed the real Highland Light and learned about the life of lighthouse keepers. I think the more one can literally immerse themselves in the lives and history of their characters, the more authentic the story will be.

What kinds of sources do you use? The more specifics here, the better!

I start with the internet, just to get a surface level idea of what the time period I’m researching, or the specific elements being featured in the book. Once I know what I don’t know (which sounds funny, but it’s so true!), I can do a deeper dive into the research. At that point, I head to the library and take books out, or I find primary sources. One of my favorite sources I stumbled across was a reprint of a book written by a whaler to his son, describing his whaling journeys. Along with books, I love firsthand experiences. As I said earlier, visiting lighthouses and whaling captains’ houses across Cape Cod was instrumental in my research.

At what point do you feel comfortable beginning to draft? How does your research continue once you begin writing?

I’m a very dedicated plotter! I start by writing a very general synopsis of the book, then move on to outlining chapter by chapter. At this point, hardly anything is researched. I might leave myself notes within the outline in order to remind myself of what needs to be researched in order for the book to make sense. Once I know where the story is going, I begin drafting, again leaving myself notes throughout to remind myself during revisions what needs more detail or which facts I’m still uncertain of.

What is your favorite thing about research?

My favorite thing about research is stumbling upon a fact or a story that I didn’t expect! I go into the writing process with a general idea of how the book is going to go, but there are always bumps along the way. It’s one of the most exciting things to find a historical fact that alleviates a plot hiccup, creates an exciting twist, or helps a character complete their journey.

What’s your least favorite thing about research?

My least favorite thing is when I come across a topic that I can’t seem to find enough detail about. For example, there’s a ballroom scene in Words Composed of Sea and Sky, and I had no idea what the proper etiquette was for ladies and gentlemen at a ball in New England in the 1860s. There are plenty of online resources describing Victorian ballroom etiquette, but did that pertain to America or just England? I knew the rules to Regency ballroom etiquette, but were they the same some fifty years later? Probably not. At that point, I choose to include the details I’m certain about, knowing that ultimately, the reader is more interested in the story rather than every rule of the ball (I hope!).

Kate Albus is the author of A Place to Hang the Moon (February 2, 2021; Margaret Ferguson Books at Holiday House). Kate is originally from New York, but now lives in rural Maryland with her family. She was a research psychologist for many years before stepping away to be with her children. Other than writing, her favorite activities are reading, knitting, baking, and other pastimes that are inherently quiet.

What typically comes first for you: a character? An era? A story idea? How do you proceed from there?

I find that my story ideas come from specific historical details. I’m not a great history buff in general, but every now and then a particular fact or historical event will lodge in my brain and plant the seed of a story. The World War II evacuation of London has fascinated me since I was a child. The idea of putting a million children onto trains and sending them off to the country to be cared for by strangers until the war was over was – still is! – unfathomable to me. That unfathomable event was the seed for A PLACE TO HANG THE MOON. 

Once the seed is planted, I read as much as I can about the era. In this case, I read a lot of World War II history and a lot of evacuee memoirs. Once the time and place begin to feel real for me, I just sit down, start writing, and let the characters take over. I do stop to Google along the way, though, looking for answers to miscellaneous questions like what sorts of snacks would have been available to a character, how she might have dressed, or what books she might have been reading.   

How do you conduct your research? What kinds of sources do you use?

I buy a shocking number of vintage books from used bookstores. If it’s unusual and not too expensive, I’m in! A book about ghost sightings on the London Underground; a U.S. Forest Service manual on the principles of fire management; an old coffee table book about sea turtles; a 1920s guide to ocean travel for ladies; a collection of WWII ‘make do and mend’ leaflets distributed by the British government…. those lovely little obscurities are all cuddling with each other on my bookshelves, bursting with story details. 

Like other historical fiction folk, I also do a great deal of online research, and while I find the internet frightening in many ways, it’s a treasure trove of information. In writing A PLACE TO HANG THE MOON, I was particularly grateful for the archive of ‘Mass Observation’ diary accounts of daily life in wartime. 

What’s your favorite thing about writing historical fiction?

I love that writing about history gives me a sense of connection to those who came before us. I especially love it when a bit of my own family’s history finds a place in a story. I have family in Northern Ireland, and it was only while writing A PLACE TO HANG THE MOON that I learned one of them – my Aunt Florence – had been evacuated from Belfast when she was ten. Aunt Florence is in the book in a tiny way. She had a deliciously cozy room in her home that she called the snug. There’s a snug in the story, and I smile every time it’s mentioned. Another narrative detail came from my grandmother, who was a young woman during the war. She used to tell me how she ‘made do’ without nylon stockings by drawing lines down the backs of her legs with an eyebrow pencil, mimicking the seams in stockings of the time. As a kid, I always scratched my head at the story, wondering why anybody would do something so ridiculous. It’s fun to see that obscure little family tidbit there on the page.  

What’s your least favorite thing?

When I can’t find the answer! And there are so many times when I can’t find the answer! I once spent hours and hours trying to figure out whether the sort of gas oven that would have been in a rural 1940s English kitchen had to be lit with a match every time the user turned it on. It was utterly meaningless to the story… I just wanted to make sure that when the character turned on the oven to toast bread, she was doing it right. I looked on every ‘old kitchen appliance’ website the internet had to offer (and there were a lot of them). No answer. I borrowed a book about vintage stoves from my kids’ piano teacher. Still no answer. In the end, I just took out the line about how the oven got turned on. The toast got made anyway! 

What’s one of the most interesting things you’ve learned while researching?

The list is so long! I recently spent some time researching the life stories of surviving Titanic crew members. I was astonished to learn how many of them went straight back to work on the sea after the disaster. Violet Jessop, for example, was a ‘stewardess’ aboard the Titanic. She was back at work for the White Star Line within a month or so of the tragedy, survived a second sinking (the Britannic) four years later, and continued to work on ocean liners well into her 60s. Likewise, Titanic officer Charles Lightoller went down with the ship, but through a series of miracles, managed to help right a foundering lifeboat and save fellow passengers. After the disaster, he went back to work for the White Star Line, then served in the Royal Navy during World War I, and in his retirement on the English coast, was part of the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. Violet and Charles deserve their own historical novels!

What are some obstacles writing historical fiction brings?

I think there is a fine line between educating and telling a story, and in writing historical fiction for children, that’s an especially important line to be aware of. Not that education can’t happen in the course of storytelling – I hope it can! – but if the story is going to feel real, the historical detail needs to be used very carefully. For me, characters are always paramount, so the question I try to answer when considering whether to include a particular bit of history is, “would this have mattered to the characters?” If not, I think including it only removes the reader from the story and disrupts the flow.