If Ifs and Ands were Plots and Plans,

In my opinion, one of the joys of writing is research.

Writing historical fiction involves weaving constructed characters, events and places into an actual time period when real people worked and lived in actual villages, cities and communities. By setting a story in a time when events were well documented, requires the author to go that extra mile to get the detail right.

But to what lengths must an author go? I can only speak from personal experience…

My upcoming historical science fiction trilogy begins in 1891 and is set in the northwest of England - the heartland of the Industrial Revolution. Thankfully, there are many books on this time period which, combined with my local knowledge, were invaluable, particularly, during the early part of my brain-storming and plotting. But my genre thrives on detail and my story required some extreme delving into historical archives.

For example, before a settled on a specific time period, I needed certain weather conditions for the story to work. Of course, as a work of fiction, if I wanted snow, I could include a snowstorm; after all, it’s my world, and I can create whatever is needed. But wouldn’t it be even better if the actual requisite weather conditions really existed?

So I scoured the Met Office monthly weather summaries for 1891. Here are the excerpts from October that sealed that month as the time-period for the story -

General summary - The month of October was exceedingly wet and stormy… temperature was below the normal at many of the western and northern stations… the winds were Southerly or South-westerly, and gales of considerable severity were frequent.

So, dear reader, whilst the story entwines fact and fiction in equal measure, be assured of the lengths to which writers go, to ensure the authenticity of the factual aspects of the tale!