LisaRaeMorris
Nerdiness by the Jar
I'm a total nerd. I don't apologize for that.
This nerdiness applies to my research in a BIG way. Don't get me wrong—I have nothing against fantasy novels where most things are made up. But to me, the best stories sound real... so real that it makes you wonder if they actually happened.
In doing research for my latest book, Time Tree: The Emergence, I researched every. last. detail. I studied wood carving, particle physics, the cost of living in rural Victorian Scotland, how to convert shillings to pounds, ways to obtain a passport under unusual circumstances, just to name a few of the hundreds of topics I learned about.
In my stories, not a bird chirps, not a breeze blows, unless I've verified that the bird really lives in that region, and the topography of the land actually lends itself to that breeze.
Don't worry, I actually enjoy it!
One morning, hubby and I were on our way out the door for our weekly date. We had decided to visit the Pittock Mansion, a fabulous old home-turned-museum in Portland, Oregon. (You might've noticed how much I love old buildings.)
Before we got there, one of my beta readers (who knows the level of detail accuracy I insist upon) sent me a message. She'd just read the passage about how Angus mixes shellac in a jar. Her question was simple: "What kind of jar did he use?"
I was brought up short. I had taken this little jar for granted! Would a rural guy like Angus have had a jar, or would it have been more like a ceramic pot or wooden cup? Were Mason jars around back then? I put on my research bra (way more effective than a "thinking cap." Just sayin.). Alas, Mason jars weren't invented until 1858, and they were American, anyway.
Finally, I found the answer: Kilner jars.
