Kristin Wolden Nitz

Frankly, I’ve always been terrified by the thought of writing historical fiction because of how much research need to be done in order to get the time, setting and characters right.  I’ve had a big enough challenge with contemporary fiction whether it was constructing an imaginary a realistic Italian estate in Saving the Griffin or learning the proper cleaning techniques for a classy bed and breakfast in Suspect.  But R.L. LaFevers, author of the Theodosia and Nathaniel Flood Beastologist books, broke her methods down in two posts on her blog.  The first was on research in the pre-writing stage; the second, on the value and limits of historical accuracy.  I’m inclined to take her word seriously on this because I thought that she did a very nice job handling the state of Egyptology in Edwardian times for her THEODOSIA books.  I’m no expert on that era, but I am an addict to Elizabeth Peters’ AMELIA PEABODY series.  Many of those books are set in the same time period.