Forged in Love
Since we’re
supposed to be a TEACHING blog, I decided today I’d share something I know but
tend to not use enough in my writing.
Talking to
experts.
I’ve had so many
experiences where I reached out to someone with background knowledge of a
subject and just had so much fun talking to an expert.
Very often for
me, this is through museums on historical topics.
The example that works best for Forged in Love is a living history museum near me.
I talked to a blacksmith.
This is his hobby. There are several men who show up one weekend a month during the summer, usually starting Memorial Weekend through Labor Day weekend. They are re-enacting life in Fort Atkinson, Nebraska. There are doctors, tinsmiths, coopers, weavers, cooks and all the soldiers stationed there in this remote (back in 1820) fort meant to be the first in a series of forts built to support the fur trade. They only built one and it was abandoned after six years.
This is fifteen
years after Lewis and Clark. Twenty years before the first Oregon Trail wagon
trains. Fort Atkinson was fascinating.
I talked to the
cooper, the cook, the soldiers and weavers. But mainly I talked to the
blacksmiths.
The thing about
talking to these experts in historical re-enacting is, they know so much, and
they are having so much fun acting out something they know and love. And they
are thrilled if someone pauses and asks them questions beyond the short talks
each of them give.
I once talked to
a woman who was an expert in historical laundry. Yes, laundry. Turns out there’s
more to it than just heat up water, shave in soap, scrub the clothes. And she’s
so eager to share.
I attended the
Lewis and Clark expedition festival near me and found all these men who
re-enact the Cor of Discovery. And they finish their talks and say, “Have you
got any questions?”
I say, “I’ve got
ONE HUNDRED questions.”
They all just
perk up. It was so fun and they loved talking about what they know so well.
One of them was a
historical doctor and he’s showing me his ‘medical equipment.’
I say, “You do
realize that every single piece of medical equipment is some kind of knife,
right? Medicine back then seems to be 95% cutting things off.”
And he just kinda
bulled up, but in a great way, full of knowledge and pride and said, “There was
no way to stop gangrene short of cutting a leg off. These knives were the very
finest medicine in existence back then and they saved lives.”
I just loved it.
One guy showed me
how to load his rifle. (No actual gun powder involved, so that was wise)
I talked to a guy
once who had a masters degree in American frontier history. I didn’t know you could
specialize quite that much!
I’ve talked to the head of a museum that knows all about the Oregon Trail and wagon trains. And did you know that the Santa Fe Trail began twenty years before the Oregon Trail? It left Independence, Missouri and went to Santa Fe, New Mexico with strings of mules or pack horses. It was strictly for commerce, no settlers went to Santa Fe.
Hauling supplies
to Santa Fe, trading with the Spanish and Mexicans there, then turning around
with supplies coming from all over Mexico and South America and making the ride
back to Independence.
I’ve phoned a guy
with train questions at the Trails and Rails museum in Kearney, Nebraska. He’s
just the guy who answers the phone. I ask strange little questions like, how
did trains heading west not crash into trains heading east? Did the trains roll
on through the night?
This guy said if
my questions get complicated, he’d have to send me on to someone else but so far
he knows what I want.
There are others
and they are all just so delighted to find someone who is interested in what
they are experts in. I mean, that frontier history masters degree guy, I didn’t
think he’d let us leave. We went into his office and stayed forever. And one
question led to another. It was great.
I think the woman talking about historical laundry almost cried. “You have follow-up questions? Really?” sniffle. “Why yes, I know all about bluing.”
Forged in Love
Anyway, todays’
lesson is a simple one. If you want to know something obscure, ask someone.
Hunt up a museum or a doctor or a science lab, and ask. You’ll make some lonely
expert very happy. And you’ll learn personal, detailed, fascinating facts from
someone who has a passion for getting it right.
Now think about
the book you’re writing. Do you need an expert? Let’s talk about who can help
you with the little things, the fine details, the one hour long conversation that might add a half a sentence in four different places, that can help bring your story to
life.
Leave a comment or
a question and you’ll get your name in a drawing for a signed copy of Forged in
Love, book #1 in the Wyoming Sunrise Series.
AND
Drumroll
Coming up on March 20th!!!
My birthday twin (Erica Vetsch) and I....are having a party and YOU get a lot of chances to win.
Don't miss it.
