Bookmaking - Karen A. Chase

Philadelphia Freedom

September 28, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

I was off last week from the blog, gallivanting around the northeastern states for personal vacation time mixed with research for my historical fiction novel about the American Revolution. The highlight of the research portion of the trip was undoubtedly a stop made in Philadelphia. I had planned for a one-on-one tour with an historian, Bill Ochester, to determine what was where in 1776.

Imagine my delight to discover Bill plays Ben Franklin. He plays him at reenactments, readings of the Declaration and Constitution, and various school presentations among others. As if with a paint brush in his hands that removed the years, he walked me through Philadelphia as it may have been in 1776. In the words of Elton John, “It’s Philadelphia Freedom. I love, love, loved it. Yes I do!”

I learned in 1776:

• The whole of town was about eight by six city blocks in total.
• Houses were built on plots of about one acre and surrounded by gardens.
• Church bells were rung often, sometimes to ward off lighting and evil.
• The streets were swept to keep them clean.
• Elfreth’s Alley existed. Still does. It is the oldest intact residential block in the country.
• Taverns abounded for food, coffee, drink and to conduct business. (Some estimates say one per every 125 people.)
• There were 30,000 people living in what became the capital of the states. (=240 taverns.)
• The tower on Christ’s Church was funded by Ben Franklin. Not because he was religious, but so he could have unlimited access to perform electrical experiments. Shocking.

Click on the thumbnails for enlargements and descriptions.

Jefferson wrote in his books!

September 14, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

PatrickHenry — As part of a presentation to my DAR group, I got to touch and hold this book of Patrick Henry’s in which he glued a bookplate and scrawled his name multiple times. Jefferson marked his books a different way.

As a lover of books and history, I am fascinated by the library collection of Thomas Jefferson. Over six thousand of his books became the Library of Congress. Terribly, in 1851 a fire reduced it to 2,465 volumes, and one-by-one, the Library of Congress has sought to replace the lost books as best they can. But those new acquisitions don’t always bear the mark of Jefferson’s library.

Bookplates, small paper panels glued into the inside cover or first page, were common in the 18th and 19th century. Books were costly treasures, definitely not 99¢, and so owners inserted custom engraved bookplates, and often signed them.

However, the bookplate wasn’t for Jefferson. During his lifetime, books were hand-printed and bound in small sections called signatures, and then those signatures were stitched together into the book. To ensure those signatures were put in the right order, each one had a tiny letter stamped on the bottom of the first page. “A” for the first signature, “B” for the second signature, “C”, etc.

In his books, Jefferson cleverly hand wrote a “T” before the small imprinted “J” and sometimes a “J” after the “T.” Nothing more. I can just see it. Jefferson, sitting alone in his study, tongue in the corner of his mouth, inking in a small “T” or “J” and nothing more. Smirking. It makes him seem mischievous and not just a little cunning.

Do you write in, or mark up your books as your own? How?

The bookplate of George Washington and others can be seen at Bookplate.org.
Learn more about Jefferson’s collection on display now at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

Where Do You Research?

July 27, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

This week I was asked where I’ve been conducting research for my novel about the American Revolution. My response was, “would you like that alphabetically or chronologically?” Certainly, I’ve worked with the traditional sources like libraries and archives. However, historical fiction isn’t like non-fiction where you must always go in search of proof. Sometimes it’s in search of opportunities for fiction.

Conflicting viewpoints are one way to find it. Wikipedia. Blogs. Historians. Those resources are filled with proofs and facts, but also opinions, theories and undocumented sources. Where two ideas collide gives me the opportunity to draw out what would happen if one of those two ideas was correct.

I also search for holes. Historical documents, textbooks (especially elementary and high school versions), and websites by historic hobbyists don’t always provide the same level of facts. Where I find a repeated dearth of details with regard to a place, event or time, is a hole I can fill with… well… stuff I make up.

I also research for the senses. I rarely find those in a book, so I travel to actual locations. I want to hear a place, smell it, touch trees, or look at the view – even if they’ve changed. There’s often a nearby museum, and there’s always some historic-ranger-docent guy who loves the place or whose grandpa told stories. I love them. After all, that’s what I do. Tell stories.

How do you conduct historical research for fiction?

Below are my photos from Stratford Hall, about an hour north of Richmond. It was home to the Lee family, who contributed two signers to the Declaration of Independence, and the general of the south, Robert E. Lee.

Bookmaking Part Two: Early Editing

July 13, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

DeerForest — A visual representation of how I felt after receiving early editing comments from my editor. Oh deer, oh dear, oh deer.

In Bookmaking Part One I mentioned working with editors early on to prevent major manuscript overhauls. That post received several comments, so I’ll share a story about how early editing helps with revisions.

I’m writing an historical fiction piece. It’s filled with facts as well as fictional and non-fictional characters. I built character profiles, outlined the fairly complicated plot, and wrote the first chapter. Upon working with the editor who specializes in historical fiction, she sent back concerns and positive comments (as a nice editor will), and announced I was building a great YA novel. What?! Oh no. Adult historical fiction was my intent.

I’ve made my part of my living as an advertising copywriter where I must compress pages of information into smaller bite-sized pieces. So now I wasn’t giving nearly enough weight to details that historic fiction readers truly love. And the POV I had chosen, first-person, would limit the descriptions I could include of the 1776 time-period. Thank heavens I had only twenty pages. Can you imagine trying to go back through three hundred pages to make those kinds of changes?

While some writers like to finish the manuscript before it is edited, it’s important to find a freelance editor who works with your style. Not every editor wants to work with bits and pieces, but if they do, they’ll see the trees before you enter the forest, and can outfit you with the right gear to come out the other side.

Bookmaking Part One: Editing

June 8, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

biophoto — Kristen Weber, Editor, and her loyal assistant, Sampson. It's a dog-eat-dog world for writers without editors, and I'm pretty grateful for the "leg up" they give me.

Since Bonjour 40 was released, I’ve had some inquiries about the process of taking my story from blog to EBook. Aside from writing it, the process included working with two editors. Why two, you ask? Editors do different things.

The first editor I worked with, Kristen Weber, is a developmental editor. As Kristen says, she “addresses the overall structure and organization of a manuscript.” She ensures the story is going somewhere and all the author’s decisions are getting it there. Kristen helped me keep Bonjour 40 both personal and insightful about Paris, without sounding like a travel guide.

The other editor, April Michelle Davis of Editorial Inspirations, was my copy editor. She looked at the grammar, spelling, appropriate use of writing standards, and formatted it for publication.

Now I know t0 bring in Kristen when I have a partial manuscript. I wrote a whole manuscript a few years ago, and with issues on page ten, overhauling it became too daunting. It resides on a shelf in my office, crying. Also, April’s copy editing comes after the work with Kristen, so I don’t pay for it twice.

Many writers fear the editor, afraid their story will be changed rather than bettered. That’s not how editors work, and changes are ultimately the author’s decision. In the end, I feel I’ve become a better writer because of what I’ve learned from them, and isn’t that an end to which writers aspire? Yes (exclamation point)!