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Culross is a very pretty village set on the opposite of the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh and one of the locations used to film the Outlander series. Sitting in a café there I got chatting to a lovely American who was on an Outlander tour.

‘We did Edinburgh yesterday,� she said, ‘and we’re doing the Highlands today.�

‘Wow that’s a long way in a day,� I said.

After a rather confusing chat, I suspect for us both, I realised it was the locations used to film Outlander’s Highland scenes, rather than the actual Highlands the tour group was visiting. Having clarified we were in the Scottish Lowlands, we went on to have a good blether and agreed that Scotland was not overfull of men as bonny as Jamie.

The encounter left me thinking about perceptions of a country that are formed by reading historical fiction. There’s no question that Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series has given Scotland’s tourist industry a huge boost and all credit to her that she wanted Scottish locations used for much of the filming, however she’s not the only historical fiction writer to have had a massive impact on visitor numbers to Scotland.

I first became aware of Sir Walter Scott as a child on a rare and exciting visit to Edinburgh, when the iconic monument built by public subscription in his memory was pointed out. The tiers of sooty spikes and great height left me, even aged ten, impressed. Who was this Scotsman so famous that he had a most elaborate edifice erected in his memory (and, amongst many other accolades, Edinburgh’s Waverley Station named after his novels) and yet I’d never heard of him?

The Scott Monument, Princes Street, Edinburgh

I’d like to say I was curious enough to find out more, but I forgot all about the man, and his monument, until some years later when, as the reader in the family, I was given the complete set of Sir Walter Scott novels which had belonged to my great grandfather.

My hunger for books was vast, and mostly unrequited in those days. I started with Ivanhoe, which sounded romantic. I’d never read anything like it � dense, rich, complex, difficult � and medieval, an era I’d little knowledge of. But also frustrating…why did Ivanhoe ride off into the sunset with the vapid Rowena when Rebecca, a woman of power and strength, had saved his life. What did it matter that they were of different religions? I didn’t believe Ivanhoe loved Rowena. All credit to Scott though, for Rebecca was the first positive Jewish character I’d encountered in literature and a refreshing counterbalance to Shylock and Fagin.

Sir Walter Scott is known as the founder of the historical novel, in English literature. And not only did he create a great, and fictitious, romance about Scotland through books such as Rob Roy and his long poem The Lady of the Lake, he also influenced how Scotland appeared to the world. It has been said he ‘invented� Scotland. Soon travellers flocked here and indeed he did for our fledging tourist industry in the nineteenth century what Diana Gabaldon has done in the twenty first century.

Some famous sayings from Scott’s writing

Scott’s also responsible for a surprising number of expressions we use � see the tea towel pictured above purchased from his home at Abbotsford (which is fantastic place to stay � for more on this and Scott see my blog post

But Scott lived in the Scottish Borders and Edinburgh, not the Highlands. The Highlands has its own distinctive culture and Highlanders were often referred to as teuchters by Lowland Scots which, like sassenach, is a term of derision and contempt. Influenced by Scott, paintings of the Highlands were in demand, with the work of Landseer particularly popular. Yet it is sadly ironic that during the era Landseer and others were painting a stylized version of the Highlands, large numbers of local people were being brutally forced off the land to make way for sheep.

A Highland Landscape by Landseer

Queen Victoria read and loved Scott’s books and much ‘redesigning� of historical buildings took place during her era, often influenced by his work. Here’s the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle. Its hammerbeam roof, completed in 1511 during the reign of James IV, is the only part which was not altered by the Victorians to fit with their vision of history.

The Great Hall, Edinburgh Castle

And what of the impact such romanticisation can have on a country and its heritage? The film Brigadoon, made in the 1950s, is about two American tourists coming upon an enchanted village while lost in the Highlands. The producer toured Scotland searching for suitable locations. Rejecting them all he returned home saying, ‘I went to Scotland but could find nothing that looked like Scotland.� Instead he created his own vision of Brigadoon in a Hollywood set.

Tartan Clad Vending Machine, Kobe, Japan

Visiting our son and his family in Kobe, Japan last year I passed a vending machine every day which had been painted in the colours of Kobe Tartan. Scotland is famous for its tartans and yet their clan associations are a made up part of our heritage. The wearing of ‘Highland garb� was banned after Culloden, although the Proscription Act was repealed barely thirty years later in 1782. By the time George IV came on his state visit to Edinburgh, orchestrated by Sir Walter Scott in 1822, tartan was fashionable enough for the king to appear in full Highland dress � but a much richer and more stylised version than anything that would ever have been worn in the Highlands.

Tartan as we know it is a construct of the early nineteenth century led by an opportunistic Bannockburn merchant called William Wilson who created a list of tartans by ascribing clan names arbitrarily to them. When Queen Victoria bought Balmoral Castle and be-decked it with tartan, then what the book ‘Scotland the Brand� refers to as the Tartan Monster was born.

A wee whilie ago, I came across a guide who gives knitting tours of Scotland (love that!) She also does more standard tours which include St Andrews, the location of my first in series. The Castilians is about the siege of St Andrews Castle in 1546 and the inciting incident was the burning of a protestant  preacher.

‘I tell my tourists that story,� the guide said, ‘and of how Cardinal Beaton stood at the tall window of the castle watching George Wishart burn with a glass of wine in his hand, his mistress by his side, smiling.�

I winced and explained there was no evidence Beaton’s mistress was there. I went on to explain that some historians believed the cardinal thought it was his duty to watch to the end and, from the research I did it appears he ordered plenty of gun powder hung around Wishart’s neck so his suffering wasn’t too prolonged.

I could see she was disappointed and suspect she may stick to her more dramatic version of this tragic event. Tour guides are there to entertain, as much as to inform, and as with writers of historical fiction, there is a balance to choose between accuracy and engagement. Walking up the Royal Mile recently I overheard a guide giving his spiel � ‘hangings in Edinburgh were attended by huge crowds,� he said loudly so the large group clustered around him could hear. ‘And, as part of the party atmosphere, lots of alcohol was drunk which is where,� he paused for dramatic effect, ‘the expression hung over comes from.� His audience laughed in appreciation. Made curious I looked up hung over and, although there’s some debate as to where the expression originates, there’s no mention of it having anything to do with the after effects of over imbibing while watching a hanging.

So, if heritage, certainly in Scotland, has become a construct to bolster the tourist industry, then what about its history and the responsibility, of writers of historical fiction, to the countries we write about?

With my first book, The Castilians, I was exploring a significant event in my home town, which is also home to Scotland’s oldest university, and I felt under pressure to get the facts right. I was curious as to the broader ramifications of the siege, having only been told it from a post reformation and thus protestant perspective. Were the protestant lairds who killed the catholic cardinal really the good guys? They were not.

I believe that as a writer of historical fiction I have a responsibility to do my research thoroughly, whilst accepting I can only write from a 21st century understanding in terms of the history I retell and remembering it is about entertaining my readers too � else I’d have none. And yet, the entertainment factor is also responsible for the explosion in historical fiction set in Scotland seeking to capitalise on the Outlander phenomenon, much of which is both poorly written and researched.

Nevertheless is it really such a bad thing to romanticise a nation? Scotland, as with any other country, is an amalgam of what happened in its past and if some of that was fabricated then that too becomes part of who we are. In endeavouring to write fiction based on sound research then we can go some way to mitigating the effects of fabrication. And if tour guides want to tell a few embellished tales so be it because, frankly, it’s fantastic people want to visit our beautiful country.

References: Scotland the Brand by David McCrone, Angela Morris and Richard Keilly, Edinburgh University Press

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La Belle Ecossaise, complete with face mask, in Mary of Guise’s throne room

On a recent visit to Stirling Castle I met La Belle Écossaise hovering in Queen Mary of Guise’s chambers. She was not as discrete as one would expect from a lady in waiting and even told me that the queen holds her most intimate audiences in her bed chamber, where she chats from behind a screen as she washes and dresses. The queen, she said, does not sleep there but in a much smaller room up a private staircase. I was wild with curiosity to be shown the secret room but on this The Beautiful Scotswoman’s (doesn’t it sound much better in French) lips were sealed.

Stirling Castle

My character Will (in ) also has sight of La Belle Écossaise while he is a galley slave on the ship that transports the infant Mary Queen of Scots to France. La Belle Écossaise was amongst the wee queen’s retinue, even though as she herself told me, she could not speak French. Yet she is quite the demanding lady as Will observes.

After three days of riding at anchor during the storm La Belle Écossaise is seen arguing with the Captain. ‘It is too much, this swinging aimlessly in the sea. Take us ashore.�

The captain shrugs, Will doubts if he even understands what she says since she speaks in Scots. A gust of rain sends her scurrying undercover.

She’s back the next day demanding, ‘let me off this boat immediately. I must repose myself, and the children too.�

The captain evidently does understand Scots for he bows low saying, ‘I give you the choice my lady. You can either stay on board, or leave and drown.�

She stands for a moment clearly not believing what she’s heard, then the ship lurches rocked by a large wave. She staggers and is only saved from falling overboard by Logie who has appeared in time to catch her. He escorts her below, and Will can see she has much to say.

Unicorn above the fireplace

Some remarkable restoration work has been carried out at Stirling Castle and the rooms are bright with colour, the tapestries have been recreated based on what would have hung there during the time of James V and Mary of Guise. The symbolism is everywhere as powerful images were used to convey the king’s droit de seigneur. The unicorn above is sign of purity and strength.

Carved Head of James V

Other restoration work includes the carved heads found on ceilings � and a replica of every known head has been hand carved in oak and then painted after the worn originals were studied in detail. The imagery and choice of heads including Julius Caesar is again all about underlining James’s power as king.

Outside the block which contained the Great Hall has been magnificently restored. It was used (and rather abused ) by the army for many many years, and they inserted sash windows, removed others and cut holes in wall.

Now repaired and painted in ochre mixed with lime, as it would have been when La Belle Écossaise walked these courtyards, giving a soft golden hue � and the gold confirmed the king’s wealth. It’s fascinating to see the contrast with how faded the rest of the buildings are.

The statutes which line the outside walls would also once have been colourfully painted. The castle is a dull place nowadays in comparison to its one time splendour.

Statute of James V which would once have been brightly painted � with lots of gold leaf

As for La Belle Écossaise she was Lady Janet Fleming who caught the attention of King Henri II of France while she was in attendance on the infant Mary Queen of Scots � despite her lack of French� but then it wasn’t her language skills the king was interested in.

Lady Fleming

She had a son by him, but was decidedly indiscrete about it which led to the Queen of France, Catherine de Medici, and the king’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers, uniting in their dislike and arranging for Lady Fleming to be shipped back to Scotland, without her son. The rather unkind nickname of The King’s Whore was bestowed upon her. The king however did make sure this son was well provided for.

Ps If you are in Scotland and only have time to visit one castle then make it Stirling Castle � the restoration is remarkable and gives a fantastic sense of time and place …and the actors are a lot of fun.

Ref: Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser

Sited at the other end of the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle stands Holyrood Palace, built next to what was once an Augustinian monastery, and the site of one the most terrifying events of Mary Queen of Scots life, during her brief reign.

Section of Holyrood Palace in existence when Mary Queen of Scots lived there

In the 1500s, when my characters in were alive the palace stood outside the city walls. It has been extended and refashioned over the centuries so what was there then was considerably smaller.

In 1548 the five year old Mary was betrothed to the Dauphin and left for France. I write of her journey in my second in series, (see below for a short extract)

It was a miracle Mary arrived in France safely for the ship was beset by storms and a voyage which would normally take five days took eighteen, with weather in August worthy of the worst of January. It was said that Scotland didn’t want to let her queen go.

Portrait of Mary Queen of Scots in mourning by Francois Clouet

She had a happy life in France and her future father-in-law, King Henri II, was fond of her. She returned to Scotland in 1561, aged nineteen, dressed in white � the shade of mourning � because her husband, father-in-law and mother had all died within a year of one another. And she came from the luxury and warmth of Renaissance France to a bleak and chilly Scotland.

The chambers in Holyrood were dull, dreary and comfortless but Mary didn’t travel light. She brought with her 45 beds, 5 canopies, 20 coverings and 20 bolts of tapestry, plus paintings, jewellery and furnishings. All of which was taken south by James VI when Queen Elizabeth I died and he became King of England, Ireland and Wales, as well as Scotland.

Mary made the best of things which wasn’t easy as a Catholic in a now Protestant Scotland. She was naturally drawn to people who shared her faith and love of music. David Rizzio, an Italian became her secretary and close companion. Starved of the entertainment she’d enjoyed in France and in an austere Reformation Scotland where singing and dancing were frowned upon and the Reformer John Knox openly castigated her, indeed had her in tears for so indulging, Rizzio must have been a welcome reminder of her life in France.

He was unpopular with many of the courtiers who surrounded her, as a foreigner who had too much influence over her. One night she was having a meal in the small supper room off her bed chamber with Rizzio and a number of her ladies when a large group of men burst in, including Mary’s husband Lord Darnley.

Mary was six months pregnant at the time and there were rumours spread that Rizzio was the father of her unborn child. The men pushed past her and dragged Rizzio into the outer bedchamber where he was butchered in front of her.

Murder of David Rizzio by William Adams painted significantly later � as Mary’s dress shows � in 1833

David Rizzio was stabbed fifty four times with Lord Darnley taking a lead in the attack. His blood stains the floor still � although I suspect it may have been occasionally re-reddened over the subsequent centuries because it looked remarkably bright when I recently visited the palace.

Mary gave birth a few months later, not in Holyrood but in a small chamber in Edinburgh Castle with a number of men watching to verify the birth of the future monarch. Darnley was called to see his new son, who would become James VI, and gazed down upon him as Mary held him in her arms

“My Lord,� she said, ‘God has given me a son begotten by none other but you.�

Darnley blushed, one would hope shamed by the accusation he’d made of Mary’s adultery, and bent to kiss his son. She never forgave Darnley for Rizzio’s murder and when Darnley was himself murdered a few months later, she was held partly responsible. He was a vile man and here’s a retelling of a quarrel he had with Mary over dinner during a stay at Traquair House shortly after their son’s birth, and as reported by its owner.

Mary, who was feeling unwell, whispered in her husband’s ear she thought she may have been pregnant again and could she be excused from the stag hunt the following day. Darnley rudely replied:
“Never mind, if we lose this one, we can make another!�
The Laird rebuked him sharply and said he did not speak like a Christian whereupon Darnley replied:
“What! Ought not we to work a mare well when she is with foal?�

Holyrood Palace fell into disuse once Mary’s son James became king of England and removed there. By the 1800s, with the popularity of Sir Walter Scott novels, Scotland became a place for those with romantic sensibilities to visit, and the story of Mary Queen of Scots especially drew visitors to Holyrood Palace.

The Ceiling in the Audience Chamber painted to celebrate Mary Queen of Scots betrothal to the Dauphin of France

In the first year it was opened to the public 67,000 people visited and they had to fence off her bed to stop people touching it. But of course it was not her actual bed and when Sir Walter Scott stage managed King George IV’s successful visit to Scotland the dilapidated bed was at least replaced by one of red damask, perpetuating the romanticism. Indeed there is nothing left of Mary’s time in Holyrood apart from the audience room ceiling which was commissioned by her mother Mary of Guise, to celebrate Mary’s alliance with France and the joining of the Scottish and French Royal Houses � and, of course, David Riccio’s blood stains.

Here’s the short extract from describing Mary’s voyage to France aged five:

The child hangs back, tugging on the hand which is pulling her forward. The wind blows her cloak and veil in a great swirl around her small body. What are they thinking of, to bring such a precious cargo out in a rowboat on a day like this?. His shackle companion nudges Will, inquiring, in Spanish, if this is indeed the wee queen. Will thinks before responding, then shrugs. It doesn’t matter if the man knows.
Eventually courtiers, ladies-in-waiting, soldiers, and small children are all uploaded. It’s early evening, and although it won’t be dark for many hours, a decision has clearly been made to set sail in the morning. Will has nodded off over his oar when he becomes aware the bosun’s chair is being prepared again, and up comes the Dowager Queen Marie. She is a tall sturdy woman with a firm line to her mouth, indicating great determination, but the worry lines across her high plucked forehead give a sense of the cost of such determination.

A small child bursts from a forward cabin, chased by her ladies. ‘Maman, maman,� she calls. ‘Venez-vous avec moi?� The last is said with such hopefulness that Will feels a lump in his throat and wonders what is wrong with him to be so sentimental about a Catholic monarch, albeit a small child.

The queen mother shakes her head but gathers the child to her and disappears into the cabin.

The two ladies-in-waiting stay out on deck, and Will, whose position is nearby, catches snippets of their conversation. ‘This is not wise�. the queen was settling� now we must deal with her distress once more.�

The queen mother emerges, face impassive. ‘She’s asleep now, you may go to her.�

Logie comes, bows low over her hand and escorts her to the ship’s side. ‘I will take very good care of our queen,� he promises. She doesn’t speak but taps his arm in acknowledgement. She’s swung out, and after a few moments Will sees her rowed over to the ship on which she arrived.

Logie comes to lean on the railing nearby. ‘It is very sad,� he says. ‘Who knows when, or if, our dowager queen will see her only, and much loved, child again.�

He is called away before Will can reply. Will sits unmoving as the dusk falls, feeling weary with sadness. Who knows when any of us may see our loved ones again, he thinks. But still his heart is wrung with pity for the wee queen hounded from one side of her country to the other because of her marriageability.

References

Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser

Notes from a talk on Mary Queen of Scots Bedchamber at Holyrood Palace

Note: Rizzio is the Scots spelling of Italian pronunciation, for his name was actually spelt Riccio.

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#Historical Fiction #Mary Queen of Scots #Reformation

Sited at the other end of the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle stands Holyrood Palace, built next to what was once an Augustinian monastery, and the site of one the most terrifying events of Mary Queen of Scots life, during her brief reign.

Section of Holyrood Palace in existence when Mary Queen of Scots lived there

In the 1500s, when my characters in were alive the palace stood outside the city walls. It has been extended and refashioned over the centuries so what was there then was considerably smaller.

In 1548 the five year old Mary was betrothed to the Dauphin and left for France. I write of her journey in my second in series, .
Here’s a short extract:

The child hangs back, tugging on the hand which is pulling her forward. The wind blows her cloak and veil in a great swirl around her small body. What are they thinking of, to bring such a precious cargo out in a rowboat on a day like this?. His shackle companion nudges Will, inquiring, in Spanish, if this is indeed the wee queen. Will thinks before responding, then shrugs. It doesn’t matter if the man knows.

Eventually courtiers, ladies-in-waiting, soldiers, and small children are all uploaded. It’s early evening, and although it won’t be dark for many hours, a decision has clearly been made to set sail in the morning. Will has nodded off over his oar when he becomes aware the bosun’s chair is being prepared again, and up comes the Dowager Queen Marie. She is a tall sturdy woman with a firm line to her mouth, indicating great determination, but the worry lines across her high plucked forehead give a sense of the cost of such determination.

A small child bursts from a forward cabin, chased by her ladies. ‘Maman, maman,� she calls. ‘Venez-vous avec moi?� The last is said with such hopefulness that Will feels a lump in his throat and wonders what is wrong with him to be so sentimental about a Catholic monarch, albeit a small child.

The queen mother shakes her head but gathers the child to her and disappears into the cabin.

The two ladies-in-waiting stay out on deck, and Will, whose position is nearby, catches snippets of their conversation. ‘This is not wise�. the queen was settling� now we must deal with her distress once more.�

The queen mother emerges, face impassive. ‘She’s asleep now, you may go to her.�

Logie comes, bows low over her hand and escorts her to the ship’s side. ‘I will take very good care of our queen,� he promises. She doesn’t speak but taps his arm in acknowledgement. She’s swung out, and after a few moments Will sees her rowed over to the ship on which she arrived.

Logie comes to lean on the railing nearby. ‘It is very sad,� he says. ‘Who knows when, or if, our dowager queen will see her only, and much loved, child again.�

He is called away before Will can reply. Will sits unmoving as the dusk falls, feeling weary with sadness. Who knows when any of us may see our loved ones again, he thinks. But still his heart is wrung with pity for the wee queen hounded from one side of her country to the other because of her marriageability.

It was a miracle Mary arrived in France safely for the ship was beset by storms and a voyage which would normally take five days took eighteen, with weather in August worthy of the worst of January. It was said that Scotland didn’t want to let her queen go.

Portrait of Mary Queen of Scots in mourning by Francois Clouet

She had a happy life in France and her future father-in-law, King Henri II, was fond of her. She returned to Scotland in 1561, aged nineteen, dressed in white � the shade of mourning � because her husband, father-in-law and mother had all died within a year of one another. And she came from the luxury and warmth of Renaissance France to a bleak and chilly Scotland.

The chambers in Holyrood were dull, dreary and comfortless but Mary didn’t travel light. She brought with her 45 beds, 5 canopies, 20 coverings and 20 bolts of tapestry, plus paintings, jewellery and furnishings. All of which was taken south by James VI when Queen Elizabeth I died and he became King of England, Ireland and Wales, as well as Scotland.

Mary made the best of things which wasn’t easy as a Catholic in a now Protestant Scotland. She was naturally drawn to people who shared her faith and love of music. David Rizzio, an Italian became her secretary and close companion. Starved of the entertainment she’d enjoyed in France and in an austere Reformation Scotland where singing and dancing were frowned upon and the Reformer John Knox openly castigated her, indeed had her in tears for so indulging, Rizzio must have been a welcome reminder of her life in France.

He was unpopular with many of the courtiers who surrounded her, as a foreigner who had too much influence over her. One night she was having a meal in the small supper room off her bed chamber with Rizzio and a number of her ladies when a large group of men burst in, including Mary’s husband Lord Darnley.

Mary was six months pregnant at the time and there were rumours spread that Rizzio was the father of her unborn child. The men pushed past her and dragged Rizzio into the outer bedchamber where he was butchered in front of her.

Murder of David Rizzio by William Adams painted significantly later � as Mary’s dress shows � in 1833

David Rizzio was stabbed fifty four times with Lord Darnley taking a lead in the attack. His blood stains the floor still � although I suspect it may have been occasionally re-reddened over the subsequent centuries because it looked remarkably bright when I recently visited the palace.

Mary gave birth a few months later, not in Holyrood but in a small chamber in Edinburgh Castle with a number of men watching to verify the birth of the future monarch. Darnley was called to see his new son, who would become James VI, and gazed down upon him as Mary held him in her arms

“My Lord,� she said, ‘God has given me a son begotten by none other but you.�

Darnley blushed, one would hope shamed by the accusation he’d made of Mary’s adultery, and bent to kiss his son. She never forgave Darnley for Rizzio’s murder and when Darnley was himself murdered a few months later, she was held partly responsible. He was a vile man and here’s a retelling of a quarrel he had with Mary over dinner during a stay at Traquair House shortly after their son’s birth, and as reported by its owner.

Mary, who was feeling unwell, whispered in her husband’s ear she thought she may have been pregnant again and could she be excused from the stag hunt the following day. Darnley rudely replied:
“Never mind, if we lose this one, we can make another!�
The Laird rebuked him sharply and said he did not speak like a Christian whereupon Darnley replied:
“What! Ought not we to work a mare well when she is with foal?�

Holyrood Palace fell into disuse once Mary’s son James became king of England and removed there. By the 1800s, with the popularity of Sir Walter Scott novels, Scotland became a place for those with romantic sensibilities to visit, and the story of Mary Queen of Scots especially drew visitors to Holyrood Palace.

The Ceiling in the Audience Chamber painted to celebrate Mary Queen of Scots betrothal to the Dauphin of France

In the first year it was opened to the public 67,000 people visited and they had to fence off her bed to stop people touching it. But of course it was not her actual bed and when Sir Walter Scott stage managed King George IV’s successful visit to Scotland the dilapidated bed was at least replaced by one of red damask, perpetuating the romanticism. Indeed there is nothing left of Mary’s time in Holyrood apart from the audience room ceiling which was commissioned by her mother Mary of Guise, to celebrate Mary’s alliance with France and the joining of the Scottish and French Royal Houses � and, of course, David Riccio’s blood stains.

References

Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser

Notes from a talk on Mary Queen of Scots Bedchamber at Holyrood Palace

Note: Rizzio is the Scots spelling of Italian pronunciation, for his name was actually spelt Riccio.

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Margaret Atwood describes a good copy editor as ‘the person who will save you from yourself,� and I have to agree. I am fortunate to have Richard Sheehan as mine. After he emerged from editing my most recent in series I asked him if he would share some of his secrets in a guest post, which he generously agreed to do.

So here it is� from the editor’s pen.

The manuscript arrives in your email � where do you start?

The very first thing I do I to set up a folder structure on my computer, which includes folders for the original file, the work in progress, and the completed manuscript. I then add all my standard files for my timesheet, synopsis, character list, style sheet, and editing notes.

Then I back all these up to my online storage, which I regularly back up to several times a day when I’m working on an edit.

Then I run a set of macros on the manuscript. These give me an overview of how it’s written. They show me the numbering style, the hyphenation, capitalisation, spelling errors, and so on. I work through the results of the macros and check what’s been found with the manuscript. Then I run consistency-checking software to pick up anything the macros might have missed.

Then I begin the first of two read-throughs. Every project starts this way. But from this point on, the process can differ based on what’s required.

I hadn’t realised until I started writing that there are different types of editors � can you explain a little about that and where you fit in?

There are several types of editors, and their titles vary a little depending on location, but basically there are the following:

Developmental, Content or Substantive Editors

This form of editing looks at the big picture of the manuscript. The editor will look at it overall, chapter by chapter, particularly in areas such as the structure of the novel, characterisation, plot, pace, and point of view. The purpose of this type of edit is to develop the manuscript with the writer.

Copy-editors

The copy-editor works with the manuscript in a raw form before it is typeset and will look at grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalisation, hyphenation, use of UK or US English, consistency, style, and accuracy. Depending on the project, the copy-editor may also address some aspects of developmental editing and fact-checking.

Note: line-editing is based at the sentence level and is sometimes referred to as separate to copy-editing. However, in the UK, I’ve found that lots of copy-editors do it as part of their work.

Proofreaders

Proofreading is traditionally done after the book has been typeset and is concerned with accuracy, quality, and consistency. A proofreader will check for typographical errors, spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalisation, hyphenation, layout, headings, pagination, front and end matter, and anything that may not have been on the manuscript that was checked by the copy-editor.

What are the most common errors you see your authors making?

Aside from the obvious typos, punctuation, and grammar issues (and I don’t mind that, it’s my job to correct it after all), these are some of the issues I come across regularly.

Dialogue Tags and Dialogue Formatting.

Tags first. Lots of writers feel that using tags like ‘said�, ‘replied�, ‘answered�, etc. is repetitive and that readers don’t like it. As a result, they begin using tags like ‘he laughed�, ‘she smiled�, ‘he cringed�, ‘she grimaced�, ‘he hurried�, and so on. These aren’t really speech tags. They don’t describe the act of speech. People don’t ‘grimace� words. When a lot of agents and publishers see them, they think ‘new writer!�

It’s often best to stick with the more familiar dialogue tags. There has been research done that suggests that when readers see words like ‘said� they automatically register the dialogue and ignore the repeated use of the tags. Of course, if there are lots of short bursts of dialogue with ‘he said�, ‘she said�, this can have the opposite effect. As with lots of things in writing, it’s about judgement.

I see quite a lot of dialogue formatted incorrectly. For example, something like:

‘Hi.� She said.

It should, of course, be:

‘Hi,� she said.

There are plenty of websites (and style guides) that will show the correct way to format dialogue.

Timeline Errors

Writing a novel is difficult, and keeping track of everything even more so. Even the most assiduous author can have problems synchronising all the action and events in their novel. Another eye on this can be vital in avoiding stinging rebukes in those reviews.

Head-hopping

This is when an author is using a multiple third-person perspective and switches regularly between points of view. The safe way to do this is to use a specific point of view per chapter or section. It’s possible to change point of view within scenes and do it well, but it’s very difficult and requires a lot of writing skill. When done badly, it appears to the reader as if they’re bouncing between characters� thoughts and losing track of what’s happening.

Style Sheet compiled by Richard for The Familists � where I confuse discrete and discreetI’m always amazed what you do find because I genuinely send off my MS thinking ‘it doesn’t need much� � and it’s amazing how many things I’ve missed. Have you ever received a MS which in your view wasn’t yet ready for copy-editing? If so, how did you decide that and what did you do?

This happens more than people probably realise, and delicate diplomacy is needed.

I usually realise pretty quickly if a manuscript isn’t ready for editing. Over the years I’ve developed quite a good sense for this. It’s why I ask for samples from the beginning, middle, and the end of the text. Sometimes the first few chapters have been polished, so it’s worth seeing other sections.

Writing a book is incredibly difficult and takes a lot of dedication, persistence, and the opening up of your imagination and inner thoughts to strangers. Taking the step of looking for an editor is also a leap of faith, and, particularly for a first-time writer, an editor needs to be very sensitive to the author’s feelings. If I get a manuscript that isn’t ready for a copy-edit, I always try to accentuate the positive and suggest if a different form of editing (perhaps a critique or developmental work) might be better at this stage in the novel’s progress. Sometimes I might propose that a writer joins a writers� group to get feedback that way. There are lots of resources to help these days; usually it’s just a case of being pointed in the right direction.

I struggle with keeping track of dates, as you know having had to pick me up a few times most recently with the MS of The Familists where I had characters older or younger than they could be according to the timeline. Have you got any tips on how I might manage this better?

There are two issues here. One is keeping track of the chronology, and the other is keeping a record of characters. When I’m editing, I keep spreadsheets for both of these.

The character list is fairly straightforward and includes fields for physical descriptions, relationships to other characters, personality traits, significant possessions, and anything else that might be relevant during the progression of the story.

The timeline/chronology can vary a little depending on the structure of the story. From short timelines and keeping track of things by the hour, to longer timelines and keeping track of days, weeks, months, years, whatever is required.

This gets more complicated if there are several timelines and sub-plots, but it’s even more important because it’s easier for threads to get out of sync. And if you’re working on a series of books, then you need to keep a check on how everything develops over the writing of them, so you probably need to keep records over a period of years.

I’ve found spreadsheets are the best tool for me to do this. The most straightforward way of doing it can be to have a row for each chapter and allocate the columns to each timeline/character. It can get quite complicated, but it’s a good way to see at a glance if there’s a problem.

How do you balance keeping the author’s voice with making sure the editing is robust?

Good question. Firstly, as the editor, you need to keep your own preferences out of it. It’s the author’s work, and whether you would write it the same way is irrelevant. So don’t change things just because you think it should be done differently.

Look for stylistic techniques that are used consistently. The use of commas is a biggie. It’s almost like a fingerprint. Look for how dialogue and thoughts are formatted. See how adjectives and adverbs are used. How are sentences structured? Lots of short concise phrasing, or long, winding digressions with multiple clauses? Or both?

I don’t think of rules in editing, I think of conventions. And it’s okay to break conventions. So if a writer breaks conventions but the story benefits, stick with it.

Most of all though, remember whose story it is and ‘do no harm�.

Any Final Thoughts?

It’s hard to think of editing as a job sometimes, because I feel so fortunate to be reading other people’s writing and getting paid for it. So it’s a great privilege, and I see my prime purpose as trying to bring the very best out of the writing I’m working on. Sometimes I just look at a piece of writing and realise that I can’t do anything, it’s wonderful as it is, but that’s okay too � don’t mess with something that’s good.

***

I started editing after a twenty-year career in IT. I’d been writing for a few years and was looking for a change of career. I spent over a year completing courses run by the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (now the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading) and The Publishing Centre, and qualified as a copy-editor and proofreader. I then started working freelance with publishers, authors and businesses, and I’ve continued doing so for the past twelve years, working on over 350 books in that time.

Richard can be contacted as follows:

Email: [email protected]

Website:

Twitter:

Reedsy:

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

.

Margaret Atwood describes a good copy editor as ‘the person who will save you from yourself,� and I have to agree. I am fortunate to have Richard Sheehan as mine. After he emerged from editing my most recent in series I asked him if he would share some of his secrets in a guest post, which he generously agreed to do.

So here it is� from the editor’s pen.

The manuscript arrives in your email � where do you start?

The very first thing I do I to set up a folder structure on my computer, which includes folders for the original file, the work in progress, and the completed manuscript. I then add all my standard files for my timesheet, synopsis, character list, style sheet, and editing notes.

Then I back all these up to my online storage, which I regularly back up to several times a day when I’m working on an edit.

Then I run a set of macros on the manuscript. These give me an overview of how it’s written. They show me the numbering style, the hyphenation, capitalisation, spelling errors, and so on. I work through the results of the macros and check what’s been found with the manuscript. Then I run consistency-checking software to pick up anything the macros might have missed.

Then I begin the first of two read-throughs. Every project starts this way. But from this point on, the process can differ based on what’s required.

I hadn’t realised until I started writing that there are different types of editors � can you explain a little about that and where you fit in?

There are several types of editors, and their titles vary a little depending on location, but basically there are the following:

Developmental, Content or Substantive Editors

This form of editing looks at the big picture of the manuscript. The editor will look at it overall, chapter by chapter, particularly in areas such as the structure of the novel, characterisation, plot, pace, and point of view. The purpose of this type of edit is to develop the manuscript with the writer.

Copy-editors

The copy-editor works with the manuscript in a raw form before it is typeset and will look at grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalisation, hyphenation, use of UK or US English, consistency, style, and accuracy. Depending on the project, the copy-editor may also address some aspects of developmental editing and fact-checking.

Note: line-editing is based at the sentence level and is sometimes referred to as separate to copy-editing. However, in the UK, I’ve found that lots of copy-editors do it as part of their work.

Proofreaders

Proofreading is traditionally done after the book has been typeset and is concerned with accuracy, quality, and consistency. A proofreader will check for typographical errors, spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalisation, hyphenation, layout, headings, pagination, front and end matter, and anything that may not have been on the manuscript that was checked by the copy-editor.

What are the most common errors you see your authors making?

Aside from the obvious typos, punctuation, and grammar issues (and I don’t mind that, it’s my job to correct it after all), these are some of the issues I come across regularly.

Dialogue Tags and Dialogue Formatting.

Tags first. Lots of writers feel that using tags like ‘said�, ‘replied�, ‘answered�, etc. is repetitive and that readers don’t like it. As a result, they begin using tags like ‘he laughed�, ‘she smiled�, ‘he cringed�, ‘she grimaced�, ‘he hurried�, and so on. These aren’t really speech tags. They don’t describe the act of speech. People don’t ‘grimace� words. When a lot of agents and publishers see them, they think ‘new writer!�

It’s often best to stick with the more familiar dialogue tags. There has been research done that suggests that when readers see words like ‘said� they automatically register the dialogue and ignore the repeated use of the tags. Of course, if there are lots of short bursts of dialogue with ‘he said�, ‘she said�, this can have the opposite effect. As with lots of things in writing, it’s about judgement.

I see quite a lot of dialogue formatted incorrectly. For example, something like:

‘Hi.� She said.

It should, of course, be:

‘Hi,� she said.

There are plenty of websites (and style guides) that will show the correct way to format dialogue.

Timeline Errors

Writing a novel is difficult, and keeping track of everything even more so. Even the most assiduous author can have problems synchronising all the action and events in their novel. Another eye on this can be vital in avoiding stinging rebukes in those reviews.

Head-hopping

This is when an author is using a multiple third-person perspective and switches regularly between points of view. The safe way to do this is to use a specific point of view per chapter or section. It’s possible to change point of view within scenes and do it well, but it’s very difficult and requires a lot of writing skill. When done badly, it appears to the reader as if they’re bouncing between characters� thoughts and losing track of what’s happening.

Style Sheet compiled by Richard for The Familists � where I confuse discrete and discreetI’m always amazed what you do find because I genuinely send off my MS thinking ‘it doesn’t need much� � and it’s amazing how many things I’ve missed. Have you ever received a MS which in your view wasn’t yet ready for copy-editing? If so, how did you decide that and what did you do?

This happens more than people probably realise, and delicate diplomacy is needed.

I usually realise pretty quickly if a manuscript isn’t ready for editing. Over the years I’ve developed quite a good sense for this. It’s why I ask for samples from the beginning, middle, and the end of the text. Sometimes the first few chapters have been polished, so it’s worth seeing other sections.

Writing a book is incredibly difficult and takes a lot of dedication, persistence, and the opening up of your imagination and inner thoughts to strangers. Taking the step of looking for an editor is also a leap of faith, and, particularly for a first-time writer, an editor needs to be very sensitive to the author’s feelings. If I get a manuscript that isn’t ready for a copy-edit, I always try to accentuate the positive and suggest if a different form of editing (perhaps a critique or developmental work) might be better at this stage in the novel’s progress. Sometimes I might propose that a writer joins a writers� group to get feedback that way. There are lots of resources to help these days; usually it’s just a case of being pointed in the right direction.

I struggle with keeping track of dates, as you know having had to pick me up a few times most recently with the MS of The Familists where I had characters older or younger than they could be according to the timeline. Have you got any tips on how I might manage this better?

There are two issues here. One is keeping track of the chronology, and the other is keeping a record of characters. When I’m editing, I keep spreadsheets for both of these.

The character list is fairly straightforward and includes fields for physical descriptions, relationships to other characters, personality traits, significant possessions, and anything else that might be relevant during the progression of the story.

The timeline/chronology can vary a little depending on the structure of the story. From short timelines and keeping track of things by the hour, to longer timelines and keeping track of days, weeks, months, years, whatever is required.

This gets more complicated if there are several timelines and sub-plots, but it’s even more important because it’s easier for threads to get out of sync. And if you’re working on a series of books, then you need to keep a check on how everything develops over the writing of them, so you probably need to keep records over a period of years.

I’ve found spreadsheets are the best tool for me to do this. The most straightforward way of doing it can be to have a row for each chapter and allocate the columns to each timeline/character. It can get quite complicated, but it’s a good way to see at a glance if there’s a problem.

How do you balance keeping the author’s voice with making sure the editing is robust?

Good question. Firstly, as the editor, you need to keep your own preferences out of it. It’s the author’s work, and whether you would write it the same way is irrelevant. So don’t change things just because you think it should be done differently.

Look for stylistic techniques that are used consistently. The use of commas is a biggie. It’s almost like a fingerprint. Look for how dialogue and thoughts are formatted. See how adjectives and adverbs are used. How are sentences structured? Lots of short concise phrasing, or long, winding digressions with multiple clauses? Or both?

I don’t think of rules in editing, I think of conventions. And it’s okay to break conventions. So if a writer breaks conventions but the story benefits, stick with it.

Most of all though, remember whose story it is and ‘do no harm�.

Any Final Thoughts?

It’s hard to think of editing as a job sometimes, because I feel so fortunate to be reading other people’s writing and getting paid for it. So it’s a great privilege, and I see my prime purpose as trying to bring the very best out of the writing I’m working on. Sometimes I just look at a piece of writing and realise that I can’t do anything, it’s wonderful as it is, but that’s okay too � don’t mess with something that’s good.

***

I started editing after a twenty-year career in IT. I’d been writing for a few years and was looking for a change of career. I spent over a year completing courses run by the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (now the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading) and The Publishing Centre, and qualified as a copy-editor and proofreader. I then started working freelance with publishers, authors and businesses, and I’ve continued doing so for the past twelve years, working on over 350 books in that time.

Richard can be contacted as follows:

Email: [email protected]

Website:

Twitter:

Reedsy:

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

.

Margaret Atwood describes a good copy editor as ‘the person who will save you from yourself,� and I have to agree. I am fortunate to have Richard Sheehan as mine. After he emerged from editing my most recent in seriesI asked him if he would share some of his secrets in a guest post, which he generously agreed to do.

So here it is� from the editor’s pen.

The manuscript arrives in your email � where do you start?

The very first thing I do I to set up a folder structure on my computer, which includes folders for the original file, the work in progress, and the completed manuscript. I then add all my standard files for my timesheet, synopsis, character list, style sheet, and editing notes.

Then I back all these up to my online storage, which I regularly back up to several times a day when I’m working on an edit.

Then I run a set of macros on the manuscript. These give me an overview of how it’s written. They show me the numbering style, the hyphenation, capitalisation, spelling errors, and so on. I work through the results of the macros and check what’s been found with the manuscript. Then I run consistency-checking software to pick up anything the macros might have missed.

Then I begin the first of two read-throughs. Every project starts this way. But from this point on, the process can differ based on what’s required.

I hadn’t realised until I started writing that there are different types of editors � can you explain a little about that and where you fit in?

There are several types of editors, and their titles vary a little depending on location, but basically there are the following:

Developmental, Content or Substantive Editors

This form of editing looks at the big picture of the manuscript. The editor will look at it overall, chapter by chapter, particularly in areas such as the structure of the novel, characterisation, plot, pace, and point of view. The purpose of this type of edit is to develop the manuscript with the writer.

Copy-editors

The copy-editor works with the manuscript in a raw form before it is typeset and will look at grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalisation, hyphenation, use of UK or US English, consistency, style, and accuracy. Depending on the project, the copy-editor may also address some aspects of developmental editing and fact-checking.

Note: line-editing is based at the sentence level and is sometimes referred to as separate to copy-editing. However, in the UK, I’ve found that lots of copy-editors do it as part of their work.

Proofreaders

Proofreading is traditionally done after the book has been typeset and is concerned with accuracy, quality, and consistency. A proofreader will check for typographical errors, spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalisation, hyphenation, layout, headings, pagination, front and end matter, and anything that may not have been on the manuscript that was checked by the copy-editor.

What are the most common errors you see your authors making?

Aside from the obvious typos, punctuation, and grammar issues (and I don’t mind that, it’s my job to correct it after all), these are some of the issues I come across regularly.

Dialogue Tags and Dialogue Formatting.

Tags first. Lots of writers feel that using tags like ‘said�, ‘replied�, ‘answered�, etc. is repetitive and that readers don’t like it. As a result, they begin using tags like ‘he laughed�, ‘she smiled�, ‘he cringed�, ‘she grimaced�, ‘he hurried�, and so on. These aren’t really speech tags. They don’t describe the act of speech. People don’t ‘grimace� words. When a lot of agents and publishers see them, they think ‘new writer!�

It’s often best to stick with the more familiar dialogue tags. There has been research done that suggests that when readers see words like ‘said� they automatically register the dialogue and ignore the repeated use of the tags. Of course, if there are lots of short bursts of dialogue with ‘he said�, ‘she said�, this can have the opposite effect. As with lots of things in writing, it’s about judgement.

I see quite a lot of dialogue formatted incorrectly. For example, something like:

‘Hi.� She said.

It should, of course, be:

‘Hi,� she said.

There are plenty of websites (and style guides) that will show the correct way to format dialogue.

Timeline Errors

Writing a novel is difficult, and keeping track of everything even more so. Even the most assiduous author can have problems synchronising all the action and events in their novel. Another eye on this can be vital in avoiding stinging rebukes in those reviews.

Head-hopping

This is when an author is using a multiple third-person perspective and switches regularly between points of view. The safe way to do this is to use a specific point of view per chapter or section. It’s possible to change point of view within scenes and do it well, but it’s very difficult and requires a lot of writing skill. When done badly, it appears to the reader as if they’re bouncing between characters� thoughts and losing track of what’s happening.

Style Sheet compiled by Richard for The Familists � where I confuse discrete and discreetI’m always amazed what you do find because I genuinely send off my MS thinking ‘it doesn’t need much� � and it’s amazing how many things I’ve missed. Have you ever received a MS which in your view wasn’t yet ready for copy-editing? If so, how did you decide that and what did you do?

This happens more than people probably realise, and delicate diplomacy is needed.

I usually realise pretty quickly if a manuscript isn’t ready for editing. Over the years I’ve developed quite a good sense for this. It’s why I ask for samples from the beginning, middle, and the end of the text. Sometimes the first few chapters have been polished, so it’s worth seeing other sections.

Writing a book is incredibly difficult and takes a lot of dedication, persistence, and the opening up of your imagination and inner thoughts to strangers. Taking the step of looking for an editor is also a leap of faith, and, particularly for a first-time writer, an editor needs to be very sensitive to the author’s feelings. If I get a manuscript that isn’t ready for a copy-edit, I always try to accentuate the positive and suggest if a different form of editing (perhaps a critique or developmental work) might be better at this stage in the novel’s progress. Sometimes I might propose that a writer joins a writers� group to get feedback that way. There are lots of resources to help these days; usually it’s just a case of being pointed in the right direction.

I struggle with keeping track of dates, as you know having had to pick me up a few times most recently with the MS of The Familists where I had characters older or younger than they could be according to the timeline. Have you got any tips on how I might manage this better?

There are two issues here. One is keeping track of the chronology, and the other is keeping a record of characters. When I’m editing, I keep spreadsheets for both of these.

The character list is fairly straightforward and includes fields for physical descriptions, relationships to other characters, personality traits, significant possessions, and anything else that might be relevant during the progression of the story.

The timeline/chronology can vary a little depending on the structure of the story. From short timelines and keeping track of things by the hour, to longer timelines and keeping track of days, weeks, months, years, whatever is required.

This gets more complicated if there are several timelines and sub-plots, but it’s even more important because it’s easier for threads to get out of sync. And if you’re working on a series of books, then you need to keep a check on how everything develops over the writing of them, so you probably need to keep records over a period of years.

I’ve found spreadsheets are the best tool for me to do this. The most straightforward way of doing it can be to have a row for each chapter and allocate the columns to each timeline/character. It can get quite complicated, but it’s a good way to see at a glance if there’s a problem.

How do you balance keeping the author’s voice with making sure the editing is robust?

Good question. Firstly, as the editor, you need to keep your own preferences out of it. It’s the author’s work, and whether you would write it the same way is irrelevant. So don’t change things just because you think it should be done differently.

Look for stylistic techniques that are used consistently. The use of commas is a biggie. It’s almost like a fingerprint. Look for how dialogue and thoughts are formatted. See how adjectives and adverbs are used. How are sentences structured? Lots of short concise phrasing, or long, winding digressions with multiple clauses? Or both?

I don’t think of rules in editing, I think of conventions. And it’s okay to break conventions. So if a writer breaks conventions but the story benefits, stick with it.

Most of all though, remember whose story it is and ‘do no harm�.

Any Final Thoughts?

It’s hard to think of editing as a job sometimes, because I feel so fortunate to be reading other people’s writing and getting paid for it. So it’s a great privilege, and I see my prime purpose as trying to bring the very best out of the writing I’m working on. Sometimes I just look at a piece of writing and realise that I can’t do anything, it’s wonderful as it is, but that’s okay too � don’t mess with something that’s good.

***

I started editing after a twenty-year career in IT. I’d been writing for a few years and was looking for a change of career. I spent over a year completing courses run by the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (now the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading) and The Publishing Centre, and qualified as a copy-editor and proofreader. I then started working freelance with publishers, authors and businesses, and I’ve continued doing so for the past twelve years, working on over 350 books in that time.

Richard can be contacted as follows:

Email: [email protected]

Website:

Twitter:

Reedsy:

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

.

A visit to Istanbul yielded a rich seam of research for my most recent in series . Here’s some highlights.

Mehmet II besieged and conquered Constantinople in 1453 and simply moved into what the Byzantines had vacated, re-purposing and repairing as he went. The stunning Hagia Sofia, built nine hundred years earlier in 537 , as the principle church of the Byzantine Empire, became a mosque

Ceiling of the Hagia Sofia Mosque

and the church within the Topkapi Palace grounds was used as an arsenal.

Hagia Eirene, a church in grounds of the Palace

My characters find themselves in Constantinople barely a hundred years later, or more accurately, living across the Golden Horn in an area known as Galata where the many Conversos (Jews who had been forcibly converted to Christianity) fleeing across Europe finally settled .

Map of Galata 1500s

Conversos were originally expelled from Spain and spoke a Judeo Spanish known as Ladino (the Greek Jews of Constantinople who’d been there long before the Spanish Jews arrived spoke a Judeo-Greek known as Romaniote). I was very interested to see a child’s Ladino textbook in the museum of Turkish Jews in Galata

Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) Text Book

Galata is dominated still by its watch tower built by the Genoese when they captured Galata in the 1300s.

Galata Tower built by Genoese

The area was famous for its fish market even then, which is well worth a visit.

Famous Fish Market of Galata

I had debated whether a trip to Istanbul was necessary since I had already done a lot of research for and of course it would have changed dramatically since 1555. But I’m glad we made the trip for, apart from being a magnificent city, there were at the very least the vistas which cannot be captured in the same way through looking at images. The view Bethia would have seen whenever she crossed the Golden Horn to take goods to the harem in the Topkapi Palace or visit the Grand Bazaar would have included the Süleymaniye Mosque rising behind the city walls.

Suleymaniye Mosque built 1550-7

The Grand Bazaar established during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1481, is one of the largest and oldest covered markets still in existence, with about four thousand shops.

One of the Entrances to the Grand Bazaar

What I could never have captured from research alone was the sheer noise of the place as voices of traders haggling with customers echoed off its high arched roofs � and we were there in the evening shortly before it closed. I can’t begin to imagine how loud it must be in the middle of the day.

I am a lover of castles as those who read my will know from its regular slot covering �Great Castles to Visit in Scotland� but the Topkapi Palace is beyond any castle I’ve ever visited. We were there for five hours and I barely touched the sides. Above is husband pictured at the beginning of our visit …and below after five hours. In my defence he did spend the last hour sitting reading the book on his phone.

Most fascinating of all was the tour of the harem. My character Bethia ends up running a business selling goods to the concubines who, of course, could not leave its confines. The mostly Jewish women who provided this service, were known as kiras. The harem is inevitably a more confined area than the rest of the spacious palace, with a view only of the sky from its narrow courtyards.

Within the Harem

Even the Valide Sultan (the sultan’s mother) reception room was surprisingly small.

Valide Sultan’s Audience Room

The eunuchs quarters are attached to the harem and also a dormitory. Indeed there were lots of dormitories within the palace for both janissaries and all the administrators who worked and lived there � around three thousand people in all during the time of Suleiman.

Dormitory with sleeping patforms � one of the many

There were men who brought the women of the harem their food from the palace kitchens and went out onto the hillsides to chop wood for the fires � making them a strange combination of servers and loggers. These young men wore their fringes very long so their hair covered their eyes. They were never permitted in the harem proper and any young woman who found herself in the area where they left the trays of food would be in trouble, along with the server. The Chief Eunnuch held great power and controlled the finances of the harem, so the kira were paid by them.

Eunuch guarding the entrance to the Harem

There were lots of museums within the walls of the palace, including those displaying jewels (too long a queue to wait in), armoury, kitchen equipment as well as the courtyard where Suleiman liked to watch his menagerie of lions in action. The museum I found most fascinating was that displaying the clothes the sultans wore.

Kaftan worn by Suleiman circa 1550

The garments were found when the palace was restored in 1924 and remarkably both Mehmet II and Suleiman’s clothes had survived for over five hundred years because of the way they’d been stored. The undershirts were especially intricate with the text from the Koran painted on in the most tiny handwriting.

Clothes worn by the Princes circa 1500s

It was upsetting to look at the clothes on display once worn by the sultan’s children and know that only the son who succeeded would survive after the sultan’s death � virtually the first action taken by a new sultan on succession was to order his siblings strangled.

Delightful display ofTurkish Delight

A grim note to end upon, so I shall leave you with a picture of the amazing Turkish Delight to be found in Istanbul’s many, many confectionary shops.

.

My monthly offers subscribers updates on research and my writing as well as a couple of free short stories (available to subscribers only) and tales of my latest castle visit.

Subscribe � you can unsubscribe with ease at any time.

A visit to Istanbul yielded was a rich source of research for my most recent in series . Here’s some highlights.

Mehmet II besieged and conquered Constantinople in 1453 and simply moved into what the Byzantines had vacated, re-purposing and repairing as he went. The stunning Hagia Sofia, built nine hundred years earlier in 537 , as the principle church of the Byzantine Empire, became a mosque

[image error]Inside the Hagia Sofia Mosque

and the church within the Topkapi Palace grounds was used as an arsenal.

Hagia Eirene, a church in grounds of the Palace

My characters find themselves in Constantinople barely a hundred years later, or more accurately, living across the Golden Horn in an area known as Galata where the many Conversos (Jews who had been forcibly converted to Christianity) fleeing across Europe finally settled .

Map of Galata 1500s

Conversos were originally expelled from Spain and spoke a Judeo Spanish known as Ladino (the Greek Jews of Constantinople who’d been there long before the Spanish Jews arrived spoke a Judeo-Greek known as Romaniote). I was very interested to see a child’s Ladino textbook in the museum of Turkish Jews in Galata

Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) Text Book

Galata is dominated still by its tower built as a watch tower by the Genoese when they captured Galata in the 1300s.

Galata Tower built by Genoese

The area was famous for its fish market even then, which is well worth a visit.

Famous Fish Market of Galata

I had debated whether a trip to Istanbul was necessary since I had already done a lot of research for and of course it would have changed dramatically since 1555. But I’m glad we made the trip for, apart from being a magnificent city, there were at the very least the vistas which cannot be captured in the same way through looking at images. The view Bethia would have seen whenever she crossed the Golden Horn to take goods to the harem in the Topkapi Palace or visit the Grand Bazaar would have included the Süleymaniye Mosque rising behind the city walls.

Suleymaniye Mosque built 1550-7

The Grand Bazaar established during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1481, is one of the largest and oldest covered markets still in existence, with about four thousand shops.

One of the Entrances to the Grand Bazaar

What I could never have captured from research alone was the sheer noise of the place as voices of traders haggling with customers echoed off its high arched roofs � and we were there in the evening shortly before it closed. I can’t begin to imagine how loud it must be in the middle of the day.

I am a lover of castles as those who read my will know from my regular slot on �Great Castles to Visit in Scotland� but the Topkapi Palace is beyond any castle I’ve ever been in. We were there for five hours and I barely touched the sides. Above is husband pictured at the beginning of our visit …and below after five hours. In my defence he did spend the last hour sitting reading the book on his phone.

Most fascinating of all was the tour of the harem. My character Bethia ends up running a business selling goods to the concubines who, of course, could not leave its confines. The mostly Jewish women who provided this service, were known as kiras. The harem is inevitably a more confined area than the rest of the spacious palace, with a view only of the sky from its narrow courtyards.

Within the Harem

Even the Valide Sultan (the sultan’s mother) reception room was surprisingly small.

Valide Sultan’s Audience Room

The eunuchs quarters are attached to the harem and also a dormitory. Indeed there were lots of dormitories within the palace for both janissaries and all the administrators who worked and lived there � around three thousand people in all during the time of Suleiman.

Dormitory with sleeping patforms � one of the many

There were men who brought the women of the harem their food from the palace kitchens and went out onto the hillsides to chop wood for the fires � making them a strange combination of servers and loggers. These young men wore their fringes very long so their hair covered their eyes. They were never permitted in the harem proper and any young woman who found herself in the area where they left their trays of food would be in trouble, along with the server. The Chief Eunnuch held great power and controlled the finances of the harem, so the kira were paid by them.

Eunuch guarding the entrance to the Harem

There were lots of museums within the walls of the palace, including those displaying jewels (too long a queue to wait in), armoury, kitchen equipment as well as the courtyard where Suleiman liked to watch his menagerie of lions in action. The museum I found most fascinating was that displaying the clothes the sultans wore.

Kaftan worn by Suleiman circa 1550

The garments were found when the palace began to be restored in 1924 and remarkably both Mehmet II and Suleiman’s clothes had survived for over five hundred years because of the way they’d been stored. The undershirts where especially intricate with the text from the Koran painted on in the most tiny handwriting.

Clothes worn by the Princes circa 1500s

It was upsetting to look at the clothes on display once worn by the sultan’s children and know that only the son who succeeded would survive after the sultan’s death. The first thing a new sultan did on succession was to order his siblings strangled.

Delightful display ofTurkish Delight

A grim note to end upon, so I shall leave you with a picture of the amazing Turkish Delight to be found in Istanbul’s many, many confectionary shops.

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Visiting Venice last year I had the opportunity to delve into aspects of city life in the 1550s, all helpful research for the then work in progress, . For instance, the current Rialto bridge wasn’t in existence when my characters were living there, in fact there was no bridge at all at the time since it had collapsed under the weight of a crowd rushing to watch a wedding.

Rialto Bridge designed by Antonio da Ponte, construction began in 1588 and was completed in 1591

The city fathers were determined to replace previous wooden bridges with a stone built one that would last (see the painting below by Carpaccio of an earlier bridge made of wood) and asked Michelangelo, amongst others, to submit a design. When the Rialto Bridge was finally erected, many assumed it too would collapse from the weight of the marble, especially since it had no central supporting pillar. The gondoliers no doubt were very happy that it took thirty odd years before the new bridge was constructed since they provided the only means of crossing the Grand Canal.

Segment from Carpaccio’s Miracle of the Relic of the True Cross at the Rialto Bridge, 1496.

In writing it would’ve been all too easy to assume the current Rialto Bridge, finished in 1591, would’ve been in existence. It’s those small details which can really catch a writer of historical fiction out � or this one anyway.

My research is never particularly well planned, more a stumbling on curious facts and following my curiosity. For example, cities in Europe during the era were invariably bounded by high city walls, very necessary for their defence, and yet Venice has no such defences, apart from the Fort of San’Andrea. However the canals themselves formed a line of defence. There were markers in the very shallow water within the lagoon to guide ships and boats, which could, at need, be removed making any attacker likely to run aground.

Nevertheless I found it curious that the Ottomans had never attacked � if they could take Constantinople then Venice wouldn’t have posed much of a problem. Although at times they were at loggerheads, the two regimes kept ambassadors permanently in one another courts. Cyprus for instance, was under Venetian rule and in 1570 Famagusta was besieged by the Turks yet it never erupted into open warfare between the two states. The Venetians eventually surrendered Famagusta in 1571 but the Turkish commander, furious that he’d lost over 50,000 men, breached the terms of the surrender and murdered all the Christians left in the city then flayed alive the Venetian commander.

In response the Venetians, in an unusual alliance with Spain and the Pope, won the sea battle of Lepanto and displayed the heads of the Ottoman commanders on their ships (which I cover in my current work in progress ). But these territorial skirmishes never resulted in an open declaration of war between the Doge and the Sultan. The smooth flow of trade, it seems, was more important than territory.

Da Vinci’s design for a canal dredger

The islands of Venice sit within a tidal lagoon and the waters rise and fall by several feet each day. Even in the 1400s there was a concern about how to maintain the depth of the canals, which were the receptacles for all the sewage, detritus and general rubbish of the day. Leonardo’s design for a dredger was never actually built but it shows the pre-occupation with depth.

It’s possible to book a private tour of the secret rooms and hidden passageways of the Doge’s Palace. Here’s the torture chamber where a prisoner could watch, from the small square window high on the right, his fellow inmate being tortured knowing it would be his turn next.

Torture chamber within the Doge’s Palace

The cells in the basement of the Doge’s Palace flooded when the tide came in so prisoners would find themselves waist deep in water every twelve hours. The wealthier prisoners were held in the attics, which had the benefit of being dry but they either baked in the summer or froze in the winter beneath the lead roof.

Columns of San Marco and San Teodoro in Piazza San Marco

The two pillars in St Mark’s Square, one with a winged lion and the other with the figure of St Theodore patron saint of Venice atop, were a gift from the Byzantine Emperor in the 12th century. Brought from Constantinople, there was a third column but it fell off the ship into the sea. In the era in which my books are set any member of the aristocracy sentenced to death would be hung between the two pillars and his body left swinging there for several days as a warning to others.

Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

Visiting Venice was incredibly helpful to get a sense of the sheer scale of the buildings and the opulence my character Bethia, a wee lassie from St Andrews in Scotland, would have been exposed to. In the first in series , Bethia’s mother is obsessed with having a painted ceiling but it would’ve been much diminished next to the grandeur of Venetian painted ceilings such as the one pictured above.

The Scuola Grande was an organisation of merchants and others who did charitable works � a precursor of the Rotary Club perhaps � but they clearly needed a grand setting in which to meet and chat about those good works.

The mosaic marble floors too would have been stunning, and so smooth underfoot for a Scottish lass.

15th century Venetian floor reminiscent of the Dutch artist Escher

Venice is a city of light and water and flowers. But windows then still had opaque glass. Here’s one from Ferrara that has survived for five hundred years � not great for letting in the light but very beautiful to look upon.

Window of House in Ferrara dating from 1500s

My third in series, , is set partly in Venice.

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