Tag: historical research
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The Alchemist of Paris Book Map
Here is a map of the key places in The Alchemist of Paris. Creating a book map has been on my to-do list for ages and I’m excited at how it turned out! This map posed the challenge of portraying a city in an earlier time period, and also a city which many people know…
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Alchemy, Magic and the Origins of Modern Science
I remembered a word I had heard the monks say, a word spoken with disapproval, a word as bad as a deadly sin. A word that was rich and alluring, a word describing something I knew to be wrong, but which I knew was exactly what lay in the pages before me. Alchemy. – Elise starts to…
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Plotting my Way across the City (from a Writer’s Perspective)
One of the most evocative books I have ever read is “The Vampire Lestat”. Anne Rice made me want to run down the Paris boulevards with Lestat and Nicholas, sit in the smoky theatres and opera houses, and descend into the catacombs with Armand. Frankly, it even made me want to be a vampire, had…
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City of Signs – Historical Fiction Tips
“My master, Monsieur Price, has asked me to go to the sign of the Three Hands again, although I dislike the place. He buys powders for his experiments there.” – Elise reflects on her strange instructions in ‘The Alchemist of Paris’ In an age when many people were illiterate, the most common way to navigate…