My husband and I spent ten wonderful days in Europe (specifically, Hungary and Vienna) researching setting and period details for my forthcoming trilogy (THE BLOOD ROSE REBELLION, Knopf 2016).
Right after we got back, I plunged into three wonderful days at the LDStorymakers conference, absorbing the wisdom of my writing tribe. I'm only now getting back into the swing of my real life. (Not nearly so exciting).
But here's a sneak peak of what I've been working on:
This is Eszterhaza, a beautiful estate in Northeastern Hungary that belonged to the wealthy Eszterhazy family. Sometimes called the Hungarian Versailles (though I've been to Versailles and this is not quite on that scale!), the estate serves as the setting for part of my debut novel.
The beautiful Sala Terenna, a ground-floor reception room where some dramatic action unfolds near the end of the novel. Spoiler: someone dies.
I'll post more on my trip later, but it was wonderful to be able to actually explore the physical sites, to realize the limits of 19th century Budapest, to wander the same streets my heroine would have walked. Setting is a profoundly important aspect of any novel: place shapes our conception of self, the relationships we have with one another, and so much more.
So beautiful! Glad you had a great trip. I look forward to hearing more about it :)
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful pictures! Your trip sounds amazing! And here I thought Storymakers was the best thing about this spring, but it's hard to beat your trip to Europe.
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