By Jennifer Deibel, @ThisGalsJourney
One of the best things about writing and reading is getting to explore distant corners of the world without ever having to leave your couch.
When writing set in another location, however, there’s only so much Google can tell you if you’ve never been there to experience it for yourself.
My stories are all set in Ireland in the early 1900s, and while I’ve been in many of the locations I’ve written about, I’ve not been to all of them. And I’ve not experienced them in the early 1900s.
So, how do we get a sense of authenticity for our writing when it’s just not feasible to spend time in the setting of our stories?
I’d like to share a few ways that have been helpful to me.
- Reach out to local museums, visitors’ centers, etc. My current WIP is set in a small village in the far west of Ireland which was built around a medicinal spa/well that was discovered in the late 1800s. I reached out to the historical society who manages the spa/wells now and they were able to give me a wealth of information about the history of the wells, what they would’ve been like in my time period, as well as share photographs of the area. These were all invaluable to helping me weave authentic details into the story more easily than were I left to try to make them up myself.
- Take advantage of virtual tours. One story I was working on was set at a famous lighthouse in the far north of Ireland. I never visited it when we lived there, and was able to set up a virtual tour of the grounds, as well as ask questions of the guide to get a more well-rounded picture of the history than I could just glean from their websites and Google searches. And thanks to the pandemic of 2020, many places are set up to do virtual tours, which wouldn’t have been possible before.
- Tap into Facebook groups. I love looking for Facebook groups that connect with a location, place, time period or event that my story revolves around. In these groups, you can often find people with firsthand knowledge or experiences who are willing to share them with you. I got connected to a real-life Irish matchmaker who is still in business today, and was able to set up a time to interview him about his experiences, since my current WIP surrounds the annual matchmaking festival in which he still works. And all it cost me was offering to mention him in my acknowledgements at the end of the book.
These are my top suggestions for gaining authentic knowledge of a place you’ve never been to, and I use them often. I even utilize them to glean more details about the places I lived in. After being away for so long, many details have slipped my mind. So, get out there and experience the world—right there in your own living room.
Brianna Kelly was abandoned at Ballymacool House and Boarding School as an infant. She has worked there since she was a wee girl and will likely die there. Despite a sense that she was made for something more, Brianna feels powerless to change her situation, so she consoles herself by exploring the Ballymacool grounds, looking for hidden treasures to add to the secret trove beneath the floorboards of her room.
When Michael Wray, the son of local gentry, is sent to Ballymacool to deal with his unruly cousin, he finds himself drawn to Brianna, immediately and inescapably. There is something about her that feels so . . . familiar. When Brianna finds a piece of silver in the woods, she commits to learning its origins, with the help of Michael. What they discover may change everything.
Fan favorite Jennifer Deibel invites you back to the Emerald Isle in the 1930s for this fresh take on the Cinderella story, complete with a tantalizing mystery, a budding romance, and a chance at redemption.
Jennifer Deibel, author of A Dance in Donegal, is a middle school teacher whose work has appeared on (in)courage, on The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic magazine, and others. With firsthand immersive experience abroad, Jennifer writes stories that help redefine home through the lens of culture, history, and family. After nearly a decade of living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona with her husband and their three children. You can find her online at www.jenniferdeibel.com . Her sophomore novel, The Lady of Galway Manor, releases Feb. 1, 2022 from Revell and is available for preorder wherever books are sold!