{"id":3321,"date":"2022-04-07T14:53:22","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T12:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/?p=3321"},"modified":"2022-04-07T23:25:45","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T21:25:45","slug":"amor-vincit-omnia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/?p=3321","title":{"rendered":"Amor Vincit Omnia."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m deep in the research again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While waiting on a few submissions, I\u2019ve returned to a dual narrative I began with great enthusiasm a few months ago. (Last year was the year of beginning things only to get interrupted or lose confidence).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s set partly at the end of the Roman Empire and in present day Devon so, in terms of research, I\u2019ve got my work cut out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve a smattering of knowledge about the Romans, know a little about the ancient Britons but, for this one, I also need to know about police procedures, archaeological dig funding and protocol. Will someone please tell me to write about what I know?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone seemed to invade this part of the south west. The Romans ruled us for over four hundred years, the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings came next and then the Normans. Luckily, we escaped being invaded by the enemy in World War Two but it was a close run thing. They\u2019ve all left their mark. The hill fort tribal homelands can still be seen and walked around, archaeologists are often uncovering evidence of Roman occupation, the Anglo-Saxons left us their language, the Vikings their DNA and you can\u2019t go far before you hit a Norman castle. Even World War Two is still with us. In the town where I live is a concrete pillbox which looks forlornly out to sea, and the Stop Line (a defensive measure against possible invasion) is now a cycle and walkway. Even place names are a clue. Kingsbury Episcopi must be Latin (I\u2019m guessing as I don\u2019t speak it and am now regretting the fact!), anything with the \u2018chester\u2019 suffix is Roman as in Dorchester. \u2018Ton,\u2019 as well as being Regency Bridgerton-speak for Society, is a Saxon suffix meaning settlement. It\u2019s one reason I find it difficult to invent fictional place names for the east Devon and west Dorset area, where most of my books are set, that give an instant feel for the south west. The prefix \u2018Tre\u2019 and you\u2019re in Cornwall. \u2018Aber\u2019 and you\u2019re transported to Wales. But this part of England is, dare I say it, a bit of a mongrel in terms of heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the many hillforts dotted around Devon and Dorset<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

However, with this book, place names are the least of my worries. The sheer amount of research needed got to me and I fretted I\u2019d taken on too much. I was even hunting online for a metal detecting code of conduct at one point. There is one by the way. 

https:\/\/www.thedetectorist.co.uk\/metal-detecting\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve said before that, until you begin writing, you don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know – or need to know and this proved true again. So I went back to the beginning and planned the novel out properly which gave me some idea of what I needed. Then I did some heavy-weight book buying, never a hardship, and began to read. 
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It\u2019s never a chore to get Michael Wood out!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I also emailed a few people. Unlike other writers who seem never to have a problem finding folk who fall over themselves to help a writer in distress, this one finds it an uphill struggle. There\u2019s a lot of information online but sometimes it\u2019s the finer details that you need and then you have to talk to an actual human. I was getting quite down-hearted by it all when I received a friendly, even chatty response to an email I\u2019d shot off. It restored my faith. I\u2019d bought Caroline Mackenzie\u2019s book on Lullingstone villa already and contacted her with a query on Romano-British water systems. She was gracious and incredibly helpful and I\u2019m very grateful she took time out from her own writing to reply.
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