All posts tagged British Museum

Six Sentence Sunday – 2/12/12

Today is #sixsunday where writers share six sentences from their work. I’ll share a snippet from my time-travel romance WIP tentatively titled MUST LOVE BREECHES.

Here’s my new pitch/logline: When a thoroughly modern girl finds herself stranded in 1834 London, she must find a way home while navigating the pitfalls of London society, resisting her attraction to a hunky lord, and ultimately having to decide when her true home lies.  (You can see the other entries here.)

Okay, a couple of week’s back I shared the new first opening lines and below is taking the last line in that and reworking it to show their obsession with guys in breeches, not tell. I wanted to get y’all’s opinion. I had one critiquer tell me they thought this was a bit gross/crass, but I wasn’t sure if it was just her sensibilities, or if it really was just, well, gross. Setup: they are at a reenactment ball set in 1834.

At least her co-worker Anna was with her in this. Like Isabelle’s, her dress was circa 1834. “Hmmm, how about him?” Isabelle asked, eyeing the guy walking past in tight-fitting, buff-colored breeches.

Anna sucked on her olive and plopped the stir stick back into her cocktail. “Oh, yes, a breech-ripper for sure.”

Since this is the third and fourth paragraph, I don’t want to get her characterization wrong. To see snippets from others who are participating or to sign up yourself, visit here. Other time-travel SSS writers: Gayle Ramage

Thank you to everyone who comes by and comments each week! Have a great Sunday!

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by Angela Quarles on February 12, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Current Work, Excerpt, Six Sentence Sunday
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Posted by Angela Quarles on February 12, 2012

http://angelaquarles.com/2012/02/12/six-sentence-sunday-21212/

Six Sentence Sunday – 2/5/12

Today is #sixsunday where writers share six sentences from their work. I’ll share a snippet from my time-travel romance WIP tentatively titled MUST LOVE BREECHES.

Here’s my new pitch/logline: When a modern girl finds herself stranded in 1834 London, she must find a way home while navigating the pitfalls of London society, resisting her attraction to a hunky lord, and ultimately having to decide when her true home lies.  (You can see the other entries here.)

So far I’ve only shared examples that were meant to be humorous or were requests for feedback. Today I thought I’d switch it up and share a moment when things get a little, uh, heated. They are in the British Museum, it is Lord Montagu’s POV, but starts off with the tail end of Isabelle’s dialogue (she’s been going on about the exciting things she’s seeing):

“…Everything in this room is all jumbled together from places all over the world — Alaska, Africa, New Zealand…”

When she finished talking, her hand still remaining on his upper arm, she looked at him waiting for his reaction. Her passion for these items lit her eyes.

The claws of instinct and desire gripped him. Her passion for history: he had to drink it, transmute it into another kind of passion. He framed her face with his hands, pushed her back into the recess between the two cases, and captured her silken mouth with his own.

To see snippets from others who are participating or to sign up yourself, visit here. Othe time travel snippets this week from: Gayle Ramage, Chris Kelworth and Ginger Simpson

Thank you to everyone who comes by and comments each week! Have a great Sunday!

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by Angela Quarles on February 5, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Current Work, Excerpt, Six Sentence Sunday
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Posted by Angela Quarles on February 5, 2012

http://angelaquarles.com/2012/02/05/six-sentence-sunday-2512/

Research Can Add Rich Detail: The British Museum

Left to Right: Montagu House, Townley Gallery and Sir Robert Smirke‘s west wing under construction (July 1828)

My main character works at the British Museum in present day, but finds herself in 1834 London. I thought it would be fun for her to visit the museum while she’s in 1834 to see her reaction.

When I wrote my first draft, I knew I needed to do research on the museum, but waited until I was polishing my third draft. I wondered if the current building was even around in 1834, and sure enough, it wasn’t. But, it was right during the time it was being built. It took some digging to find out which wing was built when, and which was yet open for the public, but I discovered that in 1834, she would be visiting the previous museum’s lodgings, Montagu House. The British Museum’s website has some very helpful history posted. This initial led me to many more on their history, with photos and drawings, and even a history of each wing.

However, I wanted to find what artifacts she’d be seeing. I thought I’d need to write the British Museum and see if they’d be so helpful as to do something like this for a newbie writer. Thankfully, on the off-chance that Google would pull through, I searched online. Would you believe that the British Museum published guides to their artifacts room by room at various times in the 1800s? And they’re posted online? Talk about a writer’s wet dream! They’re available on Google Books. Here’s the one from 1814 and the one from 1838. Using these and other online sources, I was able to form a picture of what she might have seen. I had to draw a map on paper, to figure out some of this, as the photos got confusing.
 
Anyway, here’s a before and after of the hero and heroine approaching the museum. Notice the lack of detail in the first version. I had no idea what she was “seeing.” (There’s other things lacking, too!). The hero doesn’t know she’s from the future.
 
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by Angela Quarles on October 6, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Current Work, Excerpt, Research, Writing
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Posted by Angela Quarles on October 6, 2011

http://angelaquarles.com/2011/10/06/research-can-add-rich-detail-the-british-museum/