Let's go Behind the Scenes of THE DRUMMER! (spoiler alert) #rockstarromance #holidayromance #Christmas #behindthescenes #romancereaders

THE DRUMMER inspiration...

First, I want to invite you to Romance Gone Wide! Don't use KU and want help finding more books and authors to support? Come join us.

And now...*mild spoilers* 

If you read my Author's Note at the end of The Drummer, you know a lot went into creating this story.

But even if you haven't, let me share some of my references! When an author does research for a book, we might spend days learning in order to write one paragraph, or two minutes to find something that ends up critical to the whole story. 

Here are a few of my favorite things in this story.

We all like visuals, right? Research text is great, but a visual representation is awesome. Here's a house quite close to Uncle Harry's:


Source

The Williamsburg Paint Collection was part of my research into accurate colors. When you see a color that's hyperlinked in the ebook, it's to this. 

This photo from the site inspired one of the rooms in Harry's house:



And you've caught my mentions before that I'm a weaver? One of the creators/teachers I follow is Hello Hydrangea - Lindsey - who has worked with Craft and Forge in collaborations with Colonial Williamsburg. Click to see pics from the living museum and examples of Lindsey's straw star ornaments (a very old craft). This is her 2nd visit to create and teach.

Click here for the Instagram save of her last trip that features lots more pics and videos!

Craft & Forge's page. 

An article on last year's artisan exchange. 

The Craft & Forge website and shop.

As a maker who sells her handmade goods from time to time, I love places that support Shopping Small. Handmade arts and crafts are created with time, love, and inspiration that you cannot find in a big box store, so please consider shopping handmade as you prepare for Christmas.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Christmas Town - Writing that day in detail took a LOT more research (days with browser tabs open), but thank goodness people share their experiences and photos on the internet - especially when I'm looking up the near past.

And then, of course, there's Lincoln himself:



Everything about this photo is right except the scruff. Linc finds it itchy and lives clean-shaven.

What is your favorite behind-the-scenes detail shared today?

If you haven't picked it up, yet, The Drummer does not need you to read the previous WCS books - but will be enhanced if you have.

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