Holy crap! Can you believe it’s almost 2018? Where did the year go?
2017 has been a full-on year: personally, professionally, politically, everything…ally. For me, it’s brought big changes to my day job and lots of travel, both of which have been great. However, it’s been a lot to juggle with the Mary Ann Britland book. Mary Ann’s story keeps proving to be richer and more complex (which are just polite ways of saying “stranger” and “even more contradictory”) than even I realised. Which is ultimately a good thing, because it makes for a bigger, better, more interesting book. But a bigger book also takes more time to write. And while I’m extraordinarily lucky to only work four days a week (a luxury most writers and artists can’t afford), there are only so many hours in the day.
But it’s getting done. In fact, I’ve actually done a lot this year and set the groundwork for even more work in 2018. So I’m celebrating with a slightly self-indulgent list of my top 10 Mary-Ann-Britland-related research and writing achievements for 2017. I’ve also whacked in some Victorian Christmas pics for the seasonal lols. They’re from the British Library’s Flickr, which is full of awesome vintage photos and illustrations that are all free to download. The captions are mine and 100% historically accurate. Totally.
Santa the Undead Christmas Yeti. “Peace to his ashes” indeed.
- Wrote five new chapters
To be honest, I wanted to have more written by now. Because as those “You should be writing” memes have taught us, writers should be writing 100% of the time they’re awake (and about 30% of the time they’re asleep), otherwise they’re not dedicated enough to be *real* writers and should probably leave all the words and sentences to some guy with a pipe and a vintage typewriter. But fuck that! On average, I have one to one-and-a-half days a week to work on Mary Ann Britland’s story. That’s 50 – 60 days a year to fit in all my writing, research, and planning. And those second two things take up a lot more time than many people realise. The fact that I’m even at the point of being able to write chapters is worth celebrating. - Went on a research trip to the UK
My trip to the UK was awesome, and not just because of the obscene number of snakebites I drank (‘though it was a lot). Exploring (and sometimes finding ruins of) the places where the Britlands and Dixons lived, worked, and died gave me a much clearer view of their lives and even changed my perception of certain events. Some that had seemed sinister now seemed fairly innocent, while others that had seemed only slightly incriminating now felt damning. I thought I was going to take some photos and get some inspiration, but I came back with a renewed sense of direction and purpose. It helped me get my shit together. - Organised 18 months worth of research, notes, photos, and writing
This might not sound exciting, but, man, it was a lot of work and it was so valuable. Again, it’s about direction and focus, but also just being able to find things. Because there’s no point in collecting mountains of evidence and clues if they’re all lost in the crap shack of your hard drive.
The world’s first fibre optic Christmas tree. Unfortunately, sales were low due to no-one having the electricity to run them…
- Wrote a full outline
Are you sensing a pattern here? Most of 2017 was about laying foundations and breaking this massive project down into smaIl, digestible parts. And writing a proper outline – with a deadline for, and breakdown of, each chapter – has been an important part of the process. Not to mention an ongoing one. Just this week, I had to revise my plan to fit in an extra chapter. I’m also going to have to go over my timeline again, because most of the new chapters I’ve written have ended up longer than I originally anticipated. That’s fine. Plans can change, especially if it’s to accommodate exciting discoveries. But they do still need to exist, and I do need to have some sort of rough deadline, otherwise I’ll disappear forever into some murder-filled research hole. - Traced Mary Ann Britland’s early life
Not just her’s, either. I’ve now got basic biographies for most of the main characters in my book, which is no mean feat considering that none of these people were famous. I’m pulling most of it together from genealogical records like birth, death, and marriage certificates, and government records like census records. Sites like Ancestry.com and FindMyPast are awesome tools for this kind of research, but they often only have indexes of records, which are just summaries and don’t have as much info as full records. Accessing full records means either a trip to the archive where they’re held (tricky for me, being as I’m in Sydney, Australia, and the records I need are in Manchester, England) or ordering copies online. Each birth, death, or marriage certificate costs me $50 AU and takes 28 days to arrive. So… yeah. Getting to this point was a lot of work! - Became a better researcher
In case it wasn’t clear from the previous point, archival research is expensive and time-consuming, especially when you’re doing it long distance. But these days I know which archive/s to search for many of the records I need, as well as some handy tricks for checking I’ve got the right one/s before spending money on copies. Yeah, I know it doesn’t sound very exciting. But it saves me time and money, which makes it easier for me to finish this book AND occasionally have some sort of life. I like both those things.
The Yule log – precursor to the glorious aluminium Festivus poles we know and love today.
- Learnt my (Victorian) history
And not just about murder. One of my favourite little side perks from doing this project is how much random history knowledge I’ve picked up along the way. Some of it is related (and important) to Mary Ann Britland’s story, but a lot of it is just interesting. I don’t care. I’ll take it all and one day I’ll kick arse at a Victorian-themed pub trivia night 😜 - Got involved in a cool, secret side project
It’s cool, but also a secret. I’ll tell you about it in the New Year. - Built this website
Probably my greatest achievement in 2017 was building and running this site without turning into a murderer myself. Goddamn you, WordPress, and all your lovable (read: frustrating) eccentricities (read: bugs). And don’t even get me started on my web host… Yeah, this site was a buttload of work to set up and it sends me into a rage every time something goes wrong (which is maddeningly often). And I know it still needs some design work. But I love it. I’ve been blogging on and off for… shit, 15 years now, and I’m a big fan of the medium. I love the interactivity of online content, not to mention the thrill of being able to hit “Publish” and have something just be out there, instantly. But mostly, this site is just an easy way for me to keep people updated on how the book is going. Because if you ask me in person, I’m likely to respond with an extended “Uhhhhh…” as my brain rattles through the next 150 things I have to do, instead of what I’ve already done. I also love my custom banner – thanks, Mark!
The most terrifying Santa I’ve ever seen. Seriously, this guy is a serial killer.
- Got back on Twitter and set up my Facebook page
Two more easy ways for me to keep people updated on how I’m going and give them a heads-up when I publish new blog posts. If you haven’t already, you can follow me on Twitter @CassieBritland or follow my Facebook page here. Or you can cut out the middleman and subscribe to this site to get an email every time a new post goes up. Just use the box in the top right-hand corner of this page.
Well, that’s it for me for 2017. Whatever this season means to you, I hope it’s full of good times, great people, and amazing food comas. See you on the other side!
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