Hello and welcome to the first stop on the blog tour for E.K. Johnston’s That Inevitable Victorian Thing! To kick off the tour, I have a guest post from the author. There is also a tour wide giveaway. Per usual, let’s start with a bit more about the book:
Victoria-Margaret is the crown princess of the empire, a direct descendent of Victoria I, the queen who changed the course of history. The imperial tradition of genetically arranged matchmaking will soon guide Margaret into a politically advantageous marriage. But before she does her duty, she’ll have one summer of freedom and privacy in a far corner of empire. Posing as a commoner in Toronto, she meets Helena Marcus, daughter of one of the empire’s greatest placement geneticists, and August Callaghan, the heir to a powerful shipping firm currently besieged by American pirates. In a summer of high-society debutante balls, politically charged tea parties, and romantic country dances, Margaret, Helena, and August discover they share an extraordinary bond and maybe a one-in-a-million chance to have what they want and to change the world in the process.
Set in a near-future world where the British Empire never fell and the United States never rose, That Inevitable Victorian Thing is a surprising, romantic, and thought-provoking story of love, duty, and the small moments that can change people and the world.
Guest Post:
Research Done to Build an AU & Timeline for this World
I haven’t conducted a survey on this or anything, but I imagine that if I went back and did a tally, the most common question ever addressed to me would be “How do you know that?” (or, possibly, why). For my whole life, I have been a sponge when it comes to information. It doesn’t matter what I am watching or reading, whether it’s fictional or otherwise. If there’s information involved, chances are pretty good I’ll remember it.
This has been tremendously useful as a writer. Usually, I look things up to confirm them, or to double-check dates and spellings. It’s nice to be able to world-build based on a very broad knowledge base, and fine tune as needed. It’s less handy when blogs ask me to write guest-posts about my research process. My research process is living.
For That Inevitable Victorian Thing, I knew I would have to take it several steps further than my own educational background. I’m writing a Canadian book, but I still had a lot of privilege to check, and so I wanted to do what I could to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I focused on listening to conversations about race and colonialism.
Victorians isn’t a utopia or a dystopia. It’s a world that’s better than ours. I tried to strike a balance between a history my characters could live with (though obviously they still have issues with it) and a representation that wouldn’t erase what had gone on in our real world. It was research, I guess, but not exactly historical. Current conversations are valuable resources.
(Sidebar: it is VITAL that authors not derail conversations. This is why I listened primarily, and asked questions privately. Also, pay for people’s work through Kofi or some kind of arrangement.)
That Inevitable Victorian Thing was researched and constructed over my lifetime, even though it wasn’t until 2013 that I knew I was writing a book. Obviously this isn’t going to work for everyone, but I feel like it’s my variation on “write what you know” (which I generally think is pretty terrible advice). I write the things I’m interested in, the things I’ve spent years accumulating random knowledge on, and then I refine it as I am building the world.
Everyone has their own interests, and that’s always a good place to start when you are building a book.
About the Author:
E. K. Johnston is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several YA novels, including the L.A. Time Book Prize finalist The Story of Owen and Star Wars: Ahsoka. Her novel A Thousand Nights was shortlisted for The Governor General’s Award. The New York Times called The Story of Owen “a clever first step in the career of a novelist who, like her troubadour heroine, has many more songs to sing” and in its review of Exit, Pursued by a Bear, The Globe & Mail called Johnston “the Meryl Streep of YA,” with “limitless range.” E. K. Johnston lives in Stratford, Ontario. Follow her on Twitter at @ek_johnston.
John Smith
“Love today’s blog post? Excited to read That Inevitable Victorian Thing? Share your thoughts on today’s post from the blog tour!” I love the cover! I’m not sure what I think of such an alternate history!
danielle hammelef
I’m excited to read this unique book. I’ve never imagined the world without the US, so this will be fun to read as it will make me think about what I have and might make me more thankful or show me new ways to improve.
Danielle Lynn Stickradt
Great post! I’m so excited to read this! I love alternate histories and this sounds like it’ll be a great read!