Kat Richardson talks about visiting London and how her experiences inspired the latest book in her fantastic Greywalker series...
Since I’m not British and had never been to England before, research for
Vanished was a bit tricky. I had limited knowledge to start with and very limited time. One great thing about this situation was that Harper had also never been to England, so my experiences as a first-time visitor were useful in forming Harper’s impressions and thoughts.
I was also very lucky to have friends and family in the UK and they all contributed something and helped vet things and fill in information for me. They also became the patterns for some of the English characters in the book, though I also blatantly lifted characters from British literature, TV, and film for the personalities of the caryatids and poor Barnaby Smith. I hope no one minds too much!
Initially I started with some rough ideas about what I wanted to use. For instance, I’d read several books that mentioned the buried rivers of London and I thought that would be a nifty addition. Living on a boat, myself, the idea of the rivers and canals of London charmed me. My friends Rik and Carol pointed me at the Canal Museum and also suggested several other marvelously creepy and crazy things, such as the Old Operating Theater, and Sir John Soanes’ tomb and the museum of his home. The tomb made it into the book, but alas, the old surgery in the attic of a church and the eccentric museum of Soanes’ collections did not.
I was only able to spend twelve days in England during my research trip and much of that was spent doing things that weren’t strictly research at the time, but certainly were interesting. Many seemed unlikely to yield useful material, but some did, anyhow. Such as a lunch with my publishing group that led to the suggestion of Clerkenwell as the haunt of vampires. The run across Horse Guards Parade and down to Westminster Abbey which my husband and I undertook in the rain on our one free day to play tourist. Discovering pasties at Victoria Station. Walking in reverse what turned out to be the route of the motorcycle chase. And finding the barred doors to one of the “ghost stations” on the Underground.
People became the most valuable asset, however. Not just the ones we knew already, such as friends and family in England, but also those we met, such as my agent and editor, and those we saw but never met, including the mobs of tourists in Trafalgar Square on a sunny May Friday; crowds on the sidewalks outside the pubs at commuter hour; and the wonderful mix of people from all over the world who populated the streets everywhere we went: running cafes in Theatreland where we had tea, chatting with their friends on the Tube; and simply being part of the crowd that is uniquely London.
And of course, the caryatids, which we found quite by accident on our walk past Euston Station and then had to discover more about. At the time, there was a sign on the fence announcing the upcoming restoration, but I had to guess as to whether it would go ahead and exactly how. I assumed the best—at least for my purposes—and we were off! With a lot of help from my friends, of course.
And of course the pubs of London, which served my husband and me many lunches and dinners since the walking and staring and taking photos and notes often bored my poor spouse horribly and fortification by “pie and a pint” became the rallying cry whenever the hubby got too annoyed.
Once home in Seattle, I had to follow up on many of my notes and photos with internet research and lots of emails to friends and family, but in the end, I think I did all right for a goofy American in only twelve days. I hope you do, too.