Research for To Free the Stars By J’nell Ciesielski
Research for To Free the Stars
By J’nell Ciesielski
Anyone who knows me or has heard me talk about the writing process is fully aware that research is my favorite part of this job. It’s that magical time before any words are put on paper, when magic sparks in the air and the imagination stirs with possibilities. Being a historical fiction writer, I am incredibly blessed that history is filled to the brim with exciting stuff like assassination plots, fancy fashions, larger than life heroes and heroines (hello William Wallace and Adrienne Lafayette), medical innovations, dastardly royals, and every day people stepping up to do the extraordinary when they were called upon. And setting stories during a war period, which I often do, already has the built in drama where every emotion of fear, sadness, loyalty, patriotism, and love are heightened. Really, it’s a win-win situation.
My latest novel, To Free the Stars, is the second book in the Jack and Ivy duology. I call it my Indiana Jones meets Marvel’s Avengers mashup with heaps of romance all forming from the question: what happens if the Winter Soldier falls in love? Once the idea was sparked, I immediately began researching.
Each story begins the same way, with a bird’s eye view of what’s going on socially, politically, and economically at the time. What are people’s common beliefs? What are the fashions? What does a normal day routine look like? What music is popular? What’s the slang of the day? All these things help give me a picture of what everyday life is like because this is the world my characters will be moving around in and it needs to feel authentic otherwise their actions and beliefs will not make sense.
Luckily for To Free the Stars, I already had a fundamental foundation of knowledge already in place thanks to research from my previous books that I was able to narrow my view down into what was needed for this specific story and set of characters. Have there been studies on brainwashing? Where might a secret society of assassins live and train in the DC area? What is the lore surrounding Vlad the Impaler? What did Josephine Baker’s Parisian house look like? Let me tell you, looking up her house took all my skills as a previous imagery analyst for the Air Force, but found it I did, and it only took me an entire day to piece it all together!
Once these bits come together into a cohesive picture, I use them to see how my characters move around in these settings and circumstances. How does the outside world affect what’s going on inside each of the characters and how does their past history dictate their beliefs and actions. One of the most interesting things I learned about for To Free the Stars was brainwashing. I knew I couldn’t go full-on super soldier serum like Captain America, but I was lucky enough to stumble across a 1951 psychological study the CIA did to observe the effects LSD had on mind control during interrogations. Project Artichoke’s primary goal was to determine if a person could be involuntarily tasked to perform an act of attempted assassination. Bingo! Exactly what I was looking for to torture my hero with. Poor Jack.
From there, my searches become narrower where I’m looking up street names, foods served in different countries, down to the fabrics of a lady’s dress. Nothing is too small a detail to pass over, and often it is these small details that enrich the story because they are bits of history peeking through into our modern world. One of my favorite unearthed tidbits in this story was the discovery of a speakeasy in Washington DC called The Gaslight Club located in the historic Gaslight Building at 1020 16th St. N.W. Entry was on the third floor through the men’s room by turning a faucet which of course I had to feature not only because it’s impossible to pass up a juice joint, but it’s also my way of preserving the past and declaring its heyday not be forgotten as the unassuming office building it is today.
I can spend months gleefully falling down these rabbit holes, scribbling furiously all the notes I collect, dreaming of ways to weave each one into the story so that readers will be just as astounded as I am and declare history to be absolutely fascinating. Then just as I step toward another rabbit hole, I have to remind myself that at some point I need to write the actual story.
Oddly enough, To Free the Stars did not draw my imagination because of speakeasies or mind-control drugs. At the heart of my reasoning to write Jack and Ivy’s tale is because I wanted to explore love in all its facets and what that love looks like when pushed to a terrible limit. I wanted to see how far a person could go and still be redeemed. I wanted to know what it takes to stitch a husband and wife back together. I wanted to see a couple fight for their happy ending after having it snatched away from them. And hey, if I can sneak in historical notes like Jelly Roll Morton and Dracula all the better.
Find out more about her on her website https://jnellciesielski.com
TO FREE THE STARS
This white-knuckled conclusion to The Brilliance of Stars takes readers on a breathless adventure from the speakeasies of America to the Horse Guards Parade in London, an ancient cemetery outside Paris, and back to the Eastern European strongholds where the Vales’ tragedy first began.
“Fate is fickle and the stars are silent, but I do know this: No matter how difficult the circumstances or how savagely the world tries to tear us apart, I am here with you.”
Ten years have passed since Jack and Ivy, elite operatives for the secret agency Talon, rescued their friend Philip and completed their fateful mission. The 1920s are in full swing as American speakeasies thrive amid Prohibition, and despite the team’s best efforts, the deadly cult, the Order of the Rising Moon, lives on in the shadows. Which is no surprise to Ivy; nothing has gone as she expected since that day after Poenari Castle.
When a wave of assassinations strikes world leaders, intel confirms the Order’s involvement. Ivy holds them responsible for the tragedy that changed her life, and she is determined to find and destroy the villains once and for all—but she must do so before their relentless assassin eliminates his next target. Her.
Except, there’s something oddly familiar about the way he moves, the way he anticipates each of her moves. It’s as if he knows her. But that’s not possible. Is it? Ivy will have to rely on every skill she’s learned if she hopes to survive—and save those she loves. No matter the cost.
Bestselling author J’nell Ciesielski wraps up the Jack and Ivy novels with yet another thrilling adventure filled with glamorous espionage and a boundless romance.
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Category: On Writing
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