If I'm researching something strange and rococo, I'll go to the London Library or the British Library and look it up in books.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I've heard rumors that the Petersons are writing a book. It will be very interesting to see what they have to say, but I don't know anything about the Rochas.
There are two trilogies I admire: Robertson Davies's 'The Deptford Trilogy' and Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials.'
I don't often do a lot of that kind of research, but when it's something specific like 'Oz' - which I fortunately did not have a lot of experience with - I will. I read 'The Hot House,' about being on the inside at Leavenworth prison.
Vivian Abenshushan and Veronica Gerber write brilliant books that defy generic conventions.
I am fascinated by history and particularly the Victorian era.
I read all the Agatha Christies when I was younger and like Sherlock Holmes. Crime fiction has always fascinated me, but I'll read anything anyone gives me.
I've been working through Maurice Druon's 'Accursed Kings' series. They come highly recommended from George R. R. Martin, and for good reason.
I'm particularly interested in black swan events: unprecedented surprises that destroy the conventional wisdom about how the world works.
I basically did all the library research for this book on Google, and it not only saved me enormous amounts of time but actually gave me a much richer offering of research in a shorter time.
I spend a lot of time looking at rococo books. And almanacs used to be huge sellers - they were pretty much part of the fabric of life. I thought, this is bizarre, I'd love to buy a book like this, and there isn't one. So I thought, all right then, this could be fun. I'll write an almanac.