You readers are always full of questions, and I love to answer them! By far and away, the most common question I get is: What does your writing, researching and planning process looks like? Well, you can bet it’s a time consuming and difficult process, but after 11 books (ohmygosh has it really been 11?!) I’ve figured out a process that works really great for me.

If you’ve read my books, you KNOW I love the historical details. Making you feel like you’ve just visited the Biltmore Estate during the summer of 1898 or that you’ve experienced the Chicago World’s Fair first hand is SO important to me as a writer. From the first spark of an idea all the way to the final copy, the process of researching and weaving historical details into a story is just as interesting as the books themselves, at least for me.

In order to give you a peek into my writing world, I sat down with Brittany Benson of Prosper Strategies and answered some questions about my writing process for my upcoming book, Tiffany Girl. You can start reading below, or you can download the entire interview here! Don’t worry, there aren’t any spoilers!

If my interview sparked any unanswered questions, you can tweet them to me @deeannegist or write on my Facebook wall. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

BB: How did you find out about the Tiffany Girls?

DG: The discovery of the Tiffany Girls is very new. Until recently, Louis Comfort Tiffany was credited as the creative force behind all the iconic glasswork Tiffany Studios produced during Louis’ life. Then, in 2005, scholars discovered letters written by Clara Driscoll, the director of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department at Tiffany Studios at the turn of the century. In her letters, Clara discussed with her family the design ideas she and the other Tiffany Girls had created for various lamps and windows. While many of these letters between Clara and her family were saved and treasured, they were ultimately lost over time. Until, that is, 100 years later, when a distant relative found some letters thrown into a box and stored in an attic. These letters left no room for doubt, Clara and the other Tiffany Girls were responsible for some of the most famous design work to ever come out of Tiffany Studios.

I first found out about the Tiffany Girls in an email from my mother. She’d learned about them from watching a PBS History Detectives episode that mentioned a strike organized by Tiffany Studios’ male employees, followed by Louis Comfort Tiffany’s decision to hire female art students in place of the men. Mom sent me an email immediately after the program ended, and after reading it, I knew I’d be telling the Tiffany Girls’ story...read the rest here

Header photo credit: Quinn Dombrowski via Flickr Creative Commons

 

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