Quote

Historical fiction of course is particularly research-heavy. The details of everyday life are there to trip you up. Things that we take for granted, indeed, hardly think about, can lead to tremendous mistakes.

Sara Sheridan

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Sara Sheridan
Age: 56
Born: 1968
Born: June 7
Novelist
Writer
Edinburgh
Scotland
Think
Research
Granted
Thinking
Lead
Details
Life
Fiction
Particularly
Mistake
Historical
Courses
Mistakes
Course
Heavy
Trip
Take
Indeed
Tremendous
Things
Everyday
Hardly

More quotes by Sara Sheridan

Image
History at its best is a gritty, dirty business.
Sara Sheridan
Image
I jealously guard my research time and I love fully immersing myself in those dusty old books and papers. It's one of the most enjoyable parts of my job.
Sara Sheridan
Image
A book is a story, even if it's non-fiction, and once I've read it, I have the story with me inside my head always.
Sara Sheridan
Image
Research material can turn up anywhere - in a dusty old letter in an archive, a journal or some old photographs you find in a charity shop.
Sara Sheridan
Image
A word out of place or an interesting choice of vocabulary can spawn a whole character.
Sara Sheridan
Image
I find it inspiring to actively choose which traditions to celebrate and also come up with new ideas for traditions of my own.
Sara Sheridan
Image
History is full of blank spaces, but good stories, invariably, are not.
Sara Sheridan
Image
Often we don't notice the stringent rules to which our culture subjects us.
Sara Sheridan
Image
Like most little girls, I found the lure of grown-up accessories astonishing - lipstick, perfume, hats and gloves. When I write female characters in my historical novels, getting these details right is vital.
Sara Sheridan
Image
The net has provided a level playing field for criticism and comment - anyone and everyone is entitled to their opinion - and that is one of its greatest strengths.
Sara Sheridan
Image
It is through our extended family that we first learn to compromise and come to an understanding that even if we don't always agree about things we can still love and look out for each other.
Sara Sheridan
Image
While I'm frustrated at the amount I'm expected to take on in the present, the 1950s woman was frustrated by being excluded - not being allowed to take things on at all.
Sara Sheridan
Image
Writers are a product of where we come from but by looking at alternatives to the culture in which we live, we can find ways to change and hopefully improve it.
Sara Sheridan
Image
The sky was a sparkling succession of black diamonds on black velvet made crystal clear by the blackout.
Sara Sheridan
Image
My father could talk about the Romany way of life and its culture. He could talk about freedom and the Scottish spirit. But that was all he could talk about. I was desperate for someone to talk to but there was just nobody there.
Sara Sheridan
Image
I always thought that bagels and lox was my soul food, but it turns out it's sushi.
Sara Sheridan
Image
I've always had a keen sense of history. My father was an antiques dealer and he used to bring home boxes full of treasures, and each item always had a tale attached.
Sara Sheridan
Image
There is something particularly fascinating about seeing places you know in a piece of art - be that in a film, or a photograph or painting.
Sara Sheridan
Image
We can learn so much looking outside our core field of expertise.
Sara Sheridan
Image
Aunts offer kids an opportunity to try out ideas that don't chime with their parents and they also demonstrate that people can get on, love each other and live together without necessarily being carbon copies.
Sara Sheridan