Welcome, Jo!
Thanks very much, Sue, for inviting me to talk about the
research I did for The Refuge. I’m
hugely excited today, as tomorrow is launch day!
Research falls into three categories:
·
The upfront research that I need to do before I
get started on a novel.
·
The ad-hoc bits that I check up on Google as I
go along
·
Those bits that I should have done up front, but
didn’t realise I needed until I got started – these are the ones that require a
bit more than a quick search on t’internet.
INITIAL RESEARCH
Refuges:
When Mel decides to turn the Abbey into a refuge for victims
of domestic abuse, she needs to make several changes to the interior of the
building, and to the rules of the residents to ensure the safety of her new
guests.
I found the information on the internet to be quite limited
(for reasons of safety and security), but I was able to adapt what I found to
suit the purposes. There was sufficient detail available to inform the book,
without getting into the nitty-gritty.
Effects of abduction:
Jess was abducted when she was ten, and has been kept in
grim conditions. Her reactions would be influenced by her own character, but
largely would be typical consequences of what she’d endured. It was important
to me that Jess was believable, and in order to ensure that, I had to check out
a few psychology websites, and a great book that I have – Forensic Psychology for Dummies (I love the For Dummies books – fantastic resources for authors!)
AD-HOC RESEARCH
The ad-hoc research was varied! From the review of the
results of paracetamol overdose (that had to be abandoned, as it didn’t work
with the story) to the evaluation of suitable weapons, I turned to the internet
repeatedly.
However, many things I needed to know were regarding
information given to new mothers about thirteen years ago. This is not easily
found. The books were necessarily set in that period, albeit a relatively short
time ago, due to the clinical trials that were conducted in the infirmary in The Brotherhood. This forced at least The Brotherhood to be set in the time
just before the Northwick Park first in man trials that went so appallingly
wrong in March 2006.
So, to find the required information, I reached out to
friends – firstly those who had their children in around 2005-2007, and then my
friends who were midwives at that time. I had huge help, particularly from
Jodie Baptie and Louise Doyle, who were able to keep me on the right track, and
tell me what was feasible with the advice Mel received regarding her baby.
I also did a bit of digging around of legal information, but
the results never made it into the book, as the plot rendered it irrelevant –
however, I would like to send a quick shout out here to Val Penny and Alison
O’Leary for the helpful advice.
OTHER RESEARCH:
The bits of research that I should have done up front were
mostly geographical, and were largely incorporated into the second draft.
The Abbey is in the countryside around Macclesfield. I kept
the exact details deliberately vague. There is no abbey where I wanted it to be,
so I decided to create an abbey and an imaginary village about a mile away.
I did a reconnaissance trip, walking around the town centre
(for about two hours) to find the charity shops, and to find the possible route
that Jess would have taken. Several roads qualified, but as I don’t want to upset
the real residents, I’m not going to publish too much about the area.
I do have the address in my notes, and when I had finished
checking out the location on foot, I drove around the outskirts and identified
a probable address – even going as far as to check out the orientation of the
property, so that when Jess left, and headed to the main road, she would have
been facing away from the sun!
I also needed to find a suitable place for Dawn and Alison
to go missing, and again, although I was purposefully vague about the exact
location, it was very clear in my own head. I was a bit shocked about just how
big Macclesfield is. If I had done my research a bit sooner, I might have gone
for a more compact area, but its location in being surrounded by countryside
made it well suited as the nearest large town to the Abbey.
Research is a key requirement of any novel. 90% of my
research never appears in the books, but it makes it possible to write lucidly
and accurately.
Blurb for The
Refuge:
Following the death of The Brotherhood’s charismatic but
sinister leader, Dominic, Melissa and her husband Mark resolve to turn the
Abbey into a refuge for victims of domestic abuse. But when Melissa’s long-lost
sister, Jess, turns up at the Abbey, new complications arise.
The Abbey residents welcome the new arrival but find it hard
to cope with the after-effects of her past. As Jess struggles to come to terms
with what she’s been through, her sudden freedom brings unforeseen difficulties.
The appearance of a stalker – who bears a striking resemblance to the man who
kept her prisoner for nine years – leads to serious problems for Jess.
Meanwhile, Mark also finds that his past is coming back to
haunt him. When a mother and daughter venture from the Abbey into the local
town for a shopping trip, there are dreadful consequences.
A build-up of tension, a poorly baby and a well-planned trap
lead Mel, Jess and their family into a terrifying situation.
Can Jess overcome the traumas of her past to rescue her
sister?
The Refuge and The Brotherhood are available from
Amazon. Together they make up The Abbey Series:
The Brotherhood
(The Abbey Series Book 1): https://t.co/YXdn8AM506
The Refuge (The
Abbey Series Book 2): https://t.co/fASWKtKeUt
About the author:
Jo Fenton grew up
in Hertfordshire. She devoured books from an early age, and at eleven
discovered Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer. She now has an eclectic and
much-loved book collection cluttering her home office.
Jo combines an
exciting career in Clinical Research with an equally exciting but very
different career as a writer of psychological thrillers.
When not working,
she runs (very slowly), and chats to lots of people. She lives in Manchester
with her family and is an active and enthusiastic member of two writing groups
and three reading groups.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jofentonauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jl_fenton
The Refuge Launch
Party will be on Facebook on Tuesday 28th May – everyone welcome: https://www.facebook.com/events/285367762348934/
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