Victorian Pincushion

Many a writer has been sidetracked by research. Dani Shapiro mentioned recently it was just another form of procrastination. She’s right, of course.

But sometimes you just have to go looking for those marvelous details that will pull the reader into your fictional world. In my mind, historical fiction would be flat on the page without them. Like the Italian mantle clock I found early on and which will play its own part in my story. (I wish I could show you a picture, but I’m pretty sure it’s copyrighted. Check it out here, though.)

I was looking for an antique tool, something a metal shop owner would have used. I found the iron rod fairly quickly, but soon became enamored by the other lovely objects on this site. I found a gold velvet pincushion, set in a brass bucket and topped with a brass poodle holding a thimble: just the thing my Jewish lady's maid would use while sewing my character's maternity clothes. Perfect, right? It gets better, and I swear I’m not making this up. As I looked at the various images of the pincushion, a closeup of the bottom of the thimble revealed a Star of David.

I'm happy with my little sidetrack for the morning...now back to writing!

Writers Write

This one by JC Hutchins at Writer Unboxed spoke to me today. Enough on that, back to writing...

Over at What Women Write, find out why your characters should go to the zoo.

Boxes of Stories

I'm blogging about boxes of stories over at What Women Write today. Here are a few more pictures.


These are my maternal grandparents, Harry and Jenny Zimberg.

















I think the lady with flowers adorning her hat is my father's aunt, Mary Levinson. The woman who chose a feathered hat? Who knows?!

















My father and his father, Paul Levinson, owned Monroe Pharmacy from the early 50s through sometime in the 70s in Washington, D.C. Pauline worked for them for about 30 years.



























Maybe my grandfather and a brother owned a confectionery before Grandpa Paul became a pharmacist, or maybe they just walked in for a piece of chocolate.

I might not know the facts, but each picture is a story waiting to be told.