Waning Gibbous Moon

Writing a novel set in the past requires a certain level of historical accuracy. The novel may be fiction, but the author had better not mess around with the facts. The danger is, of course, for the writer to get too involved in the history/research, and forget about character development.

Guilty. I really enjoy research. Its like being in grade school and getting lost inside a dictionary when all you needed was the meaning of one word.

In a passage I wrote yesterday I wanted a rising full moon to cast a spell over a particular time and place. Dang. What if it wasn't so. This morning I sent a search for "phases of the moon" into the internet. Bingo.

Month, date, year, longitude, latitude, time zone, and within a moment of hitting enter I received a time chart full of sun and moon data for one day and ". . .waning gibbous with 94% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated." Couldn't get much closer than that.

Perfect. Were the skies overcast that evening, on that hillside, in the year of 1939? Don't need to know that one. As the author I can make that sky cloudless and clear, a black canvas for the brilliant waning gibbous moon.

As I wrestle with my characters who continue to lead me down unexpected paths, I will remember this moment of researach bliss, when all I want to say is "Yum."

Angela