Parisian Inspirations
In a recent newsletter, I shared a few excerpts from The Spy and the Nightingale alongside some of the photos, antique artwork, and vintage maps I used to immerse myself and envision characters moving through their world. While writing, I like to have location-specific pictures close at hand, particularly for places I’ve never visited, because it’s important to me that I render visual details accurately. As much as I would love to visit Paris (to say nothing of stepping back in time … briefly, at least), it has not yet been in the cards. So what’s a writer in that situation to do, except go looking for references in books and online?
This wonderful engraving really brought the sparkle and decadence of Frascati’s to life in my mind as I wrote the pivotal scene that takes place there.
Muted golden light from the clearing sky set the stone façades of the famed Palais-Royal aglow, and the few tenacious leaves clinging to chestnut trees around the perimeter were living flames. Fashionably dressed men and women filled the chairs and tables at the garden’s edge despite the nip in the air. Still more strolled beneath the soaring arcades.
A male patron seated at a table outside Café de Foy hailed Nathaniel in French, half rising to his feet with a broad smile. The fading light gilded his golden-blond head much as it did the chestnut leaves.
– excerpt from The Spy and the Nightingale by Lea Hollis
It was late enough—or early enough, depending on one’s perspective—that the shops were long closed, but boulevard des Italiens was by no means deserted, with Frascati’s and other similar places still open to pleasure-seeking Parisians.
– excerpt from The Spy and the Nightingale by Lea Hollis
Newsletters subscribers have already met Amélie Laval, a legal brothel owner, in Velvet Intrigue. She’s also a significant character in The Spy and the Nightingale. Her establishment, L’Orchidée, is on rue Sainte-Apolline near the top of this map, roughly where the red square is. For those familiar with Paris, this is near Porte Saint-Denis on what was then Paris’s northern edge.
At one point there was a real brothel operating at 25 rue Sainte-Apolline, which influenced my decision to place the fictional L’Orchidée there.
It was a little Easter egg for myself–and now for you, too. I enjoy nods towards factual details to complement my fictional world and layer in extra significance.
The latter portion of The Spy and the Nightingale is set in Scotland on the Solway Firth in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire. That is also where most of the sequel, Bargaining with the Devil, is set. I’ll share some photos of that in an upcoming post since it’s the location that bridges the two books. Until then, thanks for reading my ramblings about my writing process!
P.S. I have an abbreviated playlist with links to some of the music I listened to while drafting The Spy and the Nightingale. Music helps me tap into specific character emotions or scenarios, so I nearly always wear headphones while writing or editing. I have a much longer playlist, but the handful on that list were some of the most influential as I worked on that book.
