Travel and Research

[Rosie]

Did you go to Italy to do your research?

[Peter Elbling]

I went to Italy twice during the writing of the book. The first time I had no idea what I was looking for. The second time I was a little over halfway through. Theyre a little confused in my mind now. Once I stayed in Lucca with some friends and while there, drove around Tuscany, Umbria and into the Marche visiting small towns like Ovieto, Gubbio, etc. I saw the palio in Sienna and a couple of other festivals. The second time, or maybe it was the first, I cant remember, I visited Venice and Viareggio to see the Carnival and again just drove around visiting old castles, museums, etc.,

The bulk of the research was done in the UCLA library which has everything youd ever want to know about Medeval and Renaissance history. What little I didnt find there I found at the main library in downtown LA. One book led to another and I began to despair that Id drown in research. Integrating it smoothly into the story was the most difficult problem. Visiting Italy was more to confirm what I had read, to eat truffes in Umbria, to catch the morning light on the on the hills in Tuscany, to get the sounds, sights and smells right.