When it comes to research, it has been a treasure trove of information. My historical fiction piece Miracle at Santa Anita revolves around the outcome of a show jumping event at the 1984 Olympics. Unlike the flagship events like swimming, gymnastics, and diving, there is not an abundance of firsthand accounts for equestrian. Or if there is, I'm not skilled enough to find it. Wikipedia contains some information, mostly results of the competition. I found this out-of-print book through Amazon and it has yielded more gold than Google ever could on its best day. It is imperative for historical fiction writers to dig for authentic sources rather than rely on the Internet. Google is useful for many things and I'm not saying don't ever use it. Just acknowledge that there's much more out there waiting to be discovered.
All pictures from this book have been republished here with the permission from the Chronicle of the Horse, www.chronofhorse.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment