It's an honour and privilege to welcome back author Leigh Dreyer to My Love for Jane Austen. If you remember, Leigh previously visited last year as part of her promotion tour for The Best Laid Flight Plans. Since publishing the second novel in the Pride in Flight series a week ago, she has embarked on a blog tour to spread the word about The Flight Path Less Traveled. Let's read some of the fascinating information that she has prepared for us.
Here is the blurb for the The Flight Path Less Traveled for those of you who haven't yet had a chance to read it:
In this modern Pride and Prejudice continuation and sequel to The Best Laid Flight Plans, 2nd Lieutenant Elizabeth Bennet and Captain William Darcy are facing trials after the events of Elizabeth's last flight. Darcy's proposal lingers between them as Elizabeth becomes almost single sighted to her rehabilitation and her return to pilot training. A secret is revealed to Elizabeth about Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's past that throws all she has known to be true into a tail spin. The romance between our hero and heroine begins to blossom through military separations, sisterly pranks and miscommunications. Can Darcy and Elizabeth come together or will flying in the Air Force keep them apart?
Today, I wanted to share some of the research process for this book and some interesting tidbits that may not be in the book. Be aware that there WILL be spoilers for The Flight Path Less Traveled, but I will try my hardest to avoid spoilers for Flight Path. I started with content which is spoiler free so you have a chance to get out now if you want to go read!
Postpartum Depression and Infertility
While Postpartum Depression(PPD) and infertility are passingly mentioned in The Flight Path Less Traveled, they made up a large part of my research for the novel. I have several friends and family members who have experiences with PPD, infertility, or both that I pulled from in order to provide as accurate a description as possible for the women in the novel. Frankly, I don't think women's issues are discussed enough and I wanted to be a voice for understanding and healing.
Postpartum Depression has multiple symptoms and causes, but the most predominant are depression, exhaustion, or physical discomfort. Occasionally, it is referred to as "the baby blues", however, PPD is more severe and interferes with the woman's ability to care for herself or her family. It is treatable with a doctor's help through a variety of medicinal and non-medicinal methods, but without treatment, PPD can cause difficulties with motherly bonding, baby's development, and in the worst case, suicide. The PPD journey in the novel is fairly storybook. It is not based on a particular woman I know, but there are elements of people I know in the novel. I have been surprised how many women shared their stories with me in near secrecy, almost ashamed of their feelings and behaviour. Something interesting I found in my research is how much others can help with these difficulties by recognising symptoms, offering emotional support and assisting with daily tasks. If there is one thing I can pass on from my research it is that sharing is incredibly important for these mothers.
Infertility affects 1 in 8 couples (around 12% of married women) and nearly 50% of infertile women seek treatment. Of that group, approximately 65% eventually give birth. Infertility has affected many women in my family and I have seen the suffering of men and women who desperately want a child, but are unable to have one of their own. In Flight Path, I tried to address this as a reality for one of the women in the novel and addressed how she has dealt with it in her own life. I based the discussion in the novel on a similar discussion I received from one of my own aunt's (who I doubt remembers it). I wanted Elizabeth to see outside herself and see that sometimes change is affected from the outside, but sometimes events are outside of her control and have to be endured.
Crash Recovery
At the end of The Best Laid Flight Plans, Elizabeth is in a T-6 crash. As part of the research for book 2, I spoke to two doctors, a regular family physician from a heavily military area and a retired Air Force flight surgeon, both of whom had experience with pilots who had ejected from a plane. In addition to figuring out specific and exact injury conditions and length of recovery, etc. it was vital to me that Elizabeth be able to recover enough to fly again eventually. So, to that end, I discussed precise locations and types of spinal fractures to ensure that Elizabeth would be able to pass a flight physical. Additionally, we discussed physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychological therapy and what each specialty would assist with in the recovery process. We also discussed whether her exuberance for returning to flight would help or hinder her during her journey. Dr. Cadena (the family practice doc) was especially patient and helpful with me as I asked a few hours' worth of questions during our interview. Most importantly, these doctors helped me nail down exact timelines for each part of Elizabeth's healing process.
Pemberley
I am currently working on further research about Pemberley, which in my novels is located in the Finger Lakes area of Central New York, near Syracuse. While much of the house description will come with book 3, Came a Flight Gently, for this book I needed more information regarding Darcy's winery business, how much it makes, the varieties of wines, etc. While watching Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank was a treasure trove of information, I needed a little more. I investigated the varieties of wines available in the central New York area (by the way, I now know way more about wine agriculture in that area than I think I ever needed to know), but then also determined that a simple vineyard would not give Darcy the kind of wealth I pictured him having. So I needed to give him a few extra investments to up both his wealth and marketability as an exclusive wine dealer. This is where Shark Tank came in. For those that don't watch, Mr. Wonderful (Kevin O'Leary) often discusses the ins and outs of the wine business and an avid watcher, like myself, can pick up enough to start the research. I made the discovery that Darcy could be a négociant, or a wine merchant who buys grapes or wines from other dealers and sells them under their own business name. As a négociant Darcy could increase his holdings without increasing the foothold of Pemberley and being limited to specific New York grapes and varieties.
I hope you have enjoyed a little peek into the research I've made into The Flight Path Less Traveled. Hours of research go into the novels and I hope a little bit of that shines through. Enjoy!
Leigh Dreyer is a huge fan of Jane Austen variations and the JAFF community. She is blessed to have multi-generational military connections through herself and her husband, who she met in pilot training. She often describes her formative years in this way: "You know the 'Great Balls of Fire' scene in Top Gun ('Goose, you big stud!'), where Goose and Meg Ryan have their kid on the piano? I was that kid." Leigh lives with her pilot husband, a plane-obsessed son, a daughter who will one day be old enough to watch romantic movies with her and another little one expected in September 2019.
Guest Post
Hello Readers! Thank you to Lúthien84 for agreeing to host The Flight Path Less Traveled. I have loved writing this book and enjoyed thinking through and researching the consequences of the events of the first book in the series: The Best Laid Flight Plans.Here is the blurb for the The Flight Path Less Traveled for those of you who haven't yet had a chance to read it:
Book Blurb
Today, I wanted to share some of the research process for this book and some interesting tidbits that may not be in the book. Be aware that there WILL be spoilers for The Flight Path Less Traveled, but I will try my hardest to avoid spoilers for Flight Path. I started with content which is spoiler free so you have a chance to get out now if you want to go read!
Postpartum Depression and Infertility
While Postpartum Depression(PPD) and infertility are passingly mentioned in The Flight Path Less Traveled, they made up a large part of my research for the novel. I have several friends and family members who have experiences with PPD, infertility, or both that I pulled from in order to provide as accurate a description as possible for the women in the novel. Frankly, I don't think women's issues are discussed enough and I wanted to be a voice for understanding and healing.
Postpartum Depression has multiple symptoms and causes, but the most predominant are depression, exhaustion, or physical discomfort. Occasionally, it is referred to as "the baby blues", however, PPD is more severe and interferes with the woman's ability to care for herself or her family. It is treatable with a doctor's help through a variety of medicinal and non-medicinal methods, but without treatment, PPD can cause difficulties with motherly bonding, baby's development, and in the worst case, suicide. The PPD journey in the novel is fairly storybook. It is not based on a particular woman I know, but there are elements of people I know in the novel. I have been surprised how many women shared their stories with me in near secrecy, almost ashamed of their feelings and behaviour. Something interesting I found in my research is how much others can help with these difficulties by recognising symptoms, offering emotional support and assisting with daily tasks. If there is one thing I can pass on from my research it is that sharing is incredibly important for these mothers.
Infertility affects 1 in 8 couples (around 12% of married women) and nearly 50% of infertile women seek treatment. Of that group, approximately 65% eventually give birth. Infertility has affected many women in my family and I have seen the suffering of men and women who desperately want a child, but are unable to have one of their own. In Flight Path, I tried to address this as a reality for one of the women in the novel and addressed how she has dealt with it in her own life. I based the discussion in the novel on a similar discussion I received from one of my own aunt's (who I doubt remembers it). I wanted Elizabeth to see outside herself and see that sometimes change is affected from the outside, but sometimes events are outside of her control and have to be endured.
Crash Recovery
At the end of The Best Laid Flight Plans, Elizabeth is in a T-6 crash. As part of the research for book 2, I spoke to two doctors, a regular family physician from a heavily military area and a retired Air Force flight surgeon, both of whom had experience with pilots who had ejected from a plane. In addition to figuring out specific and exact injury conditions and length of recovery, etc. it was vital to me that Elizabeth be able to recover enough to fly again eventually. So, to that end, I discussed precise locations and types of spinal fractures to ensure that Elizabeth would be able to pass a flight physical. Additionally, we discussed physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychological therapy and what each specialty would assist with in the recovery process. We also discussed whether her exuberance for returning to flight would help or hinder her during her journey. Dr. Cadena (the family practice doc) was especially patient and helpful with me as I asked a few hours' worth of questions during our interview. Most importantly, these doctors helped me nail down exact timelines for each part of Elizabeth's healing process.
Pemberley
I am currently working on further research about Pemberley, which in my novels is located in the Finger Lakes area of Central New York, near Syracuse. While much of the house description will come with book 3, Came a Flight Gently, for this book I needed more information regarding Darcy's winery business, how much it makes, the varieties of wines, etc. While watching Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank was a treasure trove of information, I needed a little more. I investigated the varieties of wines available in the central New York area (by the way, I now know way more about wine agriculture in that area than I think I ever needed to know), but then also determined that a simple vineyard would not give Darcy the kind of wealth I pictured him having. So I needed to give him a few extra investments to up both his wealth and marketability as an exclusive wine dealer. This is where Shark Tank came in. For those that don't watch, Mr. Wonderful (Kevin O'Leary) often discusses the ins and outs of the wine business and an avid watcher, like myself, can pick up enough to start the research. I made the discovery that Darcy could be a négociant, or a wine merchant who buys grapes or wines from other dealers and sells them under their own business name. As a négociant Darcy could increase his holdings without increasing the foothold of Pemberley and being limited to specific New York grapes and varieties.
I hope you have enjoyed a little peek into the research I've made into The Flight Path Less Traveled. Hours of research go into the novels and I hope a little bit of that shines through. Enjoy!
Author Bio
I look forward to seeing how these tidbits occur in the stories.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I hope you'll see the hours of research that has gone into these novels. I know for much of it, I based the happenings on friends and family who recently went through some of the same issues. Thanks for commenting!
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