There’s something about the narration of a History Channel show that just draws me in. As an author, naturally I’m a sucker for research. Being a paranormal romance author quadruples that effect (just my opinion – no formal studies were done).
So when my husband turns on the television just for background noise and lands on a show about Vikings ‘settling’ in England around 1030, the narrator catches my attention with the following phrases:
“A mass grave…” “Clearly an execution… every victim was beheaded.” “More shocking, the heads were buried apart from the bodies.” “…fifty-four victims… fifty one heads.”
Well, based on the other details released to that point, it was no real mystery what happened to those three heads, despite the narrator’s pensive tone. (In case you’re not sure, I’ll answer that in a minute).
Just when I thought I could move on with my life, the narrator reeled me back with the ‘discovery’ of etched teeth among the remains. Turns out that tooth-filing habit goes back to a marauding band of Viking mercenaries led by a warrior who became known as…
Blue Tooth.
He filed grooves onto the front surface of his incisors and then filled the grooves with some plant that created a blue paste or dye. So his teeth were effectively striped.
Blue Tooth. Seriously! I couldn’t help it, immediately I wondered if the inventors of the devices we use to go hands free with our cell phones knew about the Viking who originally sported the title. (And just to be clear, it wasn’t Blue Tooth himself or any of his original band that were executed in the incident the show was exploring).
No, of course that wasn’t the point of the show and likely the narrator would be annoyed with me for jumping the track on the well-crafted train of thought he’d been presenting. But details like that stick with me, seeding my imagination and sparking little ideas and tangents.
Because for me it’s these quirky details that make the world building come alive – whether that’s outlawed coffee in my Shadows of Justice series in 2096 Chicago. Or my contemporary Charleston populated with my favorite elves, werewolves, and ghosts from the Matchmaker series.
Oh – and those missing three heads? They were staked out on the road as a warning to other would-be invaders.
Are you prone to getting drawn into a show or book when an unexpected detail captures your attention?
Live the adventure!
