Episode 13: Research: Worldbuilding

Toktokkie beetles, hoop skirts and author pics! 🐜

Welcome to the Pub Dates newsletter! We’re so glad you’re here.

This newsletter is released as a companion to each podcast episode, and we use it to share the visual elements of our discussion — from mood boards to design sketches, from photos to secret giveaways just for subscribers.

In episode thirteen, we talked about how we do research for our worldbuilding — from the big, ‘what’s the vibe of this place?’ stuff down to the small but vital details. We took you through all our sources, and promised you some visual evidence. So, here we go!

First things first, though — good news! Amie did make it to Perth! Here she is talking to students about the making of The World Between Blinks. (That picture there is Kate and Amie’s mutual friend Ryan Graudin about to jump in her kayak and go investigate a lighthouse in the name of… well, worldbuilding research, actually. Everything is connected!)

Next up, let’s hit those author photos. Here’s Kate’s newest, by the talented Breeana Dunbar — look at that professional author right there!

And we also promised you Amie’s very first author picture — look at that incredible light coming in through the badly-needs-to-be-cleaned window!

We also thought we should share some pictures from our icebreaker answers this time around, just in case you thought we were making them up. So, here’s a toktokkie beetle — be honest, you didn’t think the headstands were real, did you?

And here’s a picture of Kate’s civil war spies — how did their weak female brains handle such subterfuge? Kate would like you to now that one Kentucky girl made the papers for managing to smuggle 200 Colt revolvers through the lines under her hoop skirt over the course of two weeks. Talk about a busy schedule!

Now, you know what else we promised you? That’s right — a spicy pocket guide to 1800s New York! Here’s one of the samples Kate looked at — and then her own version, written for her own city of Simta!

And finally, Amie talked about the film footage and pictures of Alan Villiers, the Australian who documented the last days of the windjammers. Here’s a few minutes of his film, showing many different aspects of life on board in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The sailors look surprisingly modern, for men aboard a tall ship!

And that’s it for this episode — we’ve got some really fun stuff coming up, including some very cool interviews. We’ll see you soon!