What is Tack?

 Rita Stella Galieh @RitaSGalieh

Have you ever decided to write about something of which you have scant knowledge? Actually my 19th century hero is an estate or land agent in England. Now I need to know something about what his work entails. Before I knew it, my research has led me to find out all about farms in that century. What sort of farming and in which shire would it be? After hours of searching on Google, I decided on Wiltshire with the closest town being Swindon (because it needed to be on a rail line - the Great Western actually.) And was it set on the Midland Ridge or Clay Vales? groan....

What did I get myself into? Even so, I am learning so much and glad I'm living in the twenty-first century. My hero needs to ride a horse. So even though my niece, Jesse, is into horses and therefore knows what tack is all about, it was completely new to me.  I probably won't even use most of what I am discovering, but I need to be comfortable about its use. And I'll sure check with someone who knows all about tack supplies. I never before had the faintest idea of all the bits and pieces needed with horse riding. Now a working horse is an entirely different matter. It might be a draft horse, or one used for mill grinding, or ploughing!

I have to disagree with the someone who once said... 'write what you know.'  That's impossible if you happen to be a historical romance author. Still, wouldn't it be wonderful to find everything you need in one book?  I wonder if our readers know what we writers go through just to write a story?  I can tell you I never thought about the amount of research needed before I had to do it myself. It would be interesting to know what type of research our writers have done that's important to their story. How long it took and whether it was something you had scant knowledge of before you began.


Indie Publisher, Rita Galieh, has written a trilogy of historical novels & also contributed to several US anthologies. She is now completing a third historical romance series. Besides her weekly blog, she is on Facebook and www.ritastellapress.com  

Rita studied art at the National Art School then after their marriage, she and her husband attended Emmaus Bible College. Currently she co-presents Vantage Point, an Australia-wide Christian FM radio program. She enjoys giving her fun-filled presentations of ‘Etiquette of the Victorian Era’ in costume.