Writing Research: Serpentus
I almost always do some form of research while writing a book, and Serpentus was no different. But I found myself digging into a few unusual topics while I was working on it that I haven’t looked into before.
War Hammers!
I wanted to do something different than the usual sword-wielding knight for Owen Greenwaters. After all, he’s not your typical knight. He came from a commoner’s background, worked his way into the guard, and fought and bled his way through a melee to snag a position as a squire. He was looked down on by most of the others in his position, since the majority of them were of noble birth and were entitled to their role.
Owen needed a more versatile weapon, one that he could use from horseback and on the ground—and later from a different vantage point that I have to be intentionally vague about here to avoid spoilers. So I settled on war hammers.
Not the oversized ridiculous version common to many fantasy games, but the traditional style. I didn’t know much about war hammers previous to writing this book, but there are some fantastic YouTube videos out there that illustrate just how deadly these things were.
Here are a couple of the videos I found most helpful (they’re also fun to watch):
- From the Smithsonian Channel: What Kind of Damage can a Medieval War Hammer Do?
- And from Forged in Fire: Polish War Hammer (Season 8)
Snakes, specifically constrictors
As you may have guessed from the book’s title, snakes do play a role in this story. I’m not going to say anything more for those who haven’t read it or The Relics of War trilogy yet.
I’m a microbiologist, but had to take a number of other biology courses in school as part of my degree. I never took a herpetology class (studying amphibians and reptiles), so for certain elements of this book, I had to research. I learned some pretty cool facts about constrictors along the way, and some of that found its way into Serpentus.
For instance, did you know constrictors don’t lay eggs, but instead give live birth? I didn’t before I started working on this project.
I’m sure there were other items I looked up along the way, but those are the two that stick out in my memory.
If you’d like to learn more about Serpentus, you can find a book synopsis, preorder information, and additional blog posts here: SERPENTUS