Best. Research. Ever.

On Saturday, we visited the Met. Do those words alone begin to convey the awesomeness of my weekend? True awesomeness. I can't count the number of times a beautiful piece of art had me breathless with awe.
One of the reasons we visited was so that I could do some research for my new book. To give you an idea...
The title of my story is (at the moment--you know how these things change) Cirque des Secrets: a Tale of Revolution. The main character, Juliette de la Marche, flees the gilded cage of an arranged marriage to join the performers of Astley's Amphitheatre in London; but when the Revolution threatens her family's lives, she must use her unique skills and risk her own life to save them.
As I'm sure you guessed, I did lots of hard work at the Met, looking at things like this and getting the feel for my character's life:

Juliette looks a lot like this...though she prefers riding her horse to drawing.

Before her family's Paris hotel (mansion) was burned by revolutionaries, Juliette shared a bed like this with her sister Angeline.

The man in this painting by Jacques-Louis David soon after lost his head to Madame Guillotine...a fate which endangers Juliette's family, too.

These soft blue walls are very soothing after a long day riding and trying to (not) socialize with a certain foppish and sycophantic baron.

 And as if a day at the museum wasn't good enough, we spent Sunday visiting with my dear, dear friend Sister Emily, who is a novice with the Daughters of Saint Paul in Boston. We've been "bosom friends" since we were nine...even then we dreamed of being writers! Now she works in the children's editorial department of Pauline Press. I hadn't seen her in person in over four years, and the visit was very good for my spirit. I am so grateful for friendships formed around things that will never fade.