A Commitment to Public Research

For the last year I’ve been conducting research for my current WIP, a novel that takes place over the years 1939-1945 in Poland and Germany. My protagonist is a Romani girl (yes, I’m aware of #ownstory – a more in depth post on that to follow). During a recent phone conversation, my agent suggested I keep track of my research to supplement the novel in an Author’s Note. I thought this was an excellent idea but, as I tend to be a disorganized person by nature, I decided I’d be doing myself a favor if I made my research public. This would serve a few functions: 

1) Holding myself accountable to record my findings
2) Providing a place for others to correct any misinformation (which is, in Romani Studies, abundant for a number of reasons–more on this later) 
3) Providing a place for others to come for accurate information
4) Providing a place for ongoing conversation about international Romani issues, social difficulties that intersect those faced by other ethnic groups and minorities such as stereotyping, prejudiced, fetishization, along with adequate access to education, housing, clean water, etc. Read: Basic human rights. 

Please join me in this conversation. I don’t believe I can, or should, tackle this novel in a vacuum. I encourage debate and discussion. Sensitivity is my first priority. Let’s shine a light on the blind spots.