DarkAngel's Spec Writer Links
A List of VampChron Spec Writers's Best Friends
Hold Everything!
Stop Right There!
Before you even read the rest of this page, go here:
The Basics for Beginning Writers by Melisa Michaels
Okay, writers, got the basics? Good, then let's surf!
Writer's Web Tools for Grammer, Spelling, and Information Research-It!
My FAVORITE Reference Site : Dictionary, Thesaurus, Translator, Currency Converter, FRENCH CONJUGATOR!!! and more!
LOGOS - non solo parole
Multiligual Dictionary, Word Context Translator, Anagram Generator and more
AltaVista Babel Fish Translator
Quickest easiest Translator I have found.
The Alternative Dictionaries
International Slang : Multilingual Cursing! How Cool is THAT!
Dogpile Search
A Search Engine that searches search engines!
Simultaneoulsy search LookSmart, GoTo.com, Dog Pile Web Catalog, Dog Pile Open Directory, Google, About.com, Direct Hit, Infoseek, Lycos, RealNames, AltaVista, and Yahoo!
Sunrise, Sunset & Twilight
This page will compute the times of sunrise, sunset or twilight anywhere in the world in any time zone! Good info for a vampire to have!
Thanks to AprilMist for this one!
Bible Gateway
Search the Bible in 8 translations in 9 languages. You can search by passage, word or topic. Anne puts a lot of Biblical language and symbolism in the mouths of the vampires, here you have the tool to do the same.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Shakespeare is threaded all through the Chronicles. Lestat learned the English language partly from Black Mask Magazine and partly from Shakespeare. Now you can find out what he's talking about!
Victorian Manners, Etiquette and Behavior Basic Social Rules for Gentlemen
Louis would have been raised to know these by heart and follow them religiously.
A Victorian Gentleman
Though aimed at Irish Catholics, from a British point of view, it nevertheless gives great insight to Louis's character.
Victorian Manners and Customs
Basics for Ladies, Basics for Gentlemen, Ballroom, Calling Cards, Introductions.
Victorian Era Etiquette
How ladies and gentlemen behave together.
Lessons in Victorian Etiquette
Taken from "Youth's Educator for Home and Society" published in 1896.
"Youth's Educator for Home and Society"
The complete book on-line. STRICTLY PROPER!
Bread Wine Coffee and Conversation
The rules for conducting one's self at dinner. The sorts of things which Louis taught Claudia, though, bless her little black heart, she would never truly need them.
Etiquette for the Ballroom
My Favorite: "If a gentleman, without proper introduction, should ask a lady with whom he is not acquainted to dance or promenade, the lady should positively refuse." (and may consider having him shot!)
The Language of Love
Victorian Rules of Romance, Dating and Courtship. For Example: "Just because a gentleman had been introduced to a lady for the purpose of dancing did not mean that he could assume to speak to her another time or place. This would be improper!"
Victorian Rituals
Each fold of the calling card or flick of the fan had meaning.
The Ultimate Etiquette and Manners Resource Page
Etiquette is as timeless and immortal as the vampires themselves. This is a truly useful collection of links.
The Lestatian and Louisian Historical Era The Men's Page
Men's Fashions from the Regency Age (1700s-1800s) - What Louis and Lestat really wore.
Eighteenth Century Studies
An EXCELLENT links page with everything you want to know about Louis and Lestat's growing up years (1700-1799). Most importantly links for the French Revolution and Art and Literature of the time.
Nineteenth Century Timeline
What happened in the world during the Louis, Lestat and Claudia Years. Though this timeline focuses mainly upon Great Britain, it is still a valuable resource.
Creole Culture - Louis's World Documenting the American South - Main Page
Cathy Turner sent me this unbelievable resource! You can find just about anything you ever wanted to know about the South in this site. Below I have selected some documents specific to New Orleans, and therefore of the most importance to VC Spec Writers.
*NOTE: The following documents are from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ELECTRONIC LIBRARY. The documents are presented in their entirety.NONFICTION Social Life in Old New Orleans; Being Recollections of my Girlhood - by Eliza Ripley (1832-1912)
A Confederate Girl's Diary (Sarah Morgan Dawson)
Diary begins March 9, 1862 in Baton Rouge - Arrives in New Orleans April 22nd, 1863(page 377)-Diary ends June 15th, 1865.
Diary of a Refugee (Frances Hewitt Fearn)
Diary begins April, 1862 at Crescent Plantation in Bayou La Fourche - Diary ends January 1867.
Recollections of a Rebel Reefer - by James Morris Morgan (1845-1928)
Great Resource for Plantation Life - excerpt- "Katish was a character whose fame was known far and wide through the little town. She was a strapping big woman who weighed over two hundred pounds, but as active as a young girl. She had been my mother's maid before my mother was married and afterwards had nursed and bossed all of her children. I being the youngest was, of course, her special pet. She ran the establishment to suit my father's and mother's comfort and convenience and ruled the children and the slaves to suit herself; but we all loved her, and no other hand could soothe a fevered child's pillow as could the black hand of Katish. When we were ill she never seemed to sleep, but sat by our bedsides until we were well. The nastiest medicine (and there were nasty medicines in those days) lost much of its terrors when administered by Katish."
(I must say, this was very much the image that I had for Mome Josephine in Ruling Rue Royale)
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain (1835-1910)
FICTION Bayou Folk - by Kate Chopin (1851-1904)
The Awakening - by Kate Chopin (1851-1904)
The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life - by George Washington Cable (1844-1925)
Old Creole Days - by George Washington Cable (1844-1925)
Balcony Stories - by Grace Elizabeth King (1852-1932)
American Cultural Studies: New Orleans and the South
WONDERFUL Historical and Cultural Links - General, Slavery, Film, Music, Religion, Mardi Gras etc.
New Orleans - A Vampire City The Official St. Louis Cathedral Website
Takes you through the history, and right into the Cathedral to view the altar and the art work (They cleaned the bloodstains off of the altar though, Louisians!)
Oak Alley Plantation
Official Site of Oak Alley Plantation, the exterior stand-in for Pointe du Lac
Destrehan Plantation
Official Site of Destrehan Plantation, the interior stand-in for Pointe du Lac
Pitot House Museum
Pitot House is of Creole design. Anne based her vision of Pointe du Lac upon it.
New Orleans Historic Homes - Gallier House
This historic house, though not built until 1857, contains a mural very like the one described in Claudia's room, and is located on Royal Street. Therefore, the town house in the Rue Royale occupied by Louis, Lestat and Claudia is thought to be based upon it.
My personal unauthorized idea of the town house in the Rue Royale
This is an image of the Hotel Ste Helene on Chartres Street, in the French Quarter. It has three storeys, as does the town house in the Rue Royale; the first story being rented to a bookseller, the second and third occupied by vampires. It has beautiful and ornate iron lacework on both galleries, and it has a street lamp just outside. Take out the flags, imagine a second storey entrance from the courtyard in the back and VOILA! it's the town house!
Well, at least it is to me, anyway.
New Orleans Cemetaries
A good, brief, concise overview of above ground tombs and customs in New Orleans cemetaries.
Tombs and Vaults of New Orleans Cemetaries
Great images of above ground tombs and vaults.
Iron Lace Gallery
This image of A Creole House Bed and Breakfast shows off the beautiful cast iron lacework so common in the French Quarter.
The Best Spec Writer's Resource for New Orleans New Orleans Facts for Spec Writers by Laura Ann Troise
A veritable font of information by one who has not just lived there, but was a tour guide, describing many of the Rice/Vampire related locations day after day after day after day!
What does the Cafe du Monde look like? What were the streets paved with in the 1800s? How far is it from the French Quarter to the Garden District? All those answers and tons more are here!
Even better, the Brat Queen has rendered floor plans of the flat in the Rue Royale (Gallier House), and maps of the French Quarter, the Garden District and the city of New Orleans showing the vampire sites and their relative distances from one another, along with her personal photos of the sites! What more do you want? Well you get New Orleans historical facts too!
(Linked with permission)
Images of New Orleans and Louisiana Where to find Louis
Morrigan has done a wonderful job of finding images of Louis-related places in New Orleans! She even has INTERIOR pictures of the Gallier House! (linked with permission)Louisiana Images and Guide
This site is still under construction (I can't WAIT until they get the Historic Houses of New Orleans images up!!) But it is already a wonderful resource for contemporary New Orleans and Louisiana. I'm keeping my eye on it, I am sure that it will get better and better!
Ricean Flora
Anne Rice often mentions flowers and plants in her writing. Many were unfamiliar to me, and so I needed to find images of them before I could write about them.
The links below are not directly to the images themselves, but to the pages which contain the images. The pages themselves are irrelevant.
Queen's Wreath
Wisteria
Crape Myrtle
Jasmine
Honeysuckle
Third down on the page under Vines and Shrubs, and Grape Vines
Chrysanthemum
Lavender and Camellias
Lavender is under the 3rd paragraph, camellias under the 8th
Roses
The image is down the page, under gardening
Bougainvillea
Irises
The images are 6 lines down, in the 3rd and 4th columns
Lilies
Magnolia
Oleander
Live Oak Trees
There are wonderful pictures of the live oaks at Oak Alley, but this is another image
Spanish Moss
Let me repeat, I am not promoting this page, only directing you to a good image of Spanish moss
Pointe du Lac was an indigo plantation. The surrounding plantations could have been indigo, but sugar cane was much more profitable. These are images of the plants which Louis would have seen when walking through his own or other planter's fields.
Indigo
I looked all over the net for an actual photograph of indigofera tinctoria, but this was the only image I could find
Sugar Cane
3rd picture down
Cotton
Cotton was not prevalent in Louisiana, as it was in other southern states, but we know for a fact that it was grown at Magnolia Mound Plantation in Baton Rouge, and that the 1884 World's Industrial and Cotton Exposition was held in New Orleans.
There is a garden in the courtyard of the town house in the Rue Royale. Louis mentions that jasmine and roses grow there, but what else might they have?
Time-Life Plant Encyclopedia
This database may be searched by climate and soil conditions to determine what sorts of plants would grow well in what areas. New Orleans is between USDA climate Zones 8 and 9, but all of the French Quarter is in Zone 9. Enter 9 for Zone and moist for soil and the resultant plants could grow in the Rue Royale courtyard.
Southern Gardening Links
These will give you other ideas as to what is traditionally grown in southern gardens
Louis and Lestat will only be enjoying their garden at night, therefore it is possible that when renovations were done, Lestat may have had a moon garden planted in the courtyard. This is complete speculation on my part, but then I am a spec writer, that's what I do!
Moon gardens contain two kinds of plants; Night blooming flowers and flowers which produce white blooms which are luminous in the moonlight. The following links give an idea of what types of plants are in a moon garden.
Moon Garden
Moon Gardening
How to plant a moon garden
Rue Royale Specs Inc.
Home of Specs by DarkAngel and Father of Lies
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