The Rowboat Scene in Bryony

Last year, after reading a draft of Bryony, my father telephoned me and said, in amazement, "I didn't know you had rowed a boat!"

Well, I never had.

My father was even more amazed, because he had. He was referring a part in the story where Melissa learns to row a boat. My father was impressed with the details of that scene. "I felt I was actually in that boat," he said.

I've only ridden in a rowboat once--back in 1995 when I visited my uncle in Round Park, New York--but I was seven months pregant with my youngest son, and my uncle did all the rowing. No, that rowboat scene was created from, other than my imagination, Internet research on how boat rowing, steering, and safety; my memory of that day at Round Pond; and talking to people who have rowed and ridden in rowboats.

Much research went into creating a believeable setting for Bryony. The challenge with relying on research is making the details in a pretend world ring true, especially when I have not personally experienced them. My father's comments were quite reaffirming that I did something right.