Here's one Victorian fun fact that stopped me mid-edit. On a steamship in 1870, if you were travelling first class, you got fresh water for washing.

Steerage passengers got what was left — after everyone above them in first-class had already bathed in it.

It's one of those details you can't invent, because the truth is stranger than anything I'd have made up.

And it's exactly why my character, Morgan Bretton, spends so much time at the stern rail in my Morganstar Series, watching the passengers most people never think to write about. I have a wonderful ensemble cast with people from all cultures.

Write what you know, they say. Well, I didn't know this until I started researching how Victorians lived and travelled. I have learnt so much about this incredible era, and learning new things each day is exciting, and infusing my writing with rich, historical facts to spice up the Morganstar Series.