Researching The Enigma Project & Victorian Spies for Manners & Mutiny

So when I was doing research for the Finishing School series, Gentle Reader, I did a bunch of research into the Enigma Project.

It totally fascinated me (yes I’ve watched the various movies). Not a lot ended up making it into the books, but here is a peek at the vocabulary notes I took.

My first copy of Manners & Mutiny arrives in the office.

 

You can determine for yourself, Gentle Reader, what was actually utilized in the series.

• Clandestine
• Station X
• Dispatches
• Code Name
• Cypher
• Deception
• Sensitive Information
• Restrictions
• Security
• Secrets
• Top Secret
• Agent Provocateurs
• Intelligencers
• Unauthorized Disclosure
• Compromise
• Seal of the Confessional
• Resources
• Personnel Department
• Protective Security
• Vetting for Government Installation
• Counter Espionage
• Counter Insurgency
• Domestic Surveillance
• Registry

And then at the bottom in big letters I have scrawled:

Clandestine Scientific Information Act of 1885

Of course I ended up cutting the “Scientific” because that made it the CIA. And I can’t resist stuff like that.

the-vortexx-tumblr Victorian slang terms you never knew existed

 

More Resources on Victorian Spies

 

• The Weird World of Vintage Poison Rings. I had a spider one in high school which likely set me off on the path that would eventually lead to writing these books.
• “In the rules of society, an introduction at a ball did not count as an introduction: the woman could with perfect politeness ‘fail’ to recognize him afterwards, cutting him dead without the man having the right to be annoyed.” ~ The Victorian House by Judith Flanders
• Victorian Secret Service Agents & Spies: Flip Sides of the Same Hollow Coin
• Real-life gadgets perfect for a Victorian Era James Bond
• “But, for those who could afford them, trains had as many comforts as possible: they had gas lighting, and for an extra payment passengers could hire foot-warmers, filled with acetate of soda, which melted at 200 degrees F and in the process of recrystallizing threw off heat for about twenty hours.” ~ The Victorian House by Judith Flanders
• Hair Receivers, Secret Beauty Aids of the Past
• The Art of Listening
• Aphrodisiacs, Elixirs, and Dr. Brodum’s Restorative Nervous Cordial
• Things Women in Literature Have Died From
• The Killer Mobile Device for Victorian Women

Want more behind the scenes sneak peeks? Join the Chirrup

 

The Book Nut says of Etiquette & Espionage: “Carriger has a way with this genre that makes it seem much more effortless than other authors who have tried the same.”

GAIL’S DAILY DOSE

Your Infusion of Cute . . .

19 Brilliant Umbrellas That Will Make Rainy Days Fun

Your Tisane of Smart . . .
Female Spy: Mata Hari

Your Writerly Tinctures . . .  
8 Badass Ladies Who Changed Literature Forever

Quote of the Day:
“This is Waycross, after all—sneaking around in dark alleys is practically the national sport.”
~ Debra Doyle & James D. Macdonald, By Honor Betray’d

Tags: MANNERS & MUTANY, Victorian Culture, Victorian Science