Whispered Words and Heaving Bosoms, All Researched and Fact-Checked

Aspiring writers frequently receive one common, solid piece of advice: write what you know. Several writers, however, have achieved notoriety by bucking the rule and writing what they don't know – battlefields strewn with bullet-filled bodies;  the desolate, icy Alaskan wasteland; a young debutante fanning herself  in the thick North Carolina swelter.

New York Times bestseller Danielle Steel has made a career of writing about subjects outside the realm of her experience. Portraying those experiences with accuracy has required the assistance of an experienced researcher, and an old friend. 

That task has fallen to long-time Fanwood resident Nancy Eisenbarth, who has worked as a research assistant for Danielle Steel for 32 years. What began as simple fact-checking assignments for a friend blossomed into an exciting career. Eisenbarth has had to keep step with Steel's varied catalogue, from pouring over the dust-covered journals of long-forgotten soldiers, to deciphering the legal intricacies of trying an accused serial killer. She has immersed herself in World War II films, and found the exact time of year that tulips bloom in Paris.

Eisenbarth will hold a discussion of her body of work at the at 7 p.m. Thursday. Because space is limited, reservations are required. To reserve a seat, call 908-322-6400.

Patch sat down with Eisenbarth to talk about her preferred methods of research, her favorite Steel novel and how details make all the difference when telling a story.

How did you get involved with this line of work? 
It was just a complete fluke. I majored in History at the University of Tennessee and several years later, I was living in San Francisco and met Danielle. We were friends for a couple of years. When I left the area, she was becoming pretty well known with her paperback books. A couple of years passed, I came back to the area. We took up our friendship again, and she finally got a hardcover contract with her publisher. She wrote a historical novel, so I said, “I majored in history in college,” and she had a list of questions. There were a few historical facts that she wasn’t sure about. She gave me this list and I looked them up, so it was basically fact checking. It has grown over the last 32 years into a whole lot more than that. That’s the process I’m going to talk about more tomorrow night, here at the library. 

Tell me a little about what your job entails as a researcher. Is it just fact-checking historical things, or are there more duties?
It depends. She's written so many different books and it's changed dramatically over 32 years. Her latest book, "44 Charles Street," is a contemporary novel and I didn't have to do much on that at all. You verify background details and parts of the city, but she knows this one pretty well herself. Some of them are just little facts – even just a freeway exit or a restaurant or a hotel. Some of them are medical or legal issues. She has written a book on infertility called, "Mixed Blessings." It was about three different couples with three different kinds of fertility issues, I had to learn the latest and greatest. That's cutting-edge research, and you have to do that with current newspapers rather than old books. Once in a while she does historical. We've done a lot of World War II, she's done Vietnam, the Titanic, World War I. She's written over 100 books so it's hard for me to summarize. 

Can you pick a favorite book that you've worked on out of your very wide catalogue?
I think my favorite was probably, "Silent Honor." It was about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. I did a lot of research. My favorite thing, I think, is reading first-person accounts, journals and diaries. In that case I went to the National Archives and looked at photographs. The amazing photographs of Dorthea Lang taught us a lot about that issue, and it was an important story to tell. That's the book I'm proudest of, I think.  

What's the most in depth research you've had to do for a book?
Vietnam was a lot, "Silent Honor" was a lot. Some things are narrow, but in depth. In "Echoes" we used the Kinder Transport, which was the rescue of 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia in the last 9 months before World War II broke out. That had to be really accurate, and there weren't a lot of records on that. There was an Academy Award-winning film called "Into The Arms of Strangers" about the Kinder Transport, so that was extremely moving and useful. 

Would you say that your work gives a new perspective to Danielle Steele's work, or that being so objective makes the reading experience more personal?
I have to be objective; she gets to be subjective. The process has evolved from the initial fact-checking. What I get is a pretty long outline, usually 60 to 75 typed pages. She works on a manual typewritter, by the way; I work on the computer. We're then and now. It works for her. I get a story synopsis, so it's a chapter-by-chapter synopsis so you meet the characters, you get the setting, you get the plot. Then I have some time to do advanced research. By now I know what she wants to fill in – background, timing right, certain timelines. Then she writes the book, and I see the first draft at the same time the editor and the agent and the publisher do. Sometimes she wants more, and sometimes it gets to a more detailed level. They go to Germany, but what do they do there? Are the purple tulips blooming in Paris, or is there snow on the ground? A lot of fun things that make it real for people that she loves. She wants it not to be just dry, historical stuff. In the case of a modern one, it might be in the trial of a serial killer, how does a grand jury work? Who's in the courtroom when the trial goes forward? Then she edits that book using the editor's notes and then may use additional information she's asked me for, then I get one final read of it when it's a final draft. 

So you were a history major. Have you always had an interest in historical fiction, or are there other genres that you enjoy?
I love historical fiction. I hardly ever read other people because I don't have time!  I like biographies more than anything. I like journals and diaries because they're real. 

Have you read any particularly engaging biographies or journals lately?
I've been reading about the circus for the latest book, it'll be out in two years. 

Can you name a favorite biography, or a particular historical figure that you admire?
I love the biography aboout the Roosevelts, "No Ordinary Time," by Dorothy Kearns Goodwin, she's amazing. I love her work. I love for sort of popular history "A Distant Mirror," by Barbara Tuchman. She has made history interesting to people I think when a historian can make history interesting to people, they often do it with biography. I think if we taught our kids history in school that way, they might find it more engaging. 

You're a Fanwood resident. Do you mostly communicate through emails, phone calls or in person?
Danielle spends part of her time in San Francisco, part of her time in Paris and she's often in New York. We communicate via phone, fax and email. She has secretaries who will print an attachment for her. She's very smart and works long hours, so it's hard to keep up with her! 

How long have you been a Fanwood resident?
Coming up on 22 years. 

Where are you originally from?
Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Was it your work that brought you to New Jersey?
It was my husband's work, and I'm portable. I started working with her in San Francisco with her, and it was easy to fax things or bring them over to her. We moved in 1983 to Illinois and she said, "You'll keep doing this, right?" And I said, "Certainly." While I was living in Illinois, I got my first computer. It was a portable, it weighed 25 pounds, I took it on airplanes! 

What would you say was the work that was most outside your realm of understanding?
Medical and legal, those are a struggle for me. One way of doing research, time honored, is to ask an expert. I look up what I can so I know what questions I'm looking for. My daughter has a friend who is a brilliant emergency room doctor, and she's a great resource. I'm not shy about calling people, you can't be. Everyone's always been very nice. 

What's your favorite way of conducting research?
I love going to libraries and looking through archives, as well as speaking with experts. I least prefer working on the internet. I'm by myself at home with a machine, and there is way too much information and there are far too many mistakes. I get really frustrated with that, and it's harder and harder. Danielle used to say I give her the history of western civilization on the head of a pin. It's really difficult to do that when you get into the internet. A lot of it is wonderful information, and I want to give it all to her. She can't manage writing a book and having reams of research material. She just needs the pertinent stuff.

What can we expect from your event?
I'm going to talk about the different kinds of research – on-site, photographic, films, TV, other images, books, other media. It's a good place for anyone to start. I'll talk about some really silly things I've done, and some things I wish I could have done.

What advice would you give to someone who's looking to get into the research field?
I'm very sorry to say I've never been able to answer that question because I just fell into it. She was really the first mega-star author. I think what happened is she just captured a certain reading public, and when they found out that this writer of love stories was actually glamorous, beautiful and young, her career took off. She also works hard, so she's able to produce a number of books. She's written over 100 books. My advice, if you want to get into writing, her advice to a writer is,  "Write." Some people get offended by that, but it's true. You just keep doing it, and you do it every day. Whether you do it for 15 minutes or three hours, you have to write every day to make it happen. There are writers out there who have researchers; call their publishers and ask them. Write the author that you know has a researcher and ask them. Maybe they'll have a better answer than me!