I looked it up and quickly breathed a sigh of relief. Women have indeed been in archaeology since the mid 1800s, but they were few, far between, and had to fight for every ounce of respect they earned. Which means that my heroine could certainly be there, but she now needs the personality to demand it. In the original, Allie was not a demanding person. She was quiet, non-confrontational, but had a spine of steel. New-Allie (or perhaps Old-Allie?? I did, after all, just age her quite a lot, lol) is still quiet, but the stubbornness had to be upped.

It definitely changes my cast of characters, though. Gone are all the other women but one–I kept an older mother-figure, who is now married to another archaeologist on the dig and handles food and nursing. Not exactly her role in the original, but we have to improvise as the facts dictate. 😉

I’m having fun getting to know these characters that are much the same but also different in such crucial ways. Where before she just wouldn’t argue about something because of her bent toward silence, now she uses that silence to prove a point. Like when the hero demands, “Do you really want to argue this point?” she’ll reply, “Yes,” and then just glare at him. Makes for some interesting one-sided dialogue! But hopefully it’ll shake my unshakable heroine into the kind of woman who actually made it in that life. One whose dream, whose vision was so strong that she was willing to take on the whole male-dominant world to achieve it.

Those of you who have read my stack of finished manuscripts may remember The Stars and the Sands, about archaeologists in Egypt on the path of something that may or may not be Atlantis. Originally, this was a contemporary novel, half of which was set in Princeton. But I have learned since writing it that it just doesn’t work as a contemporary because there’s only, like, one guy allowed to excavate in Egypt these days. But in the 20s . . . well, in the 20s, Great Britain had control of Egypt after WWI, and they weren’t too picky about who dug it up. Works great for me!

I’ve done some research and talked to an archaeologist with some experience in that neck of the woods, and it’s so cool to see everything click into place. When facts actually match my plot, I know I’m onto something good. Something God-inspired.

So anyway, back to my subject (yes, I have one). Starting in the late 1800s, Egypt became a popular tourist destination for wealthy British and Americans. Gentlemen thought it fun to go poke around in the dirt and see what they could find–then take their loot home with them.

When the gold-laden tomb of King Tut was discovered in 1922, this became more popular than ever. Everyone wanted something Egyptian, Egyptian styled jewelry became all the rage . . . and can you imagine the frustration of the few actual scientists trying to excavate? All these tourists poking around, asking to take their most important finds home with them.

Perfect insight into my hero, eh? I’m having a blast with all these new facts!