Writer's Block

Some people say that the first line of your book (and progressively that of every chapter) is the hardest to write. As true as that is, I've ensured that every 'first line' I write has already been worked and re-worked upon many times in my head before, but somehow it's not unusual to find yourself stuck in the middle.. with a perfect beginning and a perfect end -referring to a chapter here- and this past week that is all I've had on my mind. How will my characters meet? What would he be thinking of when he's sitting in that cafe, reading his book and her perfume throws him into the dark abyss of memories when they spent summers cycling down the wide country roads.... Why will she choose that particular day to wear her electric blue dress to work, not realizing that she would meet that guy she fell for, in her office elevator... and he would recognize her only and only because she wore that dress. What separated them in the first place?
Not only am I having the worst case of writer's block.. I seem to have misplaced my glasses somewhere in this torrid week -yes I do have other things that keep me busy- and I wonder at how will I ever manage to fill up the days before these lovers re-unite.
And then, of course, there's chapter 2..........

A Victorian State of Mind

So as a writer in the making, I figured it's high time I actually started blogging...
Gosh it's hard to figure out how to work this thing.. I've become so used to the wonders of auto-correct on my Word (latest edition of course). The idea of working out a short story based in the Victorian Era has been plaguing my mind since I first picked up Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, sadly the idea has now progressed into a full-fledged novel for which I require research I would say amounts to an insane level.

(Excuse me while I check out all the words underlined in the squidgy red)

It is rather shameful how the auto-correct recognizes an Austin and not an Austen, although I'm sure that's the case with a whole lot of people throughout the world. Coming back to the point I wish to make, this research is something I am sadly not yet accustomed to -the novel i have previously been working on is based in Seattle,WA and requires a bare minimum research that hardly takes me 15 minutes -wherein I gather the factual data and tweak it just a bit (to avoid any future copyright issues). However, for this next (currently untitled) novel, I need to do a detailed research on fashion, hairstyles, lifestyles, etiquette and almost every other thing involved - and this is only after I have decided on which period I would like to set my story in. When could it have created more of a scandal? Which decade give my characters more potential to be as liberated or restricted as I need them to be.

And here I was, thinking that writing a novel is just as simple as having a few maps on Google and Wikipedia open on the side while I pen out the twisted lives of each character in Grey Skies... (that's novel no. 1 by the way).
So I've spent the past hour and forty five minutes searching for a reasonable amount on information on the aforementioned subjects and found barely four tabs worth of information, which may seem to be an awful lot to some but pitifully deficit on information I can actually use.
Either way, I don't wish to ramble on endlessly and end this post here with the hope that some of you out there could provide an alternative source of information that doesn't make a travesty of the Victorian Era.