I played hooky last week since I had not won any contests or publishing contracts…Yet. This weeks topic for the 52weekMFRWblogchallenge is what we have learned from researching our books.
This is another of those necessary evils authors face. Some of us love it some hate it. I don’t mind, but I really suck at googling things and it takes me forever to find relevant topics. If I had someone who did that for me finding the topics and links I would be good LOL. That is another reason I love my Chatty Chicks. If we get stuck we just ask and someone will help find a link or steer us in the right direction.
In my last WIP, I got lucky and didn’t have to research much as I lived that ice storm. I did learn some survival hacks and things to have on hand for basic emergencies. I even googled water as one of my characters seemed to have an endless supply while the water was off. My friend Misty found me some great information on that and tada problem solved. Lane had some neat five-gallon jugs as well as bottles and gallons in his basement.
In my other current WIP BaseBall bats and Cowboy Hats, I had to do a lot of research. The number one was baseball. I don’t watch it regularly and I did know some basics but not enough to put together plays and teams. I also researched Prospect leagues, host families, and some things for the hobby farm as well. For this story, the research was quite fun and rather easy.
Now researching for a Vampire story is a task in itself. When I researched for Bites I had some very unusual topics. I needed jobs for My Main character. He is a prominent business person but how can e have his business mostly at night? Dinner meetings worked out great. Limos with blackout windows, Evening dates on his yacht, Yep I had to get creative. Now how to feed a vampire… I researched blood banks, blood drives, Red Cross. The female lead ran off to Italy with someone who was trying to help her. So now I had to research all sorts of Italian things.
These are just a few things I have researched for my stories. Research takes a lot of time but to have a quality story it is necessary to make the story realistic and believable.
I want my readers to be able to get lost in my towns, worlds, characters live not sit scratching their heads wondering about stuff.
Do you like realistic, well-researched stories? What’s something interesting you found researching?
Let’s gocheck out what the other authors found interesting during research?
Let’s go check out what the other authors found interesting during research?
8 responses to “Survival, Baseball, Blood banks and more #MFRWauthor #research”
I absolutely love that skit. It always cracks me up. As for resesrch I’ve done and learned about… I’ve done a lot on horses and ranches. There was some on cowboys in every job, saddle breaking a horse, and a lot of other pieces to it. I needed the information while writing stories with my sister. Maybe one day I’ll put that information to use once more.
Research is fun. I ned those links you have Mist LOL
Research is definitely fun! I get lost in searching for information.
Alicia, I do too. Sometimes it’s fun to do something different
The “ran off to Italy, now I have to research that” made me laugh. My characters don’t seem to want to do what I was planning for them half of the time.
It is funny how characters take on a life of their own. Luckily the editor I was using on this one was fluent in Italian and had visited there many times so she fixed a lot of my faux Paux and added some things that really enhanced it. ( now I just need to finish it lOL)
Research is fun and enlightening, and I can often get lost in the joy of trails leading to further trails. I enjoyed your blog post!
Thank you. I like research to a point. I just suck at googling lol