As authors we do all kinds of strange research. I’m no exception, and might be more extreme than most of you in that regard.
I have had a song in my mind for years. It’s a super well known tune, but in my mind, there were always two versions. I remember them well, but started wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me.
I’ve been looking for the less famous version for years now without success. Today I found it.
Some of this was caused by the song climbing the charts twice. It gained a second life after Tom Cruise was introduced to the world in the movie Risky Business. Everyone remembers that version and can name that tune in about two notes from the piano.
My mind works in mysterious ways. I am building scenes for a story I can’t even write for about two more years. I am who I am.
Imagine Lizzie and the Pythons on stage at a musical competition television show. The whole band is on stage with the exception of Lizzie. Shade, the saxophone player, is giving a brief mention of who they are over the long intro to the song. Lizzie appears at the last second (on purpose) just in time for the lyrics.
Time for another post about Goodbye Old Paint. This one is about research.
People are often surprised to find speculative authors do a ton of research. It doesn’t matter if I’m writing science fiction, fantasy, or The Hat Series, there is always research.
I find it easier to sell the fantastic elements when there is a basis in reality somewhere.
What kind of rabbit holes did I venture down to prepare Goodbye Old Paint? Here’s a brief list, and I hope it baits you into reading the book.
• Jeep automobiles
• Spadefoot toads to develop the Spadefoot Curse
• The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. Part of our intelligence community.
• Magical uses for salt
• Uranium
• Varieties of fermentation as it relates to cooking
• Balloon separatory funnels
• The Titanic
• Julius Caesar
• FEMA relief
• The distillation of perfume
• More
If you’re wondering how I can shoehorn all of this into one short novel, you should checkout Goodbye Old Paint. It’s perfect for the Halloween season.
Blurb: Lizzie and the hat haven’t been as careful as they think. When the FBI comes knocking, they know all about their nighttime pursuits.
Who even knew we had a Geospatial Intelligence Agency? This obscure part of the intelligence community has a problem that requires a special skillset. Lizzie and the hat are tasked with ridding the intelligence server farm of a gremlin infestation. They’re ill prepared for this one, because .357 magnum revolvers are designed to deal with larger and hairier problems.
The Feds aren’t giving Lizzie much chance to weasel out of the assignment, and they reluctantly accept the job. Lizzie faces some unique trials and has to make new friends to get through the assignment, and avoid a debilitating curse at the same time.
It’s been a hard road for Lizzie during this series, and she’s due for a couple of small upgrades. These are solo titles in a larger series, and you should be able to read any individual one without feeling lost. The series is dark humor at its base, but this one tends a little more toward the humor.
I managed about 1200 words today. Kind of lousy, but had some other projects I wanted to dedicate my time to.
One of my scenes involved a steamy event, and I’m moderately happy how it turned out. Yes, me. I wrote a steamy scene.
I also wanted to work on some research for my next Story Empire post. This took more time than I wanted, but I did it anyway. I roughed out the article, but am not completely happy with it. There are a few weeks left to whip it into shape, so I hope I can. This took up most of my available time.
Both of my WIPs are at a transition phase. I generally think too hard on these for decent ways to get to the next event in the tale. Think of it like a sine wave. I do well on the upward slope and apex, but the downhill side and trench slow me down.
In the story I’ve been working on there are two main characters. Jenny and Cody are mother and son. Right now, Cody has been stealing the spotlight, so I need Jenny to have a moment or two. As the parent, she’s the main decision maker, and I need to give her reasons to make the decisions.
As the author of this mess, I know where they’re going, when, what risks they’ll run into, and what they’re going to discover. I just need to make the transition flow smoothly.
I probably struggle with this more than I should, but it also keeps me from delivering a novel that’s only 30K long. I’m really enjoying this story, and want to do a good job with it.
How about you? Do you struggle with those transition scenes? Maybe you breeze right through the buggers. They’ve always been my bane.
I kept up my writing journey throughout the weekend. I may have equaled that 2500 word day today, but didn’t keep score. Jenny and Cody are in the process of gaining small clues about their stalkers, then freaking each other out. They might not even be right.
I stopped at the point of Cody’s first date with the computer expert. I have some ideas of what I want, but need time to think about how to shorten this part just a bit. There are things I want in there, but I don’t want to spend an inordinate amount of time on it. She is a side character, after all. I’d rather this be on the page than just briefed about after the fact.
I delayed my start today in the name of research. I have all the things to make my Dutch Baby and was determined to do it this morning.
Sunny side up is not my preference for eggs. I took this option because I thought they’d finish in the oven. I was wrong, but it was still fine. The whole ham slices are for lifting purposes. Don’t want to break my yolks before I need to. Any extra ham I tore into smaller pieces.
My secondary goal was minimal clean up. I wound up using one cast iron skillet, one blender, and one fork. You can see the paper plate in the photo.
To the goal of minimal clean up, I used whatever shredded cheese I found in the refrigerator. Happened to be mozzarella. I think a sharp cheddar might have been better, but I never had to wash the grater.
There are some mid-journey photos, but I’ll spare you those. Suffice to say the pancake had one gigantic bubble which deflated upon coming out of the oven.
Ham, cheese, eggs, and chipotle Tabasco, because this meal is coming to you from Idaho. It was good, no doubt.
If I decide to do this again, I’ll cut the recipe, or learn how to pour less, so I can use the 8-inch skillet instead of the 10. The egg parts were the best, but the edge of the pancake came out a little dry. It needs a bit more of a wet ingredient to my liking. Maybe some country gravy or hollandaise. (Or hollandaise with some asparagus tips.) A smaller skillet could help with that.
I never got the cool cup shape all the experts seem to get. Maybe next time, I’ll swirl the batter up the sides before I put it back in the oven. Either way, it ate just fine.
I will probably wait a few months to try it again. That’s a whole lot of eggs, milk, and cheese right there. There are three eggs in the batter alone.
In other news, I received the interior graphics for “Goodbye Old Paint” last night. I can spend weeknights getting them into my story, and they lead to some fun gags in the upcoming Hat volume. I also ordered my cover last night. October will be here before I know it, and it’s better to plan ahead.
Today is a holiday in the US. Back to the grind tomorrow.
Today wound up being a better day for writing. It came to about 800 words on the story about Percy the Space Chimp, but it also included about 1400 words on the story about Jenny the investigative journalist.
It was while working on Jenny’s story that the rabbit hole appeared. I wanted a food item that was somewhat unique to Seattle. What I found was the Dutch Baby sometime last week.
Today, I intended to make one and share photos. This is basically a German pancake and can be made sweet or savory. I looked at a bunch of recipes and settled on savory, but with eggs, ham, maybe a few mushrooms. Basically this is a heart attack waiting to happen. Butter, eggs, milk, cheese, ham.
They look pretty simple and have minimal cleanup. Just a blender and one pan if you do things right.
This was supposed to be a beautiful post with pictures, but I never made mine. By the time I had to deal with too many substitutions it wasn’t worth it. I mean, lunch meat instead of ham? Not going down that path. I might get braver tomorrow, because there is one Basque chorizo in the refrigerator.
This item fits the story well, because it looks like something a college kid could live on. Jenny’s son, Cody makes these, they impress girls, and are pretty simple.
While Cody was cooking, I also introduced a secretive person, or persons, that might be following them around. Maybe my characters are just being nervous.. maybe not.
If you add up the words it was the best day I’ve had in a long time. If you’re looking at my culinary skills it was a total flop. It’s going to be hard to die young if I don’t eat a lot of cheese and processed meats.
This is a bachelor weekend for me, so I don’t have to keep regular hours. I might pick up the keyboard again this evening, so don’t stick a pin in my day just yet.
For now, I think I’ll drive to the tap house here in my small town. It’s only a couple of blocks and they have vampire tacos. Might not be a Dutch Baby, but should satisfy the need for something fried and cheesy.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Consider me happy with my progress today, and there could be more to come.
Time for another look behind the scenes of “Once Upon a Time in the Swamp.” These are promotional posts, but all the authors out their might get a kick out of how this story came about. Today, the topic is research.
Every author has to do research. I write some pretty weird stuff and I still have to do research. I swear, if the government ever looks at my search history, they’re going to haul me away. Here are some of the things I dove into for this story:
• How to make black powder. (The original gunpowder.)
• What exotic species are loose in Florida. (My book needed even more.)
• How to make soap.
• How to make buckskin.
• How far are various points in the American South from each other, and how many days would it take by oxcart.
• Non exotic species in the American South, including the venomous ones. (So many fire ants. Makes me shudder to think about it.)
• Voodoo visage known as Papa Legba, and what he likes.
• PTSD dreams.
• Naming conventions for nuclear submarines.
• How to make a pipe organ.
• Knife throwing, and fighting.
• Plants, both native and exotic.
Not everything here made it into the book with any depth. Some was just for my knowledge, but you authors out there know what I’m talking about. For those of you who are readers, I hope I’m whetting your appetites.
I’m also a pretty visual guy. There is an entire Post Apocalyptic esthetic. I really only dove deep on this with Mari, but glanced off it for a few other characters. What I did here was create a Pinterest Board to help me. If any of you would like to check this out, here is the link https://pin.it/61mEyC1
Writing is a labor of love for all who do it. We research, create environments for everything to happen in, then try to piece it all together in a way the reader won’t notice all the work that went into it.
I hope I’m encouraging some of you to take a chance on Mari’s story. I think it’s a good one, and that you’re going to have some fun. Any help you can offer to spread the word is appreciated. I’ll also include a link in case I’ve tempted you.
Blurb: Mari and her husband opted for a simple life as farmers. It’s been decades since the world tore itself apart, pitting neighbor against neighbor and family against each other. They were happy in this re-emerging world, until disaster struck.
Mari sets out on a solo quest to avenge the deaths of her family and loss of everything she holds dear. She’s ill equipped for the task, but seems to have time on her hands. Time alone in the wilderness to deal with her personal demons along the way.
She is helped by a few sympathetic elders and a couple of animal companions with lessons Mari can use if she pays attention. Can Mari find justice for her family?
Set in a post apocalyptic, Gulf Coast world, this is a story for fans of the old Spaghetti Westerns.
After my reading binge yesterday, I had no agenda today. I earmarked time to talk with my mother, and we spent two hours on the phone. No rush. No squandered time.
I’ve got this character that’s been screaming at me for attention. She only has the vaguest outline of a plot, but she’s really interesting. Today I went down the research rabbit hole for her.
I spent my day learning about newsroom hierarchy, cattle mutilations, rare earth minerals. Double checked the locations of the Green River Killer. I spent an hour learning about radioactive prospecting by geologists, and shopped for scintillators. These things are better than Geiger counters and have even been used from low flying aircraft to identify ore bodies. Even made up a joke about them.
Research led me to common items in every home that will give off a radioactive signal. Things like several fruits and vegetables, smoke detectors, granite countertops, bricks, ceramics, and our cell phones. Cigarette smoke is radioactive, but vapes aren’t. No idea why that might be important, but it’s something I learned about today. A scintillator will pick up these light duty readings where a Geiger counter will not.
Botox and fillers took up a brief section of time. My character is going to be an aging television reporter whose looks are fading along with her desirability on camera. She wants more out of life. She wants to do hard news. I gave her a great weird habit that I think some might relate to. (Weird is kind of what I do.)
I invented a son for my MC, and decided she’s a war widow. This had me learning about audiologists, audiology technicians, and even Foley artists. What kind of college courses might be needed in these fields? I’ll have to make some of this up on the fly.
I’m getting close to what looks like a plot, but it isn’t ready for a storyboard just yet.
I need some kind of shadowy figure or a group to add tension as the rest unfolds. Why are they following her? Probably federal types, but it could also be something related to a tech billionaire. The kind who send rockets into space.
I scratched out some notes about a mentor type character. My MC can’t go from fluff pieces (or weather girl) to investigative journalism all at once. I like the idea of a disgraced newsman trying to live in obscurity. Maybe he was a fanny patter after that became newsworthy and he took the fall.
Sometimes I just need to get things out of my head. I’ve been known to make these sheets for stories that never get written. Sometimes they take two years before I turn them into something. Working ahead has served me well over the years. Then again, I might start drafting this next weekend. Who knows.
I’m still editing. It’s mostly boring work, but I am seeing things that need repair. I find editing tedious, and that means it doesn’t make good blog fodder either. I’ll suffice to say all three manuscripts are up to chapter 11, then leave it there.
Today, I used my headphone with some YouTube playlists. I really like this option, but the advertisements are a nightmare. There are probably some without ads, but I haven’t been lucky enough to find them. I have one that’s instrumental blues, one that’s called samurai warrior music, and one I’ve been saving. It’s all the spaghetti western music by Ennio Morricone. I’m open to hints as to where I can find ad-free versions of long playlists. I don’t mind one up front, or even the occasional peppering. One (in the middle) of every song is too much.
One thing I never mention is that I research constantly. Some things make it to my storyboards, others are simply notes to tuck away.
I learned something about LIDAR. This is kind of like radar, but it’s been used to discover lost civilizations in the rain forest and other places. I have a story way in the future that will need this information.
I need a name for a group of celebrity ghost hunters. They’re going to be obstacles for Lizzie and the hat sometime this Spring. I’m having no luck, but the best I came up with is The Four Clairs. (Meaning Clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, and claircognizance.) I’m not thrilled with it, but might run with it.
Technetium is another discovery. It’s a radioactive, rare earth, material. I doubt it’s truly dangerous, but I can still write it that way. My idea involves aliens, and it’s way in the future. This one only has a sheet of notes. There isn’t even a storyboard yet, but I think there will be. I like the ideas I’m getting for this one.
I’ve also been looking up images of Alfred E. Neuman. It’s for a gag in one of the upcoming hat stories. Even some of the humor needs a bit of research.
Maybe this is one of my secrets. I have things developing all the time. Some of them will never get there. When I’m ready for a project, I usually have something pretty close to jump on.
I haven’t shared a Pinterest Board for a while, and some of you seem to enjoy them. I create these things for inspiration. Sometimes I return to them for ideas about creatures, settings, characters, and more. Not usually for main characters, but supporting things. Let’s go for one of the big ones today. This is my Fantasy Board https://pin.it/1JYU7Vm
It’s nothing earth shattering, but it all counts. I’ve managed around 5400 words in the last two days. I took this week off, mostly because I deserve it.
We didn’t do much of anything during the holiday other than watch the prequels to Yellowstone. I never had much interest in the main series, but Sam Elliot and Harrison Ford have some draw for me. These were good, and I’ll try to keep up with the Ford/Mirin version as the new episodes drop.
Old What’s Her Face returned to work yesterday, so I cracked open my manuscript. I only have Mari’s swamp story going right now and need another one to balance things out. I decided not to start something else until I finish this one.
Most of those new words came today. I’d stopped at a tough point to get going again, but muscled through it yesterday. Today I had one difficult trial for Mari to get through, but it blossomed into so much more that I had to keep going.
She wound up closing the gap on the men she’s following, but got trapped on a crumbling bridge at night. No food, no water, and no grazing for her animals. The bridge isn’t trustworthy in daylight, so it’s deadly at night.
For whatever reason, she took some injuries and I left her trying to heal up where the animals could drink and feed. I think it turned out to be a pretty decent section.
With holiday leave included, I don’t have to return to the office until next Tuesday. I might even be able to finish Mari’s story, but am not counting on that. This one needs a bigger denouement than some of my others and I’m not going to rush just to get done.
At some point, I’m going to have to do some serious editing. I have the Space Chimp story, one for Lizzie and the hat, and Mari’s story that will need some attention.
This needs to get done, so that will be my task after I finish this draft.
I’m finding some neat things to include using Google Maps. This is a post apocalyptic tale, so ruins of those places can make it into my stories. I had her stop at the Stennis Space Center, but need to flesh it out a bit more.
There is a cool dinosaur park just ahead of her. The kind with a trail that has Dino-statues in the forest. It isn’t a day away from where she is so I might have to miss that one. Her mission won’t allow her to slow down and goof off without a good reason. She would pass it around noon and wouldn’t normally stop. Including it might feel kind of forced. I know of one thing that might work to include it, but need to sleep on that.
I looked up from the roll-top desk in my paranormal office and sighed.
Lisa Burton, my robot personal assistant was lounged out on the couch. “What’s the matter?”
“I added fourteen-hundred words today and it looks like Lizzie’s story is going to come up a little short. I still have to add her big tantrum at the end, but the President and the courts are messing with me over that. I have no idea how student debt is going to play out.”
“Then make it up. You have the basis in fact that you’re always harping about.”
“I know, but I’m not completely in the swing again.”
“These are supposed to be short novels. They seem to be character driven, so you know, drive that.”
“I am. I keep thinking up junk for a story about three books down the line and just need to focus.”
“I’ve been your PA for enough years to know how it works. Just let it happen. You have a brand new book on the shelves and you can wrap this one up later. Go back to Mari’s story for a while.”
“I need to do that, too. There’s just this missing piece for the future storyboard I can’t quite get a grip on.”
“Maybe we can help.”
I snapped around so fast I nearly fell over.
Research Sirens
“I don’t have time for your antics right now.”
“Actually, you have nothing but time.” Libraria, the leggy blonde, took her time slowly leaning over the coffee table to put her books down.
Conversia slid into my easy chair, stretching her legs out full length of my ottoman. “Tell us about the problem. I’m sure you’re due for a break. Sounds like a decent word count already.
I wheeled my chair over. “I really want to write this Asian afterlife tale into the Hat Series, but there are some problems. I want to respect the differences between Japanese, Chinese, and other cultures, but I also kind of want a bit of all of them. If I explain that the afterlife has everyone all together, maybe I can get away with it.”
“What’s the story about?” Wiki turned her iPad mini my direction. “I can look some things up for you.”
“It’s the Chinese version of Armageddon. I’ve already discovered the lore from it. I want to steal some from Journey to the West and made some notes there.”
“I have a complete, unabridged version.” Libraria tapped one of her books. “What seems to be the problem?”
“I also have a ghostly character who is Yakuza. That’s Japanese. Lizzie fights monsters, so I’ve been looking into Japanese monsters. Some Asian things are scary as hell, like the one whose head leaves it’s body at night and flies around with its entails trailing after it. All of them are big on demons, too, so I need to consider some of that. I also don’t want the same old thing for Lizzie to deal with and have other characters to consider.”
“I think you should take a tour of Asia,” Conversia said. “Just the Pacific coast. Talk to some of these people. I think you’ll find a lot already blends together, despite the source. There are a lot of variations as well, so you can meld and merge to your heart’s content.”
“You’ve been trying this for years. I’m not going on an extended trip with you.”
“We could make it fun.” Libraria practically sang the last word.
“Stop that. I’ve already pushed it back and another year isn’t going to kill me now. I have two books before that one. I just have to figure out how to—.”
“Why’d you push it back?” Wiki asked.
“Because I came up with another cool character, and it would be perfect to use him. His intro is in a different book, so it has to come first. Then I have to figure out how to write a musical competition show and not have one of the judges come across like Simon Cowell. It’s a chance for Lizzie’s band to climb out of the doldrums a bit.”
Wiki flipped her iPad around to display a creepy picture. “Jiangshi.”
“Gesundheit.”
“Not that. Jiangshi is also known as the hopping vampire. He hops because of rigor mortise, and sucks souls instead of blood. Some legends have it as more of a zombie. Lots of variables, so you can put your own spin on it. Cool stuff with vinegar, yellow paper, and something called Joss paper. He’s afraid of a rooster’s crow. Maybe she can fight these things.”
“My cool new character is actually a rooster. I can work with this.”
Libraria selected one of her tomes and started flipping through it. Stopping at Joss paper.
Conversia said, “Maybe I can set up a Zoom meeting with an actual Shaman for you. Do you speak Cantonese?”
Lisa stood up. “I’ll put on the coffee. I can tell where this afternoon is going.”
Blurb: Mari and her husband opted for a simple life as farmers. It’s been decades since the world tore itself apart, pitting neighbor against neighbor and family against each other. They were happy in this re-emerging world, until disaster struck.
“Actually, you have nothing but time.” Libraria, the leggy blonde, took her time slowly leaning over the coffee table to put her books down.
Wiki flipped her iPad around to display a creepy picture. “Jiangshi.”
Entertaining Stories 