ELIZABETH ANSWERS FELLOW QUILL

Suzanne had two topics she wanted me to blog on. The first was salmon, which I’m saving for a date when I’m, ahem, hungrier.

The second was research. Specifically, she wanted to know, “How she does her research and then incorporates it so beautifully into her books.” (Thanks, babe. I love you too.)

I use two kinds of research. The first is experience. I’ve always been curious about science, gems, myths, the history of cultures, and macropolitics. I’m married to a former journalist whose specialty was crime. Through him, I have met some fascinating and occasionally frightening people. (Have you ever been served tea and cookies by an assassin?) Over the course of my life, my own curiosity plus my husband’s have sent me down very interesting byways of human experience. Some of them end up in my books.

The second kind of research I use is more directed. When I decide on a geographical backdrop, I Google the bejabbers out of it. Then I use a different search engine. Then a third one. A fourth. The articles/websites which appear most often I label CONVENTIONAL WISDOM. Then there are all the rest of the delicious hits. I label them POTENTIAL WISDOM. I add the two categories together, stir the mix, and wait to see what bubbles to the top. Sometimes things ferment in my mind for years before they become a backdrop. *smiles evilly*

Once I’ve decided on a backdrop, I go there, take photos, make notes on the sounds and smells, sights and faces, and generally get a feel for the place. Often pieces of the plot come to me during this phase. (If it’s a place I haven’t gone to recently and Evan has, I just pick his brain. He has a fine one.) Every new experience/bit of information is added into the mix.

As for the second phase of Suzanne’s question, the backdrop I have researched is treated like a major character. It interacts with the other characters, affects them for better or worse, limits some of their possibilities and enhances others, etc. Like a character, the backdrop isn’t revealed all at once, in one great gush of information. Instead, the information comes out when it’s needed to advance plot and/or character development.

There you have it, Suzanne. No secret magic after all. ;)


My question to all of you is: Do you have a topic/s you would like me or another Quill to blog on?