Tag Archives: Research
Choose a Setting You Love
By H.L. Wegley Thirty-eight years ago, my wife and I and our three kids boxed up enough supplies for a week and headed for Lake Chelan in Central Washington, a glacier-fed lake, fifty-five miles long, nestled snugly between Cascade Mountain … Continue reading
Vacation, aka Book Marketing Research
By Glynn Young My wife and I have been to England several times for vacation, but this time it was vacation with a book twist. Shortly before we left, I had finished a manuscript and turned it over to the … Continue reading
Researching the Highland Treasures Series
By Brenda B. Taylor I became interested in genealogical research after retirement which led to researching family ancestry. The lives of my ancestors grabbed my interest and curiosity. I researched and traveled to their homes and wrote about those in … Continue reading
The Rewards of Research
by Diana Wallis Taylor Anytime I prepare to write a new book, the matter of research comes up. What do I need to know to accurately present my main characters? Jewish background and customs are more familiar since I have … Continue reading
When the Reader Tastes the Salty Sea Spray
By Leslie DeVooght Readers want to be transported and experience your characters’ world. Your setting should elicit an emotional response from your readers. To achieve this kind of intimacy with the place, a writer must visit the place. Setting isn’t … Continue reading
Between You and SME: Resources for Fiction Writers
by Angela Arndt As a corporate trainer for an insurance company, I wrote the curriculum and trained new hires to ensure they used correct procedures. But my degree was in education, not computer programming. How could I teach them when … Continue reading
When Research Becomes an Addiction (or Procrastination?)
By Eileen K Parsons “Look. Are you writing another novel or becoming an historian?” I looked across the table at my friend. “What do you mean? Of course I’m writing another novel.” “It just seems to me that this research … Continue reading
Writing Historical Stories
By Diana Wallis Taylor A friend of mine who took a hiatus from writing due to health concerns, went to lunch with me and said she felt God was leading her to write again. She wanted to talk about writing … Continue reading
Where Do Ideas Come From?
By Melanie Dickerson I get a lot of emails and messages from teen writers asking for writing tips. The two questions I get asked most frequently: “Where do you get your ideas?” and “What do you do when you get … Continue reading
Eureka! Finding Gold in Research
By Michelle Shocklee Writing historical fiction is a lot like digging for gold. No matter the era and setting an author chooses, enormous mountains of historical data loom over us, daring us to find those interesting nuggets and minute details … Continue reading
Making the Most of a Diversion
By Elizabeth Ludwig I found myself stranded in Bentonville, Arkansas recently, when the plane I was on from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Dallas, Texas, was diverted mid-air, to a tiny regional airport in Northwest Arkansas. Not only was this a … Continue reading
Time and Place: Researching Your Historical Fiction
By Liz Curtis Higgs When I asked my fiction readers to finish the sentence, “I love historical fiction because…”, my favorite response was this: “It’s like a history class and an adventure, all rolled into one.” Yes! I’ll leave spinning … Continue reading
Writing What You Don’t Know
By Deborah Raney My novels Beneath a Southern Sky and its sequel, After the Rains, are set in the Amazon rain forests of Colombia, South American. Beneath a Southern Sky was a RITA Award winner and went on to win … Continue reading
Just Ask
By Sarah Sundin As a historical novelist, I do a lot of research. As an introvert, I prefer research in books and libraries and on-line. Over the years, I’ve learned where to look for information, and I’m persistent enough (mule-headed?) … Continue reading
Tosca, On Research
By Tosca Lee I get asked (a lot!) how I research my historical novels, which always surprises me because it seems like a) kind of a boring thing to talk about and b) a personal process based on a person’s … Continue reading
