On the Road

Apologies for the brevity of this post but my family and I are on the first week of a two month long holiday across the National Parks of the American West. We have done Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite so far. Off to Death Valley today…but all this roughing it (I am by no means the camping type) reminds me of the lengths to which some people will go in the name of book research. While I have been down the Orinoco most of my research involves strolling the streets of London or hanging out at the British Museum…hardly onerous! But what about you? How far have you gone in the name of research? What would you or wouldn’t you do?

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6 thoughts on “On the Road

  1. Took a whitewater rafting trip down one of Idaho’s federally-protected rivers two years ago. Dumped in the rapids twice and came up to write about it.

    Research can be fun!

  2. My book Try Darkness has LA’s Skid Row in it. I took a ride along with a detective, as he pointed out the various places and types…some of whom knew him and waved (or turned away). Having an expert on hand is invaluable.

  3. Great question!

    I won’t violate my ethic code for research, but darn near everything else.

    Got stuck in the snow in Montana (because it is the one place in the world most like Mongolia, but infinitely cheaper to visit), taken surveillance and forensic accounting courses.

    All the crazy mistakes I made in my life become research *after* the fact ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. Several years ago I wrote a short called 1917. It was about a Canadian soldier at the battle of Passchendale in WW1. I wanted to get a feel of what an artillery barrage felt like without risking getting blown up. So I went to a fireworks show, got as close as security would allow me to the blast area (less than a hundred feet) put my back into a corner cement wall and experienced the percussive rhythm of a fireworks extravaganza up close and personal.

    What did I learn? Never go that far again for research. The long, tall wall behind me meant that the 120+ decibel explosions reverberated through my body multiple times for more than 30 minutes.

    My guts turned to barely contained jelly, my joints ached, my head throbbed. Years later my ears are still ringing.

    But I produced what I’ve been told is a fairly good presentation of a barrage in the story. You can check it out at my blog by clicking my name in the header here, or going to my website below and let me know what you think.

    Basil
    http://www.basilsands.com

  5. Well you are all far more adventurous than me – Especially Basil! Jim is right an expert is invaluable…I guess my hubby is that at the moment as he is the camping expert!

  6. I keep asking to witness an autopsy, but no luck yet. I also visit the spots where major scenes take place to make sure the action in my stories is realistic.

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