While people-watching, I overheard an inquisitive young man ask his mom a series of questions. All her answers were quick and untrue. Not at all helpful. And I couldn’t help but think, she’s not a writer. Probably not a reader, either. Can’t recall the exact questions posed, but the following is close. Only this time, I’ve included a writer/reader’s response as well. 😉
Why is the sky blue?
Easy answer: So birds can see where they’re going.
Writer says: Sunlight reaches Earth’s atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air. Blue light is scattered more than any other color because it travels as shorter, smaller waves.
Why are leaves green?
Easy answer: So they look pretty, honey.
Writer says: The green coloration of leaves occurs due to a pigment called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll plays a crucial role in the process of photosynthesis, which is how plants convert light energy into sugar to fuel their growth and development.
Why can’t Fido talk to me?
Easy answer: He’s a dog.
Writer says: He does. Dogs communicate all the time. Most can easily recognize at least a dozen or so words — never say “walk” or “treat” unless you mean it — and the smartest ones can reach vocabularies of hundreds of words. They don’t speak using human sounds because physiologically they can’t make the same sounds.
Other animals can speak in human language. Koko the gorilla communicates in sign language and has a vocabulary of around 1,000 words.
Even animals that have no contact with humans use some form of language to communicate. And many humans can decipher the words and expressions of all sorts of animals, from house cats to wild elephants. When all else fails, look at the body language. All creatures communicate, even if they never utter a sound. Pay attention and listen. Fido is talking to you.
Can trees talk to each other?
Easy answer: Don’t be silly. They’re trees.
Writer says: Trees of the same species are communal, and will often form alliances with trees of other species. Forest trees have evolved to live in cooperative, interdependent relationships, maintained by communication and a collective intelligence like an insect colony. These soaring columns of living wood draw the eye to their full canopies, but the real action takes place underground, inches below our feet.
“Some are calling it the ‘wood-wide web,’” says Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees. “All the trees here, and in every forest that is not too damaged, are connected to each other through underground fungal networks. Trees share water and nutrients through the networks, and also use them to communicate. They send distress signals about drought and disease, for example, or insect attacks, and other trees alter their behavior when they receive these messages.”
Scientists call these mycorrhizal networks. The fine, hairlike root tips of trees join together with microscopic fungal filaments to form the basic links of the network, which appears to operate as a symbiotic relationship between trees and fungi.
For young saplings in a deeply shaded part of the forest, the network becomes a lifeline. Without sunlight to photosynthesize, they survive because big trees, including their parents, pump sugar into their roots through the network much like human mothers suckle their young.
Why do whales breach?
Easy answer: Because it’s fun.
Writer says: Communication plays a vital role in the social lives of whales, and breaching is one way they send messages to others in their pod. The powerful splash and sound from breaching travels vast distances underwater, allowing whales to communicate with individuals far away. Breaching serves as a long-distance visual and acoustic signal, alerting other whales to their presence and/or signals important information, such as mating readiness or the location of food sources.
Also, territory is crucial for whales to establish dominance and secure resources. Breaching can display strength and power. When a whale breaches, they showcase their physical prowess and send a clear message to other individuals or competing pods that this area is their territory. This behavior helps establish boundaries and reduce potential conflicts between rival groups.
While breaching is visually striking, it also serves a practical purpose. The forceful impact with the water removes parasites that attach themselves to the whale’s skin and inside their mouth. The sheer force of the breach is enough to dislodge unwanted hitchhikers, which helps the whale to maintain good health and hygiene.
Breaching can also assist whales and dolphins in a successful hunt. The force and sound of a breach disorientates and intimidates prey. Orca — aka Killer Whales — who belong to the dolphin family, will launch out of the ocean to create the loudest impact. The family pod of Orca work as a team to breach around prey to disorientate, confuse, and panic that individual.
Breaching has also been used to assist whales and dolphins to get a better visual on their surroundings. Although not as common as a spy hop, a breach enables them to see above the ocean’s surface and navigate through busy areas near the coastline.
My point is, writers are curious creatures who view the world through a different lens. We’re filled with information from multiple trips down research rabbit holes, and we love to share what we’ve learned. Can’t put it all in our WIPs, so it often spills into real life. 😀
What have you learned during research? Ask and answer your own question using the same format. Or just tell us. We want to know.
True story:
Last week, while touring Italy, the tour guide seemed to slip into an Australian accent occasionally. I asked my wife why she thought this was happening:
Wife (Non-Writer): His bio says he spent a lot of time in Australia for his work and picked up a lot of the vernacular. You should have read it.
Me: No, he’s here under cover, pretending to be a tour guide, either running from the mob or working for some shadowy government agency. I saw him talking to a foreigner last night in the bar. That was probably his contact.
Non-Writer: We’re in Italy. Everyone here is a foreigner to you.
Writer: Yes, but it could be a foreign foreigner, making contact —
Non-Writer: Oh, look! An olive grove! Isn’t it pretty?
Haha. Love it, Michaell! Life with a writer is never boring. 😂
Sue, you must be the coolest mom/grandma in the neighborhood…until they get to be eye-rolling teens. 😉
Some MT downtowns, most notably Butte and Havre, used to have underground tunnels, built in the late 1800s-early 1900s. There’s now a Havre Beneath the Streets tour open to the public through restored speakeasies and brothels. In Kalispell, a tunnel ran from the major bank to the next block where it connected to a bar and upstairs brothel. That way respectable bankers avoided being seen by the public entering questionable establishments.
Someday I want to set a story underground.
I would so read that. St. Louis is built on caves. Many of the caves were used to keep beer cold. Some where Biergartens to cool the customers. Steam tunnels run in the caves under downtown heating the buildings.
And a few were used by the Underground Railroad.
I have explored the caves under the St. Louis Union Station, Alan. Also, my great-uncle Bud worked for the Lemp Brewery in South St. Louis back when beer was stored in cave. He wore a coal-miner’s hat that used whale oil so it wouldn’t affect the taste of the beer.
Very cool, Alan. 😎
Ooh, you should definitely write that story, Debbie! Imagine all the possibilities.
Having answered more than a few questions from authors, I think the biggest thing is authors are not afraid of, “I don’t know. But I know somebody.” Authors want the bricklayer in the book to lay bricks correctly. They want to know why mud and snow tires work in the snow. They also get the angry email because their character did something wrong.
Perhaps the most famous would be Geoffrey Boothroyd who wrote to Ian Flemming about James Bond’s poor choice in sidearms, calling the .25 cal Berretta a lady’s gun. Boothroyd suggested the Walther PPK. In appreciation, MI5’s armorer is Boothroyd, also known as Q.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Boothroyd
I am one of those writers who consults Alan. He has saved my bacon more than once.
So true, Alan. We NEED to know, whether that involves research or reaching out to consultants.
Having internet issues. Will respond to comments as soon as it regulates. Love the stories so far. Keep ‘em coming!
My WIP includes a Manhattan apartment building with secret passageways. Although I don’t have to do much research since I can invent the building in my mind and put the passageways wherever I want them, I did look up a few things.
My favorite is the hidden room made famous by Corrie ten Boom’s book, The Hiding Place. It was a secret room built in the Ten Boom house to keep Jews safe from Nazis. Another interesting example is The Winchester Mansion in California which has stairs that lead nowhere, doors that open onto walls, and secret passageways. And there are plenty of secret passages in various homes, castles, and libraries of Europe.
Although not secret, a lot of large buildings or parks (e.g., Disneyworld) have underground passages that aren’t open to the public so employees can easily move through the area.
Kay, I grew up in a house filled with secret passageways and hidden stairs that led to the back door for a quick escape route.
Thanks for the link shout out, Sue. As that post suggests, I LOVE research related to my home town. There is always something new to discover. I love just browsing old issues of the Times, which I can access from the comfort of home via the L.A. library. Always juicy crimes to delve into. I wrote about one of those a few years ago:
https://killzoneblog.com/2021/09/the-claw-hammer-murder.html
Ooh, I had a friend who wrote about the claw hammer case, Jim. He’s gone now, but his book lives on. LA has a fascinating and rich history, enough to keep you busy for a lifetime.
In the book that releases next month, I researched blowing up a dam…called a friend who blows up beaver dams who is also an engineer. After we talked a bit about where I needed to set the charge, he said, “Uh, maybe we need to meet in person to continue this discussion…I don’t want someone from Homeland Security showing up at my front door…”
You know they probably have a file on each of us…
Hahaha! They probably do, Patricia! 😂😂😂
There was a secret entrance to the OSS Bern headquarters from a park nearby. For In the Mouth of the Lion, I used that building as the June HQ for that feature, but they weren’t actually in it until September of ’42.
Love the title, J! Nothing wrong with a few “tweaks” of the facts to fit the story. 😊
Ahh…what a great post, Sue! I wish i coulda joined in sooner, when I wasn’t fading away.
I love research, too, and I love throwing out random facts that no one cares about and getting those “looks”. Y’all know what I mean!
😬😬😬
I know exactly what you mean, Deb! 😂😂😂