Lesson Ten

April 2008 ACFW On-line Class Lesson Ten
Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down
Suspense Research – The Science

The last lesson in this class will focus on the science. The facts can either add delightful details to a book or bog it down. Striking that balance can be a real skill. I know in Deadly Exposure, my editor kept asking me to cut back details that I loved in the journalism scenes. To me, they added authenticity; to her, they bogged down the scenes.

So what’s a writer to do? Keep reading. Keep learning. Keep trying to strike a balance. And here are some tips from the pros.

While we are not writing textbooks, our books can’t be authentic without capturing some of the emotion, news, and energy of these fields. So I asked the experts these questions. How do you decide what to include and what to skip? How do you make those judgment calls?

If it’s a detail that I find fascinating, I assume others will as well. Or if it’s a detail that the plot hinges around, then of course it has to go in the book as well. But I try not to overwhelm the reader with facts. I put in enough to get the right flavor.
-- Colleen Coble

Information has to come naturally from the character. After we’ve done a lot of research, we tend to want to use it all. Avoid what I call a SHIR—See How I Researched. These passages of explanation stick out in text as unnecessary.

The important thing is to keep up the tension as the character is doing some scientific. I faced this challenge again and again in my Hidden Faces series as Annie, the forensic artist, had to do her work. I put those scenes in the midst of a lot of tension for her, so as she’s, say, reconstructing a face from a skull, she’s thinking about lots of things, is fearful for her own safety, etc. I also kept up the tension in these scenes by using tone, which has to do with word choice.

One more thing here—in a scientific process such as reconstructing a face, the real-life process is much more time-consuming and detailed than we can represent in our fiction. I research the process so I know it well. (In this case, I used the textbook of nationally known forensic artist Karen Taylor, and also was in contact with her via email as questions arose.) Then in writing I have to cut the process down time-wise. In the readers’ letter at the beginning of that particular book (Dead of Night), I explained that I had put forth the process as it is in real life, but that it’s far more detailed and long than fiction will allow. I pointed the reader to Karen’s textbook to find out more info about the process. In this way I covered my bases. Without that explanation a forensic artist reading Dead of Night might have gotten ticked at my squeezing the process into such little time. An expert would think, “That author doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” But with an explanation, they can’t think that. Readers will forgive what an author must do to create a good story. What they won’t forgive is shoddy research.
-- Brandilyn Collins

If I, as a lay person, can understand it fairly quickly, and it makes a difference to the plot for the reader to understand it, I boil it down to an easy definition and use it. However, I make sure my character understands and acts as if they grasp the entire concept. – Susan May Warren

Tom Clancy undoubtedly wrestled with this question and lost, in my view. He’s far to excited about the technology. You have to remember that the reader wants to live, vicariously, through your writing. I will do whatever is necessary for me to give them that pleasure. If I am writing a medical-suspense novel and I must include detailed information on a surgical procedure to draw the reader into the story, then I will do that. But if by doing that I lull them to sleep, then I won’t.
It becomes a matter of “feel” for your story and the reader. Having a good core of “first readers’ can help. If they’re put off by something, chances are your other readers will be too. – Brandt Dodson

Include only those details that pertain to the story at hand. For instance, I happen to know that the FBI’s Art Crime Team did not exist prior to 2004. However, the subject never came up during the course of the story, so that little fact never got mentioned. It simply wasn’t important to the story one way or another. The research doesn’t go to waste, though. I have a speaking topic called Art Snatchers and Thief Catchers where I’m able to tell all those nifty details that didn’t make it into print. Overloading a story with facts and figures that don’t advance the plot is a mark of amateur writing. -- Jill Elizabeth Nelson

What about a legal trial? These pop into books, and trust me, the details can often be wrong. So what’s a writer to do?

Yes, you MUST sit through trials. (Note Eyes of Elisha research, above.) Don’t rely on what you see on TV—those courtroom scenes are usually flawed. There are so many things to know about what evidence can be allowed in and what can’t, how an attorney makes a decision as to what to build his/her argument on, etc., etc. This is a huge learning curve for anyone who’s not an attorney.

And—you never know where it will lead. In research murder trials for Eyes of Elisha, I visited the trial of the so-called Diary Girl murder case in the California Bay Area back in the early 90’s. The first day I sat in that courtroom, my antennae started waving. Something about this case—which was being nationally watched—didn’t jive. I went back the next day and the next. Long story short, I ended up connecting with the parents of the teenage defendant and got their exclusive story rights to write a book about the case. That book was my first, A Question of Innocence. Yup, it was some time before I got back to writing Eyes of Elisha. But the timing was all in God’s plan. – Brandilyn Collins

I’ve spent most of my working life with attorney’s and I am largely familiar with court proceedings, particularly criminal courts, so I don’t tend to do heavy research in this area. The crime novels I write often take place before the actual trial, so I am more concerned with investigatory techniques. – Brandt Dodson

And y’all have the benefit of my post on legal research to help you find the starting point. Then call attorneys LOL.

So when these authors interview people, how much time do they spend picking up quirks, educational backgrounds, etc.?

Brandilyn says it’s important, because:
People in any particular field have their own lingo, their own way of thinking and processing the world. This kind of knowledge deepens the character. The only way to get this is to talk to such folks and really pay attention to their word choice. Here’s a technique I used that was very helpful. With the homicide detective for Eyes of Elisha, I told him my fictional situation scene by scene. First, the scene he would see as he’s called to the site of the body. I explained the condition of the corpse, then said, “Go. What do you do? What are you thinking?” This allowed him to approach the scene as he would in reality, without knowing twists about the body or crime that would appear later in the book. Then I’d lead him to the next scene.

Don’t forget the “What are you thinking?” question. What a professional does and what he’s thinking can be two very different things. For example, with a homicide detective, this question may lead you to the professional’s emotions, even as he hides them on the surface and goes about his business. This is great stuff for a character.

Susan focuses “Almost ALL [her] attention on this. I can learn technical stuff in a second – it’s how their career affects them that I find intriguing.”

Brandt listens to the dialogue. “If you want to learn the subtle differences in culture (whether it’s geographical or occupational) or someone’s educational level, or their ego or their biases, just listen to them talk. And I don’t mean on the TV. I’ve spent four years in the Bureau and nearly 20 years practicing medicine. I’ve never heard a cop say, “On the ground … maggot, weasel, creep, worm, etc.” nor have I EVER heard a doctor say “stat”.”

And Brandt has some great advice on ride alongs and getting inside exposure to law enforcements:
I spent four years with the FBI and grew up in a family where nearly everyone was a cop. But if you don’t have this advantage, I would HIGHLY recommend a ride-along, or a citizen’s academy. The FBI in Indianapolis has an excellent program along those lines, but be prepared. It is tough.

And here are Brandt’s tips on weapons.
I use guns that I’m familiar with. I’ve handled weapons nearly all of my life – and still do – so research for me isn’t that necessary.
However, if you haven’t fired a gun, go to a local gun shop and ask to do so. A lot of them have indoor gun ranges and they’d be more than happy to help you out.
Again, though, have a list of questions ready and do some research before you ask for someone’s time.
The myths of guns still abound in books, film and the popular culture at large.
q Silencers do NOT work on revolvers. It is also illegal to possess a silencer. (Not that that would stop anyone, but just so everyone knows.)
q No one – NO ONE – can “shoot to wound”. Once the bullet leaves the barrel, it is an estimated guess as to where the thing will actually end up or what it will do when it gets there.
q A wet gun will still fire. Wet gun powder will not ignite.
q Not every rifle is an “Assault rifle” nor is it an “AK 47”.
q The Lone Ranger, as good as he probably was, could NOT shoot a gun out of a man’s hand from 200 yards away while riding a galloping horse.
q The vast majority of “gun battles” occur within a distance of seven yards.
q A sawed-off shotgun will have increase power over a shotgun that has not been “sawed off” but the buckshot will not travel as far.
q A shotgun is recognized as the best home defense weapons, bar none.
q A .22 caliber pistol – though not as dramatic – will kill you just as dead as Dirty Harry’s .44 magnum.
q There are more of these, but that ought to help. J

These details are important because: Anything that is inaccurate will shake them out of the state of reality to which you’ve drawn them. If that happens, they’ll close the book.

Jill Nelson finds that the Weapons_Info group on line has been incredibly helpful for her.
I have not yet shot a weapon in the course of research. The Weapons_Info group members fall all over themselves to give me way more details than I could ever use. They’re fanatics on the subject! -- Jill Elizabeth Nelson

I hope this course has been helpful. We’ve covered a lot of ground, and I truly appreciate the way so many authors willingly shared their tips and research secrets. Feel free to shoot them an email thanking them!

Lesson Nine

April 2008 ACFW On-line Class Lesson Nine
Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down
Suspense Research – Characters and Interviews


Today we’re going to talk about developing our characters and that all important interview to get the details right. I don’t know about you, but I felt REALLY strange the first few times I’d call or email someone asking for information about their job or area of expertise. Especially until I had that first contract it felt strange holding myself out as an author. But with each call it got easier. My theory is the worst they can say is no. And so often, people are delighted to share their knowledge with someone who is truly interested.

But to get tips, I went to the experts. Let’s start with their tips on characterization. Not surprisingly, Brandilyn Collins uses the techniques outlined in her book Getting Into Character.

I follow the personalizing techniques I lay out in Getting Into Character. At this point those techniques are so familiar to me that the process comes quickly enough to show me the basis for the character. That character will continue to grow in depth as I write the story. – Brandilyn Collins

Susan Warren uses tools like personality tests to discover details about her characters.

First, I figure out what kind of person they are (often I use a personality test). Then, I interview them to discover their background, their values, their fears and dreams. From there, I can usually find a connection point that helps me understand the kind of person they are and how they would react and grow in this plot. For example I’ve never been a SAR K-9 handler, but I have helped look for a lost child, so I was able to tap into those emotions to write Dannette’s pov (in Escape to Morning)
-- Susan May Warren

Brandt finds it helpful to travel to the area his books are set in. And that helps him pick up the nuances:

Culture can vary widely, but people are essentially the same. If I can visit a location and listen to people, then I will do that. I’ve traveled widely, but I’ve found that we all want a better life for our children, we all know there must be something after this life (believers and non-believers), we all worry about putting food on the table, and we all struggle to provide for our families needs. – Brandt Dodson

And Colleen finds research crucial:

Reading newspapers helps. And a visit to the area is crucial as well as all the other things I mentioned about getting the setting right. – Colleen Coble

Great tips! Now let’s look at suspense particularly. Suspense usually involves killing people, police and support personnel, the legal arena, weapons of some sort, etc. Getting those details right is critical and challenging. So what can you do?

Brandilyn suggests a lifestyle of research:
My life is a constant research. First, in my spare time I watch true court/law enforcement cases that I’ve recorded on TV—Forensic Files, American Justice, Investigators, Cold Case Files, etc. I never watch TV crime dramas, as their forensic work is not accurate and will skew my own thinking as to what’s true and what isn’t. This constant background of information provides me a wealth of information on how crime investigation is done.

Second, for a particular book and situation, I’ll find someone to interview. For the Kanner Lake series, I found a gold mine in a Chief of Police of a northern Idaho town the same size as my fictional town. He interviewed with me for all four manuscripts, plus read the manuscripts to catch errors. Going way back to my first suspense, Eyes of Elisha, that was a huge research project because it involved not only crime investigation, but courtroom scenes. I interviewed more than one homicide detective, a profiler, the head of a forensics lab, policemen, a prosecuting attorney and a defense attorney. I had to do all this even after having written a true crime that involved crime investigation and many courtroom scenes. That true crime gave me a lot of basic information so I wasn’t starting from scratch, but I still needed much more info that fit with my fictional situation.
-- Brandilyn Collins

But to get all these details, we have to interview people. How to do that? And how to do it in a way that will open doors for us. Here are some tips from the pros.

Brandilyn suggests the following steps:
1. Find someone you know who knows someone you need to know. For instance, someone in your church or neighborhood probably is friends with or a relative to a cop. Once you get to the police officer, he/she can lead you to professionals higher up the chain of command.

2. Once you interview the first person, ask for a recommendation for the next professional. I did this for the huge research mentioned above for Eyes of Elisha. And I always asked for the BEST. The homicide detective, for example, had worked for years, including on numerous nationally covered cases. These people all work together. One person’s recommendation to the next top professional got me in that new door. (“Oh, you interviewed with so-and so? He’s the best there is. If you talked to him, I’ll sure talk to you…”)

Colleen Coble focuses on details during interviews:

I ask quick questions about certain details. For Anathema I needed to know where autopsies were conducted so I called the hospital in Rockville and the receptionist told me. I have an author friend who is a police officer and he’s been a great source of help for certain questions like how long does DNA take to get back. I sometimes get on online boards like search dogs or navy sites and get in contact with people then ask my questions. Most of my questions are asked via email.

I say, “I’m Colleen Coble and I’m a novelist. I write suspense and I have a quick question about …” And then I ask the question. I try to find out information by myself first. I don’t like to bother anyone unless I can’t figure it out.

It depends on what you’re writing. I mostly write Women in Jeopardy type stories so I don’t need tons of technical advice. If I were writing about FBI agents, I’d talk to some. But that’s not what I write. I normally write about ordinary people who are caught up in extraordinary circumstances. It was very helpful to actually talk to some Search and Rescue people though so it depends on the story. And my family is a great resource for guns. My son collects them and my dad and brothers are big into hunting. And for questions about the law, I have an attorney friend or two to ask.

Susan May Warren calls or emails people, but only after she’s already conducted research. Once she calls, here’s what she does:

I tell them I’m an author, and that I’m doing research – most of the time police departments have a person who will direct you. Also, it helps to add, “And I want to get it right.” (most people would agree with you!) I never contact someone first – it’s always the last resort, and mostly to confirm. If possible, ask them to read your scene and correct your mistakes. People love to correct authors! One thing you’ll get that way is the proper lingo. Also, ask around in your church or friends. Most likely, someone will know someone who will know someone. That’s how I found my bull-riders, my firemen, my SAR personnel, my bush pilots, etc. -- Susan May Warren

Because Brandt has a background in police and FBI, he finds the interview easy though he still conducts his own research before calling.

I have it better than most since I have written “crime” novels and have background in that area. So it’s easy for me to pick up a phone and call someone I know. [Find people to interview by] networking. It’s much better than a cold call although that can work too. Take time to “earn” the privilege of taking someone’s time.

[When I call] I tell them my name, that I’m a novelist (I mention Amazon so they can fact-check me for themselves if necessary) and offer to thank them in the book (if they’re okay with that. Some people aren’t, especially if they gave you confidential information) and ask if I can send them a copy of the book when it’s published.

[Talking to people in the field] helps. It will give you a clear-eyed view of the reality of the situation. Talking to someone who is a cop, or a surgeon, will always give your writing the edge you want.

Jill Elizabeth Nelson also finds interviews helpful.
I interview people as much as possible to get the details right. In writing the To Catch a Thief series, I spoke to an FBI agent, several police officers, a former Naval Intelligence operative, medical doctors, a dietician, and the list goes on. As you can probably tell, I’ve had some intriguing encounters. My experiences in Albuquerque interviewing the FBI agent are recorded in the archives of my web site blog from entries in May of 2006.

Credibility is important, as is professionalism. You can say something like, “Hello, I’m So-and-So. I’m a writer working on a novel about Whatever for Name of Publishing House. I would be grateful for a few minutes of your time to ask you about your area of expertise. I can’t promise compensation, but I’d be happy to name you in the acknowledgements and give you a signed copy of the book when it comes out.” If you’re pre-published, you can still use that speech, except for naming the publishing house. Don’t apologize for not having a contract yet. Behave like a serious write who expects to have his/her book published.

I want to be sure that I’m contacting the right person for the questions I want to ask. Also, it’s a good “in” with your interview prospect if you display a degree of knowledge about their field.

I find that I need both in order to gather the most complete picture. For instance, I found out some things about the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico that my friend who’d been there didn’t even know.

In some cases, they were right in my home town—people I knew, people who knew me. I had a chat with my town’s police chief one day, plus a local MD and the dietician at the health care facility where I work offered excellent information. In contacting the FBI, all the field offices are listed on-line. I simple looked up the address and phone number of the Albuquerque office for when I was going to be there. Funny thing, though, even the hometown man who drove me to the building hadn’t realized it was there. The fortress-like structure wasn’t exactly on the beaten path. He had to look up how to get there. In addition, I belong to some specialized groups that offer expert answers for suspense writers. I get great feedback from law enforcement and military personnel from Crimescenewriter and Weapons_Info. These are Yahoo groups open to membership.

Brandilyn recommends Dr. Lyle’s books for medical and forensics stuff: (Murder and Mayhem, etc.). He also runs a website: http://www.dplylemd.com/. Susan recommends Writer’s digest material – and, I’ll pick up autobiographies from people in that profession. Brandt is cautious about print resources: “None of them are reliable in themselves. I trust no ones’ fact checking. I go to several sources and see what shakes out from there. I’ve found stark differences in facts and interpretation of facts.” I like to use books like the Dummies Guide to Forensics (by Dr. Lyle).

Here’s your assignment. Think about your current work in progress. What area of research do you know really needs the information you can get only from an expert? What’s keeping you from contacting them? Who do you know who might open the door for you? Great. Now I want you to make a plan to contact them. And then do it. J

Lesson Eight: Suspense Research – Let’s Talk Setting

April 2008 ACFW On-line Class Lesson Four
Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down
Suspense Research – Let’s Talk Setting

So we’re back looking at setting. Setting can play a role in any book, but you may find it playing a more…sinister… role in a mystery/suspense. It will often set the tone for the rest of the book. How to pick the setting? It needs to be strategic. And I think you’ll find many of the authors I talked to use the setting as an additional character in their books.

The first question I asked them was how they pick their setting. They gave some great stories and mechanisms. We’ll start with Brandilyn’s answer:

Setting is important, as it has so much to do with who the characters are. Setting also affects aura and tone of the story. So far I’ve been able to choose an area I know—such as the California Bay area or northern Idaho. Then I stick a fake town in it. In the reader’s letter at the beginning of the book, I explain where the town is—and how all the landmarks around it, including roads, are real.

For Dread Champion, about an hour and a half south of our California home, I drove to the area with a friend. She drove while I took lots of notes. I found an area to stick my fake beach, and the exact location where the house of my defendant would be. Then I clocked the driving time from the house to the fictional beach—which would be an important detail in the book.

I also needed to know tide information on this fake beach—in the future. (The story takes place in the year the book was released, a year later than when I was writing it.) I found a naval web site that tracks tide times, so I tracked them for the real beach next to my fake one. And I wanted to know the moon phase, and sunrise/sunset times on that particular night. For that info I went to: http://timeanddate.com/.

If you’ve been around ACFW for long, you know that Brandilyn is a stickler for getting those details right, and it shows in her books.

Susan May Warren uses three criteria to select her settings:
1. Have I been there or do I know someone who lives there I can get real information from? 2. Does this location interest me, or have qualities that would interest my readers? 3. Can I use this place to accentuate my plot or theme?

Like Brandilyn, Susan will often travel to the site “especially if it is enroute to an event I have. I also buy maps and “picture books” of the area. Finally, I try and contact someone who has been there, or lives there.” She finds Google Images of the location to be helpful as well. But if she can’t visit, she’ll “email a scene to someone who has been there, or lives there, or sometimes … ask specific questions about their favorite smells, or what distinguishes their location from others. Her final tip on setting: “Details! Only by being specific will readers feel like they’re in that scene.”

If you’ve read any of Colleen Coble’s books, you know how much she pulls from the setting to set her books apart. The setting is truly another character. Here’s what she does:

I think of where might set the right mood I’m looking for. With the Rock Harbor series, I wanted a wilderness setting, but I didn’t want the usual Colorado or Wyoming one. I happened to think about Michigan’s U.P., the last bastion of wilderness in the Midwest. For the psychological thriller I’m working on, I wanted a creepy old plantation house surrounded by black water swamp so I’m setting it near Charleston. Setting is huge for me.

I physically go to the place. I hang out in local restaurants and coffee shops, take pictures and notes about what it looks like. I talk to local folks and often take a tour of some kind to hear the local guide talk about the area.

When she’s in the middle of researching a setting, she’ll browse the web looking for information about [the] setting. “I also read the newspapers online from that area to find out what concerns the community. I like to pull things out that could only happen in THAT PLACE.”

I often get videos of the area, and I also get vacation guides. Pamphlets from the Chamber of Commerce and books like Fodor’s guides. They are invaluable in helping me envision the setting. I also generally get a book on the flora and fauna of the setting. I often read novels set in my place too because often the author is from there and might know more than I do. But don’t ever take details in a novel as gospel.

And another thought I have off of this one is that another great resource for a book can be the phone book from that location. I got one for a location I really want to set a book in by calling the visitors’ center. It’s a wealth of information on businesses, names, etc.

Brandt Dodson takes a little twist from Colleen. Where Colleen picks the location and builds the story from there, Brandt picks the crime, and then picks the location that best illustrates that.

I generally pick the setting that is most relevant to the story I want to tell. In White Soul, for example, the novel deals with materialism, drugs, and crime. What better city to underscore that than Miami?

I think location can (and should) become a “supporting character” to the novel. Setting White Soul in Butte just wouldn’t have the same power as does Miami, although it can be said that there is certainly a segment of Butte’s population that is into drugs and materialism.

In The Lost Sheep, the novel deals (thematically) with sin and the consequences of sin and how far Christ went to redeem us from the bondage of sin. Las Vegas, that bills itself as “Sin City”, seemed the perfect choice.

Brandt is also a fan of visiting the city and the settings used within that city.

For the first 3 Colton Parker novels, I picked Indianapolis because I grew up there. But I also visited every neighborhood and dark alley I used in the novel.
In The Lost Sheep, I flew to Vegas and spent a few days soaking up the ambiance, listening to people talk and studying the way they conduct themselves when they honestly believe that no one is watching their conduct.
In White Soul, I did all of my research on Miami on the internet.

Brandt’s last tip on setting?

Read a PI novel. In fact, read Raymond Chandler. No one is better at making a location a supporting character than he was. His Los Angeles is so real it literally breathes on the page.

Jill Nelson has had some exotic locations for her To Catch a Thief series. But even so, she says Boston picked her.

My setting for the To Catch a Thief series pretty much picked me. Since all the books were art theft-related, I needed a cultural center as a base for the stories. Boston is a logical choice in the US, and I set the first book, Reluctant Burglar, there. I also took my characters to sites appropriate for the particular focus during each successive novel. In Reluctant Runaway, the second book in the series, the art theme is American and Native American artists. Albuquerque, NM, is a hub for Native American art, so my characters went there for much of the story. My new release, Reluctant Smuggler, is set largely in Mexico, since the art theme is Hispanic art. Besides, I wanted to take my characters some place a little more exotic but not so far away that they couldn’t travel fairly quickly back and forth. As you can see, there is method to the madness of picking a setting.

Jill starts with books and then uses the internet for details…

I start by reading books about the place and doing Internet searches for items of particular interest for the story-line. I prefer to go to the place where the book is set. Albuquerque was loads of fun to visit. I’d like to go back. I even made a new friend and fan there who emails me regularly. Time and finances were lacking for me to go to Mexico, but I have a close friend who has traveled to every spot I wanted my characters to visit, so she was a great help. First-hand interviews are invaluable if you can’t actually go to the site yourself.

Assignment: Based on their comments, I’d like you to each go through the national or world section of a newspaper or weekly magazine. Find an article in there that focuses on a setting that could make a great novel. Share the generals of your ideas with us.

Lesson Seven: legal research basics

April 2008 ACFW On-line Class Lesson Seven

Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down

Suspense Research – Legal Research Basics

The law is a complicated area. And it often crops up in mystery and suspense books. Because of the number of questions I get on this area, I have compiled the following information. Hopefully, it will give you some basic background information and then point you to some great starting points for your research. You may still need to contact an attorney. But hopefully, by following this advice, you can contact the attorney to confirm what you’ve already learned and answer the difficult questions.

So here goes. Legal research for writers in a nutshell.

For starters there’s federal law. That consists of laws that Congress passes, the Constitution (that wonderful gift from the founding fathers), and decisions handed down by the Supreme Court. Then there are all the regulations created by federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and IRS to implement the many laws passed by Congress. And don’t forget things like Executive Orders implemented by the President.

The there’s state law. Not just in your state, but in every state. Fifty different versions of the law. And that’s broken into Common Law, which has largely been adopted from English law dating back to the 1300 and 1400s. Think torts/negligence. It is quite established law that there are four elements to a tort: duty, breach, causation, and damages. All states and federal law recognize these elements. But each state then has different cases interpreting those elements. So Common Law is theoretically standardized, but must be examined in each state.

Then there’s all the statutory law. These are the laws that were created by the state houses (either bicameral or unicameral – again depending on the state).

Don’t forget County laws, City ordinances, planning commissions, zoning boards, and so many other forms of local government. It can get crazy.

So what’s a writer to do? How can a writer make sure they accurately reflect the law? Here are a couple quick tips:

1) Talk to an attorney.

2) Do some basic research on-line.

3) Talk to an attorney.

4) Know the state you are writing in.

Nothing is more distracting to a reader than to find an error in your story that could have been easily fact-checked. My favorite all time example (which is actually from one of my favorite romantic-suspense authors): in this particular book, the heroine works for a state’s governor’s reelection campaign. Only problem, this state doesn’t allow a governor to run for reelection for a consecutive term. The author assumed this state was like 90% of the states. And it isn’t.

So let’s take that extra step to spot-check the research and get it right. Your readers will know if you don’t.

So I’ve discussed the basic areas of legal research… there are just a few! Now what? How do you start finding the information that you need for your novel?

One great place to start is national organizations. Here are a few to get you started:

q American Bar Association (www.abanet.com) is a great resource for research on a host of legal issues. It won’t necessarily go into a ton of detail, but it will give you a great overview or background on just about any legal issue. I could get lost on its website, there’s so much great information!

q American Civil Liberties Union… if you are interested in getting the liberal perspective on an issue – often needed to make our stories balanced – or if you are looking for experts on prisoners’ rights issues, this can be a great organization to start with. Most states also have a chapter of the national organization. Here’s the national website: http://www.aclu.com/ with links to issues ranging from prisoners rights to disability rights to religion and reproductive rights.

q American Center for Law & Justice (www.aclj.org) is a counter to the ACLU. The ACLJ was started in the late 1980s early 1990s by Jay Sekulow. He’s an attorney who was involved in many of the ground-breaking Supreme Court cases during that era, particularly in religious freedom cases. The website also contains many issue papers here: http://www.aclj.org/Issues/. The ACLJ is affiliated with the Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, VA, and can be a good starting place for the conservative position on issues like national security, prayer, and education rights.

q Center for Education Reform (www.edreform.org) is an organization based in Washington, DC, that is focused on helping parents get more rights in education. It’s focus is charter schools and other forms of bringing choice in education to all children, but has expertise in other areas as well.

q Institute for Justice (www.ij.org) is a more libertarian organization that focuses on eminent domain and entrepreneurial rights, think shipping wine across state lines and other areas where government is restricting the access of individuals to a business area. The website contains information on cases and media information. I attended a law student training program and plan to interface with them on one of my books that involves eminent domain issues.

q Alliance Defense Fund (www.telladf.org) is another organization that focuses on the conservative position to many cases. I have found them extremely helpful in my role as an attorney, both being trained and calling on them for help with cases, and would expect the same for help with plot-lines. There are trained allies in all 50 states, so if you need an expert in an area, this could be another great place to start.

q Home School Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org) is an organization that is driven by a mission to protect homeschooling families that are members. Their expertise spills over into other areas that states use to harass homeschooling families like CPS checks, etc. Again, they have trained attorneys available in most states, so you could call and ask to be connected to someone in a state your book is set in, and if your issue falls in line with theirs, may have found yourself an automatic expert.

q The State Policy Network (http://www.spn.org/) is an umbrella organization for state think-tanks that focus on free-market issues. It has a blog that focuses on what’s happening in the various states (http://blog.spn.org/) and contains a link to member organizations – another great resource to access experts.

q CATO (www.cato.org) is a libertarian think-tank based in Washington, DC. It has an extensive list of experts you can email, publications you can review online, and many other resources readily available at your fingertips. I interfaced with one of their experts when needing some information on ethanol research, but there are a host of experts on many, many topics.

q The Heritage Foundation (www.heritage.org) is the grand-daddy of the conservative think-tanks in Washington, DC. You want an expert? They have one. Education, energy, entitlements, congressional reform, etc. The list is almost endless, and you can identify the expert you need online.

These organizations are literally just the tip of the iceberg, but hopefully this gives you an idea of what is available as easily as clicking on internet explorer.

Now that you’ve seen just a few of the national organizations that have helpful websites, let’s look at where you can find legal information.

q Looking for plot ideas? Check out http://www.lawyersusaonline.com/. This website contains articles about cases and trends from around the United States.

q WWW.Law.com is another site that contains links to legal stories from across the country. It can be a great place to find quirky court cases and stories about judges and attorneys to flesh out your characters.

q Now I haven’t used this site, but www.lawguru.com looks like it could be another helpful starting point. You may be able to find background information there that will help you grasp the background before approaching an attorney with questions.

q The Legal Information Institute at Cornell University (http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Legal_research) is an EXCELLENT source of background material on legal issues. This page: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Category:Overview leads to overview articles on a host of legal issues. Have questions about child support? Start there. How about probate and wills? You guessed it – go there first. Many of the initial questions I’m asked could be answered if the person searched for an article here first. The general page breaks the law into federal and state issues and gives a helpful overview. I STRONGLY encourage you to start your legal research here.

q In the right hand column of each topic, LII provides links to federal, state and other resources. It will take you straight to the relevant code or agency. This can be a huge help!

q Don’t forget Federal Agencies. Here’s a short list to get you started:

o Department of Labor: http://www.dol.gov/

o Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: www.eeoc.gov

o Internal Revenue Service: www.irs.gov

o Department of Commerce: http://www.commerce.gov/

o Department of Defense: http://www.defense.gov/

o White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

o Library of Commerce: http://thomas.loc.gov/

o National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/

o House of Representatives: www.house.gov

o US Senate: www.senate.gov

o US Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us/

o Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/

o Federal Judiciary: http://www.uscourts.gov/

Again, this isn’t an exhaustive list, but hopefully this will help you get started as you research federal legal issues.

Brandt Dodson's lecture on Plotting Mysteries

If you are interested in receiving a copy of Brandt's lecture on plotting the mystery, contact me ... I'll be happy to forward it to you.

Lesson Five: Let's talk suspense

April 2008 ACFW On-line Class Lesson Five
Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down
Suspense Research – Let’s Talk Science

Welcome to the suspense portion of the class. Again, I hope that you’ll find these lessons helpful regardless of the type of books you write, but there are unique challenges that come with writing in the suspense/mystery/thriller category. I see that there are several questions about plotting. That isn’t really the focus of this class, but never fear…I have a call out for help from a pro at this. So stay tuned. If he can’t help, I’ll share some thoughts later on different ways to structure the plot.

But let’s talk research.

When I think about this genre, I think about tight plots filled with twists and turns, and in my mind there’s usually a ticking time bomb of some sort. I love reading Brandilyn Collins, Colleen Coble, Brandt Dodson, Jill Elizabeth Nelson, and Susan May Warren. They each have a unique style, and they have each graciously agreed to share some of their thoughts and strategies with you.

But I also enjoy several ABA authors. (A note: some of them have content that is beyond that allowed by CBA, but I have found that they each have books I can enjoy – if I’m selective). Some that I enjoy reading are Mary Higgins Clark, Mary Jane Clark, Lisa Gardner (man, I want to write like her!), Lisa Scottolini (have to be careful, but they are very good legal suspense for the most part), John Grisham, etc.

On the romantic suspense side, I really enjoy Dee Henderson (particularly the first 4 in the O’Malley series) and Robin Carroll’s books with Steeple Hill. On thrillers we can learn a lot from Robert Liparulo (nor for the faint of heart), Ted Dekker (ADAM is intense!), and others who give you a book you can not put down.

At the core, what makes books by any of these authors work for me? Why do I rush to buy the books as soon as they release. Why do I return to them again and again?
q There is a sense of being there…the setting is real and I can buy the general plot thread.
q The characters are believable and I’m rooting for them from page one. And ideally they aren’t perfect people, but are fighting flaws just like the rest of us.
q The mystery/suspense works. We’ve all read books where the red herrings are ridiculous. Or the key clues are withheld. I want to race the author to the reveal. I want to have a fighting chance at guessing who did it without having a bad taste left in my mouth because the author cheated.
q There is authenticity in the details about the investigation. I can tell the author did their research, got the details right, but didn’t share every little thing they learned with me. There’s the right balance.
q The conclusion is satisfying. Unlike the latest Grisham (which I loved until the ending), there is a sense that good did prevail at least for today. The world may not be perfectly back in order, but a wrong has been righted as much as possible.

So you’re assignment. Take one of the books that you think got it right and one that got it wrong. Give us quick bullets on why the one worked and the other didn’t.

For example, I loved Brandilyn Collins’ Kanner Lake series, but Crimson Eve is my all time favorite. What worked… from the beginning we care about what’s going to happen to Carla. I was rooting for her on every page, even as her past was revealed. The antagonist was also very human, and you almost felt for the killer who was put in an impossible situation. The ticking bomb was deafening. And the ending had a twist that made my jaw drop but worked.

One that didn’t work so well is The Appeal by John Grisham. Forget about the omniscient POV – he can do that. The story quickly laid out the parties in such a way that I knew who the little guy was and rooted for them from that point on. Yet the conclusion left me feeling punched in the gut. Now unfortunately, the world does operate that way sometimes, but I wanted to see the good guys win.

Your turn.

Lesson Four: Historical Research – Let’s Talk Details

April 2008 ACFW On-line Class Lesson Four
Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down
Historical Research – Let’s Talk Details

All right, y’all. Here are the last few thoughts on historical research. Again, these apply to everything, with a slight emphasis on historical. After this, I’ll leave it open for a couple days for any questions and comments and then we’ll move on to suspense/mystery research. So here goes…

1. While we are not writing textbooks, our books can’t be authentic without capturing some of the emotion, news, and energy of the times. How do you decide what has to be included and what doesn’t? For example, in Canteen Dreams, Pearl Harbor is pivotal to the conflict in the story…but it’s the only actual battle from the early days of US involvement in the war that I include. How do you make those judgment calls?

According to character. Everything in the book has to be according to what interests or happens to the character. Anything else is author intrusion. DiAnn Mills

I make those decisions based on two things: is it essential to the story, and does it interest me personally. Washington’s Lady was the first of my three historicals that required me to tell the story of the woman-of-history and the history around her. I couldn’t tell Martha’s story without telling the story of the Revolutionary War and the birth of this country. It was interesting stuff, to be sure, but how many battles could/should I mention? How much Stamp Act and Constitution information was essential, and how much was too much—or would read too much like a textbook rather than a novel?

One determining factor is tied to the fact that my historical books are written in first person—it’s Martha, Jane, and Nannerl telling their own stories—so they are in every scene. In Martha’s case, information about battles had to be seen through her eyes. That helped pare down the history lesson. There is also the emotion-quotient. For instance, I did not include any of the presidential years in Washington’s Lady, mostly because Martha hated being the wife of the president and never changed her mind about that opinion. If I would have chosen to write eight years’ worth of scenes where Martha was disgruntled, that would have been boring (and annoying.) Instead I summed up those years in a later chapter, after they were over. If there’s no emotional impact of an event on a character, then it probably doesn’t need to be included, or perhaps only in passing. We are all seeing history pass through our eyes, and no one else’s. Make it personal. Nancy Moser

If you can interweave real, true historical detail in a scene and make it seamless and real – then do it. If you can’t, stick with your characters and their story. Don’t just add it in as a filler – that never works. It has to matter to your characters as much as it mattered to the real people who were there living it. Jamie Carie

I tend to shy away from using real historical characters unless it's unavoidable. I don't think it's wrong to do this, I just feel uncomfortable about it unless I've done an exhaustive study of what that person was like so that I can either use their REAL words in dialog. . . or be confident that the words I put in their mouths are words they would have said. It's something I don't take lightly--being fair and respectful of the people who really lived what I am writing. That being said, I do have real historical characters (although not famous ones) appear in my books from time to time. Sometimes it's only a mention--like the newspaperman who really lived in that time frame is mentioned by the banker who is my fictional character. I think a "sprinkling" of actual names lends authenticity to my work and increases the enjoyment of readers who live in the same place where your book is set. When I've had to put a historical figure in a scene or two, I make them as nice as possible so that if I ever meet their descendents I don't have anything to apologize for. That's just me. . . . I'm really do NOT want to offend anyone. And then there's also the possibility of meeting these people someday in heaven. I don't want to have to apologize then, either :-). Steph Whitson

Include only those things that move the story forward--that directly affect a character or cause a result that rebounds into your character's time and place. It's really tempting to "show off" as to how much we know and how hard we've worked to understand the background for our stories. Sometimes I am truly tempted to include some little tidbit that is just so cool to know. But doing that doesn't always serve the reader. Only a small percentage of my historical research actually ends up in the finished book. That doesn't mean that I waste hours of research, however. Research informs every word of what I write, whether it "shows" or not. And then there is that wonderful moment when you realize you've just discovered the NEXT book idea. Steph Whitson

2. Do you sprinkle real historical characters in to your stories? If so, how do you balance portraying them accurately with the needs of your story?

I love doing this. It adds depth and meaning and for some readers a great “ah-ha” moment. The trick is to not put words into their mouths that they wouldn’t say. I work hard over these scenes. Jamie Carie

Yes, I do, but I make sure that what is said is common knowledge and/or said in a good light. DiAnn Mills

Yes, I included General “Black Jack” Pershing and President Woodrow Wilson because obviously they were a huge part of the WWI era. But I had no problem “balancing them accurately” because there was a wealth of information on both of them, so it was really rather easy. Julie Lessman

3. Clothes aren’t the same from decade to decade let alone centuries ago. How do you find the information to get those details correct? I’ve relied on excerpts from Sears catalogs. What about you?

Costume collections can be very helpful and some great ones can be seen online. I've been a student of antique quilts for a long time and have taken classes on dating fabrics, and that has proven invaluable for dressing my female characters. I have several books on antique textiles that I can reference for color and pattern. I also peruse newspapers from the place and time for descriptions of "what's new" at the stores then and I visit museums and take copious notes. I am always reading women's diaries and the like, and I've gotten into the habit of pulling out descriptions of garments whenever they arise. Over the years I've compiled a nice file of materials that help me dress my characters. Steph Whitson

I have several books that show what all ages of people wore during certain time periods. I also rely on an old book of dress patterns. DiAnn Mills

I do some research on the clothing of the time, but really, in every girl’s heart, I think we all want that scene where the heroine is wearing a fairy tale dress. I take some liberties here. I want to make some reader’s hearts pound with the feeling of how beautiful he thinks she is. That’s the important part. Jamie Carie

I love portraits of the time, movies, costume textbooks, websites for people who do reenactments. And if I find special mention of a particular item belonging to one of my women in a letter, or in a museum, I like to include it in the book, so those readers in-the-know will find the real-life gem and feel satisfaction in knowing about it, and getting the connection. Nancy Moser

I pretty much surf the Web for an era’s fashion, and sometimes that means gleaning info from various catalogs such as Sears or Godey’s. My favorite fashion site, however, is http://www.fashion-era.com/index.htm. Julie Lessman

4. Transportation. That varies, too. Did you go ride in a buggy? 1920s car? Early plane? How do you get those details right?

I try to stay true to whatever transportation they had at that time. I did intense research in “The Duchess and Dragon” about indentured servant ships, cargo ships and the buggies and carriages of Pennsylvania. If I can take something in the past and make it romantic (a closed carriage with comfy lap robes – that breaks down leaving them to spend the night together – ha!) do it. That’s what I love about historical – today, with cell phones and modern technology; it would be harder to get the characters in a situation like that. Jamie Carie

I hate these details, because I’ve found a lot of discrepancy in them. So I say as little as possible about carriages. The good thing is, since there is so much discrepancy, I probably am not getting it wrong. Nancy Moser

For me, this was a wee bit more difficult because the Model T had just been introduced in 1908, so there was the perception that there weren’t that many around. So much so, that my editor made me replace Patrick O’Connor’s car with the idea that he and his daughter, Faith, rode to work on the trolley instead. Even though by 1916, the annual U.S. auto production had reached one million units. But it was more difficult with the vehicles I used on the warfront because there really weren’t that many autos overseas, so I had to balance the references between motor lorries with starter cranks and mule-drawn wagons. And, no, I may be “old,” but I never rode in either one. Julie Lessman

First hand accounts help tremendously with this. I tend to look for descriptions from people who experienced travel back then. Riding in a buggy is a great idea too, though, because it will illuminate the sounds and the smells more than reading about it would.

I haven't been fortunate enough to know anyone who could provide that experience for me. Renting a horse-drawn carriage that takes one around the city streets here in my home town, for example, wouldn't be something I'd use for research because riding in a well-oiled carriage on a paved city street drawn by well-broken horses is so different from say, 1790 on cobblestones. Steph Whitson

Here’s a great book to help with details: The Firefly Visual Dictionary. DiAnn Mills

5. What other tricks do you have to get the details right?

I honestly don't know any tricks. You have to love it because historical research is very hard work. For me, the research part of writing historical novels is more fun than actually writing the book. I can't tell you how many times I've been a little disappointed that I actually had to USE all the material and go write a book because in the midst of researching I found something else I wanted to learn about. Just about every era of human history fascinates me. Steph Whitson

When it’s dark and I’m alone, I close my eyes and imagine a scene. I smell the fish in the Thames, I hear the creaking of the old ship, I see the hull and the deck and the board Drake must walk over to get to it, I see the impoverished men, women and children standing in line next to him. I imagine him climbing down the ladder to the dark hold, feeling the wood of a rickety ladder slide under his fingers, catching a splinter, then he turns and sees his future for the next two months. Then I switch from the five senses to show the external. How he stumbles to his cot; how he leaves his homeland by clinging to his cot without going on deck to wave goodbye because men are hunting him and he can’t risk it.

Then I write the scene. I know what the indentured endured because I have researched it. I know the length of his bed. I know the light in the hold and the toilet conditions. I know the sickness they will all endure. I know the numbers that will die and how one woman after dying in childbirth will have to be pushed through a portal because no one wants to carry the heavy body up to the deck. I know these things because I read about them for months.

You can never do too much research. Look for it in movies, books, internet, locations and the people you talk to about those locations. But above all, pray that God will show you what He saw. He will give you things you can never find in any earthly resource. He will give you the truth. Jamie Carie

Digging deeper and deeper into history. If I’m not absolutely sure about a detail, I might skirt around the issue rather than give out wrong information. DiAnn Mills

6. Any other thoughts/tips to share with our fellow writers?

Find the details that interest you. Most likely they will interest the reader. For instance, I found one source that mentioned a locket George Washington wore his entire life—that Martha had given him. That’s cool stuff—also because it speaks beyond the locket to the love the couple shared. And so I created a scene for it. The story becomes real with inclusion of the small stuff. Seek out the small stuff. Nancy Moser

I have found the staff at historical sites, societies, museums, and archives to be a wonderful group of people who, while usually overworked, truly adore history and love helping people answer their questions and solve their mysteries. The book I am working on right now was a gift from such a person. I was in an archive researching another topic when one of the staff pulled me aside and said, "you've got to meet this woman I just learned about. We have boxes of material on her and. . . . " That comment brought me back to the archives one Monday morning to read the material. . . and ended up being my next release. So I'd say befriend your local historians. They can be an invaluable resource and you never know where that could lead. Steph Whitson

It is also helpful if you can get an expert in your time period to read your manuscript looking for obvious errors--not with the writing, but with the details of time and place. Steph Whitson

Consider research a part of characterization. Without it, your character is simply a talking-head or a paper doll who has no motivation. DiAnn Mills

A few questions

Here are a few questions for you:

1) Where is the craziest location that you've been to where you had story ideas plowing through your mind? Thursday night my hubby and I went to a Dierks Bentley concert. While it was really good, I couldn't shut off the writer brain. I had all kinds of suspense plot-lines running through my head. Craziness!

2) What makes a setting or character jump out for you? What was your favorite of each from a book you've read? What do you think the author did to make that element come to life on the page?

3) What triggers the idea for a character in your mind? Is it something you see? Something you read? A quirk in someone you know? Often my heroines have a trace of me in them. So far they're all fairly independent but feel trapped by something -- usually having to do with family. But when left to their own devices lean toward Type A, don't box me in gals. My first hero Willard, from Canteen Dreams, is always playing with a baseball. I got this idea from my grandfather Willard's background. He played a lot of baseball growing up and as a young man, so it made sense that he would be most comfortable with a baseball in his hand.

Let's hear your thoughts!

April 2008 ACFW On-line Class Lesson Three B

Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down
Historical Research – Let’s Talk Setting

In the last post, I shared some of my experiences and recommendations on researching setting. Now let’s hear from the others starting with a note from Jamie Carie:

They say research is like the volcanic mountain under the sea and the story is the island. I agree with that. You might not use eighty of what you learn, but if you don’t do the homework you won’t have the capability to form that beautiful island that someone wants to visit.

So now that we’re ready to build the foundation for our island, one of the first questions I asked these fabulous authors is how they picked their setting. For me, I’ve picked settings I knew, and then settings that would work with the story elements I wanted. Here’s what the others said:

I’m not sure if I pick them or they pick me. I start with a small idea of where I want the story to occur and then, as it progresses and I research the location, I often end up expanding. Vincennes though, my hometown setting in my third novel, was both easy and hard. I had to imagine this place I knew so well over two hundred years ago. It was like rediscovering the ground where I had grown up and added depth and meaning to some of my childhood memories.
Jamie Carie

I love Julie Lessman’s response:
I actually picked Boston when I started writing A Passion Most Pure at the age of 12, so I’m not sure I remember exactly why except that I loved that city and its rich history when I was in school. Ironically, when I started research for A Passion Most Pure, I discovered that Boston was considered the home of Irish America because of its great influx of Irish immigrants after the Potato Famine. But I DO know why I picked Ireland as the 2nd setting in the book! After reading Gone With the Wind at the age of 12, I fell in love with Scarlett O’Hara’s story and thereby, anything Irish. J

Thank goodness the novel I wrote when I was 12 is buried somewhere on one of Dad’s computers. Yikes! But if you haven’t read A Passion Most Pure, do. Even though Julie’s never been, she captures the essence much like Jamie Carie. There’s no doubt when you read these ladies books that the books could only be set where they are.

I was home schooling my four children and teaching them Nebraska history. My own fascination with the lives of the women who settled my state grew and I began to discover stories I wanted to tell. Since I live within a ten minute drive of the Nebraska State Archives, I can browse and research easily and there are enough stories in this state to keep several writers busy for several lifetimes.
Steph Whitson

Steph brings up a great point. Don’t forget State Archives. Those can be a wealth of information. I just (in the last week or so) got back a request for information I had sent to a historical society while writing Captive Dreams. It contains a map and photo of an Air Base in Kearney. Yes, my book has been turned in and even been through one revision, but when I get the content edit you can be sure I’ll check what I wrote against the photos.

DiAnn Mills takes a different approach to setting that works very well for her books. She picks the least likely place her hero or heroine would want to be. That’s a sure way to add some twists to your books. Kim Sawyer likes her setting to almost become another character in the story, so she tries to chose a setting that "fits" and will enhance the story.

One you’ve picked the setting you have to research it. Especially if you’ve never been. So what do these authors do?

I read everything I can find about it. Books, internet articles, Google Maps (have you discovered Google Earth and Google Maps? It’s awesome!) If I can visit the place personally, I do. There is nothing like seeing it for yourself, walking the streets, visiting the historical sites and taking lots of pictures.
Jamie Carie

And Nancy Moser has this warning about one popular website:
A warning about Wikipedia. Since it’s an online encyclopedia that gets its information from submissions from whoever wants to send in information, I always read the content with the knowledge of the possibly-questionable source in mind. Yet I’ve only found the information faulty a few times.

Steph Whitson loves to haul back dozens of books from libraries and immerse herself in the location before visiting.

Usually I visit the university library and haul home a couple of dozen books. The bibliographies in those books often suggest other sources. I also spend a lot of time at the State Historical Society Archives reading unpublished materials that relate to a setting, as well as newspapers on microfilm. Whenever possible I try to visit the locale, but not until after I've done a fair amount of research from the other sources so I can see more intelligently.

What a great reminder to use those bibliographies to lead us to more sources. I also love reviewing newspapers from the time to get the details right. Nothing helps me jump back in time and place more than an ad for groceries from the 40s….after “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” that is.

Kim Sawyer also likes trips to the library to confirm the details from a website.

Visiting a local library and checking out books on the history of the area helps a lot. If there is a college close by, see if you can visit their research section. I've found most librarians are extremely helpful. The Internet can be a good resource, too, but I double check anything I glean from the Web--anyone can create a website, but that doesn't necessarily mean the information is accurate. :o)

And DiAnn has a tip that will help us keep the characters grounded in what mattered at that time:
I also like to see what was going on in the world, DC, and on a state and local level. Those issues would be important to my characters.

Nancy Moser makes it a point to travel to her locations. With the exotic locales she has, it must be a great trip!

Since I’m writing about a real person of history, I try to travel to their home, or the area in which they lived. For instance, I’ve been to Salzburg and Vienna for Mozart’s Sister, England for Just Jane (about Jane Austen), and Mt. Vernon and Williamsburg for Washington’s Lady. Luckily, there are also websites for these areas and homes. I would think even if you’re writing about strictly fictional characters of a certain time, going to, or looking at real-people websites would help you get the feel of the setting.

Trips to the location are so helpful. But what if you can’t make the trip for whatever reason? Here are some suggestions:

Find people who are locals and/or experts on the location. Don’t be shy. Ask people questions. You will be surprised how delighted people are to help you.
Jamie Carie

I would specifically research ALL details as I needed them. For instance, I wanted to accurately convey the type of neighborhood and house that the O’Connors lived in, so I did a LOT of research on housing styles, park names, street names, etc. in the Southie neighborhood, including pictures from my time era.
Julie Lessman

My forthcoming novel ended up requiring that I set many scenes on Staten Island New York in 1886. I wasn't able to go off to New York (although I've heard the city library is a wonderful place). I did end up finding some excellent photos and other first hand accounts on the internet that were dated in the late 1800's.
Steph Whitson

Read, read, and read – everything from the clothing they wore, to vocabulary, to culture, medical, religious, farmer’s almanac. Anything that portrays the time and setting in an accurate manner.
I like the setting to take on a character. In other words, I want the setting to be an antagonist at times. Let the setting force the character to struggle that much more.
DiAnn Mills

www.victorianamagazine.com is a recent favorite...I wish I had found it years ago! I also go to Chamber of Commerce sites and click on the "history" button for the area. I've gleaned great details from community-sponsored websites.
When establishing setting, the little details make such a difference. What kinds of flowers grow wild in May? Is there a favorite fishing hole? If you look toward the eastern horizon, what kind of landscape will you see? By drizzling in details, you make the setting alive for the reader.
Kim Sawyer

Next time we’ll talk about getting the details like clothing right.

April 2008 ACFW On-line Class Lesson Three A

Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down
Historical Research – Let’s Talk Setting

Setting is key to any story. Listen to authors like Colleen Coble long enough, and you’ll know they build the story – some more, some less – from the setting. Not everyone writes this way, but setting should still play a strong role in your book.

My four books that are out or releasing this year are all set in Nebraska. There’s a reason for that…I grew up in Nebraska, still visit at least twice a year, and I knew it would be easy to get back for a research specific visit. While I lived in North Platte and Lincoln, I still needed to spend time soaking in the atmosphere and checking my memories. And since I didn’t live in North Platte in the 40s, I needed to do some research to see what North Platte looked like at that time.

I had also visited Fort Robinson, but that was probably 15-20 years earlier. I vaguely remembered seeing something about the K-9 training, but quickly learned as I visited the site, just how faulty my memory had been.

And I’d never been to Camp Atlanta – though there’s nothing to see there. And even though my family opened a restaurant there when I was 12, and I worked there again for a couple months while in college, my memory wasn’t any more detailed than to remember that it was a basic small town in Nebraska.

So what did I do?

As a history minor, I am a stickler for getting as much right in the details as possible. I even talk about getting a Masters in History – sometimes, just to goad my husband, but often because there’s so much more I’d like to learn. For me, the research is fun…especially since I picked a time period that fascinates me.

The first thing I did:
1) Research on the internet. There are tons of websites out there – many from small historical societies – that can give you the flavor of the times. One site I used was on farming in Nebraska through the decades. It is published by a Living History Farm in York, Nebraska. Trust me, it’s not a town you’d expect to have an organization that would host a site with the depth and breadth of information this site has. But it saved my bacon on many occasions. I wanted to know if farms in rural Nebraska had electricity in the early 1940s. My research showed many did not. And I confirmed that with conversations with my grandparents (the stars of Canteen Dreams by the way). They both grew up on farms outside Seward, Nebraska, and yep, no electricity.

2) I also love hopping on Amazon. Do a book search. Sometimes it helps to have one title to start with. For Fort Robinson, the curator of the Museum has written two books on the history of the Museum. One details the early days of the Fort, basically the pioneer and Indian days. The second volume deals with 1900-1948. He had separate chapters on World War Two’s impact on the Fort, the War Dog training, and the prisoner of war camp there. Everything was heavily cited and it served as a great resource for details. For example, in Sandhill Dreams, I was able to have the heroine notice the unusual uniforms for the soldiers stationed there: dungarees and cowboy boots. Makes perfect sense when you realize most of them were there to work with horses and pack mules. But my common sense would have told me they wore the standard uniform. And my common sense would have been very wrong. Instead, I was able to add a tiny bit of local color – that doesn’t stop the story, yet helps keep it true and accurate.

3) Visit the site. If at all possible, I highly recommend making the time and spending the money to visit the setting. Even though I spend time in North Platte each year, the Christmas before I turned in the final draft I spent an hour or two driving around, gawking at the buildings. I wanted to see what the buildings had been before the stores I knew moved in. North Platte still has the brick streets, so that feel is very much true to the time. There’s a memorial flag that marks where the Canteen used to be, so I could use that to check the location I used and make sure I was right.

4) If you can’t visit the site, go online to find photos and use Google maps. Tom Bueckner, the curator at Fort Robinson, delighted in showing me what we can make out from satellite photos of World War Two airstrips and camps that are long gone. I got an aerial view to complete the photos I found on a historical website.

5) Pick up books that are loaded with photos. For Captive Dreams, I bought a book published by the Phelps County Historical Society on the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the German POWs. While the book was filled with helpful information from interviews and newspaper articles, some of the most helpful information for me was the photos. That let me see what the camp looked like, where the prisoners lived contrasted with the soldiers (not much difference at all). It also gave me great information on the reaction of the residents to this sudden influx of the enemy and how the prisoners were utilized as farm workers. I already knew some of this from my online research and talking to Tom Bueckner. But the detail came from this expensive book (49.95) that was worth every penny.

In the next part of this lesson, I’ll let the others share some of their experience.

Lesson Two: Historical Research & Time Periods

April 2008 ACFW On-line Class

Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down

Historical Research – Let’s Talk Characterization in Time

As I started thinking about research, I decided that setting is a great place to start. Since we’re looking at historical research this week, I’m going to pull in the wisdom of many of our ACFW authors who write incredible historicals. One reason I love their books is the rich sense of characters set in time that you get. Some of these authors are debut. Others are multi-published, award-winning.

I know when I pick up a book, if I find anything that doesn’t fit the time – and I’m a history minor – did I mention that? I’m liable to throw the book against a wall or let it die a slow death of neglect.

There is a lot we can do as authors to get the details rights. So let’s dive in…

I asked authors how they turn the clock back and get into that timeperiod. Now we all write in different times, but many of the techniques were the same. For example, I was working on a book set at Fort Robinson, Nebraska during 1943 while also working on a book set in Lincoln, Nebraska in current times. I used music to signal to my brain which time period I was in. I’d crank up Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and get into that frame of mind. If I was writing a sad scene, I’d play song like It’s Been a Long, Long Time. Now that I’m getting ready to start a second WWII series, my husband is begging me to get another CD J Here’s what others do:

For Julie Lessman, it’s about climbing into the mind of that time:

In A Passion Most Pure, the time period is 1916, which was the tail end of the Victorian influences on society when women were expected to be more modest and moral. That time period was actually easy for me because I was raised in a pretty strict and moral home where you dare not let your father catch you laying out in a bikini OR ever kissing a boy! But then for book 3 in the Daughters of Boston series, working title A Passion Denied, I had to switch to the Roaring Twenties, an era when the youth went crazy on the heels of WWI. They smoked, drank (even with prohibition), wore tons of makeup and shortened their skirts. They even had petting parties! But, since I was a product of the free-love era of the 60’s and 70’s, I had no difficulty getting into a frame of mind for the wild twenties. I guess for me, as long as you do your research, people are people, and you can relate no matter the era.

Jamie Carie tries to climb into the heads based on the education and experience of that era:

I pray that God will reveal to me the people of that time. That might sound trite, but I know He has given me characters that were like someone who lived when and where I’m writing. On the flip side, I don’t think we as writers should get too involved in the time period as to overwhelm the story. It takes on a bad taste, if you know what I mean. You have to balance the big issues such as women couldn’t work in many professions vs. just how small they might have thought. We can’t relate to a female character of the “old days” who didn’t have thoughts and opinions of her own (the sad truth is, many of them didn’t – they weren’t educated enough and they didn’t have the cultural approval to even attempt it). American women would have a hard time liking such a character . . . unless you could start her out that way and somehow, through some circumstance, have her rise above it.

Tricia Goyer takes a multi-prong approach. She reads general books on the time period; lists the dramatic events she wants to include; narrows down the basic timeframe of the novel; and then weaves her story into the true events. She also notes that well-known events build natural tension.

In Canteen Dreams I use Pearl Harbor as the kick-off of the book. Not necessarily what you expect when the book is set in North Platte, Nebraska. Yet, the opening chapter is the night before when life is still “normal.” Then bam, I hit the readers with the reality of what middle America was hearing and experiencing as a result of the kick-off of American involvement in the war. So look for those dramatic events, but weave them into your story.

Kim Sawyer suggests diving into diaries:

If you can find diaries or memoirs, they are VERY helpful in getting a feel for how people talked and what was common. Old newspapers (again, get to the library!) are also great sources for getting a feel of the time.

Which leads me to our next topic. Are letters and journals/diaries helpful resources? If so, how should we use them to enhance our stories?

Letters and Journals are one resource that is available to us as we research people and a time period. These elements can give us a great sense of what people were thinking at the time. Here’s what Nancy Moser has to say about letters and journals…

I love to find letters and journals. Since I’m writing about a real person, to find their letters—their own words—is a gold mine. Sometimes I’ve used the letters as actual letters within the story, but most of the time, I transpose their written words into dialogue to make them active and in-the-moment. For Washington’s Lady I found out that Martha burned all the personal correspondence between herself and George. It was like a knife to my chest. And Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra burned a great many of Jane’s letters—probably the ones that were the most emotional and candid (the ones I would have loved to see!) Luckily, the father of the Mozart clan had the vision to know that someday the family letters would be important and had the family save them—at least the ones he and Wolfgang sent home. He wasn’t so careful about keeping the ones sent to him by his wife and Nannerl, who were often left behind while the men traveled. It was pretty typical of the times, putting importance on what men vs. women produced, which is one of the main reasons I’m writing books about women-of-history. I want to (finally!) give them a voice.

Jamie Carie has also found letters and journals to be a helpful way to climb into her characters’ minds:

You can get a feel from someone’s spirit while reading their journal. I read lots of George Rogers Clark’s journals for my third book (yet to be titled). It was a gold mine into his character, thoughts and mind sets.

DiAnn Mills also thinks that journals are a great way to get ….

wonderful tidbits of how people talked, lived, cooked, ate, and what was important to them. A friend of mine gave me a copy of a great, great grandmother who had the distinction of cooking breakfast for Billy the Kid and his gang. She was 12 years old at the time. Wonderful journal entry.

And here are Stephanie Whitson’s thoughts on letters:

I love reading journals and personal letters. Of course the researcher has to take into account that to truly understand an event or a setting, you must read more than one person's point of view because "what really happened" WILL be skewed in the re-telling by the observers life experiences and prejudices or biases. We all know how accounts of an accident or tragedy will vary, even among eyewitnesses. So the committed researcher will try to take into account more than just one person's re-telling of an event. That being said, my writer's imagination is really spurred by reading journals and letters and reminiscences. I find that I connect with the past in a much more visceral way by reading personal accounts.

What a great caution! Make sure you don’t rely on one person’s letters/journals if at all possible, because that will give you a biased perspective. I think that’s one reason I love writing about World War Two. I have a wealth of resources available to me from movies, radio, print, even comic books. Even then I have to be cautious because during war time there is censorship. So you have to look at the whole. What was the military doing? What were the people seeing? While we may know that the Germans acted one way, if the media of the time showed them a different way that may have been how civilians perceived it at that time.

When we’re looking at resources, it’s important to be careful about what we are relying on. Be assured that one of your readers will be like me and will pick up the little fact errors that you’re sure no one will notice. Because of that Stephanie Whitson likes to rely on university presses:

I tend to trust university presses and academic publications more than generic works that do not provide the sources for their material, and I look first for print resources that include an extensive bibliography.

Nancy Moser relies on

biographies extensively—I underline and write all over the margins and then transcribe the notes on my computer. Those notes turn into scenes to illustrate what I’ve discovered. But I have also found a lot of great information with History Channel and A&E (among other) DVDs. They are usually very well researched, and the information concisely stated.

Jamie Carie found great success by asking for help from a historical society:

I asked someone from the George Rogers Clark Memorial to read my full manuscript and check it for historical accuracy. A wonderful man volunteered and emailed me feedback to make the book stronger (he also loved the book and said I had given the story of GRC new life – that was cool!). When I turned in that manuscript I felt confident that it was an accurate description of that time – that was a great feeling.

I found some of my best resources to date from historical societies. Museum curators who have dedicated their lives to the research will often write books. Better yet go spend a day with them and then buy the book. The day I spent at Fort Robinson with the curator has paid huge dividends, not just on the book set at Fort Robinson, but also on Prisoner of War Camps in Nebraska and other details. He delighted in sharing his knowledge with someone who was genuinely interested. And I’m not the only one who’s had the kind of experience.

I’ve also decided I am unafraid to email people and ask them if they have time. I haven’t had a ton of luck yet with university faculty, but I keep trying. Right now I’m getting ready to correspond with some of the British kids (not kids anymore!) who came to the United States. That wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t emailed them and asked if they would be willing to answer some questions. I can’t wait to dig into their memories and experiences.

DiAnn Mills finds people to interview from Chambers of Commerce, pastors, and other references.

Mostly I simply ask them to talk, and I record it all. I find that interviews are more personal when I can show I’m honestly listening to everything the person has to say.

Here’s a parting story from Julie Lessman about just how important it is to triple-check those facts:

When you are dealing with history and especially a war era when things are not normal, you really DO have to read CAREFULLY and get your research right regarding dates and places. For instance, I had a near-catastrophe on A Passion Most Pure after I sold it. My editor loved it, of course, and was telling her husband all about it. Now I ask you, what are the chances of her husband being an Irish historian? Yep, you guessed it. He caught me in a huge historical discrepancy that threatened to derail my entire plot!

In the story, I have the Faith and her family traveling to Ireland on a ship smack dab in the middle of WWI, which I thought was okay because although there was German U-Boat warfare going on, it was limited to merchant ships only, not passenger ships. Problem is, my characters traveled to Ireland in the summer of 1917, and I had overlooked the small fact that unrestricted German U-boat warfare escalated to include passenger ships in early 1917. Heaven help me, I was six months too late to save my plot and couldn’t change the dates!!

After I cried like a baby, I prayed my guts out for God to give me a resolution. Lo and behold, a friend of mine suggested freighter convoys – one of the only forms of ship travel available during that period. I did some fast research and found out that although ship travel was still dangerous enough that Patrick O’Connor might not put his beloved family in harm’s way, by summer of 1917, casualty statistics for freighter convoys were almost nil. BINGO! I gave Patrick a cousin who owned a freighter company and gave Marcy a nervous breakdown so Patrick would be more likely to let her go. And my editor gave me the nod. Whew! Deep breath! J

So how do you climb into your time period? What has worked for you? What didn't and it surprised you? Any questions about these resources?