Note: I'm putting this up on Friday night, since I'm working in the morning, then heading to Michigan for a SIL's 50th b-day bash! Will try to get on-line soon.
So the question for this month is: what kind of research have you had to do to write your books? And does it bother you when you're reading and a glaring inaccuracy presents itself to you?
First of all, I wish I was famous and important, like some of the authors I've gone to see at book signings. They talk about wanting to write about, say, Paris, and their publisher sends them there to wallow in ambiance. Sigh.
For my books, when I need to research another country or place, I turn to the internet. What's the temperature in the Yucatan Peninsula? What do they eat in Colombia? How long does it take to fly from Paris to Chicago? All of these can be found at various places, and I do strive to make my books accurate, so I don't disappoint the readers who would be pushed out of "the reading zone" at things they know are not true. This is one of the reasons many of my books are set in locales that I've personally been to: so I can write from memory, not imagination.
When I'm reading, unless the inaccuracy is glaring enough that even a person without a passport, like me, can tell, I usually defer to what I presume is the author's superior knowledge of time/place. How about you? As a reader, how bad does an error have to be before you toss the book across the room?
Many of the authors in this Round Robin group are much more world-traveled than a little ol' Midwestern gal like me. To see what they have to say, hop on over to their sites and check it out!
Margaret Fieland http://www.margaretfieland.com/blog1/
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/
Rachael Kosnski http://the-doodling-booktease.tumblr.com/
Heidi M. Thomas http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com/
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/
Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Helena Fairfax http://helenafairfax.com/
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
Kay Sisk http://kaysisk.blogspot.com
A.J. Maguire http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
Lynn Crain http://www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com/
So the question for this month is: what kind of research have you had to do to write your books? And does it bother you when you're reading and a glaring inaccuracy presents itself to you?
First of all, I wish I was famous and important, like some of the authors I've gone to see at book signings. They talk about wanting to write about, say, Paris, and their publisher sends them there to wallow in ambiance. Sigh.
For my books, when I need to research another country or place, I turn to the internet. What's the temperature in the Yucatan Peninsula? What do they eat in Colombia? How long does it take to fly from Paris to Chicago? All of these can be found at various places, and I do strive to make my books accurate, so I don't disappoint the readers who would be pushed out of "the reading zone" at things they know are not true. This is one of the reasons many of my books are set in locales that I've personally been to: so I can write from memory, not imagination.
When I'm reading, unless the inaccuracy is glaring enough that even a person without a passport, like me, can tell, I usually defer to what I presume is the author's superior knowledge of time/place. How about you? As a reader, how bad does an error have to be before you toss the book across the room?
Many of the authors in this Round Robin group are much more world-traveled than a little ol' Midwestern gal like me. To see what they have to say, hop on over to their sites and check it out!
Margaret Fieland http://www.margaretfieland.com/blog1/
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/
Rachael Kosnski http://the-doodling-booktease.tumblr.com/
Heidi M. Thomas http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com/
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/
Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Helena Fairfax http://helenafairfax.com/
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
Kay Sisk http://kaysisk.blogspot.com
A.J. Maguire http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
Lynn Crain http://www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com/
