Research: Like Salt To Mashed Potatoes, Part 5

FACE TO FACE
or
How can I meet contacts who fill in my research gaps? (Cops, coroners, marriage counselors, history buffs, etc.)

The way companies operate, how various jobs are done, how people live, how dialects or accents are spoken locally, laws, procedures, etc, all differ from state to state, and decade to decade, so it’s a good idea to get one-on-one expert advice now and then about what we’re writing. But how do we get it? And how do we meet these experts?

Believe it or not, I used to be shy of accosting strangers to get information for my books. I’ve, umm, overcome that. A lot. People in all walks of life enjoy discussing what they do and how they do it. We writers can’t afford to be shy about asking questions.

I write a procedural series, (meaning my characters are law enforcement officials, not amateur detectives) and I set the series in Massac County, Illinois where I live. I began the first in the series with zero knowledge of how the Massac County sheriff does his job. But I was lucky. We’d lived next door to a deputy sheriff who’d served as jailor. My first novel was still in the planning stages (in other words, still in my head) when we happened to run into him one night at a local greasy spoon. We bought his dinner, and I plied him with questions. By the time dessert arrived, I had enough information to commit my idea to paper.

Even if we aren’t personally acquainted with an expert in the field we need help with, quite possibly we know someone else who is. I wanted to interview the sheriff, but I’d never even laid eyes on him, and the detention center is a rather imposing building. Somehow I simply could not work up the nerve to call. A friend who works for the state’s attorney set up the appointment for me. The man in charge of public relations gave me a tour through the detention center, (including where the inmates are housed, and we had to be locked in and out of each area of the facility) and then I spoke with the sheriff. I took notes, and that one tour/interview helped me write the next three books.

After my first book came out in print, a Metropolis police officer, Sgt. Carl Manley contacted me via email to say how much he enjoyed my book, and he appreciated that I hadn’t portrayed local law enforcement officials as Keystone Cops. I later met Sgt. Manley at the annual Superman Celebration, and he has since become a fount of information. Any time I have a question, like how local officials locate drowning victims in the Ohio River, he helps me out. And his answer on that one totally surprised me. Local officials don’t just sit around and wait for drowning victims to float to the surface. They ask area tow boat operators to keep a lookout because their large propellers stir the waters and often bring bodies to the surface. Who knew?

As a “thank you” to this great cop, whenever I need a police officer to help my fictional sheriff and his deputies out, Sgt. Carl Manley shows up in my scene. He loves that.

A great way for us to get expert help is to pay close attention to people’s jobs when we first meet them. If their job (or hobby) sounds like something we might need information on for our writing at some point, we can file their business card in our card file. (You all do have a business card file, right? If not, now is a great time to start one.)

And here’s a tip I learned from author Mindy Starns Clark who wrote THE TROUBLE WITH TULIP. ALWAYS jot a note on the back of the business card about where I met the person or why I’ve kept their card on file. I can’t tell you how many cards I’ve found in my file and wondered who in the world gave them to me. And why I’ve kept them. No telling how many opportunities I’ve missed to sell another book or have another question answered because I didn’t make notes on the back of that card. Sigh.

Writer’s conventions and conferences will introduce us to more experts than we can shake a stick at, and information about conferences for every genre can be found online. The Fiction and Firearms Seminar held in Las Vegas every November introduces mystery writers to some of the best weapons experts in the world. While attending in 2002, I got answers to questions about my murder weapon for my second book. And pictures. And the expert, Captain Massad Ayoob, later blurbed the book for me. Mention Ayoob’s name to just about any cop in America and he will drool over the prospect of spending a day on the shooting range with Ayoob, learning about various firearms. The seminar provided that opportunity for me. There are huge conferences for romance writers and science fiction writers as well.

Most writer’s conventions and conferences invite well-known experts for that genre who are willing and able to answer any questions we might have now or in the future. And the conferences/conventions give us a chance to network with agents and publishers while meeting with the experts who become our informational lifelines throughout our writing careers.

SUGGESTION: Choose an “expert” in your genre, contact him/her and ask at least one question to gain information for your research file.

After the rough draft of my first novel was done, and I was busy revising and polishing, I interviewed the local coroner who also owns the funeral home. Lovely man, but I now know not to eat lunch right before we chat. I had a question about blood pooling, and he’s big into blood splatter patterns. Or is it spatter? Time for another visit with the coroner.

Research: Like Salt To Mashed Potatoes, Part 3

ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT
or
What hidden gems can I dig out of the newspaper?



By Lonnie Cruse

Newspapers are an excellent source of information and inspiration for our writing, whether local or national, and I get a lot of ideas from the Metropolis Planet, our local paper that’s printed once a week as well as the Paducah Sun, a daily newspaper. I learned about Care Trak, an electronic program that keeps tabs on Alzheimer’s patients and handicapped children from an article in the Planet. That technology became central to my third mystery in the Metropolis Series, MARRIED IN METROPOLIS, and I’m donating a portion of my sales to the sheriff’s department to help them acquire more of this life-saving equipment.

Personally, I don’t scan the newspapers for “the big stories” about well-known people or events. Instead I look for the little odd stories that could only happen in real life. Fiction doesn’t get THAT strange. Like the guy who was arrested for DUI while on horseback? I mean, who knew the DUI laws stretched that far? I sure didn’t. Or the report in an out-of-town newspaper about a dead body found in the parking lot of a police department? And no one spotted the body for a whole day? Or how about the woman who was arrested for target practicing in her back yard while in the nude? The accompanying picture was a real hoot. Real live stories, gotta love ‘em. I also have in my research file the story of a circus performer who was killed in a fall. With the ropes and safety nets circus performers use today, fatal falls like that are rare. Make a great murder scenario, right? Romance gone wrong? Perhaps aliens snatched the “real” her and left a fake body? The basic idea would probably work in any genre.

The birth and obituary pages present great suggestions for interesting character names, not to mention other bits of information they include. The social pages can provide great ideas for romance writers. Ever notice how differently some of the brides and grooms dress? Ever read about their backgrounds (job, education, etc?) And there are stories about local functions that might work into our stories, chili suppers, golf or fishing tournaments, volunteer projects. Don’t neglect the sports section either. I recently cut out a story about an Eagles fan who was captured by team members while trying to scatter the ashes of his late mother on the football field, DURING A GAME! Lots of drama on those pages as well. The newspaper is probably one of the best resources we have, next to the Internet, and my newspaper research file is bulging.

Obviously we can’t print anything off the television or radio, but if it’s on their news reports, we can likely find it repeated in the newspaper or on the Internet and cut out or print a copy.

One more thing that is KEY to searching for new ideas while researching. The “What if?” question again. While reading or researching, no matter what genre you write, ask yourself that question often, “What if” this or that happened? What if this wasn’t an accident but murder? What if the bride and groom didn’t get married after all? What if the kid who won the spelling bee was really an alien from another planet? What if the missing dog pictured with a family was really a fairy turned into a Collie by an angry rival? The possibilities of “What if?” will lead you in many directions. Just be sure you file the original story for future inspiration/research.

SUGGESTION: If you don’t already subscribe, buy, beg, or borrow a newspaper (local or large city, doesn’t matter) and read through it carefully. As you read, cut out ANY and ALL articles that catch your eye right then. (If you wait until you’ve finished reading, you might forget which story you wanted when you go back through. However, do remember to let the rest of the family read it first so you don’t drive them nuts reading around the holes.) Articles do NOT have to be directly related to what genre you write. Let your subconscious be your guide.

I cut out an article from the Metropolis Planet about a local River Sweep volunteer project and stuck it into my Research Folder because it interested me, and I thought I’d like to participate in the event some time. Metropolis, Illinois is situated on the banks of the Ohio River. Each year volunteers gather to walk the river bank for a goodly distance and pick up trash. Wonderful way to take care of not only litterbugs but the flotsam and jetsam carried down river every flood season. Turns out, in my third book, MARRIED IN METROPOLIS, I needed a way for a very large clue to be found at the river’s edge. I sent one of my fictional sheriff’s deputies to the River Sweep as a volunteer, and the clue was discovered. Local readers will recognize the River Sweep, making the story more real to them, but if I hadn’t been researching through the newspaper, I couldn’t have tied that scene to reality in quite that way.