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Still, when penning a novel, many authors, me included, must write what they don’t and can’t know without doing their research. My first novels were Regency romances, and after having read many, I had to read more. Now I have files full of historical facts and details from 1811 – 1820, and a shelf full of reference books.
There are several authors who come to mind in this ‘write what you don’t know’ theme. I’m reading a book now written by Dick Francis. All his books have a horse racing background, but he writes so vividly the reader doesn’t need to know horses or racing to enjoy them. Each of his books has a different theme, which would have required much research. Here is a sample of his titles:
• Flying Finish – international horse transport.
• Shattered – glass blowing and making.
• Second Wind – meteorology.
One quote about Dick Francis I especially like is this from the Daily Mirror: ‘As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing.’
After thirty years of living in Canada, I think I’ve had time to learn much about Western life, but I still must ask questions and do research. A newspaper article from way back about a mother/daughter ranching duo stayed in my mind, and I thought it might work for my new book, Loving Georgia Caldwell. I learned quite a lot about rodeos and ranching when I wrote my other western titles, Loving That Cowboy and Legacy of Love. But for the new book, I decided my mother/daughter duo needed to have something they could do together besides the vital work of raising cattle.
I’d recently come across the sport of team cattle penning, but what did I know about that? Nothing. So once again, I jumped into the research breach, dear friends. I read all I could on the subject and watched many YouTube videos. I talked to some trainers, who explained how not all horses make good cow horses, which reminded me of a rancher who had a lovely, solid Holsteiner gelding who disliked cows. When they broke through the fence into his paddock the gelding, all on his own, rounded them up and chased them out. After that, he would cut any cow out of the herd or push them wherever asked. I read the rules and regulations for the sport and watched local events. I talked to some competitors about their experiences and reactions and hope I conveyed their responses accurately.
Other aspects of the book I needed to research were American football and owning a private jet. I have friends who are football fiends (sorry – fans) who were enormously helpful, as was the Netflix series ‘Quarterback.’ Google was helpful in getting to know the ins and outs of private jets, including cabin floorplans, and who knew getting an ‘empty leg’ flight on one was possible? Not me, that was for sure, but if the time ever comes that I’d like the experience, I know where to call.
Research these days is a far cry from when anything you wanted to know outside of your experience meant a trip to the library or writing a letter to someone knowledgeable in your field of interest. These days, the Internet is a great place to begin. Whatever you can imagine can be confirmed or not by diligent digging, and in that process, who knows what they will find. So, to all you writers, I say get out of your comfort zone and write what interests you. You may be surprised with what you find.
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