The importance of research

A writing friend mentioned to me how important proper research is to the process of writing a novel--this is SO true! In my first three books, Wolfmoon series, I did oodles of research on herbalism, wolf behavior, Celtic myth, gods and goddesses, trees and what they can be used for, how to make matches, Scottish slang and sayings, etc...etc... I rarely have a day when I am not consulting the Internet for info on something! How wonderful to have a library at ones fingertips!

Second series, Gypsy, found me looking up Norse myth and worlds and their significance, Norse gods and goddesses, satyrs, Beserkers, the finer points of sailing, Norse holidays in olden days and what they consisted of, more herbs and their lesser known uses, time travel lore, nuclear disasters, etc... And don't forget to call on your friends who might know things that you do not. My brother, a sailor, helped me immensely when I was writing the Gypsy books.

Coyote series took me into Native American myth, the Navajo culture, coyote behavior, native ceremonies...My Witch series led me back in time to Salem of 1693 and what happened there with the hanging of witches. I read about the Pilgrims and the Puritans and the differences between the two, (didn't we learn this in grammar school?), the people who were involved in the witch trials and their roles, and every single person who was hung that year, as well as the Wampanoag culture and the role they played at that time. It paid off, since A Witch in Time Saves Nine, received an honorable mention in the New England Book Festival!

I've learned so much over the course of writing seventeen books, a lot of of it in one ear and out the other, but some of it has stuck. For instance I now know how to start a fire in the wilderness without benefit of matches or even a mirror! (not sure I could actually manage it) I know what an AGA is. I understand Cenotes and their spiritual significance. I know the meaning of Berserker. But, the research I've done for my ghost murder mysteries has been harder for me. For one, I am not a person who knows much about police procedure and there isn't much on the Internet about it--at least it's been hard for me to discover. (And it is not a subject that interests me!) I sought out a retired cop for help on one book--he was invaluable and I dedicated the book to him. I'm lucky, since my ghost murder mystery/romances are really NOT about that aspect--they are more about relationship, and ghosts, with some police procedure thrown in for good measure. And how do you research ghosts? I have to admit my heart lies in the fantasy realm where I can draw on my very active imagination--😈


My latest book, (second in witch series)The Moon in Her Eyes, is taking me to Luxembourg, a place I've never been...(a beautiful place, by the way) It has also placed me within the anomalies of time travel--I've been fudging it a bit, trying to work out what might happen if...and of course more research on the Wampanoag and their various evil and good spirits. I actually love the research part of writing, although I have to admit that sometimes it can get a bit tedious...

So in summing up, do your research, because without it a story won't have the believability it might otherwise. And whatever you do, keep on writing!

Thanks for reading!

Endings--beginnings

Finally completed the latest book, Finlay's Folly. For some reason the edits have gone on and on, until I realized that there was still a deeper message to impart...read it to see what it is...

Endings are difficult, as are beginnings--the middle takes care of itself. I am glad to be finished, because I have two other stories that I want to begin, and yet, leaving all those characters, those places, the dilemmas they face and faced, is hard. But it is good to move on...

It's raining tonight, a rarity in the desert. I love it and long to hear the rain pounding on the roof. I thought I would have to water tomorrow, but instead mother nature came to my rescue. Full moon changes will lead to what? Thunder is rumbling--a thunderstorm tonight--not something I would have expected in mid January, and yet here it is. A change, something different. Can we roll with it and figure that whatever happens is for the best? Not
an easy thing.

Life is not all all what I thought it would be back when I was twenty. I've had to shift and change with it all--and still I cling to the past, just as the characters in my book hang on to theirs. Ghosts are a reminder of what we were, but they are not here and now. In order to move forward we have to let them go, let them be. Until we do that we will be unhappy and angry, afraid for our future and wondering--always wondering and worried. Why are things the way they are? Could we have done something to help? We are but one drop in an ocean. We do what we can, and then have to let go. The future is up to the ones who come after, always. And it will be what it is according to them and their wishes. What we knew, what we are, will die with us, just as the sun goes down every night and rises in the morning. Everything dies away and is reborn. How can we know what is right or wrong?

And so we move along our path, doing what we need to do until we can't do it anymore. Let that be all right. Don't get caught up in, I should have, I could have...do what you can in the moment. Allow space and BREATHE. It will all be as it is.

Thanks for reading!