When I was deciding what to write this week for the blog, I was thinking initially that I would do something to go along with Helen's
NaNo theme, but as I am a
Panster and not a Plotter, this blog will once again go awry.
So what am I going to talk about? Well, my least favorite part about being an author.
Research.
The reason that I have been thinking about this is because I am in the process of completing my as of now 131,055 word monstrosity. It's a bit of a departure for me. There's a lot less sex than normal for one thing. (Although the H/H do have some pretty good down and dirty in a stairwell. Didn't see that one coming.) Plus, it's a romantic suspense which I'm not all that familiar with but thought that I wanted to try because I read so much Linda Howard, Elizabeth Lowell, Linda Castillo, and numerous other RS writers that I thought...What the hell? (Of course lately all I've been reading is historical romance but rest assured, I will not be attempting this genre.)
As a writer, I should know that actually doing something is not as easy as it looks. Or in this case writes. I want my story to be authentic. I don't want to be a published author and getnitpicky letters from people highlighting all of the mistakes that I've made. (SIDE NOTE: I've 'heard' from some authors that fans, especially historical romance fans, will send these kinds of letters. I know how they feel Every time I read a story about a social worker [my day job] I want to pull my hair out at all of the inaccuracies. I've stopped myself from actually writing a response. Barely.)
And you would think with the amount of 'Law and Order' that I've watched in my life (seriously, I'm sure I've seen every single episode at least four times) that it wouldn't be that difficult.
I know in my head, that I should try to meet with a homicide detective and interview him. But the truth is, I'm scared. (And lazy. We should never forget lazy.) Helen, Vi, and Trish would probably laugh to hear me say this because while I do consider myself outgoing, it take a bit of effort (and the right environment) before I'm completely comfortable letting out 'The Full Monica' as it were. I haven't the vaguest idea how to go about interviewing someone for research purposes. I kick myself for not taking some sort of journalism class in college.
I know, I know. I can find this stuff on the Internet. But A) there's that lazy thing and 2) I want specific answers to MY questions. Not have to sift through massive amounts of data to find what I need. (But that does seem to fit in with the laziness. I'd have to do a lot of work to gather the data before tossing everything that I didn't need.)
So I put it to you out there in Blogger World.
Any advice for a novice author about how to go about doing in-person interviews?
