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“There’s no way I’d write a
historical novel. There’s just too much research involved compared to
contemporaries.”
I can’t count the number of
times I’ve heard this comment. And each time I’ve heard it, I’ve
explained that I believe this statement is a misconception. All books
take hours of committed research to make sure the details are as
accurate as possible . . . regardless of genre.
When I started writing, I
focused on the books I loved to read: historical romance, mainly
prairie or Westerns. As I wrote my Colorado Runaway series, I
encountered many items that required research, anywhere from raising
cattle to the clothing women wore. When did cowboys round up and brand
cattle? When did they hit the trail, driving the cattle to a railhead
for sale? What kind of doctoring was required? What takes place in a
livery or stable? How does a nurse survive in the Old West? Not to
mention the lumber mills, silver mines, and Civil War elements that
came later. I spent hours looking up the answers to each of these
questions and many more to make sure my details were precise. We even
took an eight-day family vacation touring the state of Colorado,
stopping at several mining sites and ghost towns.
Who knew all that time
researching and writing about the Old West would be preempted by a
contemporary mystery series? While shopping my Colorado series, I was
asked to come up with a mystery for a new cozy line. Although there’s a
thread of mystery in almost every historical I write, I knew nothing
about writing a mystery, let alone a contemporary one. But the editor
convinced me I could do it. So I did. Until that time, I was like most
everyone else. How hard could writing a contemporary story be? It
wouldn’t take nearly as much research, right? Wrong.
The
cozy mystery series contained a few different poisons as well as
bomb-making materials to be used by terrorists. I knew nothing about
either. My coauthor and I scoured the Internet for answers to many
questions. What poison would work best in the storyline? How do the
chosen poisons affect the body? Could they be detected in an autopsy?
What if it was mixed with something else? We couldn’t find all the
answers. Thankfully, I had a nephew in college at the time, studying
for a degree in biology with a forensic science certificate. I sent him
my questions. He took them to his professor. In days, I had all the
answers we needed. So we thought.
As we wrote the stories, more
questions came up. We needed to know if finding fingerprints was as
easy as what we’ve seen on television shows and movies. The answer came
in a way I wasn’t thrilled about. My pickup was broken into at a
restaurant and my laptop was stolen. The police were called. My
coauthor and I
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were
able not only to watch the officer check for
fingerprints, but he also informed us that some surfaces are close to
impossible from which to attain prints. We needed to know police
procedures in certain instances. A detective was more than willing to
answer questions. We needed information about volunteer firemen,
libraries, and plants. Then came the need to know how we could move
bomb-making materials in nonconspicuous ways. It seemed each scene
required some kind of research.
Each genre, whether historical
or contemporary, calls for difficult and detailed research. From
medieval and regency to Amish, from prairie romances and Westerns to
contemporary suspense, and all others not mentioned, the author needs
to know the proper dress, hairstyle, and speech patterns. When were
items such as weapons, clothing, cars, and appliances invented and
used? And though I’ve written very little about law enforcement, and
nothing about the military, I would imagine they have their own unique
terminology. Regardless of the time frame in which we write, it takes
extensive research to make our stories realistic and believable to give
our readers an authentic experience they’ll never forget.
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