No Reeboks for Caesar

 Donis here. I've about reached the middle of my new WIP, the spot where everything changes for the protagonist, and now I'm neck deep in historical research as she moves to San Francisco in 1886 and starts a new life. 

Now, the 12 books I've had published are all historical mysteries set in the United States. This new MS is not a mystery, really, but it is historical, and like every other historical fiction author, I do about ten times more research than shows up on in the pages of my books. I try for as authentic a depiction of my characters lives in their place and time as humanly possible. What is their daily life like? In pre-20th century America it wouldn't be realistic for a fictional amateur sleuth could just run off and chase clues whenever they want. She has to fix dinner, do the laundry, weed the garden. He has to plow the north 40, take care of the horses, go to work at the bank/land office/mercantile. It's a much more physically demanding life than most of us post 20th century denizens have to live.

When I write a historical, I want the reader to feel like my character is a real real person who has a life that matters, to care about her. I dearly want to create her world and make the reader believe in it.

Thus, the tremendous amounts of research. When it comes to historical mysteries, you really have to be careful not to make egregious mistakes about the time period - events, language, clothing tools, conveyances. What mystery-solving methods were available to your sleuth during his time period? Sometimes recent past mysteries are more difficult to get right than distant past mysteries. When did smart phones become widely available? No Reeboks for Caesar - that's easy. But what about Reeboks for your character who is on his way to Woodstock in 1969? How about Oxydol Detergent for your housewife in 1930? Levis jeans for a farmer in Oklahoma in 1918? (Note: Levis were available, but not so much in Oklahoma. I know this because the official historian for the Levi Strauss Company told me so.)

It's a tightrope. An author wants to create as realistic a world as she can, but the whole point is to engage the reader in the story, not to write a history book. Strive to at least be accurate enough not to alert the anachronism police!

Only a very small percent of the research I do for each book finds its way onto the page. It's amazing how little it takes to add just that perfect touch of authenticity to a story.

Why, then, spend so much time learning everything you can about the times, lives, and mores of your characters when you know you're not going to use most of it? Because your own familiarity with the world you're writing about is going to show without your having to make a big deal of it. The characters are going to move naturally through their world without thinking about it, just like we do in our own world.

One single sentence in a book may represent an hour of research and quite an education for the author, yet the information may or may not ever be used again. But sometimes one perfect little detail can trigger a mental image for the reader and put her in a country kitchen early one spring morning in 1915.

Research

Left Coast Crime 2023

 Hello, Dear Readers. I (Donis) am not really here today. I am in Tucson Arizona at Left Coast Crime. This is a rather alarming thing for me, since I haven't been in a large group setting for three years and I'm not sure I remember how to interact with others. I suppose I have to start sometime!

One fun thing I'm doing is participating in a live panel on Friday (St. Patrick's Day) morning entitled “Why We Love Research”, with Elizabeth Crowens, Clare Broyles, and Susan McDufee. The wonderful Francine Mathews was scheduled to be on our panel, but she came down with Covid at the last minute. I hope this doesn't bode ... anything!

Anyway, about research: I do a tremendous amount of research for my books. One would expect this of a historic novelist. But only a very small percent of the research I do for each book finds its way onto the page. I'm not writing a history book. I'm trying create a world, and it's amazing how little it takes to add just that perfect touch of authenticity to your story.

Mickey Spillane, when asked how much research he does in the intent of authenticity said, "None. My job is not to tell the truth. My job is to make you believe." (Note: I’ve used that quote for years, but when I looked it up for this entry, I see that it’s actually “I don’t research anything. When I need something, I make it up.” However, I like my version, so there it is. D.)

So why do research if all you have to do is make things up?

The purpose of research is to inform you, the writer, so that when you come to write, you do so from a position of knowledge, not putting all that knowledge on display, but using it to give you and your reader an absorbing, enjoyable, and authentic experience.

My own familiarity with the era I'm writing about is going to show without my having to make a big deal out of it. The characters are going to move naturally through their world without thinking about it, just like we do in our own world. 

I’m able to find out a lot on the internet, but it’s surprising how difficult it sometimes is to find simple facts that would be readily available if I was on the scene. So, I often end up on the phone, explaining what I need to a librarian or historian in whatever area or subject I am interested in.

Libraries have info you don't have. Right now I’m researching realistic and historically accurate ways to kill people. This is always problematic for me. Sadly, I have reached such a state of paranoia that I am a little bit afraid to do murderous research on my home computer, lest the NSA bust down my door in the middle of the night. Once I spent many hours doing anonymous research on library computers because wanted to discover exactly how oil field workers used nitroglycerin to clear obstructions from a well. I am writing murder mystery, after all, and I thought that blowing someone to hell with nitro seemed like a colorful way to commit murder.

 How much research is too much? I mean, eventually you have to write the book. it isn’t necessary to do so much research that I become the world’s foremost expert on my subject. The golden rule of writing is that you must never put anything in your novel that is going to take the reader out of the story. 

Concentrate on finding key points.  Drop details into your story like little jewels.  All you need are the important points and the reader will connect the dots.

Unless you’re writing a research paper or a textbook, a good writer, historic or otherwise, tries to make the reader feel that he’s had a true experience of a time or place or event.  You want to be accurate, but the point is not to give the reader information.  The point is to give the reader an experience. Your job is to make the reader believe.

p.s. When I do play fast and loose with history, such as move a historical event up a couple of months or have a historical character show up somewhere he never went, I always put an authors note explaining the truth at the end of the book. Some reader knows what really happened, and believe me, they'll let you know if you got it wrong.

March Forward

 March is both coming in and going out like a lion for me this year – First of all, as I mentioned last time we spoke here, I’m going to the Left Coast Crime conference this year. I haven't been to an actual conference in a long time. I was registered to go to Left Coast Crime in March of 2020, when it was cancelled at the very last minute (some people had actually arrived) by the city of San Diego because of the epidemic. This year LCC is being held in Tucson, which is about a 90 mile drive from my house, so I could hardly pass up the opportunity. The dates are March 16-19, and here’s the link for all the information. It’s way worth it to go and meet your favorite mystery writers in person. I’m a little worried that I don’t know how to speak to people face to face any more, and also a tad worried because the last time LCC was in Tucson I got the flu and felt like I was at death’s door for weeks. You may be assured I just got a fresh flu shot and I’ve been extra-extra Covid boosted.

Still, it’ll be wonderful to see so many fellow crime-writing friends in person again, thought I might be tempted to wave and make kissy gestures at them from across the room. I am getting to do a panel on Friday March 17 from 10:15 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on the importance of research, especially to historical mystery authors. The panel is called “Why We Love Research”, featuring Clare Broyles, Francine Mathews, Susan McDuffie, and Yours Truly. I’m all exited!

As for my own writing, perhaps the less said the better. I may have mentioned that my long-time publisher has dropped my Bianca Dangereuse series, and I am in the process of slogging around from publisher to publisher trying to find someone who would like to issue the already finished third installment. Seems publishers aren't enthusiastic about picking up a series in the middle. However, several told me they liked my writing and if I wanted to submit something new they would love to read it. Encouraging words. But - it seems I have too many ideas and no clear direction. I am literally working on three books at once - all entirely different from one another; a historical stand-alone, another Alafair Tucker Mystery, and a totally new contemporary mystery that could be the beginning of a series.  I am very much enjoying hopping between worlds and moods and characters, but as I've sadly discovered, it's difficult to plow through when you don't have someone breathing down your neck saying "finish, finish!" If only I knew which book has the best chance of seeing the light of day I'd pick that one and stick with it to the end. Doodling around is fun but not the most professional attitude for an author.