Hands On Research Versus the Google Bar

I recently had a writing judge tell me that my story was not plausible because it was illegal to sell the products my heroine was selling in Alabama. The products? Sex toys. Yup. You've got it. It's illegal to sell them in Alabama. The judge very kindly pointed out to me that it was easy enough to research this by Googling the state and finding the laws (which she apparently had time to do because the judge definitely checked it to tell me so). Wow? Really? It's illegal to sell sex toys in Alabama? There goes my story!

Oh tragedy. The entire book must be trashed. However, I know something that the judge didn't know: I live in Alabama. There is a sex shop next to my favorite hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant, and you can bet your sweet petunia there aren't just negligees in that store. There are "medical devices."

No big deal. She (I assume my judge was a 'she') did help me with her comment because even though I knew about the ways around the little blue law in Alabama, I had failed to include what I knew in my head on the pages I had sent. So I quickly added a line about "medical devices" and how sex toys can be purchased online on the Internet into the manuscript. And Voila! Problem solved. I was actually quite grateful to her for taking the time to google my story and check my facts (as a judge myself I am rather lax because I just read for quality of story and writing--I don't have time to google the entries' story elements for research clarification).

In another section she also pointed out that my scene set in the shooting range was way off base because of her personal experience. There was no way my two guys could possibly have a conversation. However, based on my personal experience and research, I knew that a conversation was more than possible in an indoor shooting range. I could easily disregard that well-meaning comment because I had researched this myself in person.

So what is better? Personal experience as you research your stories, the google bar, or the library? I think a combination of all three are necessary. Frankly, I can't personally research every aspect of my stories if they are set in areas where I don't live. And I do believe that anything, from cake-making to shooting a gun, can be researched online or in a library.

But it is so much more exciting to learn about things first hand. I really enjoyed going to the cake decorator's house a few years ago to learn about cake decorating. I used that information and several of her colloquialisms in my book, THE TYCOON'S SWEET TEMPTATION. It made the experience more real, impacted the quality of my story and my writing. It even gave me a fun name for my heroine's show. I tweaked my research lady's name for her company and came up with a cute name for the show. That was cool. I wouldn't have done that if I hadn't experienced cake decorating first hand.

I also enjoyed going to the radio station and watching the radio hosts work. I learned a lot had changed in the industry since I had left radio to become a mother. I immediately incorporated the information into my current manuscript, FORBIDDEN FANTASY. The knowledge strengthened my writing and my confidence in my story.

I'm discovering a new story right now. It's an old one that I've hacked into and decided to give a brand new plot. I've got a bad boy rock star, a wonderful feisty social worker (or a parole officer LOL) and it's set in North Carolina (cause apparently Canadian settings don't sell???). I've already got reams of information about their houses from the Internet, the music industry in general as well as tons of stuff about dancing (not sharing more than this till my story is written).

Now all I need is for a rock star to let me watch him work while I take notes. Any suggestions? I can think of quite a few I'd like to follow around for a day.

You're Live with Sandee & Buzz on WZYP 104.3

My current WIP in Revision is about a radio star who works in a southern Alabama station. Years ago I had worked in a radio station, and I wanted to revisit those memories with my heroine. I wrote the first draft and revised the manuscript based upon my experiences. However, I knew that a lot has changed in the world of radio and I wanted to reflect those changes in my manuscript.

But how? I couldn't revisit the old station I used to work at because it no longer exists and my former co-workers live in a different market. I mentioned this deficit (okay, I whined) to my friend and fellow writer and she said she knew someone who worked at WZYP 104.3. Several texts and emails later, we'd arranged to go visit the hosts of the WZYP 104.3 Morning Drive Show, Sandee Satterfield and Buzz Stephens.

Friday morning, at 4AM, my friend and I woke up -- actually I dragged myself to the shower, found a cup with my eyes closed and slept walked to the closet to get dressed. Then we drove over to Athens, Alabama to meet the hosts at 5:30AM. As usual, my friend and I got lost--writers without sense of direction and extremely sleepy ones tend to do that a lot. We managed to find the station and Sandee let us into the studio. Then she introduced us to Buzz who was as funny in person as he is on the air. 

I can see why Sandee and Buzz make such a great team. They are both witty, giving and driven people. While I could barely articulate that early in the morning, Sandee and Buzz were wide awake, happy to receive goodies from us, and very generous with their time and talent. What floors me is that they get up that early every morning, go in to host their fun show and then they keep on working for hours after they go off the air. I personally did not manage to do much of anything for three days after I watched them work. I believe I am still sleepwalking. But they put in over 12 hours of work a day on a regular basis. 

Despite my lack of sleep that day, I am so grateful that they invited me to visit their studio because radio has changed a lot more than I thought it did. I was surprised to learn that they no longer use CDs to run the show. They use a hard drive and a computer. There are tons of buttons to push, screens to touch, and playlists to run all stored on the computer. Commercials, taglines, jabs (a new term for me), swingers (not the human kind, but the verbal kind), and songs are all on beds that are stored on the hard drive. I asked what they'd do if the computer failed. They can use their back up CDs and wing it, but the show is well timed. In fact, so well timed that they know exactly what length of song to cut from a play list should they go over  or what to add if they have additional time. 

A lot of the stations are satellite driven with syndicated shows feeding through the dishes into our radio waves. I won't give away all their secrets, but I can say that even with all the technology that's available, the WZYP morning show would not be the same without the morning personalities running the board. I was very impressed by their ability to tune into their live chats and seg into the different on-air moments. When they weren't on-air, they were cutting commercials, taking calls, rehearsing their on-air moments, and talking to me and my friend about their work. They must have some kind of weird internal clock because one minute we'd be chatting about the industry and then they'd turn around, grab their earphones, adjust their mikes and countdown the seconds before they went on-air.

There were a lot of visual cues surrounding them in their tiny, dark and cold room. There was a white board with instructions. In another corner a poster board with notes from their engineer and program director on it. Pieces of paper with notes about what to say were taped to their computers and on their security televisions. A televisions set was on, muted. They watched their computers all the time for new information about the weather, the area in general and more. They have to juggle a lot of different balls while they operate their board and run the show. 

I asked about live remotes. I remembered how my old station way back when ran its remotes, but the advent of cell phones and satellites have made it possible for radio personalities to call in their show! Wow. Now I know my radio star's tour to promote her book is plausible. Sure, they still have a truck which can be part of the remote, but it's not always necessary. 

Once again I've learned how vital hands on research is to my writing world. I have so many real images and bits of information to incorporate into my current WIP in Revision. The duct taped chair, the cues, the terminology, and the overall feel of the studio will be woven into my story thanks to the generous hospitality of my hosts, Sandee and Buzz. 

Buzz Stephens Morning Show Host for WZYP 104.3

WZYP Morning Host Sandee Satterfield looking very awake at 6AM!

Shortly after this photo was taken, I went home to sleep for four hours. Buzz and Sandee continued working!

Show, Tell & Do: Researching in the Real World vs. Cyberspace

I've been researching guns, shooting ranges, and more for my current WIP. Most of my research is done online. But I was fortunate enough to know a few people who had guns and a place to practice target shooting. So my family and I went to a friend's house where I took my first shooting lesson. I posted about my experiences and have incorporated them into my WIP.

Yesterday I went to an indoor shooting range located behind a Pawn and Gun Shop. This was how my Darling Hero wanted to spend his birthday. And, given my recent WIP's hero's line of work, I happily went along.

Confession: When I saw the bars on the windows and doors, I did get a little wigged out. And the location of said shooting range wasn't in a savory part of town. Yikes! But I did go in.

The front of the shooting range is a gun and ammo store. Stepping inside the store was like entering Super Testosterone Mart. Men of varying ages and sizes roamed the interior looking at the guns, ammo, shooting equipment, scopes, rifles, paper targets and antiques. The sales clerks stood behind tall glass cases that rose up to their chests. Inside the cases there were guns. Lots and lots of guns. Huge rifles, big black Uzi looking machines, hung along the walls behind the clerks.

Confession: I felt intimidated.

The Gun & Pawn shop was uber man world. This was not going out to the country to shoot in the open air at a target. This was not a place where I knew all the people and a nice cookout followed my first shooting lesson. This place smelled of man, sweat and gun metal. The sales clerks weren't like the women at the cosmetics counter at Macy's. They weren't trying to be friendly or push a gun on you. They figured if you were there, you were there with a purpose and already persuaded.

After we signed the proper paperwork and purchased our ammo, we went through a door in the back of the shop and walked down a long, windowless hallway. We were met at the end by a man, older with short cropped hair, and wearing shorts "for the first time in ten years." He asked us what kind of guns we wanted to shoot. I let DH lead the way on the choice. After all, it was his birthday present, and I know squat about guns.

Guns selected, we were asked about the targets we wanted to hit. About fifty different kinds of targets lined the wall in the hallway. There were bird targets, animal targets, people targets (in color and black silhouettes), bulls-eye targets (large and small), and zombie targets. Yes. Zombie targets. For a wild moment, I imagined having a themed birthday party at the shooting range featuring the Zombie targets.

Confession: I kind of wanted to shoot at the Zombies.

We chose a man target, small bulls eye targets and large bulls eye targets. Then our guide set us up in booths one and two. We could have shared a booth, which was good to know since my MC and his brother stand side-by-side at a shooting range in one of my scenes, but chose not to as there was plenty of space.

Confession: Every time a shot rang out, even though we had on protective gear, I jumped (inside and out).

The place was noisy, shots echoed off of the gray, concrete walls and flooring. My target hung in the distance, too far, and we brought it in closer. It zipped along a metal line and I thought it would hit me. It didn't, but man that target didn't slowly eek forward toward the booth's front, it flew. DH was happily shooting his Glock and then his Ruger revolver in the booth next to  me while I practiced with the long barreled 22.

Confession: It's hard to concentrate on lining up a site when bullet casings are flying into your space and hitting your body.

I finally figured out how to use the sight marks. I lined them up, and shot my target. Successful hits. All of the shots were clustered to the right of the bulls eye. Wow. The guy that was there helped me with my stance and my shoulder position as well as with how to adjust for things like my dominant eye vs. my dominant hand.

Turns out my left eye is dominant despite my being a rightie. Who knew? He had me put my hands together to make a little circle and then look at the target with my arms outstretched. Then I had to bring my hands slowly to my eyes, both open, while keeping the target in sight. Well, what do you know? I'm a leftie in vision. Adjustment: close RIGHT eye, slide the gun a little to the left and bang, better accuracy.

I shot four different guns. The guy was so cool. He didn't just tell me how to load the guns and the magazines. He showed me. Then he watched me do the task. Each gun had a different loading mechanism and size bullet. The hardest gun to load was the Glock. The bullets were huge (38s) and the spring action was tight. The more bullets I tried to push in, the greater the resistance. The easiest gun to load was the revolver. Flip open the barrel, load six bullets into the chamber and flip it closed and you're ready to shoot, in succession, 6 bullets.

The heaviest gun was the revolver. The lightest gun was the short barrel 22. I learned that a shorter barrel is harder to aim for a beginner. The longer barrels make it easier to line up the target. How? I shot out of both kinds of guns. And while the shorter barrel was lighter and easier to hold, the longer barrel gave me greater accuracy in my shots.

Confession: I prefer accuracy.

Darling Hubby was tickled to see me shoot. After all, he's a Texan and was shooting his Grandpop's gun when he was a boy. I have a picture of him walking next to the man. He's holding a huge gun, probably a S&W revolver. The gun barrel is inches from the ground and my DH's head doesn't even reach his Grandpop's waist. Guns are a way of life, of the culture he grew up in, and he has been badgering me to get a gun for the entire length of our marriage.

We're approaching the quarter century mark. I'm not a pushover. I've held my ground till now because I grew up in Canada. We don't carry guns there. I was afraid of having one in the house and I wasn't going to bring one into my world. They intimidated me.

Amazing how one book, one need for understanding via research, has changed my feelings about guns. I  was afraid of what I didn't know. I was intimidated by what I didn't understand. For me, personally, this has been a revelation about myself. I like shooting guns. It's fun. And it's empowering. I know it's not for everyone, but once again I've been reminded that until you experience a situation first hand, you can't know if you'll like it or not.

Now DH is very excited. He has permission to go buy his Man Toy. And I, very secretly, am excited, too. Maybe I'm not bringing home any cash as a writer, but my writing has restored a vital part of my DH's history back into his life. A positive outcome of my many hours slaving over this book.

Confession: The next time I go to the Gun & Pawn shop to shoot, I am asking for the Zombie target.

Research: Hands On

Writers draw a lot from their own experiences, but occasionally they have to call upon other sources to round out their stories. Lots of writers rely on the Internet, interviews and what they've gleaned by their own reading. But ultimately, what brings life to a story is reality.

Real life experience.

Well, yesterday I had a head on meeting with reality. It started off innocently enough. DH's friends, many of them retired Army, Marine or Special Ops have been visiting the Casa since he's come home to recuperate from his hip surgery. I hosted a BYO Appetizer and cocktail night (because hey, I'm not a martyr--I don't need to prove I'm the hostess with the mostess when I am also  the cursed nurse) on Friday night. One of the guests, retired Army, got very excited when I said I was trying to learn about guns. My heroine is learning to defend herself.

Hoorah! He had the best solution for me to learn all about it. I'd already held a gun and played with it thanks to a writing buddy with one of her own. But to go shooting? On private property? Woohoo. Me and a gun? Scary thought. But I was game.

On Sunday we received fun instructions to our friend's house, an invite for burgers and drinks, too, and off we went: me, DD and DH. We arrived and our friend was giddy with excitement. After all, he got to empower more women. He had a target set up, four different guns on a table, tons of ammo and all the protective gear.

First lesson? How to hold the guns. Second lesson? How to shoot the different guns at the target. Darling Daughter's Texan genes came through with the .22 pistol. Frankly, I was amazed at her steady hand. Then I was up. Oh, the .22 has a magazine and a safety and a sliding mechanism. Oh crap. My heroine in a stressful situation could seriously jam the damn thing. Oh, and another thing? Sighting the target? Not easy without a handy dandy laser beam.

.22 won't work well for my book. But when I got to the regular Revolver, Smith & Wesson with the laser grip? I was on fire. Cocked the hammer, performed BRAS (breath, relax, aim and shoot) and made a good showing. And our instructor, retired Army, was so fun. And honest. And when he said, a guy is coming after your daughter, incapacitate him, well... it was easy to shoot the target.

Lots of other vernacular. Lots of neat lessons. Cool beans! I had fun. I learned that when I set the revolver down and said, "I like this one," I'd use it in my book. And I decided to take my heroine outside to learn how to shoot with her hero. And who knows? Maybe a flamboyant retired Army dude will lead the way on his property.

And most interesting sidebar? He's a HUGE romance novel reader. Now doesn't that beat all?