Tuesday, June 24, 2008

WAS THAT RESEARCH REALLY NECESSARY?

Was I crazy to tackle a novella involving slow pitch baseball, firefighting and search and rescue? After all, it was a big chunk, and I was the one crafting the story. I didn't have to do this! Call me dogged - or maybe just plain stubborn - but I stuck with it.

What gave me the courage to go with them was knowing those subjects weren't entirely new to me. The men in my family had played baseball while I cheered from the sidelines. Training to be an MICN (mobile intensive care nurse) many years ago, I'd spent twenty hours in a fire station chilling out and riding with their paramedics. That gave me an atmosphere from which to create my own station. I'd also recently seen a presentation to eighth grade girls by a female firefighter, and even knew the weight of the backpacks carried.

I've watched the Dog Whisperer on TV, seen TV specials on search and rescue teams, heard a government expert witness on search hounds, who's also a Bloodhound breeder, in my Sisters in Crime chapter meetings.

No matter how familiar the subjects I'd chosen were for me, I'd have been a fool to avoid researching each one. The tools I used included the Internet, personal interviews and the local library with its interlibrary loan system, periodicals, books and videos. I could have even accessed the Internet there if I hadn't had my own computers.

As an example, I knew about Bloodhounds, but how big were they and what colors did they come in? I found an email contact with a breeder online who cordially provided that information. I decided which color I liked and gave my scent hound a name. An Internet look at search and rescue teams gave me clues as to other hounds used and revealed that some hounds are air scenters and others are ground scenters. Photos online of the SAR team in my county as they assembled to train sparked the opening scenes of my story.

As for firefighting, I interviewed a battalion chief by phone, stopped firefighters when I saw them ready to leave a call or found them in the supermarket. Did they sleep dormitory style? What do they wear to bed? Who was in charge on a call? Yes, they still come down poles and only have one minute to hit the mat at the bottom once the alarm sounds.

I checked my town's firefighter job descriptions online. Googling firefighting equipment and gear prompted me to ask about the mat, boots and suits they use on different calls. I saw yellow suits in the back of an engine when I spoke to some men leaving a call up my street. Yes, they leave their suits in the truck or engine.

Well, what do you know - there are trucks and there are engines! Different purposes for various calls.

Obviously, I wasn't going to use all the information in my story, but it would've been stupid not to look in depth for more than I'd personally experienced. I guess the short answer to the question posed in the title is:

YES...all that research is necessary. Heaven forbid you should use it all, but without the background it provides your story won't ring with authenticity.

Dee Ann
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--------------------------------------- Thursday, June 05, 2008

WHAT'S UP?

Something's going around. It's called "Meme." It refers to a transfer of information from blog to blog. You're supposed to tell six things about yourself that people wouldn't ordinarily know. So here are my things:

1. Dr. Pepper's the only soft drink I like. Mother told me that as a toddler I wouldn't let the barber cut my hair...until they put Dr. Pepper in a baby bottle and gave it to me. I've loved it ever since.

2. I was born in Wichita Falls, Texas. What is the birthplace of Dr. Pepper? TEXAS!

Daddy sold gasoline pumps, and sometimes Mother and I would go on his rounds to his customer's gas stations. (Later, we were advised that "gas station" was a hick term, and heaven forbid we should sound like "Oakies." We switched to the more cultured description - service station. Ahem.) At any rate, I'd lift the lid of the soft drink chest and, standing on my tiptoes, reach in to pick up a bottle of Dr. Pepper from the icy waters. Daddy would pay for it.

When our sons were growing up, there was a wonderful lumberyard in town with free scraps you could help yourself to. They did a lot with wood, so loved going to pick something out from the wood pile. Lo and behold, what did the yard have but an old-fashioned soft drink chest just like the one I'd seen as a child in Texas. It had Dr. Pepper in, too.

3. I love jewels. Seeing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London was a fabulous experience. Subsequently, Lance Davison, my wizard-knight hero in PORTAL TO DARKNESS, has a special affinity for gems and can hear the "songs of the stones."

4. In Edinburgh, my husband and I saw the clan pipers present a Tattoo as night fell over the castle towers. When the sound of the pipes rose and the bands came down from the castle, it brought goosebumps. Kilts and flashes flipped and pipes whined as white spats caught the light when the men marched in cadence. Beautiful.

One tall drummer, wearing a bearskin hat, flicked his white-tipped sticks up each time he struck the drum. When he marched in place, he lifted his knees so high that his kilt flipped up. I thought for a moment we were going to solve the problem of what a Scotsmen wears under his kilt.

No such luck.

One Scotsmen was asked what was worn under the kilt. He replied, "Worn? Nothing's worn under my kilt. Everything's in perfect working order."

Sadly, budget cuts have reduced the number of regimental bands, and we witnessed the final performance with the historic Clan Donald. The evening closed as a soft spot highlighted a single Donald piper playing on the battlements. Haunting.

5. This trip inspired my best selling novella, WOMAN IN BLACK LACE. Phebe is sent from Washington, D.C. in 2008, back to the Highlands before the destruction of the clans by the English in the 1700s. She participates in a Scottish ceilidh, a folk celebration, similar to the one below.

6. In Ireland, at Bunratty Castle, I enjoyed an Irish ceilidh. Those of us from the tour bus ate dinner together. We ate, among other foods, potato salad, boiled potatoes and baked potatoes (celebrating prosperity after the historic potato famine, I think) while being entertained with dancers and singers moving to the music of penny whistle, elbow pipe, fiddle and drum. The potatoes were delicious, unlike anything I've ever tasted in the U.S. I was invited to dance with a handsome Irishman, and, in heels, I tried to keep up with his steps as we danced over the rough, ancient stone floor.

I fell asleep with Irish tunes dancing in my head...and wishing I'd done better on the dancing.

Dee Ann
http://www.deeannpalmer.com
axeman9005@mypacks.net

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