It’s August, and I’m not in Greece or France or England like some of our luckier AR authors. Instead, I’m sitting here in “exotic” western Maryland, just sweating in the humidity and heat. But I am expanding my horizons a bit — doing research for my current book. Of course, as usual, I chose to write about something I know NOTHING about — horses. I’ve got my hero and heroine riding a horse through the mountains of Peru. And truthfully, the extent of my equestrian expertise is that I can tell the head of the horse from the tail.
So it’s research time. Luckily, my sister — who really does know about horses — just flew here from California to visit, and I was able to ask her all the truly stupid and embarrassing questions I am mortified to admit I had to ask. And this morning she accompanied me to a horse farm, where she showed me basic things like a hoof pick, a halter, curry comb, how to saddle and bridle a horse. She even managed not to snicker at some of my dumber questions, although I can only imagine what she was thinking. And she has promised to proofread my manuscript when I’m done to keep me from looking as ignorant as I really am.
Anyhow, all this made me think of the many things I’ve learned from reading (and writing) romance novels. For example, after reading historical romance novels, I know a lot more than I ever learned in school about castles, customs in Regency England, and English history. From my own research, I’ve learned about smokejumpers, amber, and now Peruvian horses.
So how about you? What interesting things have you learned from reading romance novels? Do you notice when writers make mistakes in their research? Is there anything you know about that writers always seem to get wrong? I’ll give away a copy of one of my smokejumper books to someone who answers (and I had plenty of input from smokejumpers when I wrote those books, so I can guarantee I got that information right!)
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I know just enough about most things to get myself in trouble. For instance I know that it does actually snow in El Paso Texas, but it’s so rare that people make a big deal about it every time it happens. I don’t know that the anual snow fall is. I know the forests in Western Montana go up in flames every flipping summer about this time of year, but all I ever do is wave at the smoke jumpers as they fly overhead. And I know enough about horses to get on one and ride, but don’t hand me a hoof picker.
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I don’t know enough usually to find errors that the author(s) has/have made.
I’ve learnt about many customs of different time eras, about costumes in time eras, geography of many different places, interesting facts about many different occupations. Thanks to all authors for that.
by RobynL
on August 10th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
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I don’t feel qualified in most areas to find mistakes made in novels, but in reading books from different locales and countries I have found many beautiful sites I would love to visit and learned quite a bit of history about some cities, sites, and the people that originated in some of these areas. Very interesting. I also love to read books about the future and what might possibly be…after all, look at what we thought was impossible not that many years ago and now it is part of our daily lives…space travel to the moon and walking on its surface, instant access to most places in the world thru computers, advances in the medical field beyond anyone’s dreams. You might say our imagination is becoming our reality. Amazing to me!
by Shari C
on August 10th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
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Shari — even more amazing are the people who were able to envision such things centuries ago!
Alice and Robyn — you bring up good points. I once read a book where the hero had a tame bull he had “rescued” from a bullfight in Spain. Well, I used to live in Spain and know that fighting bulls are bred to be wild. I doubt you can tame them. In fact, if they are able to be tamed, they aren’t used in fights. BUT, even though I knew that, I thought that MAYBE it could happen, that there could possibly be this one bull that was extraordinary. So it’s sort of like what you said about snow in Texas — it might happen, but most people don’t know about that. So while I thought the tame bull was odd, I just shrugged it off.
Now where I really get upset is when people make mistakes with the Spanish language. With as many Spanish speakers as there are around us, there is no excuse for that. And I’ve seen some pretty high profile authors get it wrong. Of course, it could have been a copy editor’s mistake, but still….
by Gail Barrett
on August 10th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
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I just found out that some authors just make some stuff up. I was absolutely shocked. I always assumed everything was researched. It may be something as simple as a plant that grows in a particular area to something more major as to when a war was faught. I used to think I was picking up actual information and now I don’t know what to think.
by catslady
on August 10th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
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okay meant to type fought lol. Typos are more forgiven than to actually, knowingly give out false info.
by catslady
on August 10th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
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Well, I have read many books in my time, Gothic novels, romance novels, fantasies, murder mysteries, etc. and one thing all writers have in common is their talented editor! I would think that the editor would spot a lot of the inconsistencies in the stories. Mostly though, I have always assumed stories to be fictional because of the statements a lot of them have at the beginning that places and names given are fictional and are not in any way based on any real person or place. I have read some books where the author clearly stated at the beginning of the book in her acknowledgements the people she used in her research. Then I read the story in a different light when I know the facts used in the story are actually based on true research.
by Michele L.
on August 10th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
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Well, Catslady, I think that most authors do research very carefully. We can’t always get it perfectly right (the time it would take to research something completely would mean we’d never get any books written), but most writers try very hard to get the facts right. I am on various loops with writers and they are always asking if anyone knows someone who knows about such and such. I just consulted with a guy who knows how to crack safes so I’d get those details right in one of the books I have coming out. So writers do research and also consult with experts to try to be as accurate as possible. In fact, I am going to Peru with some medical missionaries in October precisely to see the area I’m writing about for myself so that I get it right in the book. With my smokejumper books, I made two trips to the smokejumper base in Montana, read books, emailed smokejumpers, watched videos, and then had a smokejumper proof it all to make sure it was right.
However, there is the occasional author who doesn’t bother, for whatever reason. I don’t know whether it’s due to a rushed schedule, laziness, or the person thinks no one will care. Personally, I think that doing the research lends far more credibility to the book. I have gotten letters from smokejumpers saying they appreciated that I took the time to get it right. One even wrote a nice review of Facing the Fire in their smokejumper newsletter.
by Gail Barrett
on August 11th, 2007 at 5:17 am
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Michele L. The editor and copy editor should pick up inconsistencies. For example in the ending of Facing the Fire, I had the hero holding the heroine’s hand and stroking her palm — but her hand was all bandaged (which I had forgotten!). The copy editor pointed that out and I changed it so that he was stroking the area around her palm. :roll: But the editors might not know much about the subject you’re writing about, so they usually can’t help with factual detail. That’s up to the author.
By the way, you’re my winner, Michele. If you email me your address, I’ll send out one of my books: gail@gailbarrett.com.
Thanks, everyone, for the discussion.
by Gail Barrett
on August 11th, 2007 at 5:21 am
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wtg michele
by kim h
on August 11th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
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Whoopee! Thank you so much! I will forward you my address Gail right away!
by Michele L.
on August 12th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
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