The fun of the research

Writing novels is so much more than sitting down and churning out pages of action, dialogue, and motivating thought processes. When someone says they wrote a novel in a nighttime, take it with a huge spoonful of salt. It can't be done. Oh, go ahead and read it. Chances are, it was ChatGPT, at best, based on a database of novels that have fallen into the public domain. Otherwise, novel-writing is a journey, an exploration, a conglomeration of ideas and solutions to storyline, plot, and character development that demand a clear, concise, and clever map. In other words, there ought to be rich and robust research done before a single page is written.

I love doing research. My novels are contemporary romances, meaning they occur somewhere in the world as we know it in a present-day setting. So, I use real places and people (making sure I do the appropriate disclaimers). It just makes my stories feel like they could have actually happened. Since they're feel-good stories, that's what makes them feel so good to write as well as read.

I research concepts as well. For instance, in my fifth novel, Will does something extraordinary. I had to dive into my understanding of torque, physics. geometry, and trigonometry in order to make it so. And I had to understand a medical concept, and concomitant robotics ones as well, so I could address a tragic phenomenon that takes place in the storyline. I don't read "fantasies" that involve dragons and the like as a result, because they can't be grasped except on a completely imaginary level. The feel-good at the end is little more than imaginary as well.

Everything my characters think and say and do must be believable on some reasonable human level. That said, they still must occupy a realm above and beyond the pale. The unique character I invented to be William Boone exists because of a very unusual and inexplicable childhood. He behaves as he does like a character in a Dickensian classic because he wouldn't be himself if he didn't.

So, I must do research. The stuff that spills out of the man's mind must have basis in fact or science. Or realistic rodeo stunts. Likewise, I need to understand law to be able to make sense of Chris's logic and follow through on her arguments for or against the things that pull my plots onward.

I must do research to understand the cultures with which I am working. I don't want to offend any of my readers, much less my precious characters. I need to know what makes the Texas Rangers tick as well as show respect for the relationship Oglala Lakota have with Wakan Tanka and the rest of creation. I must understand the driving forces behind the principles Will and Chris share (it isn't all contretemps) as well as the conflicts they face because of them.

Last but not least, I need to understand human sexuality. So, I do research. People don't interact in a vacuum. Will and Chris's robust sexual relationship must be more than what one sees in a porn movie. It must reflect their deep devotion, tenacious trust, lusty love. Like I said, I don't write erotic romances. I write literature masquerading as erotic romance.

It's all meant to create a fantasy world in which we may hide for a while from our dreary or ordinary existence, imagining we have a Will Boone in our life to spice it up or the courage of a Christine Monroe to help us deal with the problems we face.

That said, I must get back to my 4th sequel. It ain't gonna write itself. And it's a doozy.