Background research seems so natural to me. Yet I often find myself the object of many a wary eye.  Doesn’t everyone go to RV shows and measure the height of a Winnebago bumper? Doesn’t everyone page through forensic science books? Doesn’t everyone IM a total stranger and ask them if they know how to blow up a cannon? 

 

I try to base even my most imaginative stories on something real. When I wrote my “Elizabeth Rose” a short story about karmic justice, I spent days searching for interior photographs of a 1959 Cadillac. When I was writing "User Name", a novel about an aging serial killer who drove a Wrangler, I went to a Jeep Dealership to get a feel for how it handled. A bright red one was on a turntable in the middle of the show room. I crawled inside and was taking pictures of the dashboard, door handles and gear shift when a frazzled-looking salesman with an armful of contracts scurried up.  

 

“Can I help you?”

 

I tucked my camera phone into my purse, gripped the steering wheel. “How would you roll one of these?”

 

His jaw dropped and his sheaf of legal documents floated to the floor.  

 

I grinned at him and winked.

 

“You can’t take that out of the show room,” he said.

 

Spoil sport.

 

For that same book, I spent time browsing a website on the various ways folks have killed themselves. One intriguing photo showed a man who’d cut himself in half with a jig-saw. His determination was only rivaled by the fellow who shot himself in the head with a shotgun – twice. I’d love to use those techniques, but who would believe it? I ended up having my character try to jump from the Duquesne Incline observation deck. I was out there in a driving rainstorm, trying to figure out how one would get over the railing when a little old lady came running out of the gift shop. Don’t know why she was so upset.

 

For “Civil Disorder”, I needed to find several locations in Gettysburg , Pennsylvania . Finding a corner that would force a tour bus up on two wheels was easy. Finding a farm with a barn to hide terrorists wasn’t too bad. However, finding a place to stash the body on, in or near a monument in the park took forever. Do you have any idea how many monuments there are in Gettysburg ?

 

---

Joyce Faulkner

Author of "In the Shadow of Suribachi", www.intheshadowofsuribachi.com
"Losing Patience", www.losingpatience.com

Co-Author of "The Complete Writer: A Guide to Tapping Your Full Potential", www.thecompletewriter.com

Featured Humor Columnist for www.thecelebritycafe.com.
Check out The Weekly Shriek at http://thecelebritycafe.com/features/Columnists/The_Weekly_Shriek/
or listen to podcasts at http://www.joycefaulkner.com/TheWeeklyShriek.htm

Check out Audio Classes for Writers for Double Dragon Press PodRadio: http://www.double-dragon

Find it here!