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"Blissful Writing Thoughts" - 5 new articles

1. Veterans Day and My Book, Seneca Shadows
2. Guest blogger - K.M. Weiland on How to Write Authentic Settings Without First-Hand Research
3. Other Promotion Ideas on a Budget
4. When You've Got the Wrong Shoes On...
5. The Road of Blog Touring
6. More Recent Articles
7. Search Blissful Writing Thoughts

Veterans Day and My Book, Seneca Shadows

Guest blogger - K.M. Weiland on How to Write Authentic Settings Without First-Hand Research

I am so excited to have Katie (K.M.) Weiland as my guest for November on writing historical novels. Since I am also a historical author, I am very excited to have her blog on the important topic of writing authentic settings and also to introduce her latest novel, Behold the Dawn.
I write about places I’ve never been, cultures I’ve never experienced, people I’ve never met. The last time I checked, crusading knights, vengeful monks, and countesses in distress weren’t offering interview appointments. Neither can I afford to globetrot my way to Syria, Jerusalem, Italy, and points beyond, every time I need to start researching. (We won’t even mention the fact that no one has yet to perfect a time machine that would send me back to the Middle Ages.)

But I’ll tell you a secret: I like it this way. Writing novels gives me the opportunity to experience what I don’t know. However, that doesn’t mean that knowing your subject matter isn’t vital. On average, I spend three months researching any given novel before diving into the writing. And I love it. I love discovering the solid facts—the bricks—that will turn the imagined walls of my story into something solid. That said, I’m very much aware that research can be both overwhelming and frustrating. Following are some of the tricks I’ve adopted for my own use.

Know the Questions. Usually, I decide to set a story during a particular period or place because I already possess some interest in and at least a basic knowledge about it. Using that foundational knowledge, I’m able to complete my sketches and story outlines. By the time I officially begin my research, my story is already almost fully formed in my head, and I have a very good idea of what questions I need to answer during my research phase. For instance, in my medieval novel, Behold the Dawn, I knew I needed to spend a lot of time learning about not only the Third Crusade itself, but also the world of the tourneys—the huge mock battles that were loved by the knights and banned by the church.

Find the Resources. The first thing I do is run several searches through my libraries’ online card catalogs. My goal is to pick up every book my libraries have available on my subject, so I try to be as thorough with my keywords as possible. After evaluating whatever I’ve come up with, I’ll complete my research library with the necessary purchases.

File the Gems. Whenever I run into a snippet of information that I think might prove useful to my story, I pull out a notebook and mark down the page and paragraph numbers and the first and last three words of the information I want. For example, if I want to remember something on a book’s thirty-first page and second paragraph, my shorthand note looks like this: 31:2 “First three words… last three words.”

The next day, before settling in for more reading, I take my books to the computer and use my notebook to find the passages I marked the day before. I type them up in a Word document, which I divide into appropriate headings. For Behold, I used headings such as “Animals,” “Home Life,” “Tournaments,” “Warfare,” etc.

This may initially look like a lot of extra work, but when I’m in the middle of a scene and I need to know what kind of food an earl would serve at a banquet, my elaborate note system keeps me from having to dig through piles of dog-eared books in search of a minute detail. Instead, I can either look through my research document’s headers in search of “Food & Dining,” or I can simply hit the Find button and run a search for “banquet.” Either way, it takes seconds to find the information and continue writing my scene.

As writers, our fertile imaginations are what allow us to create something out of nothing. But it’s as researchers, that we’re able to make that something into a solid delivery of facts that will keep readers from blinking twice at suspending their disbelief.

About the Author
K.M. Weiland (http://www.kmweiland.com/) writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in the sandhills of western Nebraska. She is the author of A Man Called Outlaw and the recently released Behold the Dawn. She blogs at Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors and Author Culture.

Marcus Annan, a tourneyer famed for his prowess on the battlefield, thought he could keep the secrets of his past buried forever. But when a mysterious crippled monk demands Annan help him find justice for the transgressions of sixteen years ago, Annan is forced to leave the tourneys and join the Third Crusade.
Wounded in battle and hunted by enemies on every side, he rescues an English noblewoman from an infidel prison camp and flees to Constantinople. But, try as he might, he cannot elude the past. Amidst the pain and grief of a war he doesn’t even believe in, he is forced at last to face long-hidden secrets and sins and to bare his soul to the mercy of a God he thought he had abandoned years ago.
The sins of a bishop. The vengeance of a monk. The secrets of a knight.

ORDER the book.

Other Promotion Ideas on a Budget

When You've Got the Wrong Shoes On...

This is an actual picture of my shoe getting stuck in the mud when I was hiking the Appalachian Trail back in 2007. It reminded me of my hike last weekend - of which I had on the wrong shoes to do a fairly strenuous hike and ended up suffering for it (and having to leave the trail early). To this day - nearly a week later, I still have a toenail that remains red and painful. I wish I could go back and listen to that still, quiet voice that told me to check my shoes, insoles, and wear the right socks. I could have avoided lots of problems and finished my goal.

Sometimes we like to take shortcuts with our writing or other work we do. We don't take the time to make sure it's the best it can be but rush off, thinking it will do, that it's adequate enough. Like if deadlines loom or in trying to put together a proposal quick and get it sent off. But we can suffer for our haste. We can end up with the ugly red form of rejection because we didn't take the time to construct, polish and edit our work thoroughly so it's the best it can be. It's so easy to try and take shortcuts. Not to give it our all in our work. But it's liable to come back at us and make us suffer for it afterwards. But we can be wiser for it in the lessons learned. I know I will be the next time I hit the trail. I'll be wearing new shoes, good insoles and padded socks. And carry plenty of Bandaids and duct tape to work with my already injured feet. So, too, we can bring new life to our work and resubmit elsewhere. But take the time to do it the right way, and you may find a contract waiting for you instead.

The Road of Blog Touring

Our road tour as we traveled the White Mountains to search out the sites for my newest book.

Ever go touring? Like taking a nice, long Sunday drive to see the sights?
My new book, Love Finds You in Bethlehem, New Hampshire is taking a drive for the next few months to different sites on an official blog tour. I've been busy answering interview questions and sending out cover art and my bio to multiple authors to post on their blogs and web sites. And why is this important? Because the Internet is the biggest tool for marketing out there. Right at their fingertips, readers can find out more about you, why you wrote your book, and other interesting facts that will encourage them to pick up your book. It's all a part of building a readership for your books. It takes valuable time and effort, to be sure. I never used to do much in the marketing angle, and I was really missing out on the valuable tools available so authors can connect on a more personal level with readers on this journey.

So keep in touch on my Love Finds You in Bethlehem blog to see where the tour is stopping next. And along the way there will be plenty of opportunities to get a free book and other goodies, too. It will be a tour worth the journey.

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