Left Coast Crime - Research

Thanks to Sherry Gloag for her great post yesterday. I'm looking for bungee cords to keep my muse in her seat.

And please - don't forget my next contest, and my special Tax Relief Pricing on When Danger Calls and What's in a Name? Click the appropriate tags above for details.

Other panels I attended at Left Coast Crime discussed doing research. Even though we write fiction and tend to make things up, we can't simply ignore doing our homework.
For one of the panelists, a former journalist, doing research is second nature, and he's not really aware he's doing it.

The question came up as to when authors did their research. One, whose background is in geology, which plays a part in her books, said she read books, collected maps, and was familiar with the setting before she ever arrived to do the "actual" research.

One author writes books based on things that actually happened. His publisher wouldn't let him use the name of a former governor because the man was still alive. The author reluctantly changed the name, but anyone familiar with the history of that state would wonder where that stranger came from. As he put it, it would be like reading a book where "After the Civil War, President Schwartz freed the slaves."

Follow-up

What I'm reading: The Mistress, by Susan Wiggs

What I'm writing: POV workshop notes and handout, Chapter 27

Yesterday, I mentioned posting a request for help with my rear-window Ford F-150 scene.

I did drive down to our local Ford dealership.

I drove in to the "Trucks": entrance, found a slot to park and moseyed over to all the trucks. I don't know why, but nobody raised an eyebrow as I leaned over with my tape measure checking windows on various models. I've NEVER been to a car lot where at least three people didn't try to sell me something, but I did my thing, got back into my orange Honda Fit and drove off. For the record, that window is about 13 inches square. I didn't try to pry one open and climb in.

When I got home, I found this email from a group member. I've never met her, never corresponded with her, but it proves ... what? That writers are a helpful lot? Or just plain nuts.

Thanks, Kim!

Hi Terry, We have a 2005 Chevy Silverado 4x4 extended cab (I think that's what they call it - four full size doors) long bed, just for kicks and giggles, I hopped out to the garage and shimmied through the rear slider window. I had to remove jeans and wriggle and I will probably have a bruise on my hip but it's a doable deal and if my life were in danger - I'd get through that puppy in a heartbeat. For the record, I'm 5'4" and 122 pounds most of which I carry behind me. Details on the truck are because I don't know if there's a variance between years and cab options

Kim

Anyone have a Ford F-150?

What I'm reading: Shoot Him if He Runs by Stuart Woods

What I'm writing: Chapter 27

Does anyone know the exact dimensions of that middle sliding panel in the back of a Ford F-150? Late model -- no older than a 2003.

Editorial delays on two fronts have created one of those half-full/half-empty glass situations. My short story editor decided to devote more time to her writing, so she quit her editorial duties and turned my manuscript over to another editor. The final edits were done, but who knows whether it's going to be in the same spot in line now. The other editor had family health issues and emailed me to say she'd be getting to my manuscript as soon as possible.

I decided to take the advice of Frankie Castor, the heroine of my upcoming When Danger Calls and find the bright side. Rather than think about how much more pressure there will be to approve galleys and do edits before I leave for my trip (or even if I'll see them before I leave), I spent the day at the computer working on my current WIP.

I reached the point where my stalwart hero is locked inside his Ford F-150. He's unconscious. Now, we don't have an F-150. Originally, for Finding Sarah, I'd given Randy a Ranger, which was the truck we owned at the time, but my husband said Randy needed a more "manly" truck, so he got the Ford.

At any rate, he's locked inside and Sarah is outside trying to get in. I called the local Ford dealership to get my facts right, because the last thing an author wants is to look like she didn't bother to do her homework and get the facts wrong. I leaned:

Windows are all closed and won't open with the ignition locked. It's a 4-door, but the rear doors won't open unless someone controls them from the front if the safety locks are working, and Randy would always have that feature enabled. I'd seen a similar model the night before, and there's a sliding window in the rear of the cab, but it looked very small. I posted a question to one of my writing groups as well as talking to the salesman. He'd said no way a woman could squeeze through that window. Answers from the group varied; some said no problem, other said it would be tight, but maybe, and some said no way.

This is going to be one of those "no matter how you write it, someone's going to say you got it wrong" spots, and how much explanation it's worth in the text becomes a sticking point. Sarah certainly won't know whether there were optional window sizes, or that if Randy's truck had been 10 years older, the window would have been bigger.

I think I might have to get down to the dealership today. Wonder if they'll mind if I try to climb into the cab through the back window.

Real Life Detectives

I had the extreme pleasure of buying three Orlando homicide detectives a few brews and some nachos yesterday--small price to pay for picking their brains in the name of realism in my book.

I walked away with fodder for my novels, even more respect for the jobs these guys do for way, way too little money, an inside look at the way cops talk to each other (firing shots across the bow, is the way they put it, and giving one of them a really hard time because he recently transferred from homicide to child crimes. When one refers to himself as the silverback gorilla and his colleague as a poop-throwing squirrel monkey--well, that's going to HAVE to show up in a book someday.)

I also walked away with a piece of Chattahoochee from a murder scene as a tangible souvenir from one of the detective's cases.
Check it out here, here, or here.

Plus emails and phone numbers and a promise to help out with any other questions.

The challenge, of course, is to right it "right" when everyone thinks cops work the way they do on TV. But they certainly gave me enough to keep my cop busy, and filled in some important details about how they do the job.

Thanks, Mick, Mark & Darrell.