One of the questions I’m usually asked when I talk about my novel, Missing Emily: Croatian Life Letters, is, “Have you ever been to Croatia?” I have never been to Croatia. But I found photos of the area of the country in which my story took place and used those while writing. I also have a good friend from Croatia who I spent several afternoons with talking about Croatia and her experience during the civil war there in the early 1990s. With her permission, many of the descriptions and storylines from Nada’s story came directly from her.

With a story like Missing Emily, it is probably quite obvious that at least some degree of research was involved. But what some readers may not realize is that there is some degree of research involved in every book, even poetry collections. For example, I wrote the vast majority of poems in Crush and Other Love Poems for Girls while I was a teen or pre-teen (although they went through extensive revision before going into the book). To find the poems, I went back to my writings and journals from that period of my life and harvested the poems I’d written at that time. I also went to the bookstore to see if there were any poetry books for pre-teen and teen girls; finding none, I went ahead with the idea.

I completed similar research for my other poetry collection, The Other Side of Crazy. When I journal, I often simply write down whatever comes into my head, sometimes without even realizing the words have any meaning. I also write down snippets – one or two poetic lines. When I was putting together the initial poems for that collection, I reread my journals to look for material. I had some poems that were poems I wanted to include, but I also found poems. Some of them resulted from the random musings I didn’t find any meaning in until I went back and reviewed them. Some of them were spurred by the snippets, either into their own poems or combined into a poem.

For Taming the Twisted, though I grew up in Camanche, Iowa, I had to research to take it back in time to 1860. I completed extensive historical research through books, newspapers, and the internet, covering Camanche, specifically, but the time period and Iowa generally as well. I also completed character research wherein I searched for and found old photographs of each of my main characters. I kept them on a magnet board in front of me as I was writing, so I could always keep their appearances in mind.

I also took a “walk the ground” trip, as shown in the photos. I went to Camanche, parked, and walked nearly five miles over all the areas where my characters would have walked. I had a map of as near to the time period as I could find and superimposed the current street names and landmarks. I took photos and many notes, finding the exact spot of my main character’s home and the places she frequented. This research was invaluable because it helped to crystallize the setting in my mind.

When you talk to authors, you will likely find that in addition to enjoying words, writing, and stories, they also enjoy research. As you read, try to think of some ways in which research may have been needed to create the book. With a well-crafted book, it may not be obvious because the research will be weaved in with the story so well, it might seem as if the author had been there. But they may not have; it may just be a result of extensive and quality research.

For a long time now, I’ve thought periodically about passions, particularly, following them. My number one passion is writing. For a long time, I denied myself that passion because I believed it wasn’t worthwhile, valuable, or could support me financially. Now, I see how important it is to follow my passion somehow, some way, every day; if I don’t, I’m just not being myself and, in a way, I’m lying to everyone around me.

I previously signed up to get a copy of Janet Bray Attwood’s and Chris Attwood’s new book and, in doing so, I was reminded of their other book, The Passion Test. I had thought I remembered that I actually already owned this book, so I sifted through my bookshelves; sure enough, there it was, brand new and never read. I’ve had it a long time; I think I got it with my joining package for some book club I’d joined years ago.

I took the book out and read it. I started thinking about how sometimes it’s difficult to determine if something is truly your passion or just a necessity of life or something you need in order to fulfill all of your other passions. And then I came up with a test to see. When thinking about your passions, ask yourself, “Is this a means to an end or is it the end?” You can come to this answer by asking yourself, “Why?”

Let’s take being healthy and in shape. Sure, I want to be healthy and in shape but is it my passion? So I ask myself, “Why do you want to be healthy and in shape?” My answer is so that I’m alive and have the energy to spend time with my family and write. Okay, so why do I want to spend time with my family? This gets kind of tricky because I want to spend time with my family simply because I enjoy it which makes it somewhat of a passion, but I also need the support of my family, their encouragement, and the knowledge of their love to write. So why do I want to write? I love putting words on paper, having people read them, and sharing myself with others in that way. So, for me, writing is an end.

Writing is my passion. It’s as basic to me as breathing. What’s your passion? Feel free to talk about it in the comment section below.

A couple of Sundays ago, I got to actually go back in time to promote Taming the Twisted. Well, actually, it was really just my wardrobe. Heritage Canyon in Fulton, Illinois, is a historic village with buildings recreated to reflect the 1800s in a wooded, canyon setting. When I first started to set up appearances for Taming the Twisted, I contacted them to ask if they’d be interested in having me attend one of their special events to sell my books.

The caretaker replied and said they would love for me to come to their Fall Festival at the end of September. But there was a catch. I’d have to dress in 1860s-appropriate apparel.

Oh.

I didn’t have anything, so the caretaker said I could borrow something. I warned him of my short, not-thin stature, but was assured they had something that would work. So I said, “What the heck. I’ll do it.”

On September 8th, after speaking at the early-morning Camanche Kiwanis meeting, I met one of the Early American Crafters members who helps to organize the events. I parked across the street and walked down the steep path to get to the main street area where I was to meet her in the ice cream shop. She arrived shortly after I did and led me upstairs to the dressing room with at least two racks of possibilities.

She left me to find something as she cleaned. So I went through the clothes. Too long. Too small. Too short (believe it or not). Until I finally settled on a blue skirt adjustable with Velcro, a white blouse I thought I could wear a camisole or a long-sleeved shirt under depending on the weather, a yellow shawl in case of chill, and a red dotted bonnet to hang down my back. None of the shoes fit, but I decided I had some basic black ones at home that would be close enough.

By the time I came down, it was pouring rain. Luckily, the EAC representative offered to drive me to my car. She dropped me off and I went home, 1860s garb draped over my back van seat.

The first weekend of fall was very warm, so I opted for the camisole and shorts underneath, and didn’t need the shawl. It was fun hanging out with people with the same 1860s-affinity that I have. I sold a few books and got to know some fun people a little bit. They even served me (and husband who came to help me) chili and cornbread for lunch. It was a great day and I hope to come back to one of their events next year.

One of the greatest things about writing historical fiction for me is the research, which often takes me to several museums. I love museums anyway, but since I’m using the information I gain for my books, it’s working – and I get to take the travel expenses off of my taxes.

In researching for my next book taking place in the early 1900s when people in Camanche camped along the Mississippi River to harvest clams for pearls and the button industry, I’ve been concentrating on that era and topic.

In case you’re interested, I thought I’d share about them so maybe you can check them out. Hands down, the best museum for learning about the button industry is the Muscatine History and Industry Center. The bottom floor’s entire display is about clamming and the button industry. Upstairs, they also have good exhibits about the history of local companies; not too far away is a great new brewery, Contrary Brewing, you could check out while you’re there, too (and, in case you’re wondering, I can’t take beer off on my taxes.)

The Fort Crawford Museum in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, has a small clamming exhibit. Since clamming was so common in Camanche, Iowa, its historical museum has a nice, larger clamming/button industry display as does the Buffalo Bill Museum in LeClaire, Iowa.

I got a lot of good early 1900s information when visiting the Buffalo Bill Museum a couple of Saturdays ago, including from a great display on early 1900s clothing. This is a large museum complete with a real boat, the Lone Star Stern Wheeler, and tons of artifacts. You can likely learn about any era pertaining to life on the Mississippi River here. And, if you’re thirsty when you’re done, you can visit the new Green Tree Brewery, tour the Mississippi River Distillery, or visit the Wide River Winery tasting room.

As you can see, I love museums and local beverages. It’s an especially great way to spend a Saturday that is too hot or too cold to spend outside.

Do you know of any museums, historical villages, or exhibits covering early 1900s America, especially everyday life in the Midwest, clamming/button industry, or the Mississippi River? I’d love to visit them. Please comment below.

Most of this past spring, I have been working on publishing and planning my marketing for Taming the Twisted, my book about the fictional Abigail Sinkey, a 17-year old girl who finds herself entangled in abandonment, her parents death, a murder, scandal, and romance after a tornado destroys her town of Camanche, Iowa, on June 3, 1860. I have been working with one of the organizers of Camanche Days, the town’s celebration taking place in mid-August. To give back to the community and get to the book’s roots, I’m officially launching there on August 15th from 2 to 5 p.m. and I’m donating $1 from each book sale (Taming or others) to the cause of the Camanche Days Boards’ choice.

So…I’ve been deep in revising, editing, formatting, and cover designing as well as researching options to figure out the best way to market Taming according to the book itself, its likely readers, my personality, and my goals for the book and my career. It’s a huge undertaking. And the temptation to not work on my next book is great. But I’m excited about starting it so I have been dabbling in research.

So far, I’ve collected several books covering local history from the 1890 to 1910 time period and found several articles about Mississippi River life at the turn of the 20th century, clamming, and insanity, all of which I plan to need for the story with the working title of Shattered Pearl.

I know I still have a ton of research ahead of me, though. I will need to re-read the items I used for Taming the Twisted with a focus on the later time period as well as view microfilm newspapers. I’m also considering a trip to the state historical society library in Iowa City.

I’m excited about it because I do love to research. I’m hoping my schedule works so that I can take a Heuristic Fictional Character Research workshop offered by Midwest Writing Center and Robin Throne of 918studio; I think it will help me greatly in developing Pearl Sinkey. I already found a great resource about the button industry in Muscatine’s History and Industry Center, which has a large history on the button trade on its website.

So until next month, happy summer! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or put them in the comments section below.