Welcome Amber Daulton, author of romantic suspense, paranormal, and historical romance novels, sharing her thoughts on research!
No matter what genre an author writes, he or she must
first research their chosen time-period or world. I’m a romance author and I
love to write in a variety of subgenres, and all of them require in-depth
research.
In my opinion, there’s no big difference in writing a
novel set in the 1700s than writing one set in the modern era. Authors should
research all the locations mentioned in the book to learn about the buildings,
the common modes of transportation, the style of speech and mannerisms
appropriate for the time and place, and the types of characters they wish to
describe.
Even modern books need research like this. For instance,
it doesn’t make much sense for a typical hardworking New Yorker to drive a car.
Instead, the stressed-out secretary heroine will probably be catching the
subway, but the author needs to know what line she’ll have to take, when that
bus will arrive in the business district, and how many blocks she has to walk
to reach the office. Little details like that might seem like overkill, but you
never know what you’ll need until you’re writing the scene. Besides, details
always add more depth to the story, but you also need to find a healthy medium
to not drown the story and your reader in them.
Research can also lead your novel in a direction you
didn’t see or plan. You might realize you need to add new scenes and
characters, or kill off a character. For historical novels, you need to check
on the etymology of words. For example, you
shouldn’t write the word “vampire” in a book set in the 1600s because the word
wasn’t coined until the 1700s.
Also, details and facts shouldn’t just be dropped into the
story without a good transition or reason. The information should be weaved
into the description and dialogue without bogging down the scene. If necessary,
spread the details out throughout various scenes and chapters. Don’t tell the
reader everything at once. Let them stew over the details for a little while
and then give them more later on.
Not every author can do hands-on research and travel all
over the world to study locations and cultures. Most of them rely on books, the
Internet, or the opinions of friends and colleagues who have traveled to those
areas.
I always try to have my research done before I start
writing, but sometimes that’s just not possible. When the WIP goes in a
direction I didn’t expect, I have to power up the Internet or pull out my
textbooks to double check answers and to look for something fresh to help the
book’s new flow.
No matter how much research you do, it’s almost impossible
to know everything about your chosen subject, but you should at least be able
to write a convincing story. For me, research can be more fun than writing.
It’s a constant reminder that things always change. Nothing is set in stone,
and an author needs to be flexible when plotting and writing the book.
Timeless Beginnings
Contemporary/Time
Travel Romance
Word Count: 30k
Heat Level: 3 Flames
Leonora Harris fled her newly
wedded husband’s home in Georgian England, 1725, and took shelter in a cave
during a rainstorm. She woke up in a cold, barren land and a handsome stranger
with a mechanical carriage offered her shelter.
Undercover American operative
Rodger Ramsey never expected to find a runaway bride in the magnificent Salar de Uyuni. Assigned to Bolivia to
investigate Communist activities, he just wrapped up his two-year mission in
1963 and followed his heart to the salt flats one last time.
Sparks flew and attraction
sizzled. The lost, stubborn woman kicked his protective instincts into
overdrive. Rodger took her home with him, determined to help her before he
returned to the States, and Leonora flourished under his guidance. Their hearts
intertwined. He wanted her, needed her, but could he truly love a woman who
believed she jumped two hundred years in time?
Will they find a way to stay
together, despite the obstacles between them, or will Leonora survive in this
strange new world alone?
(Author’s Note - This is a prequel to Timeless Honor, a time travel romance
with Rodger and Leonora’s granddaughter, but can be read as a standalone.)
Excerpt
“I’ll do or
say whatever you wish, illegal or not.” Leonora steeled her spine as the words
tore up her throat. “I thought you trusted me. What can I do to earn it?”
Rodger ate up
the distance between them with three long strides and shackled her wrist in his
large hand like a manacle. She stumbled toward him. Tension permeated the air
around him in waves of red-hot heat.
“Have you
heard of the CIA, Leonora? The Central Intelligence Agency?”
“No, I have
no idea what that is.”
“What can you
tell me about the communist activities and alliances in this country?”
“Nothing. I
don’t know. What kind of questions are these? What are you talking about?”
His head
tilted to one side and his lips thinned. Rodger stared at her with a long, hard
gaze even as she squirmed, the steel in her spine gone. Stress lined his face
and the tendon in his neck throbbed against his skin like a tic. Minutes
passed, or maybe just seconds, and air whizzed out through his nostrils. The
anger in his face seemed to drain and he somehow looked older.
“How can this
be? You told me the truth about everything.” He stepped back and stroked his
fingers up her arm. “Though you squirmed under my gaze, you did so after you answered me and only because I
intimidated you. You didn’t once respond with a typical facial or verbal nuance
to indicate you lied. I feel the truth of your words in my gut and in my soul.”
“I haven’t
once lied to you.”
“I just—I
don’t understand. This is so unbelievable. I wish you could provide me with
some kind of undeniable proof you’re from the past.”
“As do I,
Rodger.”
Buy Timeless
Beginnings
Amazon
- http://amzn.to/2auj8Ss
Books2Read
- https://books2read.com/u/meAAnE
See Timeless Beginnings on Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30638898-timeless-beginnings
Writing is the fruit of happiness.
Amber Daulton
lives her life by that one belief even though she normally isn’t so Zen.
As a fan of contemporary, paranormal, and historical romance
novels alike, she can’t get enough of feisty heroines and alpha heroes. Her
mind is a wonderland of adventure, laughter, and awesome ways of kicking a guy
when he’s down. She probably wouldn’t be too sane without her computer and
notebooks. After all, what’s a girl to do when people are jabbering away in her
head and it’s hard to shut them up? Write! Nothing else works.
Stalk Me
Blogsite – http://amberdaultonauthor.blogspot.com/
Facebook Author Page – www.facebook.com/amber.daulton.author
Twitter – https://twitter.com/AmberDaulton1
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Google Plus - https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AmberDaulton
Books to Go Now – http://bookstogonow.com/tb-author/amber-daulton/ 
Thanks for having me on your blog! I loved stopping by!
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