A former private detective and once a reporter for a small weekly newspaper, Gayle Bartos-Pool (G.B. Pool) writes the Johnny Casino Casebook Series and the Gin Caulfield P.I. Mysteries. She also wrote the SPYGAME Trilogy, Caverns, Eddie Buick’s Last Case, The Santa Claus Singer, Bearnard’s Christmas and The Santa Claus Machine. She teaches writing classes: “Anatomy of a Short Story” (which is also in book form), “How to Write Convincing Dialogue” and “How to Write a Killer Opening.” Website: http://www.gbpool.com.
# # #
If you are a writer, you do research. If you are a good writer, you do a lot of research. If you are a procrastinator/writer, you do even more research and very little writing. That isn’t good. The least we can do is check out facts to make sure we have has much right as possible. The worst we can do is to put so much in a story that the story gets lost in the endless details.
Any writer knows it is rather embarrassing to write about our hero driving south on a street (in a city where we have obviously never been) only to learn later that the street is one-way going north. It happens. Google Maps makes it a lot easier to find out about streets in towns we have never seen. If all else fails, make up the town and the street and do what you want.
There is technical stuff that some writers drop into their tomes to make it more interesting. Hopefully they check with people who actually know about the activity so they get it right. That research is great. I do a lot of it. Often I learn way more than is necessary for the tale I am telling. I edit out much of the knowledge lest I turn the story into a How To book.
But what about stuff you actually know? When you get to be a certain age, you should have done things in life like have a few jobs or a few hobbies. I have had my share of jobs and lived quite a few places and have hobbies up the wazoo. So, you ask, how have I used my knowledge in my books?
Got a minute?
My father was in the Air Force. We traveled a lot. I lived on Okinawa and in France as well as in Memphis (near Elvis) and here in California. There were a few other military bases along the way and many of these places turn up in my SPYGAME Trilogy. I used some of my father’s experiences as a pilot during World War II and afterwards, as well as my imagination, to concoct an intriguing set of stories. The first one, The Odd Man, deals mostly with WWII and the Bay of Pigs. I went to a boarding school in France and that place finds a home in book two, Dry Bones. Book three, Star Power, wraps up the trilogy by bringing back characters from books one and two for a climax ending up in Southern California with some Hollywood stars tossed in for fun, though some are positively deadly.
There is a lot of history plus my own experiences in those books. I actually use a few pictures my mother and I took while living in these places in the book. As one of my characters and I say: “The facts are true. I made up the rest.”
But I mentioned my own jobs as being hands-on research for my books. Let me tell you a story. I wrote my three spy novels and tried to get them published many years ago. I wasn’t having any luck. By then I had moved to California, married, and was writing yet another book that didn’t get published until later. My wonderful husband noticed my frustration and said this: “You used to be a private detective. Why don’t you write a detective novel?”
I had been a detective about a dozen years earlier. I actually went undercover in a variety of places looking for bad guys. Maybe…
I started thinking about a detective series. Then I got on a jury. I thought this might be a perfect segue into a plot. The jury thing ended when the case was settled out of court and I went home. Then Richard got on a case. He was to appear the same day the O.J. Simpson jurors were to be picked. He wasn’t in that cattle call, but he saw the media circus downtown with the television cameras and helicopters and reporters. He came back with a vivid view of the proceedings. Then the ad nauseam media coverage ensued.
But that case wasn’t the first or last to hyperventilate on TV. Experts came out of the woodwork and threw out their “wisdom” and opinion long before a jury was even seated. THAT was going to be my story. What happens when the media orchestrates the justice? My book, Media Justice, was the first in the Ginger Caulfield P.I. series.
Speaking of jobs, I worked over a decade in a bank dealing with stocks and bonds. That’s where I met Richard. (Do I have to say that was the best job I ever had?) I dealt with millions and millions of dollars daily. Then one day we got free tickets to the Santa Anita Racetrack. Richard and I went. I explored. I found a terrific place to find a body… I combined horse racing and hedge funds and got Hedge Bet out of it.
The third book in the series was the result of my fellow writer and friend, Jackie Houchin, doing an article about the local dam up here in the Foothills where I live. She took a terrific picture of the dam before the retrofitting took place. It was so ominous. It reeked of mystery. It ended up as the cover shot on Damning Evidence. Jackie wrote a great interview of the guy who lived up at the dam. I knew I was going to use that character someway, somehow. And I did.
Here’s another story. When I was on assignment in Chicago as a P.I., I lived in an apartment near Lake Michigan. It was February. A brutal winter. I had to take the subway and a bus to the job at night. I worked from 5 p.m. until 2 in the morning. I survived Chicago. Years later I heard a story from a co-worker in California about a police officer in New York City who ran across something rummaging around in garbage cans down an alley. He shot it. It was a rat. It weighed in at 105 pounds. I moved the rat and his friends to snowy Chicago and I have them eating away the garbage on which a large area of The Windy City was built after the Great Fire. This was near the lake. Huge caverns have been carved out under the condos around the lake. Disaster looms. That book is Caverns.
All of these prior books have a connection to my actual life. But so do my Christmas books. This is where my hobbies come in. I collect Santas. I have around 4000. I have made some, bought many. And I used to work in a miniature store called Miniature World. We sold dollhouses. I started making my own and making vignettes. I had an idea for a Christmas castle that I designed. I still have the sketch. I decided to write a story to go along with the idea of this castle. Then I decided to build the castle and make the figures that went with the story. Then I published the book. The first one was Bearnard’s Christmas.
I say first because there is a second book coming out this Christmas called The Santa Claus Machine. I am currently working on the third, Every Castle Needs a Dragon.
Now you might say there is no research in fantasies. Well, I added pictures to these books. I had to have things to photograph that fit the story. My Christmas collection is vast. I have reindeer and animals and sleighs and miniature toys that fit my stories. I must have been saving them just for these books.
The third book needed fairies and a dragon and a miniature diving helmet… I just happened to have this stuff tucked away. I guess I have been researching this story even before I got the idea for it.
But we all have stuff to bring to the party. What do you have in your imagination closet that you can pull out to enhance a character or plot? Maybe there is somebody in the family who influenced you. Or a place you lived that aches to be part of a story. Be an archaeologist of your own life and dig for those relics that will set your story apart. Let the party begin.
You certainly make your books sound fascinating, especially sharing your life experiences that add depth and texture to them. “Be an archaeologist of your own life” – great term to consider. All of us, if we’ve been on the planet more than ten minutes, have knowledge and experience we can draw on to use in our fiction.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Bonnie. I know you used some of your work experience as background for your first book, Mending Dreams. We all have something to bring to the party.
LikeLike
A lot of great information, Gayle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jackie, I am sure everybody has stories to tell that come from their own experiences. They can enhance a story like nothing else.
LikeLike
I do enjoy drawing from my own experience–as a former lawyer, full time writer now, and dogaholic! Really enjoyed your post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Linda. When people learn that you have worked with the animal rescue folks at SMART and have that gorgeous King Charles Spaniel, they will be even more enchanted with your work. Our readers start wondering, how much of this is real? It’s great to stimulate their imagination.
LikeLike
Having read a few of your books, Gayle, and loved them as you know, after this post though, I really want to jump into your Spygame Trilogy. Reading your backstory information made them sound soooo interesting. They’ve been sitting on my mantel waiting–sigh. Great hearing about all your past adventures, and I’m thinking you still have a wealth of information/experiences just waiting to be shared somehow in a novel. Enjoyed your post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Mad. Every time I read someone else’s book, I wonder how much of the background stuff is true and how much they made up. All writers have done things, interesting things as well as trivial, but in the hands of a good writer those things can be so interesting and we readers can learn so much.
LikeLike
What do I bring to the party?
Well, I have an extensive knowledge of the Bible. I’ve been on four short-term mission trips; three in Africa, the last in Northern Italy. I have 3 granddaughters who were little once upon a time, and to whom I told and wrote many stories. At our church I teach in the 4-6th grade Sunday School class, and help out in K-2nd grade Junior church every other month.
And so………..what I am writing currently are short tales about Missionary Kids who live in Africa. I send these out to about a dozen kids at church via email every 1-2 weeks. They are entertaining (according to what the kids say) informative (occasionally gross, as when I told about dried mice being a protein treat for kids in Malawi), “safe” (one mom’s comment), and having a Bible truth woven in.
None are “published,” although I suppose I could compile them eventually and do a self-publishing job on them for… well, who knows? We’ll see.
Meanwhile, I’d better get back to the Part 2 of the cliffhanger story I sent out a week ago.
LikeLike
Jackie, Your children’s books are exactly what I mean. Your trips to Africa and your experiences make for great reading and learning. What more can a reader want?
LikeLike
Interesting post, Gayle. I’ve drawn on some of my own jobs and other experiences in stories and novels, and I’ve shamelessly exploited my family’s experiences, too. In one novel (Interpretation of Murder), I drew on one daughter’s experiences as an American Sign Language interpreter, another daughter’s experiences as an employee in an upscale fitness center, and my husband’s expertise as a fifth-degree black belt. I felt as if I should list them all as co-authors.
LikeLike
BK, I wondered where your character learned so much about sign language when I read that book. And the black-belt expertise. Authors can’t know everything, but when we know a little bit about something, why not use it in book? That’s just another reason why your books are so darn interesting.
LikeLike
Write what you know – or want to know, as amended by Jacks a few posts ago – makes so much sense. It can be a physical description, a character trait, or inside knowledge of a profession. When you can truly feel the emotions of your characters, or understand the job they’re doing, these qualities add depth and realism to our stories.
LikeLike
Right on. Making the characters and locations real is what we strive for. And sometimes it is just a matter of seeing what is in our own lives and putting it on the page.
LikeLike
Gayle, all your past life experiences make your writing so rich and thoroughly enjoyable. Your varied work experiences and your family history give the authenticity to your stories. Wonderful. Thank you Gayle…
LikeLike
Rosemary, That is why things in your life will make several very good books. Your life in Hollywood, both the fun and the poignant will make for some terrific reading.
LikeLike
Gayle.
Loved your post, especially the opening line! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been the procrastination type of writer. I think that’s half the reason I do non-fiction books for kids…so I can learn about something.
I didn’t know you did miniature stuff! One day we’ll have to get together and compare stories. I did miniature villages and dollhouse items for a long time, and still dabble in it.
LikeLike
Caitlind, I tend to do a lot of research, but I try to edit out a lot so my work doesn’t sound like a doctorial thesis.
And yes, I, too, do miniatures. You can see some on my website: http://www.gbpool.com. I’d enjoy seeing what you have created.
Also congratulations on the libraries storing some of your e-books for children. I read a few of those and they are wonderful for kids and us big kids, too.
LikeLike