Research

Last question. Last question. Last question! Jessie Sin wants to know: How does research play into your writing process? Do you have a lot of historical aspects in your stories? Do you find yourself needing to research a lot?

I love researching. Love. In fact, I love it so much that if I don’t control myself, I would spend all my time researching instead of writing. I love the rush that comes with all the random things I learn while researching a book (I talk a little about that here).

Most of my books (Glass being the notable exception) don’t have any strong historical aspects, but I still like to research the history of the setting. So, when I went about writing Darken, I spent a lot of time researching the history of Charleston-especially its cemeteries. With Incubus, I learned all I could about southeast North Carolina (including what the entrance to North Brunswick High School looks like-it was really important at the time). I like to feel like I really know my settings. I don’t just want to geography and what-not, I want to feel intimately acquainted with the area. I want to be comfortable moving my characters around.

I am not so sure I need to research as much as I do, but I feel like it really helps me out with my writing. When I spend a long time reading about a certain subject, I get jazzed to write about it. Then the words just fall out of my mind and on to the page. And that is a wonderful feeling.