Mari Collier's Blog - Posts Tagged "research"
Research
If you are under the impression that writing science fiction removes the need to do research, you would be wrong. It isn't just a matter of creating new worlds and technology as there must be logic and science within the confines of the tale.
My two published novels happen to be science fiction, but there are located in the United States during a violent time of our history. Two different beings from different planets are trapped here. Both of them have added their genes to ours. Both want to leave. Only one has the spaceship, but he lacks the knowledge. The two aliens are enemies and neither will compromise.
I've always been an avid history reader and felt it would be no problem to write a factual background. How wrong can a person be?
Every date had to be checked. Small things like the invention of screens, the threshing machine (would you believe 1846), bag balm, linoleum, stagecoach routes, the start of a seminary, and even the staffing of forts in the Texas frontier.
Two of the above mentioned items had to be edited out of the stories. The third one that is nearing completion is Earthbound.
To find the answers to all of the above, I used my history books and the online resources. The searches became fascinating journeys into our history. One I just found today. By the 1840s, apple jack was no longer the main choice of beverages in a bar. Rum, whiskey, and beer were replacing a mainstay of American drinking habits.
For my short stories I've read the published accounts of experiments with transferring physical objects to a different location, harmonics, medical procedures, and energy production with solar, fuel cells, and the production of plastics.
The research became a fascinating read. One that I enjoyed as much as reading a novel.
I'll admit that history and archaeology are my favorite nonfiction reads. What is your choice?
My two published novels happen to be science fiction, but there are located in the United States during a violent time of our history. Two different beings from different planets are trapped here. Both of them have added their genes to ours. Both want to leave. Only one has the spaceship, but he lacks the knowledge. The two aliens are enemies and neither will compromise.
I've always been an avid history reader and felt it would be no problem to write a factual background. How wrong can a person be?
Every date had to be checked. Small things like the invention of screens, the threshing machine (would you believe 1846), bag balm, linoleum, stagecoach routes, the start of a seminary, and even the staffing of forts in the Texas frontier.
Two of the above mentioned items had to be edited out of the stories. The third one that is nearing completion is Earthbound.
To find the answers to all of the above, I used my history books and the online resources. The searches became fascinating journeys into our history. One I just found today. By the 1840s, apple jack was no longer the main choice of beverages in a bar. Rum, whiskey, and beer were replacing a mainstay of American drinking habits.
For my short stories I've read the published accounts of experiments with transferring physical objects to a different location, harmonics, medical procedures, and energy production with solar, fuel cells, and the production of plastics.
The research became a fascinating read. One that I enjoyed as much as reading a novel.
I'll admit that history and archaeology are my favorite nonfiction reads. What is your choice?
