Writers Round Table


What is one of your favorite resources for research?

Cate Masters:  I’d love to be able to visit every setting in my stories! Unfortunately I can’t, so I mainly rely on either the library or the Internet, but I love to come across books specific to my needs that I’ll keep on my shelf for reference. For instance, I’ve relied on The Dictionary of Angels to supply not only names but background information for the angels in my Christmas fantasy, Ground Rules, and my dark paranormal, Dancing With the Devil. When I was lucky enough to visit Key West, Florida, I bought about six books about the local area because the history intrigued me so much, and I spent a few days in the library there while my family went parasailing and snorkeling. They had a fun time, but I felt like I found a lost treasure chest!
For more about Cate visit her blog: Cate Masters: http://catemasters.blogspot.com


Regina Duke:   I love Google and Wikipedia.
This sounds simplistic, but as a career academic (retired), it is such a joy to be able to type in a question and see a variety of answers. Some of the informants may not know exactly what they are talking about, but after perusing several sites with information, I can glean a huge amount of information without leaving my writing space.
Unlike the research I had to do for academic books. Every source had to be paper published (although this is changing), either a monograph or a journal article (refereed, of course). And the topics were very dry as well. Instead of reading foreign language articles about the ergative marker (linguistics), I can type in “What do bounty hunters really do?” or “What are buckyballs?” and spend half a day reading the fun stuff! LOL!
For more about Regina Duke visit her at http://www.reginaduke.com

Mariposa Cruz:  My favorite starting point for research is the children’s section of the library.  Children’s books are designed to be user friendly—I’ve found them to be a quick source for concise information.  Another wonderful resource is The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves and Other Monsters by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, a compendium of paranormal from folklore to pop culture.  My only complaint is that I have a hard time putting it down!

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