RESEARCH: The Fun Part of Writing a Novel



Chicago Temple Building

Digging up facts, reading stories, and traveling to locations (even armchair travel) always gets my blood bubbling -- in a good way. Once the information is boiled down to fit the novel however, the rest goes to waste. (Where food is involved, it goes to my waist!) But rather than filing away all the fun-but-unused stuff, authors can choose to share some of the interesting background facts, as it applies to their novel.

 

Excerpts from For Every Action, a Pepper Bibeau mystery - in red lettering below - take place in the Chicago Public Library (before it became the Chicago Cultural Center on East Washington Street in the Loop.)

 

Flamingo

 

Marshall Fields façade and clock

“Ma’am, can you tell me how to find the books on diseases?” Pepper asked.

After writing the first draft of the novel, I returned to Chicago to brush up on my knowledge of the novel’s setting, mainly the Loop with its fascinating buildings, sculptures, and history.

 

I spent time at the Harold Washington Library Center to do my newspaper research. After printing page after page of old stories about convention riots, sales at Marshall Fields, local strikes, and movie listings (mostly: The Graduate, The Green Berets, and Gone With The Wind,) I was told the library didn’t charge for printing. What a boon for writers and genealogy researchers

Before long I had several books laid out on a hardwood table ready to refresh my memory about sickle cell anemia.

I recalled those old hardwood tables scattered around the public library floor, probably the same tables that furnished the library upon its completion in 1897. Continuing my research for the novel, I read about sickle cell anemia to learn not only the signs and symptoms of the disease, but also the cause of the disease.

The first book folded open to an article on gas gangrene. Among the symptoms listed was acute anemia. An illustration of a gangrenous patient fired my memory and I envisioned a different scene, a lifetime removed. 
 

If you have seen pictures of advanced gangrene, you can appreciate why my protagonist experienced a flashback to someone suffering from napalm burns.

The flashback included in the scene:

 

It is the first morphine injection I administer since arriving here, ten milligrams. The ulcerated areas remind me of the moist gangrene of an advanced diabetic. I detect a putrid smell present in the discharge.

His body heat is palpable from three feet away. His entire body appears affected. Mercifully, he remains unconscious when they unload him from the helicopter. His chest isn’t moving but as I lean closer to check for respirations, a keening howl shatters my concentration.

Conscious now, he suffers extreme pain. I quickly give him another ten milligrams, this time without orders. 
 

The final six lines of the excerpt:

 

I closed the library book and inhaled deeply, trying to clear my sinuses of phantom odors. For the next few hours, I studied medical articles that explained the difference between disc-shaped, normal red blood cells and the crescent-shaped cells of sickle cell anemia.

According to one article, doctors agreed heredity affected the birth rate of babies born with the disease. Another article stated sickle cell was not only an African disease, but was also found in the Middle East.

I reminded myself I wasn’t gathering information to compile a dissertation. I only needed enough facts to ask relevant questions about the insurance claims - if Dr. Patel ever made himself available for an interview.

It was an eye-opener to read about the areas where populations were affected by high frequencies of sickle cell anemia: West Africa (though not South or East Africa), Greece, South Turkey, and India. Another surprise was learning that a person having the gene for sickle cell trait resisted malaria better than others. 

Not all my research focused on the symptoms of diseases. There were also “el" train rides, a Cirque Shanghai performance in the park, and wine!
 

 

 

 

Please take a moment to visit my Amazon page: 

Pepper Bibeau Mysteries (6 books) Kindle Edition (amazon.com) 

*****

 

SECOND THOUGHTS ERODE MY CONFIDENCE

It's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group blog posting. IWSG was created by the awesome ninja captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can find a list of all the other members of the group here.

 

 

After writing and self-publishing three novels in my planned Pepper Bibeau mystery series, I allowed “second thoughts” to erode my confidence in writing a fourth. My marketing for the third novel never really got off the ground. I lost faith in my writing, in the worth of the stories, and in myself as a writer. It was easier to promote authors more imaginative than me and novels containing more important characters than mine. 

A lot of soul-searching followed the publication of my third novel. 

* Why had I chosen to set my stories in the near past (beginning with the late 60s and early 70s) after reading that such novels didn’t sell? Maybe it would be better to write stories occurring in the present. 

* Why was my protagonist a female with a backstory of service as a nurse in the Vietnam War? I had never been in the military, and current bestselling novels focused on action in Afghanistan or other parts of the Middle East. 

* Why did I think the life of an insurance investigator would play well in the Mystery genre? Such a career could never carry a series. 

Once I formed concrete questions to get a handle on my concerns, I considered answers to possible solutions. In November 2013, I used NaNoWriMo to test the theory of boosting my confidence by setting stories in present time. I wrote 50K words of a novel set in 2012. My main character’s backstory and career differed from my original protagonist. The surge of excitement I felt while writing the story compared to eating a new flavor of ice cream or wearing a new red silk dress. The macadamia nut chocolate swirl ice cream delighted my taste buds. The color and feel of the new dress affected most of my other senses. 

What the ice cream and dress didn’t do, and what the new protagonist didn’t do, was to satisfy my core wants and needs. My first love is vanilla ice cream: French vanilla, Country vanilla, Simply vanilla. Ready-to-wear clothes in tranquil colors suit me best. I relish the research required in developing a character whose story spans the years missed while I was “too busy living.” 

This insight resolved my concerns about why to write something “they” say won’t sell. 

For me, appreciation of a good mystery set in a familiar location generates motivation. My goal is to write mysteries that evolve in personally meaningful settings, for the enjoyment and entertainment of readers with similar interests. Book Four is now underway and I am more eager than ever to write the next Pepper Bibeau mystery.

 

 

Brenda Wolfe with 5 Loaves 2 Fishes Foundation

My blog interviews with Independent Authors over the past three months have focused on characteristics of strong females.

Today’s guest, a strong female in her own right, is Brenda Wolfe, Director of the HIV Services and HIV Clinical Nurse Specialist for Pregnant Women and Children at Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center in Chicago. She is also Founder, President, and Clinical Consultant at 5 loaves 2 Fishes Foundation.

Bickford-Land Clinic Fundraiser December 2012

Bickford-Land Clinic for Mothers and Children

5 Loaves 2 Fishes Foundation

GAIL: Welcome, Brenda, and thank you for visiting today. Why don't you begin by giving an overview of 5 Loaves and Fishes and Bickford-Land Clinic?

BRENDA: Thank you for inviting me, Gail. I am always eager to share information about both, and this time I didn’t even have to travel far. Bickford-Land Clinic for mothers and children (BLCMC) provides primary and HIV medical care, medications, lab work, nutritional supplements and small business loans to HIV infected women and children. 5 Loaves 2 Fishes Foundation (5L2F) is a U.S. not for profit organization whose sole mission is to fund the Bickford-Land Clinic for mothers and children.

GAIL: An interview that doesn’t require a travel itinerary gives you a nice breather. Where are some of the places you have traveled to promote Bickford-Land Clinic?

BRENDA: My recent global activities include presenting the clinic's care model at the Aerospace Medical Association Annual Scientific meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, and again in Bucharest, Romania. We were invited to present an abstract on World AIDS Day in Beijing, China at the BIT Life Science Conference. I also traveled to South Africa for study of the HIV epidemic.

GAIL: Closer to home, what type of promotional attention have you received this year in Chicago where the clinic is located?

BRENDA: An article was featured in the Chicago's Windy City News on the journey and motivation behind creating Bickford-Land Clinic. The show provided a compelling message of HIV awareness and the need to reduce the level of stigma and discrimination directed at those living with HIV/AIDS. The hour segment was later aired throughout Vietnam and on many U.S. cable channels.

GAIL: Why was the show aired in Vietnam?

BRENDA: In 2006, we successfully established Bickford-Land Clinic for mothers and children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The not-for-profit HIV clinic provides medical care and social support to Vietnamese children ages birth to 18 years old and to parents or caretakers that are in need of medical attention. Our goal is to maintain a family unit by keeping families together.

In January, 2012, I made my annual trip to Ho Chi Minh City:

The 24-hour travel day to Vietnam is as exhausting as a hot, smoldering Ho Chi Minh City afternoon, but undoubtedly worth it when seeing the children's smiling faces at the clinic door Saturday morning. Small shoes are scattered at the entrance door, with cartoons playing on the clinic's TV, resembling Nickelodeon, but in an unfamiliar language. Staff bustle about between blood draws and dispense the monthly supply of vitamins donated from Costco Warehouse. The week was filled with staff meetings, site visits with the clinic's vendors, family home visits and networking with those who support our mission. It is a great pleasure to report all children are healthy and doing well.

Over the last few years the Vietnamese government has made some funds available for children who have been orphaned by one or both parents. However, stigma and discrimination have made it challenging for families who live far from the city center, such as ours, to access these funds.

Vietnam is in need of private clinics such as BLCMC to provide adequate medical care, decrease mother to child HIV transmission, enhance the children’s quality of life and empower the lives of women. The BLCMC is a first of its kind, a grassroots organization pioneering a holistic care model. Our mission is to sustain the clinic and expand our services.

We are proud to announce that Bickford- Land was a recipient, for the fifth consecutive year, for The Global Grant Initiative. Bickford-Land remains the only recipient for work performed in Asia.

Tet Celebration for the Bickford-Land Kids

Tet, also known as the Vietnamese New Year, is the biggest holiday celebration in Vietnam and most Asian Countries. After a hard day of blood draws, the kids received lunch, a piece of cake, then went off to the park where they enjoyed carnival rides. You may ask why would we draw blood on the same day we hold a celebration for the families? Half of our families come from a great distance of two to three hours away. A family of two, to sometimes four, will ride one motorbike resulting in a five hour round trip excursion. As tough as it seems, the kids don’t seem to mind. The party started and the kids were happy. The nuns from the Catholic Charities joined the outing and handed out traditional Tet envelopes to each family. The red envelope represents a wish for good health, wealth and prosperity in 2012. Thank you to Home of Miracles and Embraces (H.O.M.E) for supporting out Tet outing this year!

Small Business Loans at Bickford

Several small business loans are given out each year in efforts to assist families to be self-supportive. Many of our families earn $5.00 in an 8-10 hour working day to feed and house a family of four. Business loans go a long way to develop independence.

To further inquire about Bickford-Land Clinic for Mothers and Children or 5 Loaves 2 Fishes Foundation, please contact President and Executive Director Brenda Wolfe at

bakwolfe@yahoo.com

We also invite you to visit our web site at www.5and2.org/ to view a video of the clinic, obtain more information, and find upcoming fundraisers.