Bits and Pieces

When I tell people I write historical romance novels, they almost always say, “Oh, I could never do all that research!”

I’m not sure they believe me when I say, “But the research is fun.”

It’s also distracting. I go to look up one thing, and there’s a mention of someone who sounds interesting, or some odd little fact is mentioned, and that sends me down a brand new road.

Some hours later I resurface, full of new ideas. Sometimes those ideas send my plot in a brand new and much more exciting direction.

More often, those ideas have nothing at all to do with the book I’m working on. And to top it all off, I still haven’t found whatever I was looking for in the first place.

But those detours are such a pleasure. It’s like driving along back roads instead of sticking to the highway. It will probably take you longer to reach your destination, but you’ll see much more of the places you’re passing through, and it’s much easier to stop and look around.