Research

I've been thinking about a new story. One that takes place around the 16th century. That means it's back to the library. I always start with general history. What was happening during that period. Who was in power. For this book, I'm most interested in trade and trade routes. Then I'll look into piracy to see how that would effect my characters. England and Spain were big traders during that period and had command of the seas, and so was Portugal.

These are the things that will give me hints about the culture of the time and area. It gives me some insight into daily life and values for the characters I'm building. I get an idea of their hopes and dreams, fears and concerns. It even helps me to understand disease and medical treatments of the time.

I'm really excited about what I'll learn. It's like a treasure hunt. Some writers I know hate this part, but I love it. It's a window into another world. I get a picture of some of the ways it has effected the world I live in and shaped the people in it.

I often learn strange bits of trivia, random facts. I love these nuggets. I'll keep you posted on the cool stuff I find.

Fear and Trembling

Today I submitted to a writing contest. I did it with fear and trembling. Part of the anxiety was due to my fear of not being proficient with computers. I was afraid that I would hit some snag or glitch and I wouldn't know what to do about it. But I got prayed-up and plowed right in.

I managed to log in with very little problem. Then I started inputting the information. I clicked the save button and I got this screen that said it was 'working'. The screen stayed like that for some time. I didn't really pay much attention to it or become concerned. I just assumed that there were so many people logging in that the server might have been overloaded and it was just taking some time to get the job done.

So I waited and waited. I waited for two hours! Finally I asked my daughter what she though about it. She said that I could be right or that something went wrong with the connection. I asked her how could I tell the difference. She told me to open another window and see if it would let me log in. I did and everything went smoothly from there.

What's really sad is that I was prepared to sit in front of the computer and wait for it to finish 'working'. It probably would have gone on like that all night. And there I would be sitting and waiting. I am so not of the computer age and culture.

Now I'm ready for a long, hot, bubble bath. Calgon, take me away.