Saturday, June 20, 2015

Make it real

A few years ago, we sat at the breakfast table at 07.10 a.m. and discussed my mystery novel in progress. I told my husband and daughter that I was  planning to strangle the victim with a pair of nylons.
My husband frowned. "I doubt nylons would work," he said.
"Of course they would." I was perfectly sure of that.
Neither of us, of course, had any clue what we were talking about, but that didn't stop us from taking a strong view and clinging to it. (It never does).
"The material is way too fragile." My husband buttered his toast.
"Not at all," I refilled my tea mug. "If bundled together, it stretches out and becomes extremely resistant."
My daughter bit into her bread and managed to smear a dollop of chocolate spread on her nose. "You'd have to test it," she said.
I laughed. "No way. I don't want to lose either of you."
My daughter brightened. "We could try it on a teddy-bear."
It was at this point that I realized how much being an author had changed my life.
How boring our conversations used to be, how predictable. Now, my stories catapult me into areas I've never thought about. They make me explore things I did not know existed, all in the quest of getting it right.
Right after breakfast, we set out to strangle a teddy-bear but didn't have the heart to do it. In the end, we tried it with a towel . . . and I was late for work! But my experience went straight into my quirky mystery called Charmer's Death. It's the second in the series Temptation in Florence, set in Italy. 
Do tell me what crazy things you've done in your life to make sure that all the details fit!

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3 comments:

  1. What a fun post, Beate! I've done a lot of strange, crazy and interested things researching my books. Being a writers gives life a wonderful spice and zest! :)

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  2. If the NSA is watching my google searches, I'm in deep deep doo-doo! haha!

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  3. I couldn't agree more, Shanna! And yes, Susabelle, I've often wondered about that, too . . . :-) Thanks for leaving a comment!

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