Research

I consider research an essential part of good fiction. No matter what genre you write in, without it, you risk losing your readers through making mistakes that will ruin the credibility of your story. But the process of research has changed out of all recognition since I started writing fiction. Back then, there were two ways - talking to people or writing to them - in letter form on actual paper. Now, there is the Internet. Google and Wikipedia, between them, cover almost all the subjects you will ever need to look into. Yet, even with them, I recently had to find a new means of finding out what I needed to know for the latest Pete Gayle novel. I resorted to Facebook and to a group on there called Exeter - Past and Present. I posted a photo with a question and got far more responses than I ever expected. So I need to hereby thank the other members of that group for all their help. It may have been for a small aspect of the book - a detail, only - but I am deeply grateful for their time and knowledge.  And Facebook: I never wanted to get involved with social media, was dead set against it until my publisher, HQ Digital, insisted. And now look at me - all over it!