BioBooksAwardsComing NextContactBlogFun StuffHome

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Research. Sigh.

Normally, I don't mind research. I want to get everything right, and with the internet at my fingertips, I can usually put my hands on the information I need and verify it's correct. Image search makes it even better because I can see places I've never been and the ground view in maps gave me a chance to trace the route my hero and heroine drove. How cool is that?

But I've run into a research issue that's going to require I actually contact someone and ask my questions. It's not that I've never done this before. I bothered people at work incessantly with questions as the need has arisen and I have contacted other people via email with quick, one-off queries. This time, though, I'm going to need a little more than that.

My hero is on the LAPD and he's working at the new Police Administration Building. I can't find pictures of the interior, and believe me, I've spent hours scouring online. The best I could come up with was the lobby. My guess is this is a security measure, but it sure makes it tough to write a scene in the hallway of the building when I don't have a clue what that corridor looks like. Is it carpeted? Tiled? Are the walls white? Gray? Maroon? Are their posters hanging there? Are the walls blank?

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I write paranormal and so my heroine does a few things normal people couldn't do. I'm guessing the LAPD PAB is a completely secured building--I don't know that for a fact, but without pictures and with people having to pass through a metal detector, I think it's a good supposition. So how would the hero be trained to react to the heroine wandering around this secured area?

My one consolation is that the LAPD has to be used to strange questions. Hey, they deal with scriptwriters. But I have to sit down and formulate the bazillion questions I have. This is not my favorite thing to do. I'd rather be writing.

* * *


Demon Kissed is up for preorder on Barnes & Noble now! And don't forget that you can find it on Amazon, too.