Susan-Alia Terry
talking about her research technique
I’m a “pantser”
by nature, as in I write without an outline “by the seat of my pants”. As such,
my research needs aren’t always known up front. What I usually end up doing is
writing until the need for research arises. It was only after I began writing Coming
Darkness, did I begin to research angels and demons. I was going a very
traditional way with them until I realized that my story wasn’t traditional. The
universe I was creating was unique and the supernatural beings needed to
reflect that. As such, the essence and mission of the angels is familiar and
based in lore, but in my world demons don’t exist. In this case, the research
gave me a foundation and license to use what I wanted, to throw away what I
wanted, and to create what I wanted.
The greatest
length I’ve gone to so far for research, is taking field trips to capture
scenes in Charleston. For instance, there is a scene where Lucifer and Michael
walk from Lucifer’s house to a park. I located his house along Murray
Boulevard, which leads to White Point Gardens. Early one morning I drove there
and explored the neighbourhood. I walked the route to the park, and took some pictures,
which I later used to refer back to the area. While I had been to the park
before, the field trip made it easier to place myself in the scene. Finding the
model for Lucifer’s house was pure serendipity. I didn’t have anything specific
in mind, but when I saw it, everything clicked. I discovered Lucifer’s
favourite tree the same way. He didn’t have a favourite until I saw that tree. I
feel that the tree is an authentic touch I wouldn’t have had if I hadn’t made
that trip.
I love
learning new things and for me it’s easy to fall down the research rabbit hole.
Once I’ve gathered all this interesting (to me) information, I want to tell
somebody! I’ve not gone so far with it as to mute the plotline, but I suspect
it’s possible. What I have done is throw
in more information than is necessary, which then derails the flow of a scene.
From the example above, when I first wrote about Lucifer’s house, I included too
much information. It was cool and interesting, and I loved going deep with it,
but the extraneous detail slowed the movement of the scene, and derailed the
flow toward the important bits. It was hard to cut it, but it needed to be
done.
When it
comes to researching completely made up stuff, like aliens, I believe it’s all
about the jumping off points. There are a bunch of avenues:
· Sociological studies could give
background on different cultures, which could provide a jumping off point for
the character and culture of an alien species.
· Research on earth habitats and animal
adaptations to their environments could provide jumping off points for alien
worlds and the types of species that live there.
· Biological research could provide
jumping off points for mammalian, reptilian, insectoid or aquatic life forms.
· Research on what we know about
different planets, and educated speculation about species that could survive
there, could provide jumping off points for hard science, real world takes on
alien species.
· Researching decades of movie aliens
could provide valuable information on how to create an alien species, and why
certain choices were made.
Research is
a wonderful tool. Not only does it help in creating the worlds we write about,
but we also learn new stuff in the process. Can it get any better than that? I
don’t think so!
Happy reading!
Introducing…
Coming
Darkness
Archangel Lucifer lives a comfortable life of self-imposed exile with his vampire lover, Kai. When the other Archangels come to him with a problem — Heaven is gone and their Father is missing — he refuses to get involved because not only is it not his problem, but it's probably some elaborate ruse they've cooked up to lure him back into the fold.
When he's personally attacked, he finds that he's wrong on both counts. There are other powerful gods at work, gods who believe the current creation is flawed and must be destroyed.
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| Amazon.com | Amazon.UK |
Kai is thrown off balance when Lucifer disappears, and his life begins to spiral out of control. In the past, he never cared that he was looked down upon and called Lucifer's pet. But with Lucifer absent, he's left to navigate a world that doesn’t respect him. Since the only true currency is respect, he must gain it the only way his enemies will understand, through blood.
~
They say it’s never too late to find and pursue your passion. Turns out they’re right. Although Susan-Alia Terry loved to read, she didn’t start writing until she was in her late 40's.
A stint in grad school helped her hone her craft, and now she happily spends her days making up stories and figuring out how best to emotionally (and sometimes physically) torture her characters.
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