Traveling ;)

I have been in many places, but I have never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can not go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone. I have also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there. I have, however, been in Sane. They do not have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my children, friends, family and work. I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore. I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often. I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm. Sometimes I am in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older. One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

Novel Research

Authors of non-fiction have to do a lot of research, but authors of novels have to make sure they get their facts straight too. My books (so far) have all been contemporary, so I haven't had to do the kind of research authors of historical novels do. But that doesn't mean I don't do any research. I once read an entire book about minor league baseball, even though the subject was a very minor point in The Perfect Guy--but I wanted to get everything right! I researched Scandinavian food for Hey, Nobody's Perfect, because the characters attend a Scandinavian Fair. I guess I did a good job, because someone wanted "my" recipe for Blueberry Kakar! (I don't have one. :) ) So the next time you read a book, realize that you may be reading the results from research about topics in that story, no matter how minor they might be to the plot.