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| Research Acquired For The 5 Band
Together Series |
While writing Band Together I worked with individual groups
to achieve straight-forward factual information to capture what each character
feels and deals with in any circumstance.
For my first novel, Spring Jammin’, I held several group
discussions with teenagers who lived in foster homes in order to understand
their feelings about their life in a foster home - or many. After interviewing
Judi Shields, the Director of Planning and Communications I chose to write for
Max Coburn’s character the most important thing children need in foster
care – a home where they fit in.
For book two, Summer Fireworks, I did research with Ducks
Unlimited where I walked the marsh to get the right feel for an emotional
status in a nesting wilderness. I studied the proper native grasses to be
planted on low pastures for safe nesting cover, a landing strip for birds
during migration, purple loosestrife and the food chain to achieve a natural
feel for this story. Later, when I found a dead duck in a farmers’ field
my own curiosity enabled me to develop how the characters get involved to help
save wild birds and become more aware of the rapid loss of wetlands.
After volunteering at a rehab centre to write book three, Fall
Apart, I studied a great deal of information and still didn’t have
the right reaction for an addict’s character so I went to the streets to
learn about addicts and find out for myself. I had met someone who wasn’t
expected to live for more than a year; fatally ill from drug abuse she wanted
to prevent other kids from getting into the same drug situation as her. She
made arrangements for me to dress-down in jeans and an old shirt and go
incognito with her to see the results of what happened to her addiction after
one night of partying with strangers. I went to the underground hideout and the
first person I met in the tunnel was a blonde boy lying on his side, passed out
with a needle sticking out of his arm. He was fourteen. He was barely alive. We
made our way past drug addicts of all ages, twelve-year old prostitutes and
sixty-year old alcoholics. All living in this cold, dripping wet tunnel they
looked after each other. The addicts shared what money they had so they could
all get drugs, booze or food – in that order. When it was time to leave I
walked back through the tunnel and noticed the blonde boy was now lying in a
steady drip of water from a leaky drainpipe. Seconds later, his head flopped to
the side. He died. A man was called to get him and when I asked where they took
his body the girl with me said, ‘don’t ask.’ I didn’t.
The research I did for book four, Winter X-tremes, led me to
combine being a health food cook and a stonemason. Character Thaddeus Tucker an
unsociable alcoholic was now trying to rebuild himself to be a better father to
his son Neddie. By going to Alcoholics Anonymous and taking a cooking course
Thaddeus decided to go grocery shopping and learn how to cook instead of taking
his son to burger joints every night. I created a scene where the neighbourhood
kids get involved to help him in the kitchen. This fast-paced funny chapter is
where a group of teenagers create their own recipes and turn Thaddeus’s
kitchen upside down with the mess they create, but the result is, Neddie and
Lincoln experiment later how to cook family meals then share recipes. When
Thaddeus decides to take pride in his yard he fixes his broken front step. For
this scene I needed a vehicle with good suspension and a strong chassis so my
friend Fran drove her – whoops – family van, and I
filled up my good-old Jeep to the rock quarry for two loads of 1-inch flat
rock. After sorting out the sizes I built a 14 ft. hearth around my fireplace
so I could describe how to work with mortar and stone.
At the time I was writing book five I was invited to the Beijing Conference in
New York with the United Nations. While there I went to several caucuses to
find out what subject I could write about for this story. After hearing the
guest speaker talk about landmine removal it was then I found my topic for Band
Together Season of Challenge. Yes, it is hard to understand how
war munitions can be put into the ground to fight two World Wars that have gone
by, and yet today, landmines continue to explode and kill a child every twenty
minutes.
| For every serious issue in my stories there’s an
equal amount of fun and entertaining excitement during the process of each
conflict. In showing true concern, humour always has its way to bring a reader
back to the meaning of the story. With so many different possible solutions to
each problem the friends help each other with their problems instead of running
away from them. |
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