lagilman | Entries tagged with research

I spent much of the weekend making plans for the research trip for the current WiP (Book 2 of The Devil’s West.). If nothing else, by the end of this series, I will know my country a hell of a lot better via boots-on-the-ground…

(we’ll be driving from Washington State to Wyoming via Idaho and Montana, adding to last year’s Missouri-to-Colorado trip across Kansas.)

If anyone out there happens to live between Spokane (WA) and Cody (WY) and would enjoy a drive-by of road-tripping writers, sing out! *g*

And meanwhile, a reminder that you can pre-order the first book, SILVER ON THE ROAD, to get ready.... *g*

With apologies for anything I accidentally phrase wrongly, I'm looking for someone who is/knows of someone who is Hinonoeino/Arapaho, to double-check some historical facts and public legends against not-a-reference-book.

Ditto, anyone from the Ho-Chunk/Winnebago tribes.

I can only offer my sincere gratitude, a mention in the acknowledgments, and a copy of the finished book, if so desired, in payment....

and yes, since someone asked, I HAVE tried contacting the official websites and several museums. And gotten dead silence back. And the two academics I tried to reach out to basically told me "nobody will talk to you because you're white." Which may be true [as I elaborate on in comments], but since I'm looking to NOT fuck things up, I need to TRY.

I really need to get some hands-on, eyes-on research done for SILVER ON THE ROAD, but was stymied because, while I am perfectly capable of traipsing off to a foreign country where I don't speak the language fluently on my own for a week or two, so long as I can rely on mass transit, the thought of being on the road on my own for a week, in unfamiliar areas...

Look, I can handle new situations, I can read a map, and I can drive, and I can ask strangers for directions, as-needed. But having to do all of that, plus taking photographs and doing research? Just thinking about it made me start to stress. Knowing your panic press-points is a good thing, and all part of adulting.

But so's not letting those press-points stop you.

and so, Research Road Trip Planning Recommences. Kansas City to Colorado Springs, maybe continuing down to Santa Fe....

You in those area? Got a sofa? *g*

If a picture's worth a thousand words, then here's a blogpost about what I've been up to recently...

(the research-corner of my office, currently given over to material for SILVER ON THE ROAD. The brown paper on the wall hosts a rotating series of post-its and relevant-to-the-chapter information, while the boards hold things I need for the entire book. Also note: current research tomes, and Piles of Notes...)

I need two (preferably non-Christian, Jewish/Muslim acceptable) sigils - one to represent character A (essential matter, lawful neutral, totality) and the other to represent group B (lawful good, impartiality, harsh justice). I would like them to have some grounding in existing mythos, but not so associated with one particular entity/religion that they can't be reinterpreted....

any pointers?

(EtA: I mean 'sigil' in the older sense of "representation of a word of action/effect," if that helps)

Attended the opening of the "Power of Poison" exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History here in NYC last night. Other than needing to put down some emergency lights in the floor, to offset the lowered lights for the exhibit, I'd give it high marks - interesting, well-presented, and just enough interactivity to offset the text (plus: the digital "book" display was amusing to watch people discover/use).

There are also 3x enlarged bugs, an actual tarantula (please do not tap on the glass), and a live action demo that hopefully will be continued throughout the run of the exhibit, because my companions really enjoyed that part.

I'm not sure if I'm more worried about how much I already knew about poisons, or how little other people seemed to know, though....

The exhibit runs through August 10th 2014, so you've got time to get into the city and see it.

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions2/the-power-of-poison

I wonder sometimes why I'm not reading much new fiction lately. And then I look at the research pile for the WiP. Which includes but is not limited to:

FACING EAST FROM INDIAN COUNTRY by Daniel Richter
MEASURING AMERICA by Andro Linklater
THE COLONIZERS by T.J Stiles
LIES, LEGENDS AND CHERISHED MYTHS OF AMERICAN HISTORY by Richard Shenkman
MORPHOLOGY OF THE FOLKTALE by V. Propp
KEEPER OF THE GAME by Calvin Martin
THE GREAT PEACE by Alain Beaulieu and Roland Viau

Yeah. That would be why.

William Bartram, 1739-1823 Travels Through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws; Containing An Account of the Soil and Natural Productions of Those Regions, Together with Observations on the Manners of the Indians. Embellished with Copper-Plates.

Yes, that's really the title.

Yes, it's project-related.

Yes, this also connects to yesterday's trip to the Peabody Essex Museum.

No, I'm not going to tell you any more than that.

Originally published at Writer. Editor. Tired Person.

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Entries tagged with research

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