My Guest: Susan Mac Nicol (part 2)

In my Guest Post this week I am featuring the second half of a previous guest's post. This time the writer tackles a common problem from the perspective of her own novels. Ladies and Gentlemen,

Susan Mac Nicol

 
Character Stereotypes

The first part of this guest post was all about the process of research and the rather weird and wonderful things I came across in the course of performing it. To recap, it was fairly run of the mill stuff - S and M, 101 uses for a flogger, gay man sex,  female on male rape, retributivism, cults, Stockholm Syndrome, male sexual abuse, psychopathic serial killers and more sex. Everyday topics for a Romance author really.

You might think that was the sum of all the weird and wonderful insights into the genre in which I write, which is gay male Romance. Well there’s more.

I am a straight woman writing about two men falling in love and having sex. Now while I think most of us have an idea of what this might entail, it might surprise you to look at a few statistics on the gay man world, and give yourself food for thought. I came across so many stereotypical views so I thought I'd look at this in more detail.

available 2nd Oct  -  Link

Firstly, there are a lot of myths about the gay life style out there.  Assumptions such as all gay men love anal sex, they can all do wonderful interior design or be a woman's BFF when it comes to choosing clothing (someone's been watching Father of the Bride or Will and Grace), they are promiscuous, love to have sex in bathrooms, and they are more likely to be paedophiles.

Yes, as in everything else in life, there are stereotypes and one of the things we as authors try not to do, is propagate the myth in our books unless it's what we choose to do for the story. We might not always succeed but we try. We all know some real doozies. That Irishmen called Murphy are supposed to be idiots. That all Englishmen love to drink tea. That anyone who wears a tattoo is a complete skank. That all priests are paedophiles. I mean, what a load of horse pucky. Yes, there might be a village idiot called Murphy somewhere in the world but that's just the way it is. I'm sure there's one called Einstein somewhere too.

This article by Simply Psychology was a fascinating look into what stereotypes are and how they get to be perceived as such:

http://www.simplypsychology.org/katz-braly.html  

[McLeod, S. A. (2008). Stereotypes - Simply Psychology]

Stereotypes are defined as “...a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996).

In the Romance genre we see this a lot. The beautiful heroine with her heaving bosom and flashing eyes who probably came from a wealthy family and is now trying to assert her independence. The handsome, muscle bound hero, with cheekbones to die for and a devil may care attitude. The dark, brooding villain who somehow manages to sweep away said heroine (or in my case, hero) to a life of lustful sex and enjoyment, a happy ever after. And you know what, there's nothing wrong with this. The Romance trope depends on the burgeoning love relationship between a hero/heroine, hero/hero, who meet through some unforeseen circumstance, normally piss each other off, then come together in the realisation that they are meant to be together, leading to the inevitable HEA- Happy Ever After. The creativity comes in HOW we tell their story, what creativity we put into their development, how we define and develop their flaws (because they have to have some) and how we get said happy ending.

I am a member of the Romance Writers of America and this is what they been quoted as defining the plot of a romance novel -

Amazon Link

According to the Romance Writers of America, the main plot of a romance novel must revolve around the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship together. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main characters' romantic love. Furthermore, a romance novel must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending."

This is it in a nut shell. But making your characters non-stereotypical, trying to give them their own identity and personality while not making them so reflective of what people expect them to be, that's where the challenge lies. And sometimes we may not succeed and succumb to the lure of the stereotype. If this happens, all I can say is that as long as you enjoy the story, it entertains you and makes you feel emotional, whether it be sad, happy, angry, disgusted or just plain horny, then who really gives a damn. As a writer we've achieved what we set out to do - make you, the reader, believe in our characters, their lives and leave you with the feeling that perhaps, just perhaps, you might like to do it all again. With our next book of course - that goes without saying.  :)

Read PART 1 of Sue's post here

Bio

Sue Mac Nicol was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. At the age of eight, her family moved to Johannesburg, South Africa where she stayed for nearly thirty years before arriving back in the UK in December 2000.

Sue works full time in the field of regulatory compliance for a company in the financial services industry in Cambridge. But she still finds time to work until the small hours of the morning doing what she loves best – writing. Since her first novel, Cassandra by Starlight, was penned, Sue has written the other two books in her Starlight trilogy, four other novels, two short stories and a screen play based on Cassandra. Her passion is keeping herself busy creating worlds and characters for her readers to enjoy.

Sue is a member of Romance Writers of America and Romantic Novelists Association in the UK. She is also a member of a rather unique writing group, called the Talliston Writer’s Circle, which in itself has a story all of its own to tell, and lives in the rural village of Bocking, in Essex, with her family.

Her plan is to keep writing as long as her muse sits upon her shoulder. Her dream is to one day get that big old house in the English countryside overlooking a river, where she can write all day and continue to indulge her passion for telling stories.

Sue can be contacted at:

Personal website:  www.susanmacnicol.com 

Author:  www.boroughspublishinggroup.com

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/SusanMacnicol7

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/susiemax77

Cassandra by Starlight Facebook page:  http://on.fb.me/RQYv3Z

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/susiemax777/

Blogs:  http://susanmacnicol.tumblr.com/ & http://www.susanmacnicol.com/blog/

LinkedIn:  http://linkd.in/YFWZ40

Thanks for another great post, Sue. Er... don't all Englishmen drink Tea?


Eric @ www.ericjgates.com

My Guests: 14 Outstanding Writers

Over the past few months I have invited a number of writing friends to share their thoughts as my guests on this blog. As some of you may have missed these excellent articles, here is the list of all who have appeared to date, with direct links to their posts:

J.E. Ryder
http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/07/my-guest-je-ryder.html

Learning the Writing Craft 

- A Long Road Travelled

Michael W. Sherer
http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/07/my-guest-michael-w-sherer.html


For God’s Sake, Get It Right!

Susan Mac Nicol
http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/06/my-guest-susan-mac-nichol.html


Ahh - the pleasure and gratification of author research ...and its rather surprising impacts

Wodke Hawkinson
http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/my-guest-wodke-hawkinson.html


The Three C’s of Collaboration

Thomas Block
http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/04/my-guest-thomas-block.html

A writing journey

Stephen Leather
http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/my-guest-stephen-leather.html


The Writer & Book Reviews

Paul A. Rice

http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/my-guest-paul-rice.html

Why I Write & Why You Should...

Jonel Boyko

http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/my-guest-jonel-boyko.html

Book Reviewing - a Master Class

Jordyn Redwood

http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/my-guest-jordyn-redwood.html

Story ideas

Fleur Ferris

http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/my-guest-fleur-ferris.html

Don't waste opportunities - be prepared to take your manuscript all the way

John Dolan

http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/my-guest-john-dolan.html

Playing A Round Writing

C. N. James

http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/my-guest-c-n-james_23.html

Are Independent Authors the New Publishing Paradigm?

Amy Joy

http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/my-guest-amy-joy.html

The Rise of Digital Books

Seumas Gallacher

http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/my-guest-seumas-gallacher.html

…throwing a spammer in the works …(or, letting it all hang out there…) 




That's 14 very busy people who have gone out of their way to write an original post especially for you, dear reader, so please tell your friends about them and read their contributions. 

A heartfelt Thank You once again to all of my Guests for your time, effort and insights.

More Guests shortly - Check back often!

Eric @ ericjgates.com

Discovering a New Force in Thriller Writing

“Reminiscent of the suspense of a Frederick Forsyth before settling into the pace of a James Patterson and the bangs per buck of Andy McNab.”

“Not only is this story itself full of suspense, but Gates' method of writing keeps you on the edge of your seat. He uses short, concise sentences to set the mood at times, and switches to longer, more flowing sentences to tone down other scenes. This author grasps not only the power of words but also the power of sentence structure within the novel. He manages to bring absolute chaos to life so that you feel like you are living it with the characters.”

That is what top book reviewers are saying about thriller writer

Eric J. Gates

His writing has also been compared to that of Lee Child, Dan Brown, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and even the ‘24’ TV series.

His latest thriller, Leaving Shadows, is no exception and has already garnered 5 Star reviews on Amazon.

Over the last few years this ex-computer security/cyberwarfare consultant and martial arts expert has built up a solid following for his fast-paced thrillers. His pulse-racing novels mix real, contemporary events with a touch of the unusual; always creating a fresh and original approach to the subjects he tackles. Even his characters stand out as people you would like to meet, or not, in real life.

“Imagine that all your world, all you know and understand, all you accept as true, all the rules you live by, all of it were contained within a circle drawn with a thick black border. Outside that circle, there be dragons… and vampires, assassins, covert agencies, aliens… Well, my books dance along that black border, occasionally meandering outside to give things a good shake up.” (Eric J. Gates in a recent interview with Nick LeVar on Authors of the Free World.)

Eric has four thriller novels available in paperback and e-book format from AMAZON:

Your Amazon Link

Leaving Shadows – When is a kidnapping not a kidnapping? A page-turning spy thriller where deceit and lies abound and nothing is as it seems.

“The twists and turns that Gates takes serve to keep the action moving and the reader's mouth hanging open.”

“Gates gives the classic [spy] thriller a thoroughly modern upgrade.”

The first in a new action-packed series.

Your Amazon Link

the CULL – What if vampires were real? A deadly manhunt ensues as a young, reckless ex-FBI agent is partnered with an ex-NSA spy and tasked to eliminate a serial killer. The hunters soon become the hunted!

“An original take on the Vampire myth and some wonderfully sympathetic characters.” 

“This was by far one of the best suspense novels that I have read in a long time.” 

"James Patterson meets Dan Brown, while remaining entirely unique.”

Eric is currently working on two sequels to this novel

 - Yes, 'the CULL' is shortly to become a Trilogy!

Your Amazon Link

Full Disclosure – A dying Texas town finds itself on the front lines of a covert war when the President reveals Mankind’s Greatest Secret.

“Overall I was excessively surprised throughout the novel. Gates combines detail and writing style to create a thrilling ride for his readers” 

“The interweaving of characters and personalities is so well performed that you find yourself living the part.”

Discover why people keep saying that 'Full Disclosure' would make a great movie, or a TV Miniseries.

Your Amazon Link

2012 – Against a backdrop of International tension and global disasters, an ex-Special Ops soldier, with nothing to lose, and the daughter of an MIT robotics engineer race to stop the End of the World.

“There are surprises as the individual tales slowly weave together for a truly satisfying ending. I found this to be one you didn't want to put down!”

“...take an obscure group who wish to change the way the world operates... throw in a splash or more of devious activity at tomb excavations in Egypt... global disasters and upheavals... a dissolute ex-special ops hero with a renewed purpose to live... mayhem galore.. don't blink or you'll miss some of it... great action... wonderful pace... terrific yarn... enjoyable read...”

So real, its will immerge you in its events - mind you don't get your feet wet.

And remember: all of Eric J. Gates' thrillers have Inside Secrets - check them out at www.ericjgates.com

You might also discover how to appear as a character in one of Eric's thrillers...

A final word from one of Eric's readers:

"I have sadly learnt that once you pick up one of Eric J. Gates’ books, life as you know it ceases. From page one, it is non-stop and enjoyable; a read you will not regret."

You have been warned!

Thriller Writer Eric J. Gates is also on Twitter here

T @ www.ericjgates.com

My Guest: J.E. Ryder

I am aware that many aspiring writers read this blog looking for insights from those who have broken through the apparently insurmountable barriers to becoming a published author. Today's Guest provides sound advice as she recounts her own journey to seeing her superb suspense novel published by Amazon and available for readers everywhere. Ladies and gentlemen,

J.E. Ryder

Learning the Writing Craft 

- A Long Road Travelled

Since the self-publishing revolution we’ve seen an explosion in online resources for authors. Any question on the writing craft or publishing business can be answered in a mouse-click, the answers given freely by authors and writing professionals willing to share their knowledge.

Seven years ago we lived in a different landscape. There was writing advice out there, from Internet companies, individuals, how-to write books, magazines, writers’ conferences, creative writing groups and workshops, but all that closely guarded information came at a price.

Amazon Link

Fortunately, I didn’t think I’d need to spend my hard-earned money on writing advice. I’d had a good education. I had thrilling story ideas swilling around in my head, and I’d been reading books all my life. What could be simpler than dashing off a novel in my spare time?

One day I saw an advertisement for a monthly writing magazine. The banner title read: How to Land a Literary Agent. Useful, I thought; I’d need an agent when I finished my novel. The magazine arrived in the post with a free how-to-write paperback. Soon, unfamiliar terminology began to spin before my eyes: plotting, back story, POV, motivation, pace, theme, style, protagonist, antagonist, three-act-structure, character arcs, theme, turning points.

I wasn’t discouraged. After all, I was used to managing offices and organising staff. I’d edited in-house magazines and newsletters. Learning this skill known as the writing craft should be easy. That summer I booked a day at a writers’ conference. My inexperience led me to sign on for sessions that were far too advanced. Much of the teaching went way over my head. Other budding authors plodding between lectures looked as lost as I was. In the lunch break I met an author who’d just signed with a major literary agency. He said he’d been attending conferences for ten years to learn the craft. Ten years? I was stunned. The horrible realisation dawned. I was in for a long, hard slog.

I spent my free days attending creative writing groups, joined workshops, went to conferences, devoured how-to-write books. I wrestled with the dark art of synopsis writing, learned how to compose an industry standard query letter, got to grips with manuscript formatting. Two years later I had a completed novel. I started the depressing task of submitting to Agents, waiting weeks, months sometimes for rejection slips to land on the doormat (one took five months to arrive). Occasionally, a slip would carry a scribbled comment: “You can write well, but I can’t place this right now,” or, “This needs more work.” That one always bemused me. What work? How can I do more work if you don’t tell me what kind of work I should be doing? But, as an Agent said to her audience at conference: Agents are not in the business of teaching people how to write.

Over the next couple of years I had the good fortune to meet three generous people who moved my writing skills forward.

•        In a conference hallway, I approached an Agent whom I’d heard was taking submissions for thrillers. She didn’t seem to notice my nervousness (or maybe she was used to seeing authors shaking in fear). After listening to my stumbling elevator pitch, she accepted the first chapter, synopsis and query letter. Six weeks later she asked to read the entire manuscript. I went into shock. The entire manuscript! I sent it away and spent the next ten days in a nail-biting blur. She didn’t take it up, but she did write a long email explaining how to fix the novel. For the first time I had professional feedback.
•            At a workshop, a published author recommended a book that had helped him in his career: “Scene & Structure, How to construct fiction with scene-by-scene flow, logic and readability, by Jack M. Bickham.” The chapter on Cause and Effect was a revelation.
•             In early 2009, I discovered a blog written by American editor and author, Anne Mini, entitled “Author! Author!” In her own words: “Part of my purpose in setting up this website is to provide as much information about the writing life and publication process as possible to aspiring writers…” Her comprehensive online advice was free, unheard of at the time. She was the only writing professional I’d come across who was willing to discuss the craft. I wish I’d found her sooner. She started posting in August 2005. Reading her blog posts I finally understood why my manuscript needed more work. Under her instruction I spent months improving my novel-editing skills, the laborious process of refining words, grammar and story structure.

Five years had passed since I’d purchased that fateful writing magazine. I was ready to take early retirement. My freedom to write full time coincided with the growth in the Internet self-publishing revolution. I was determined to join the revolution the moment I had a novel ready. I discarded my early writing efforts and started afresh. The result is my thriller, Blood Pool, published in Kindle format on Amazon. Currently, I’m working hard on my next novel, a sweeping thriller spanning the European continent, a story of tragedy, vengeance and love.

I know now that my writing journey will never end. Every day I learn something new from our wonderful online community. Were the years spent struggling with the craft worth it? I’d have to say, yes. They taught me not only essential skills, but also how to keep going in the face of disappointment and rejection. They were worth it.

BIO:

At ten years old J.E. Ryder discovered that her elder brother's reading choices were completely different from hers, and much more exciting. She loved his fabulous Marvel Comics with their superheroes and heroines, the espionage novels, gritty adventure stories and survival epics. Her lifelong enjoyment of thrilling fiction has had a major influence on her writing. Her business career took her through all the big city industries and corporations: oil, banking, law and national government, and provided an endless cast of fascinating people and situations to draw on. Her debut thriller, Blood Pool is available from Amazon. Currently, she’s working on her next novel, a sweeping thriller that spans the European continent, a story of tragedy, vengeance and love.

Blood Pool Book Description:

How hard can it be to kill one woman?

When Sam Shelley’s husband dies she becomes the owner of his boat yard and estates. The Shelley men have inherited the land for two hundred years. Locals want it to stay that way. They’re threatening to trace the rightful male heir.

Then an old friend, an eccentric inventor, disappears in violent circumstances. Sam will do anything for him: he’s been like a father to her while she grieved. The race is on to find him. The authorities want him for murder. Government agencies want him and his world-changing invention for themselves.

Sam is determined to reach him first. Soon, she’s squeezed between murderous factions outside the boat yard and deadly rivalries within. No one is what they seem, especially those nearest to her…

J.E. Ryder’s Amazon Page: http://viewAuthor.at/JERyder

J.E. Ryder’s Blog: http://jeryder.blogspot.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/J.E.RyderAuthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Jeryder5Author

Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/jeryder

Thank you J.E. for a wonderful inspirational post. Many aspiring writers out there, perhaps losing heart at the constant obstacles that seem to separate them from having their work published, should be encouraged by your words. As Sancho Panza of Don Quijote fame once said: "Patience, and shuffle the cards!"

Eric @ www.ericjgates.com

My Guest: Michael W. Sherer

My Guest this week is a force to be reckoned with in the thriller and mystery novel genre. As this post goes live, his novel NIGHT BLIND is up for an award at the ITW (International Thriller Writers), to be announced at this year's ThrillerFest (July 10-13). On behalf of all the readers of this blog I'd like to wish him all our best for success there. Today he brings us all some very sound advice. Ladies and Gentlemen:



Michael W. Sherer

For God’s Sake, Get It Right!

NOTE TO MY READERS: If you would like to hear this Guest Post read by its author, it can be found HERE (Mike's segment starts at minute 26 more or less).

Some of the worst writing advice you can get is to write what you know. It’s a huge fallacy, a myth. If we all wrote what we know, the world would be filled with boring, poorly written autobiographies. We wouldn’t have fantasy, science fiction, thrillers, regency romances… the list goes on. Did Mary Shelley reanimate a patchwork corpse and dictate her notes on the experiment? Did Poe dismember a body and hide it under his floorboards just to see if his guilt would cause him to hear a beating heart? Did Jules Verne captain a submarine or pilot a balloon? Most of us write about circumstances we’ve never personally experienced.

Amazon Link

Another homily you shouldn’t believe: “Don’t sweat the small stuff; and it’s all small stuff.” Self-publishing has opened up a world of opportunity for authors. When my first novel was published 25 years ago, about 44,000 books were published annually in the U.S. The number last year had grown to nearly 14 times that many. And, according to Bowker, 235,000 of those were self-published. Writers who never would have seen their books in print five years ago now can sell thousands, even millions, of copies of their work. But, just as some of the books traditional publishers put out are crap, so are many self-published books, perhaps a much larger percentage.

E-books have made self-publishing a no- or low-cost affair, and the tools available online make the process as easy as a few clicks of the mouse on a computer. Those two factors alone have encouraged a huge number of authors to self-publish who would otherwise endure slush piles and stacks of rejections from agents and publishers. And, yes, it’s encouraged every wannabe author to put his or her efforts out there for the world to see. Many aren’t ready for primetime. Some will never be ready. A majority, however, are what traditional publishers call “midlist” authors whose work is certainly good enough for publication, but may never find a wide audience.

Sadly, the product many of these authors put out isn’t worth reading for one simple reason: lack of good editing. Maybe they’re too eager to get their work “out there,” and don’t take the time to make their books the best they can be. Maybe they can’t afford a good editor. Or perhaps they’re too lazy to proof their own work. In so doing, they violate their sacred trust with readers. 

As fiction authors, in particular crime fiction, we forge an unspoken, unwritten contract with readers. We promise to do our very best to entertain them, to give them characters who are lifelike despite prowess at one skill or another beyond our normal ken; to offer settings that may be both exotic and foreign, yet places we might find on a map; to carry us on a thrill ride with twists and turns, steep climbs and dramatic drops that leave our stomachs in our mouths but never jar us so hard we’re thrown off.

In short, we promise not to stretch credulity, not to give them a reason to suspend disbelief. Which means that we have to get it right. We must do our research and speak as if we’re experts on every topic even if we’re not. Because the unfortunate truth is that if we get details wrong, then we’ve quickly lost a reader’s trust. Once and they might forgive us. Twice in one book and they might reconsider finishing what we’ve written. More than that, and we’ve likely lost a buyer and potential fan of our next book.

Amazon Link

Some of us hated doing homework in school, and are loathe to fact-check absolutely every detail. And no one’s perfect, which is why so many authors, including me, often say on an acknowledgements page that they’ve done their best, but mistakes happen. We hate it when they do. There’s nothing worse than being called out by an irate reader on a detail that you overlooked, a detail you know you should have gotten right.

When I suggested earlier that you should ignore the advice to write about what you know and use your imagination to create worlds with which you’re unfamiliar, I didn’t mean you shouldn’t learn how those worlds work. Don’t know the difference between a revolver and a semi-automatic pistol (a mistake I still see often in crime fiction)? You’d better find out before you put a weapon in the hands of your character.

I recently read a book in which the author made, for me, four fatal errors that demonstrated a lack of research, lack of a good copy editor or both. The first was misspelling the name of a major defense contractor. The error easily could have been remedied by a quick look on the Internet. It wasn’t a horrible mistake, but it wasn’t a typo either, which suggested sloppy work.

The second error was the protagonist’s disappointment that DNA results hadn’t come back from the lab within 48 hours (the protagonist being a crime scene investigator). The CSI technicians I’ve spoken with all say they’re lucky to get results back in as little as two to three weeks. The mistake made me think that the author had relied on a perception propagated by television shows and not real research.

Amazon Link

The author committed a third error when a pathologist conducting an autopsy definitively declared that the victim’s killer had used a revolver with a silencer. Suppressors are rarely used on revolvers because they offer little benefit; the gap between the cylinder and barrel permits too much sound to escape. And though I haven’t yet asked an expert, I find it hard to believe the wound itself would reveal whether a silencer had been used or not.

Then, in the denouement, the struggle between protagonist and serial killer at the scene of a light plane crash, the author kept referring to the still-rotating rudder. At one point, the hero shoves the killer into the “rudder” while it was turning, causing it to bruise his shoulder but not incapacitate him. I think the author meant “propeller” not “rudder,” but by that point my credulity had been frayed to the breaking point.

The book wasn’t badly written, but mistakes like these scream “Amateur!” Worse, for me, they make me leery of reading authors I’ve not heard of, or authors whose books have not been vetted by a large numbers of readers. And I end up approaching the next few books I read with a jaundiced eye and more unforgiving of even the smallest of errors. To be fair, I find errors like these in traditionally published books by best-selling authors, which is an even more egregious crime.

Self-publishing is giving a tremendous number of authors a chance to find readers they wouldn’t otherwise. Don’t lose those readers right off the bat with errors and sloppy editing. Get it right! 

BIO:

After stints as manual laborer, dishwasher, bartender, restaurant manager, commercial photographer, magazine editor and public relations executive, Michael W. Sherer decided life should imitate art and became an author and freelance writer. Mike is the Thriller Award-nominated, best-selling author of Night Blind, the first in the Seattle-based Blake Sanders thriller series. His other books include six novels in the award-winning Emerson Ward mystery series, the stand-alone suspense novel Island Life, and the Tess Barrett YA thriller series.

Please visit him at http://www.michaelwsherer.com or you can find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thrillerauthor and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/MysteryNovelist.

Thanks for the great post, Mike. I confess that you have hit the nail on the head with one of my own pet-peeves. Researching stuff is hard work, granted, but it can also be great fun!

Eric @ www.ericjgates.com