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Thirsty for Knowledge 5/21/2011 10:19:04 AM
Tap into an author's search engine with Romantic Suspense author, Maureen A. Miller
Thirsty for knowledge?
Nowadays, anything you want to learn, you simply type the question in your GOOGLE, BING or search engine of choice. But think of an author’s mind as an alternative. There is an overload of data being processed there, with random knowledge existing on a host of diverse subjects. Speaking from the database accrued in my own head, I can dictate information on a variety of subjects spanning from the conjecture behind leopard spots to Mayan temple acoustics, to lobster fishing, or even Spanish trading in the 1600’s. The list goes on.
Maybe only 25% of an author’s research makes it into their books, so somewhere in their brain lurks this wave of knowledge that may never be tapped again. I aspire to one day find myself at a bus stop sitting next to a Mayan historian who wants to engage in conversation about the gods of the underworld. You never know.
As a reader, take that knowledge and multiply it tenfold. Every author has infused the reader’s mind with information overload. I don’t write erotica, but I get very defensive of random accusations such as, “It’s just 300 straight pages of sex.” Even if it were, there is still research and knowledge involved. Perhaps in the middle of those 300 pages the characters had sex in the shade of Mt. Rushmore. Maybe in the throes of desire the female character looks up into the granite eyes of Theodore Roosevelt. Quite possibly, that reader did not know that Theodore Roosevelt was one of the faces on Mount Rushmore. They may also not have known that Mount Rushmore was made of granite. The next day that reader may be talking to someone at the store who is planning a trip to South Dakota, and she could say, “Oh, are you visiting Mount Rushmore?”
In my new romantic suspense novel, ENDLESS NIGHT, Jake Grogan is an electrical engineer−a virtual MacGyver type. In researching the character’s background, I gained an overload of information that maybe I can put to use one day. For example, did you know that you can stack three quarters on top of a C battery to emulate a D battery! While writing ENDLESS NIGHT I learned everything from building codes to the local beers on tap in Maine. The knowledge may be random, but it is still knowledge. We all know that knowledge gives us power.
I hope if you read the book…or any book, you walk away with a kernel of information that you did not know the day before and feed your inner search engine.
