FAMILY: The Ready-Made Research Source

Writers are often encouraged to "write what you know". I've found that I can also write "what my FAMILY knows". I followed this second piece of advice during a recent family event that provided an opportunity for a little research (with added benefits for tax time!).

One of my nieces is getting married this Fall, and her sister planned a wedding shower for her in Delaware. My original plan was to travel up just for the weekend, but realized that I was making a rookie writer mistake. My current work-in-progress is a contemporary sweet romance entitled DADDY'S HOME. It's Book 3 in the Pittsburgh Connections series, and I plan its submission to Harlequin Heartwarming within the month. And the novel's setting?


Newark, Delaware.

New-Ark. 

I went to college at the University of Delaware in Newark (Go Blue Hens!). I learned my very first week in the dorm that (1) the town's name is pronounced New-Ark (not to be confused with its neighbor Newark, NJ),  (2) Caesar Rodney rode on his deathbed to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence, thereby securing our nation's path to freedom, and (3) my Western Pennsylvania "pop" was "soda".

For DADDY'S HOME, I still needed to check on childhood neighborhoods for my hero Ellery and heroine Laura. I wanted to drive around the area, walk through campus, and linger downtown to reawaken my "sense memories" - smells, sights, sounds, feelings, atmosphere. And what a bonus! Anything I don't know about living in the area today, I can fact-check with my family. The shower invitation created the opportunity for me to take a couple of extra days exploring the area and also to quiz my relatives about the details of Delaware living.

Finally, as a working author, I can also claim some of the travel costs as business expenses on my income taxes.

DADDY'S HOME will include a lot of what I know, but I deliberately chose the setting to include what I can gather from my family. Makes the whole research process a lot easier.

Let's see. I've got another relative who's into military history. There's the Regency romance I've been working on...

Thank you for joining me today on my writing journey.

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