Researching for fun

People are often surprized at how much research I do given that I predominantly write paranormal or sci fi romance. How much research can be done when I’m making stuff up?

Well…

If my heroine has wings I have to research different types of wings and decide which kind to base her wings on.

Writing about a desert dwelling alien race….how do earthlings do it? There are many different desert dwelling people and learning about they how survive means I can use similar ideas for my people.

For my Blood and Silver series I researched lost civilizations, as well as reading Collapse by Jared Diamond (which is about how societies collapse) and also the World Without us by Alan Weisman (how long does it take nature to reclaim what is abandoned).

I research things that interest me, which in turn feeds my work. Ideas come from everywhere, because I feed my brain with things that I don’t usually come across in my day to day life. I sometimes just browse a library shelf until something jumps out at me. Which is how I started reading Atlantis by Allan J Danelek. This book raised the idea that civilization had risen and fallen many times over the last 100,000 years  and tied together a few ideas from the other books. It also made me think of the ending of Battlestar Galactica (really need to re-watch that series)….

Between edits and writing and reading fiction I think it’s important to keep learning. Learning doesn’t have to be expensive or formal it just means being open to learning new things and new ideas. As an author those new things grow into many different plot bunnies.

What are some of things you like to research for fun?