Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Post Halloween Sugar Crash (#IWSG November 2019)

It's a week after Halloween. Does your house look like this yet?

Mine doesn't, but only because my wife threatened to divorce me if I took the decorations up out of the basement before December 1st. 

Last week's Trick-Or-Treat-Reads was loads of fun. Thanks, Patricia Lynne for organizing once again! I got a lot more downloads than usual, so fingers crossed some people will actually read my books and leave a review. I even got a few Kindle Unlimited reads as well, which was an extra-special Halloween treat. It's always nice when a freebie leads directly to an actual "sale." Overall my sales the past few months have been absolute garbage, so even a few pages at half a cent each is encouraging.

I really need to finish some of the stuff I'm working on so I can get new stuff out there. I have high hopes for 2020. Hopes that will probably be crushed, sure, but I'll take the positive emotions while I can.

November Question 
What's the strangest thing you've ever googled in researching a story?

Unlike (apparently) most writers, I've never Googled how to kill someone or how a body decomposes or anything like that. Maybe some people are really concerned by exactly how long it takes someone to bleed out when stabbed three inches below their solar plexus, but I suspect these are the same people who calculate the airspeed velocity of their dragons based on mass and wingspan. For me the answer to both of those things is "whatever makes the story interesting."

Honestly, it's odd when I research anything, but sometimes I get caught up in weird details I dig into in way more depth than needed. A few recent ones:


  • The colour of Newfoundland Light & Power trucks in 1992 (I recall they were red but I can't find a picture to confirm this)
  • Clowning practices of 1850s travelling circuses
  • The history of the Group of Seven artists, only so that I can completely change it and make them into supervillains
  • A historic Canadian murder where the victim died on a table, because I needed a haunted table

Don't get me started on how much research I've done on Pokemon.

Did you know that in Generation 3, Girafarig could learn Astonish at level 7 and Confusion at level 13, but since Generation 4 it's been able to learn both moves at level 1, and instead gained a new move called Odour Sleuth at Level 5 that allows it to attack otherwise unhittable targets?

I hate that I know this.

Hugs and kisses,
-CDGK


The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group at http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/.

9 comments:

Loni Townsend said...

I hope your hopes remain high for 2020. We both need it, I'd say.

Glad you got some downloads and page reads!

I'm a habitual Googler. Even at my job, someone asks a random question or can't quite remember a particular detail about something, I'm there, my fingers flying as I go to look it up. I don't often go down research rabbit holes with my writing, though. Most of my stuff is made-up magic. It's only when I get into stories involving the real world do I take some effort to make sure I don't say something completely wrong. :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sorry, I know very little about Pokemon.
What were the clown practices?
Our Christmas stuff comes out after Thanksgiving, so I', glad that holiday is late this year.

C.D. Gallant-King said...

I wish we had Thanksgiving in November here in Canada. It marks a nice delineation as the start of the Christmas Season. Without it, there's a lot of silly debate as to when Christmas "officially" starts.

Anonymous said...

No Christmas here until December. Halloween through Nov 2 (Day of the Dead), then Thanksgiving. I really think we could use a little more of the "thanks" part before the season of greed. But retailers do not agree, as I witnessed Christmas displays even before Halloween.

There is not one single search in my history about Pokemon. :-)

Lidy said...

I was never able to get into Pokemon (more of a Digimon fan) so I feel your pain. Glad you enjoyed Trick-or-Treat reads.

Natalie Aguirre said...

I never researched killings or anything like that either. Enjoyed seeing what you research.

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

I like your research. I'm laughing that you're willing to make up things like how long it takes someone to bleed to death, but you needed a real murder on a table?

I never put up Xmas stuff until December. How late in December depends on how inspired I get. No one else around here seems to care much, so it's all about me doing it.

I've mostly been into researching poisons. Also how long it takes to heal broken bones.

Sadira Stone said...

Here's to high hopes. And Halloween candy--especially the mini Snickers. Happy writing in November.

Caitlin Coppola said...

I am right there with you. I rarely research anything, except for confirming mundane details like a car color. But the dragon airspeed velocity thing...that's legit. Congrats on the extra special treats from Trick or Treat Reads!

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