The variety of things authors find themselves researching is batty. Today, in the thick of it, I found myself opening tab after tab while looking for plausibility. One would suppose that when I’m writing complete fantasy I don’t have to do much in the way of research. Alas, not true. Research bookmarks for the Lady Warrior Saga include Heat Colors for blacksmiths, garden and plant dictionaries, heraldry, and The Three Body Problem wiki entry along with several computer generated options for how one could solve a Three Body Problem. One of which happens to mimic the star system of the planet that hosts the Saga. I was quite chuffed to see it. Go here to see the solutions, read more about the physics problem, and see if you can pick out the solution of the Fiery Sisters and the Ghost Moon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-body_problem#/media/File:5_4_800_36_downscaled.gif
For Milia, because it is set in the 1980s, I dig through historical newspapers and old maps, some of them as old as the 1970s. She’s always fun to research. I also have to grab old calendar programs to find the full moons in each month the story will cover along with major news stories that gripped the United States at the time. Even in My Time of Dying, which is a simple story on its surface, I had to dig deep for the mythological creature that Bean is based on and I researched chickens so often that Google started serving me chicken ads, convinced I was going to start a backyard flock!
Darius and her Dragon, though, they are killing me. The story is set in the near future so I am constantly pulling up future tech websites. Space Elevators, Space Stations, VTOLs, Hydroponics, and megastructures. Additionally, it is set during the climate apocalypse, so I have climate and weather prediction models at my fingertips. I am also using Google Earth’s program that allows me to draw on an overlay of the planet. The most recent rabbit hole I fell down for Darius and Drake was looking up fat deposits on reptiles. Right about the time I realized I was trying to decide what modern reptile a dragon was most like so that I could pinpoint fat deposits on Drake’s body, I realized I’d better stop and do something else for a moment.
If you’re wondering too, you’re welcome!
