A warm welcome to author Amanda Meuwissen joining us today to talk about new release “Coming Up for Air”.
Welcome Amanda 🙂
When research takes you interesting places.
When I first started writing novels, I never expected I’d eventually Google shark penises.
Every book requires some research, whether it’s about a location, a mental disorder, police protocol, or, in my case for my most recent release, Coming Up for Air, fish anatomy.
I wasn’t about to embark on a gay fairytale romance about merfolk without thinking very thoughtfully about what a merman’s anatomy might be. I have a Discord channel I’ve participated in for one of my fanfiction communities where we discuss anything and everything adult.
One day, everyone was discussing merfolk and various other sea creature anatomy for merman stories. And let me tell you—it was all super helpful and informative and had me googling under-the-sea anatomy for real to decide what would make sense for my character versus just having normal human genitalia coming out of a fin.
Yes, some inspiration came from The Shape of Water too.
Altered anatomy might not work for everyone who enjoys my writing or the gay romance genre, but I loved imagining something new and different and trying to lend some credibility to the reasoning for why my character’s anatomy would be what it is.
Writing is fascinating that way, where there are no right or wrong answers when choosing those kinds of rules. It’s fiction, mermaids aren’t real (as far as we know), but doing research anyway can be a lot of fun and add depth to your story.
I personally love getting lost in a novel where the rules of our modern world don’t apply, but it’s funny how some things we can easily suspend our disbelief on—mermaids existing at all—and other things we’ll turn our noses up at. That’s why realism in other ways can be so important, from how legal systems work, to the varied ways people respond in different situations.
I’d love to know any stories from fellow writers where research took you down an interesting path, and I encourage budding authors to always focus on the details. Research, research, research, then make up your mind about what’s true for you and your worldbuilding.
The most important thing once you choose rules, especially in a fantasy or sci-fi setting, is to stay consistent, stick to the rules you set, and your readers will stick with you.
Amanda Meuwissen is a primarily gay romance writer, as well as Marketing Operations Manager for the software company Outsell. She has a Bachelor of Arts in a personally designed major from St. Olaf College in Creative Writing, and is an avid consumer of fiction through film, prose, and video games. As author of the paranormal romance trilogy The Incubus Saga, young adult novel Life as a Teenage Vampire, the novelette The Collector, and superhero duology Lovesick Gods and Lovesick Titans, Amanda regularly attends local comic conventions for fun and to meet with fans, where she will often be seen in costume as one of her favorite fictional characters. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, John, and their cat, Helga, and can be found at www.amandameuwissen.com.