A warm welcome to author Elle E. Ire joining us today to talk about new release “Threadbare”, book 1 in the Storm Fronts series.

Some Girls Get Flowers

Elle E. Ire

Research. Some authors love doing research, but if you’re talking about internet rabbit holes that lead the poor writer through a labyrinth with no exit, taking away precious time from the actual writing, then research can be downright frustrating, boring, and time-consuming.

Then there’s my research.

I write science fiction. I’ve had people tell me that I don’t need to research. I can “just make everything up!” Well, no. Even fantastical elements have to have some grounding in reality. They have to be relatable to the reader, and they need the ring of truth, if not the complete scientific explanation. I don’t write hard science fiction. I wouldn’t dare. I have no scientific background, and I have no desire to annoy any scientists who might read my work. But for everything else, I like the personal approach. In other words, as much as possible, I like to either experience something very close to what I’m writing about, or go to the source and ask lots of questions.

For example, weapons. My characters are mercenary soldiers. My THREADBARE protagonist, Vick Corren, is an expert in the usage of a wide variety of weapons. For the bladed types, I visited the local Renaissance fair. There, I got the opportunity to try out a number of weapons: daggers, throwing stars, axes, bows and arrows. I got to handle them, ask questions of their owners and makers, and even throw some of them at targets to see how they felt. Guns were a tad harder. I complained to my spouse that I didn’t think I really understood what firing a gun was like. So, for my next birthday, I received shooting lessons as my present. Best gift ever! I learned how to load, carry, and fire several types of pistols. And as I suspected, I’d been describing the experience incorrectly and had to go back and make some changes to my work. And for those who follow my Facebook page, I recently mentioned that I got a quick lesson in bullwhip usage from a stuntwoman. So, expect to see some futuristic bullwhips in Storm Fronts, Book 3, WOVEN.

But there’s a lot more I needed to know to write THREADBARE. In addition to weapons, I needed “situational” research. For this, I embraced what would become a new obsession—escape rooms. My protagonist finds herself in a lot of dire circumstances throughout THREADBARE and the two sequels forthcoming. So, my spouse and I and our writing group started playing every creepy, freaky, science fiction-y escape room we could find. If you’re not familiar with the concept, escape rooms are one-hour experiences where you are immersed in an environment from which you must escape. Every type of scenario is represented, from the Wild West to serial killer captures to abandoned space stations to, well, pretty much anything else. Beyond reminding an author of the immersive nature of writing (many escape rooms include not just visual details but sounds, smells, and tactile details as well), there’s also the tension, both external and internal, that the players experience throughout the game which is a great reminder that there must be tension in our stories if readers are to really be pulled in.

I also discovered a company that hosts interactive theatrical experiences. For a fee, you and your friends are dumped into a drama in progress with live actors. You are assigned a role to play and given minimal background information, and then for the next hour or so, it’s your job to wander the environment (these took place in a warehouse-turned-labyrinth) where you interact with the actors and try to figure out which side of the dramatic conflict you wish to be on and how you can aid your side in achieving victory over the other. The actors remain in character, but they are essentially unscripted, so whatever the paying guests say or do drives their “plot” toward one of many possible conclusions. You can play multiple times because the outcome changes depending upon the group’s actions and what parts you’re cast in. One of these experiences even simulated a “kidnapping” complete with picking up the players at a park after hours, placing bags over their heads, shuffling them into a car and then driving them to the location of the rest of the game. If this doesn’t spark a writer’s creativity, I don’t know what will!

Lastly, I like to do locational research. In other words, if I can go to a place very similar to a setting I plan to use in one of the books, I’ll do it. If I can’t, I’ll talk to people who’ve been to such places. For example, Vick Corren in THREADBARE lives on a military base. Okay, it’s on the moon, but I still visited one of Florida’s many military bases to get a good picture of what one is like, and I made sure to go with a retired member of the military as my guide. Eye-opening, to say the least.

There’s also a sex club in THREADBARE named the Purple Leaf. No, I didn’t actually visit a sex club. However, I did contact a friend who had frequented one in her youth. (Writer tip: have a wide range of friends. 😊 ) She answered every question I had, and though the Purple Leaf bears little resemblance to the dark, gritty places she described to me, her responses did give me a good starting point.

So, does this all mean that I never research via the internet? Of course not. But I hate it. I’d much rather be writing or out gathering details first hand. And I do believe that living the characters’ experiences adds more authentic touches to the stories I write. If you can do it, do it. It’s a lot more fun that staring at the screen. We do that plenty when the words finally hit the page. Writing is isolationist by nature. Don’t do the same with your research if you can help it. When you can, have fun and live it.

Blurb:

Storm Fronts: Book One

All cybernetic soldier Vick Corren wanted was to be human again. Now all she wants is Kelly. But machines can’t love. Can they?

With the computerized implants that replaced most of her brain, Vick views herself as more machine than human. She’s lost her memory, but worse, can no longer control her emotions, though with the help of empath Kelly LaSalle, she’s holding the threads of her fraying sanity together.

Vick is smarter, faster, impervious to pain… the best mercenary in the Fighting Storm, until odd flashbacks show Vick a life she can’t remember and a romantic relationship with Kelly that Vick never knew existed. But investigating that must wait until Vick and her team rescue the Storm’s kidnapped leader.

Someone from within the organization is working against them, threatening Kelly’s freedom. To save her, Vick will have to sacrifice what she values most: the last of her humanity. Before the mission is over, either Vick or Kelly will forfeit the life she once knew.