I think I’ve written here before about how much I love doing research for my writing. Seriously. I can’t help it–I’m a huge nerd and also an academic.  One thing I think is especially fun is all the ways that research can be done.

There are the old standbys: books and the internet. Of course, the internet is instant, and I can often find exactly the information I need at 2 am. But I like books too, especially when I’m looking not for a specific fact but rather general background. For a recent project, I read a book on everyday life in Dickens’ London and I leafed through Leaves of Grass, Alice in Wonderland, and Oedipus Rex. I also spent hours and hours looking up maps online.

Another research source for me, when I can manage it, is travel. When you actually visit a place, you get full sensory information and all the tiny details that can really make a story come to life. Things like how it sounds in Sarajevo when the church bells and the muezzins all call out at once. Or how the humidity hits you when you step out of the airport in Florida. Or the scent of the sauerkraut portion of the greenmarket in Ljubljana. Of course, travel’s also really fun.

I’ve recently learned that I don’t even need to be the one traveling. My younger kid is spending a semester studying abroad and decided to spend her spring break in London and Edinburgh. This was serendipitous for me since my WIP is set in London, a city I haven’t visited for over a decade. Even better, part of my story was inspired by the Foundling Hospital, and her hotel was just a few blocks from there. So she went, took a bunch of photos, visited the museum there, and had a long chat with a docent.

And this brings me to my other favorite way of doing research: speaking with people. The other day I was up in the Sierra foothills, and my husband and I spent over an hour at a wine-tasting room, conversing with the owner. (It was a slow day and we were the only customers.) I learned lots of fun little things that I’m sure will end up in stories. Also, a couple of locals dropped in while we were there–one to make a wine delivery and one just to say hello–and I got to watch small-town gossip in action. Very fun! Most people are more than happy to share their stories, and they can be such rich sources!

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Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.

After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her family and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.

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