The second best part of writing the Danser novels is the research. Most of the time that means haunting odd stores and books and films and the web.
Then there’s the other tactile research:
Going up in the crop duster at Shady Lawns farm (thank you again, Jim Swanson)
Wandering Buick (new and used) dealerships
A week stumbling around Mismaloya with a soggy notebook
And this past Friday, wearing faux dirt on my hands in face, pretending to be a befuddled refugee on a film set (the befuddled part wasn’t much of a stretch). Thank you again, Ryan Hill.
The Danser novels use an elastic sense of realism (it is fiction). That said, quite often if a book comes in at, say 56,000 words, there will be and additional 90,000 words of ingredients. Its not all just getting out the crayons and making stuff up. Well, err, um
