My research process goes in reverse. I write, that is, before I know anything. During those initial stages, I stay studiously far away from real research on the things I’m writing about. 

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, William Walsh writes about The Poets from Erratum Press. + Samuel Taylor Coleridge identified four kinds of readers:  I am all four kinds of reader, and, I suppose, all four kinds…

I was in the car on a road trip with my husband in 2014 when we heard a story about children with past life memories on National Public Radio. The story centered on a research program at the University of Virginia and the work of neuroscientist who explored the phenomena of young children with past…

It’s shocking how long ago I began writing my novel Waiting for Al Gore. I am not patient, persistent, persevering, or any of those commendable qualities ascribed to authors who doggedly toil away, draft after plodding draft, year after year. 

In September, 1992, my un-girlfriend and I tramped our way slowly down a trail from Resurrection Pass in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. We were caked in gray ash, the result of a nearby volcano blowing its lid two nights before while we were in our tent. The mountains around us were shrouded in vapors. A dense,…

Roxy and Coco is a novel about two harpies – nearly immortal winged women – who are employed as social workers but sometimes lose patience and drop abusive parents off cliffs.

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Stephen Policoff writes about Dangerous Blues from Flexible Press. + A Hidden World of Mysterious Meaning When I finished my second novel, Come Away (Dzanc Books 2014), I thought for certain…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Kevin Allardice writes about Weft from Madrona Books. + Inevitable Conclusion: On Epigraphs and Ethnographies  In the vaguely demented process of novel-writing there are calm little rituals of time-wasting, detours indulgently…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Jessica Strawser writes about The Last Caretaker from Lake Union Publishing. + Second Nature Early December As a writer, when it’s time to brainstorm a new idea, I like to take…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Bennett Sims writes about Other Minds and Other Stories from Two Dollar Radio. + My new collection, Other Minds and Other Stories, contains twelve stories, written over a period of six…