Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Vanessa Blakeslee writes about Juventud from Curbside Splendor. + When the premise for Juventud took root in my imagination and I knew the story largely took place in Colombia, one of…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Julia Elliott writes about The New and Improved Romie Futch from Tin House. + My debut novel, The New and Improved Romie Futch, describes the plight of a floundering South Carolina…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Elise Blackwell writes about The Lower Quarter from Unbridled Books. + I once jokingly tweeted to the NSA that my sketchy browsing history could be explained by the fact that I…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Helen Phillips writes about The Beautiful Bureaucrat from Henry Holt. + 1. First, the title. A pair of words, Beautiful, Bureaucrat: dropping into my mind as I sat at my desk…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Susanna Medina writes about Philosophical Toys from Dalkey Archive. + Philosophical Toys … & Connecting Neuro Clusters … Every new book, it’s like beginning anew and yet, there are a series…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Matthew Salesses writes about The Hundred-Year Flood from Little A. + Asking Prague for Its Myths: Conversational Research I was waking up late every day and taking the metro out to…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Paula McGrath writes about Generation from John Murray Originals. + Generation involved two very different kinds of research. First, there was the story itself. I’ve done some academic research in my…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Elizabeth Kadetsky writes about On the Island at the Center of the Center of the World from Nouvella Books. + There was something about the surreal odd misery of traveling alone.…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Gabriel Urza writes about All That Followed from Henry Holt & Co. + Writing All That Followed was at times daunting from a research perspective, in that the book deals tangentially…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Wendy S. Walters writes about Multiply/Divide: On the American Real and Surreal from Sarabande Books. + In Multiply/Divide: On the American Real and Surreal (Sarabande), I spend time thinking about real…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Ruth Galm writes about Into The Valley from Soho Press. + People ask me how I came up with the premise of my debut novel Into the Valley, about a woman…

Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their process for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Benjamin Johncock writes about The Last Pilot from Picador. + The Process of Process Novel-writing is a terrible business that only a lunatic or a fool would attempt. It’s slow, inefficient,…