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Category: Research Notes

  • No Other Way

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Roger Real Drouin shares how his experiences on the trail shaped his novel, No Other Way. + IN THE CLOUDS The further I hiked, the more my writing came together. To…

  • Kino

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Jürgen Fauth shares a reading list for his novel Kino, recently published by Atticus Books. + “All it took was a straight face,” my narrator Klaus Koblitz says about the outrageous…

  • Animal Sanctuary

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Sarah Falkner gives us a guided tour of her Animal Sanctuary, winner of the Starcherone Prize for Innovative Fiction. + It is probably useful to explain that my initial and main…

  • The Same Terrible Storm

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Sheldon Lee Compton writes about some sources of the stories in his new collection The Same Terrible Storm (Foxhead Books). + I rarely do actual research in the literal sense of…

  • Cul De Sac

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Scott Wrobel maps the mysterious suburbs for his collection Cul De Sac. + Writing Suburban Fiction: The way of the The Sac I moved to a suburb of a major metropolitan…

  • Vladimir’s Mustache

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Stephan Eirik Clark writes about making Russian history his own for the stories in Vladimir’s Mustache. + In the summer of 2003, I read a review of Michael Bloch’s Ribbentrop in…

  • We Bury The Landscape

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Kristine Ong Muslim leads us through the gallery that inspired her book We Bury The Landscape (which we reviewed here). + While writing We Bury the Landscape, I followed a very…

  • American Poet

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Jeff Vande Zande recounts the connections he made while working on his latest novel. + The Unexpected Gifts of Doing Necessary Research for American Poet My new novel American Poet was…

  • Sleight

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Kirsten Kaschock shows us the moving parts and magic behind her novel Sleight. Sleight: the underpinnings The art form at the heart of my first novel, Sleight, does not exist. Since…

  • Dogma

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Lars Iyer reveals the elements of Dogma, sequel to his 3:AM Novel of the Year Spurious. + Dogma Dogma, like its predecessor, Spurious, is based on real events, even if I…

  • Everyone Remain Calm

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Megan Stielstra describes the lengths — and depths — she went to for the sake of a story. + The Right Kind of Water The first hour is great. I’m in…

  • Harvitz, As To War

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Ben Nadler reflects on writing Harvitz, As To War, a novel about military experience, without having military experience of his own. + Harvitz, As To War When people ask what my…