Welcome to the 11th Annual
Love is Murder Board
February 6-8, 2009 | Westin Chicago North Shore, Chicago, Illinois

Sharan Newman's Master Presentation Description

How to Find It; How to Use It
Researching your book.

As an author, you want your book to be as accurate as possible. We have all been brought up short by information in books that we know to be wrong. It breaks the flow of the story and can even make a reader put the book down, never to pick it up. On the other hand, bits of background information can enhance a book. Lush descriptions set the scene; detailed procedures give the detectives an air of authenticity; odd factoids make the reader feel she is learning something as well as enjoying the story.

Does this mean you should only write about subjects you are expert in? Of course not. Even if you are a champion race car driver or a cordon bleu pastry chef and decide to make your protagonist the same, outside of those areas you’ll still need to know about a myriad of other things.

This workshop is intended to give writers the tools to find answers.

Topics will include:

1. Start with the Internet – but don’t stop there.
2. Libraries and archives.
3. Who to ask for help and how to phrase the questions.
4. Taking the mass of research and putting it into the book. How much to use, why and where to use it.


If there is time, there will also be a question and answer period on general topics related to writing and publishing.

There will be handouts but it’s a good idea to also bring a notebook.