Reasonable Research

I lead a very adventurous life. No, I’m not an Olympian or a soldier. I’m an actor with a bad case of wanderlust, a willing husband, and a love of writing. I’m incredibly fortunate to have a job that allows me to travel for work all the time. I’ve spent three summers in Alaska, toured the country on a bus, and right now, I’m performing down in Southwest Florida.

Being able to travel has always been a huge source of inspiration for me. My husband and I managed to run away to Thailand for a few weeks in January, and I came back bursting with so many ideas, I now have the rest of my writing year planned out. But what do you do when beautiful scenery meets an epic idea and the details need to be perfect? Research.

For The Tethering series, the research I did was mostly travel times from one place to another, geography and topography of specific locations, including a nice (and slightly brutal) hike to the top of a mountain, and looking through a lot of legends of magical creatures. Perhaps a little extreme with the hiking through the wilderness, but standard research.

For the ballet novella I released last Christmas, I was able to draw upon the years I spent in pointe shoes and leotards as well as my experience as a professional music theatre performer. And the gaps I needed to fill I pulled from a college classmate who is now a professional ballet dancer.

But the new project, the one that complicates it all, is a little more difficult. I needed to learn about plants, and greenhouses, and conservation, and a dozen other things. Not that I want to describe to my readers exactly how to pollinate plants in a closed environment, but it’s little details like that that solidify world building.

I’ve been to atriums, bio domes, and even the greenhouses of Disney’s Epcot, trying to make sure that the smell is right and the light feels right in the book. And I’ve loved all of it. I will never be a botanist or an architect, and I’ll probably never create my own underground irrigation system. But getting to learn the details of creating suitable environments for exotic plants is so cool! And now I really want to build a vertigrower and grow plants without soil just because it’s possible.

Maybe somewhere deep down I already knew that sustainable living within a bio dome was a fascinating subject and that’s why the story came out. Maybe greenhouses are just super cool. But having the opportunity to research a new field or world is one of the greatest things about being an author. Even if it’s just a fantasy, I can create a greenhouse for my characters to live in. And I have a new obsession that may eventually turn edible-hobby to boot!

A Writer's Community

My name is Megan O’Russell, and I am thrilled to join the YATopia team! I couldn’t be happier to be added the ranks of the wonderful authors and editors who contribute to this blog.

Since I’ve never posted on this blog before, let me tell you a little bit about me. I am the author of the young adult fantast series The Tethering. The first and second books in the series, The Tethering and The Siren’s Realm, are both currently available from Silence in the Library Publishing. On the adult side of writing, I have a Christmas sweet romance novella Nuttycracker Sweet coming out December 8^th from Fiery Seas Publishing. I’ve had the honor and pleasure of being included in some really fun anthologies and even got to be the video spokeswoman for Athena’s Daughters II, an anthology that focused on women in speculative fiction.

Aside from spending loads of time clacking away on my keyboard writing stories, I am also a professional musical theatre performer and as of this year even a lyricist! I love writing, and I love being onstage. I basically spend my work time either pretending to be other people or creating other people. It’s amazing.

But writing and acting don’t always go hand in hand. Being a writer, my actual time at the keyboard can be very flexible. If I have rehearsals for a show, I can rearrange my writing time, and no one but the characters in my stories and my conscience will ever know. But being a writer is a lot easier if you have writer friends. Networking is hugely useful, not only for staying in touch with what the latest trends to embrace or avoid are, but also for super important things like finding a literary agent or meeting up with people who might have an anthology you could contribute to.

As an actor, the only time I have a weekend off is when I’m between shows. Since I do short run productions, things like asking for a weekend off to go to a writer’s conference isn’t really a thing. And luckily I’m employed consistently enough that I’ve never actually made it to a writer’s conference, though, believe me, I would jump if I found one on a Monday! When I realized that in-person networking was fairly out of reach, I was devastated. I was the lonely kid at the junior high dance hiding in the shadows while everyone else took selfies with their friends to be their new profile picture.

But then I discovered a wonderful online community of writers, editors, artists, and publishers who welcomed me into their groups with open arms. Now granted, actually getting to sit down and have a cup of coffee with someone isn’t nearly as good as participating in a tweet chat with them, but it’s something.

I started out in a Facebook group with people from my first, and tragically failed, publisher. But the friends I made in that group led me to both of my current publishers and even to this blog! Participating in online author chats and even volunteering for cover reveals and street teams can be a great way to start up a conversation with fellow authors. And who knows where those conversations could lead?

I’m not saying that all Facebooks groups for authors are great. I’ve been in a few that have self-imploded in ways that even Jerry Springer would find hard to believe. But if you, like me, can’t make it to the RT conference this year, or go to one of those super cool learn how cop things work weekends that always make me green with envy when I see tweets of, reach out to the online community of writers. You might be surprised how many people will greet you with open cyber arms.

Here are a few hashtags to check out and groups to look up. Just because authors work alone with their computers doesn’t mean we don’t need a community.

Check out #WO2016. This is for authors who are Waiting On 2016 for their books to come out. It’s a great way to remember that you are not alone in you pre-release stress, freak outs, and joys.

The #Awethors is a great Indie group that loves to do write storms, beta read for each other, and just provide authorly companionship.

This YATopia blog has great information for authors and even a section on agents who are accepting submissions.

Find a group that isn’t looking to only sell you their books. Be a consistent member, and see how many friends you can make.

It’s amazing the wonderful writers you can meet from right in your living room.