Recently, husband and I were pleased to receive an invitation to a book launch, not in the tented village of the Edinburgh book festival, but not far from it in Waterstones, the well-known book shop, at the West End of Princes Street. Lin Anderson, Tartan Noir crime novelist and co-founder of the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival, was launching another book – None but the Dead – about her forensic pathologist Rhona MacLeod, the action of this book taking place on the small Orkney island of Sanday.
One of many covered walkways to protect from mud and rain. There are of course glorious days too – like this one.
Lin’s book launch took place in the cafe area of the bookshop where we managed to bag good seats before the place filled, and sat sipping glasses of Prosecco, welcome on a hot afternoon.
The Waterstones store at the West End of Princes Street, just a hop, skip and a jump from the Book Festival and one of the many places that during the festival becomes a venue.
Lin spoke of where the idea for her latest book had come from, all the while greeting people whose faces she recognised. As she spoke she mentioned her experts, many of them in her audience, people she relied on for information for her books. A pathologist, a soil expert, those knowledgeable on local history and customs, fishermen with an understanding of tides and boat hiding places, someone with expertise on buried and hidden bodies, and numerous others, with mention of an expert at Dundee University who reconstructs faces from skulls. Her book acknowledges a list of those providing information to her and to whom she sends appropriate pieces of her manuscript for checking.
Lin Anderson talking about her latest book and answering questions from her audience.
Many authors manage to draw a coterie of such people around them, providing information without which the books could not be written in such a detailed and authentic manner – the smell of death, the cutting and sawing procedures followed at post mortems, the painstaking process of gathering and sifting forensic evidence for clues of how the victim died and who might have been responsible. The details that often add stomach-churning horror are carefully researched.
Book heaven. Sunshine and endless volumes to read as well as authors to meet.
Even in our time of Internet knowledge at our fingertips, experts have become increasingly necessary as sometimes publishers allow errors to slip though the editorial net. I once heard a well-known author tell that after the publication of his highly acclaimed book (shortlisted for international prizes) he was told by a reader that the game which formed a significant part of his historical novel, had not been devised until many years after his book action took place. So without expert consultation gaffes can bedevil even established writers.
Got the book, now for a cup of coffee.
To reach the stage where it’s possible to have a team of experts to provide necessary information is a huge benefit. I know I have often struggled with facts or lack of them. What would happen if…? What’s the procedure for that? I’ve written what I think might happen but have I got it right? One of the reasons many writers find it easier to follow the old advice – write what you know about. So we choose scenarios with which we at least have some knowledge and understanding, though we must not allow this to inhibit us from pushing our writing boundaries through research and use of our imagination.
Now for the bookshop.
When I began to write it dawned on me just how little I knew about even quite basic stuff in the world around me. And yes, the Internet is an invaluable resource but with many things there is no substitute for consulting with those who are expert in their field.
How long till the next event we’re attending?
I guess as writers become better known it becomes easier to attract help, though some, judging by acknowledgement pages, are lucky enough to have family and close friends to provide the expertise. Lin Anderson, for instance, had a head start in crime novels as her father was in the police so opening the door to contacts there.
Now what do my family and friends excel in?
It’s been a really enjoyable day. Can’t wait till next year.
I am me. For more click image.
jingsandthings 
I hope none of them excel in anything which horrifies you! Now there’s a plot waiting to happen….
Well as I go weak-kneed if I cut my finger you can imagine what reading a description of the top of a head being sawed off does to me.
Rather you than me I have to say!
Our reliance on the internet is scary! So much of what is being written and considered expert advice seems to be put out there by ‘fluff writers’ who find their facts off other parts of the internet….like holding a book in your hand, gaining info from the source holds huge value in my opinion! Love your book fair scenes. Hope to get there one day.
Trouble is if you want to write about something, and have it sound fairly realistic, you need a bit of research. And if you don’t conveniently have relatives or friends with the necessary knowledge then the Internet is an easier option than trekking off to the library to try and make sense of some seriously complicated books. And having used that information you need to be as certain as possible that it has been used in the correct way, otherwise it’s worse than useless.
Writing can be daunting at times!
Absolutely. Was chatting to my folks the other day about what one does with all the old encyclopedia’s of days gone by. The internet certainly is an amazing resource. But like anything, one needs to learn how to work it ! I just get overwhelmed ‘thinking’ about the research that is required for a book!
Writers today are lucky to have the internet, but one must indeed be so careful with fact checking. I try to find info on scholarly websites rather than Wiki or blogs, and then compare what I find on various sites to see if the info matches up. Still, it isn’t infallible. Sometimes all the sites are quoting one source. Real live experts are a godsend.
Yes, Chris, I agree it’s always better to check several sources – unless it’s something simple like a date. Even then, always good to read about happenings before and after to get the context. Mind you, I’ve read quite a number of books by Big Name novelists with paid researchers to find that a description of something has been lifted either from Wiki or some other source almost word for word with no understanding of the circumstances. It diminishes my pleasure in the rest of the book. Where information comes from experts you can be sure the writer has had to distill the important facts to fit into the narrative, so what you get is the writer’s thought out take on it.