Tag: research

In the interest of research

~ Meg ~ 40 Comments

One of the little details I often include in my novels is the kinds of cars my characters drive. In fact with Breaking Bread, I’ve even included a car dealership in the story. So every year, in the spirit of researching so as to be accurate, I visit the Philadelphia Auto Show held at the Convention Center on Market Street. I can take the train from the suburbs to Jefferson Station and never have to even exit to the street to get to the show. This is where I was on Friday…

I’ve yet to give one of my characters anything more exotic than the Porsche (Brad) and the Challenger Hellcat (Jack Staley). Who doesn’t love a handsome hero in a hot car?

I love to drive. I love to shift. I want a car that’s trying to kill me…. (Not really) But inevitably I start to think about tearing down a long stretch of desert highway at top speed, windows down, stereo screaming and … I want to go.

 

 

 

 

 

Edvard Munch and The Spanish Flu

~ Meg ~ 36 Comments

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Self Portrait, Spanish Influenza
Mr. Cake (cakeordeathsite) has graciously agreed to share another of his wonderful art posts with me. In reading about the flu epidemic, I learned that the artist, Edvard Munch, was a victim. This was once again a nugget of information perfectly suited to his expertise. 

At beginning of 1919, the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (see Madonna) who painted one of the most famous paintings of all time, 1893’s The Scream, became seriously ill with the Spanish Influenza that had already claimed the lives of millions across the world.

Munch painted hundreds of self-portraits throughout his career, most notable are Self-Portrait with Burning Cigarette from 1895

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Self Portrait With a Burning Cigarette
and 1903’s startling Self-Portrait in Hell.

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Self Portrait In Hell
Munch’s art which encompassed Symbolism and paved the way for Expressionism, brought a new and unprecedented focus on subjectivity and psychological states, naturally found raw material in the unflinching and dramatic presentation of the diseased and tormented self.

Self-Portrait, Spanish Influenza, featured at the top, though of a later period, is no exception in its neurotic intensity. The jarring colours are suggestive of sickness and trauma and Munch’s sallow mask-like face seems to be staring straight at death.

Munch would survive the Spanish Influenza, dying in 1944 at the age of 80. His paintings and prints retain an evocative urgency in their depiction of the universal states of anguish, illness, sexual anxiety and dissolution of the body.

 

Books, how I love thee.

~ Meg ~ 77 Comments

Writers, if you are not a lover of books, you need to have your heads examined. Seriously, you cannot, CANNOT be a good writer if you do not read. I have always loved books. As an only child, I grew up reading – making fictional friends to take the place of siblings. The first books I clearly remember reading were Richard Scarry’s picture books. Then it was Ramona Quimby and her big sister Beezus. Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie, Little Women….

I was a book nerd in high school, too. When other kids goofed off in free periods, I’d go bother the librarian. My high school librarian Mrs. Long, was a big, intimidating lady, but oh, she had great taste in books. She introduced me to Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Jules Verne, Douglas Adams…

And honestly, how can one pick a favorite? I’ve read the complete Sherlock Holmes collection and not just because of the TV series, either. (Although, I could listen to Benedict Cumberbatch reading a deli menu. That voice…) Other favorites include: Robinson Crusoe, The Count of Monte Cristo, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. More contemporary favorites are Tom Clancy’s: The Hunt For Red October, John Grisham’s: A Time To Kill, Khaled Hosseini’s: The Kite Runner and Sara Gruen’s: Water For Elephants.

Anthony Trollope asked, “What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book and a cup of coffee?” I couldn’t agree more. Perhaps I would add to that: a rainy or snowy day and a cozy blanket to wrap around your shoulders. To be forced by the weather to stay inside and curl up with a book? Heaven! And to have one with some heft, too, be it paper or electrons. As far as I’m concerned, a good story can go on forever. Lord of the Rings? Bring it on. Red Mars? But wait, there’s a trilogy.

I read many different genres and enjoy them all: mystery, thriller, romance, science fiction, espionage, historical fiction, biography… It’s been said that you can know a person by the type of books he (or she) reads. What does that say about me? Am I unknowable? Hmm. Perhaps just multi-faceted. Let’s go with that; it sounds so deep and sophisticated! *Snort*

Lately, I’ve been reading lots of history and non-fiction for research purposes. Beyond that, I just completed Graham Greene’s The End Of the Affair.  I am halfway through a biography of WB Yeats. I’m also working my way through the short stories of the Marquis de Sade. So what are you currently reading? Tell me what books you love. And what’s on your to-read list? If you like, join me on Goodreads. Winter is coming, let’s all curl up with a good book.