Behind the Scenes - Drag Shows

In Glitter, Glam, and Contraband, sassy Private Eye, Delanie Fitzgerald, is hired to find out who is stealing from the talent at a local drag show.

I had never been to a show before, and my writer friend, Rosemary Shomaker, organized an outing for a group of writers at Godfrey’s in Richmond, Virginia. We had so much fun, and brunch was wonderful. The banana-stuffed French toast tasted like dessert. And the talent was extremely generous with their time before and after the show. They answered a lot of my questions, and everyone wanted to be in a murder mystery.

I made up the club in Glitter, Glam, and Contraband, as well as the entertainers’ names. My characters, Amber Alert, Ana Conda, Ginger Snap, Kiki Jubilee, Cherri Bomb, Nova Cain, Paige Turner, and Tara Byte were a lot of fun to write. I gave each of them a stage persona with props. Ana Conda brought her boa to the show until it scared someone in the audience. Ginger Snap and Cherri Bomb were sexy redheads. Nova Cain was a naughty nurse, Paige Turner was a librarian, and Tara Byte was a computer geek.

While I was writing the book, I did a lot of research on websites like Ru Paul’s Drag Race. There are also a lot of good sites with makeup tips. I always learn interesting stuff while researching books.

The Gang from Godfreys with authors Fiona Quinn, Tina Glasneck, Rosemary Shomaker, and me

Check out all the adventures of Delanie and Duncan (and Margaret the English bulldog).

The Stuff I Research

Recently, I’ve done a lot of interviews for blogs and promotions for my latest Delanie Fitzgerald mystery, Glitter, Glam, and Contraband. One question that I’m asked a lot is how much research do you do for fiction Surprisingly, it’s a lot. (And I love the research quest part of the writing journey.)

For this book, I did a lot of research on the care and feeding of poisonous reptiles (enough to give myself the heebie jeebies — And now snakes keep appearing in pop-up ads on my social media sites.) I also did a lot of research of banned species in Virginia. Many thanks to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. They have a wealth of information on their site. I interviewed several people who raise snakes or exotic fish.

I had never been to a drag show, so I went with my writer pals, Rosemary Shomaker, Fiona Quinn, and Tina Glasneck. We went to Godfrey’s in Richmond, VA for a fabulous brunch. The entertainers were very helpful when they found out we were mystery writers.

There is also a time capsule/corner stone in the story, and I did a lot of research on what goes into these and what happens to them. So what happens if someone puts something in one that shouldn’t be there?

Right now, I’m working on a short story set around the Church Hill neighborhood in Richmond. In the 1920s, the railroad was repairing and expanding a tunnel in the neighborhood when there was a cave-in. It killed several workers. They and the train were trapped inside. After several days of failed rescue/recovery attempts, the railroad sealed the tunnel. And to this day, it’s still sealed as the final resting place of the workers and the train. There are lots of local legends and stories about the tragedy. Some are even tied to the Richmond Vampire. I’ve driven past the site hundreds of times, and I didn’t realize it was there. I’m fascinated with the lore around the history of the event. Reporter Mark Holmberg has done many stories on the site through the years, and I spent hours reading articles and posts and watching videos.

My story in the newest Mutt Mystery, “The Fast and Furious” (March 2020) takes place at a fictional racetrack. I had to do some research on cars, car parts, and NASCAR short track races. My husband rebuilds classic cars, and I got the idea for the murder weapon when he dragged me to the auto parts store. The newest story, “Strut Your Mutt,” is a dog show caper. I had to do a lot of research on the dog show world, pet chipping, and social media influencers.

So even though the stories and characters are fictional, a lot of research goes into making the story believable and real. I want to get the details correct and make the mystery/murder plausible. If you’re a writer, check out Fiona Quinn’s blog, Thrill Writing. She helps writers get it right.

Reading is Research

I have always loved books and reading. Yes, this is my first library card from 1972. It opened hundreds of worlds to me. I’m always sad when people say that they don’t like to read. Reading is entertainment, an escape, a journey to new places, a portal to new worlds, and research. Writers must read.

Stephen King said it best, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” By reading other authors, you learn vocabulary, literary techniques, and genre conventions. Look at the way the words flow in a work that you like. The author creates the story and moves the plot along. It’s not a play-by-play of every detail that happened in someone’s ordinary day. Look at the dialogue. It’s not mundane chitchat. Good authors don’t tell their readers things. They show them. They are artists who paint a verbal picture.

Stephen King’s On Writing is one of the best “how to” books for writers. When I started writing, I read every book about writing that I could get my hands on. I spent more time reading those than I did writing. Over the years, I kept a few. On Writing is one of those. It’s good to learn new things about mechanics, but I think reading books in your genre teaches you more about the conventions (e.g. cozy mysteries don’t usually have graphic scenes or language; mysteries usually have a dead body in the first chapter). You learn how to use language, describe things, and which point of view to write from.

I love receiving books as gifts. This year for Christmas, I received two books about books, and I can’t wait to read them. I still have gift cards left, so I’m not done with the book shopping.

Are you on Goodreads? I like the annual book challenge. I need to think about my goal for 2019. I usually go with 26 (one for every two weeks of the year), but maybe this year, I’ll set a stretch goal. I like how the site keeps track of my totals for me and helps me to remember to leave a review. Plus, at the end of the year, I liked seeing all the year’s books.

What are you reading right now?

All in the Name of Research...

Surprisingly, fiction writers do a lot of research to ensure that the details in their writing are as accurate as possible. When you’re a mystery writer, some of this research can put you in sticky situations (e.g. You may not want to Google the best ways to a dispose of a body.)

I’m fortunate that my dad is a retired police captain, and I have other family and friends in law enforcement who are always willing to answer my procedural or odd questions. I can’t tell you how many times, I’ve had questions like, “What does a meth lab smell like” or “what size of a hole would this bullet make.” People are always willing to help and are very generous with their time.

I am also thrilled to be a part of Sisters in Crime. Our local chapter has great programming. We bring in experts to answer questions and explain procedures. I now have two awesome bail bondsmen in my contact list (or in case I need them). We’ve also had an arson investigator, medical examiner, FBI agent, ABC officer, Railroad Enforcement Officer, an expert in human trafficking, and a state conservation officer talk to our group.

I’ve also found that Twitter is a solid resource for finding experts and people who know things. I’ve put out questions before and received good information quickly. Social media sites are great for research, finding contacts, and networking. I’ve received several referrals that were quite helpful in my research.

My Private Investigator, Delanie Fitzgerald, is always getting herself in and out of humorous situations. In book three, she gets a gig to go undercover at a drag show to find out who is stealing from the talent. I’d never been to a drag so, so my writer friend, Rosemary Shomaker, arranged a research trip for brunch. (The bananas foster French toast was wonderful!) We had so much fun, and I ended up with a lot of details to add to my story, and a subject matter expert to answer my questions.

I always keep a list of folks who help me with ideas and answer questions for the book’s acknowledgments page.

Okay writers, what adventures have you had in the name of research?