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Hi Susan! It's nice to hear from you. I *have* been doing some research lately, first for a paranormal romance idea (reading about myths and the history of magical creatures), and then for my historical novella. My historicals are usually set in the Arizona Territory in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, so I can be pretty specific when researching.

As a matter of fact, I *did* get sidetracked yesterday reading a "stack" of books written during that time period about telegraphy! I could easily spend hours browsing through The Internet Archive, and I downloaded several digitized antique texts. I already own a couple of old books (for instance, a few years ago I tracked down an 1895 original copy of Dr. Chase's Receipt Book and Household Physician...I can't help but wonder whose hands it's passed through!), but the selection at http://www.archive.org can't be beat.

I hope you're having a great week!

Lisa :)

posted by LPlumley at 11:12 am (EST) on Oct 4, 2007

Hi, Susan --

Thanks for your note (and the congratulations). It's always nice to finish another book. It's funny, because my writing pace typically slows down just before the end of a manuscript...as though I'm reluctant to let the characters/story go. Which is kind of true, I guess!

Your cataloguing work sounds interesting. What are the jackknife method and the bootstrap method? They sound as if they'd be right at home in a spy novel!

I LOVE to do research for my books -- usually about careers, settings, industries, personality types, etc. I also write historical romances, and it's very interesting to read about the day-to-day lives of people who lived in the olden days . I was never much for histories of battles or treaties, but give me someone's 19th century diary to read and I'm fascinated!

My next deadline isn't until January (for a novella), but in the meantime I have some new book ideas I want to get down on paper. I've been brainstorming over the past week and have a few that are really exciting to me! So now I can't wait to get going on something new. :)

I guess technically I could have a lot of free time (because I write full time and don't have to worry about another job), but every time I try to just kick back, another new idea starts beckoning. And pretty often, something intriguing occurs to me while I'm finishing up a previous book, so at times I'm just writing, writing, writing, back to back. I feel really lucky though! I'm someone who loves coming to work each day. :)

Lisa :)

posted by LPlumley at 11:46 am (EST) on Sep 13, 2007

Hi again! Thanks for your note. How cool that you're a librarian! That must be a wonderful job. I'm indebted to libraries (I practically lived in our town library as a kid) and to library professionals for help researching books (after I started writing in the VERY early Internet days). Lately I've been downloading audiobooks from my local library to listen to on car trips (the latest was David Sedaris...really good), and it seems positively SF to me that that's even possible. :)

Anyway, I'm between books right now, having just turned in a new manuscript to my editor a week or so ago, which is why I have time to spend online! Yay! My LibraryThing library is only a small part of what's on my shelf, but I've been adding to it in dribs and drabs. Some of my books are by author/friends, some are old keepers, and some are just-for-fun reading. Some of them I haven't had a chance to read yet (sigh). I tend to discover authors I like and then glom onto their entire backlist, because I LOVE finding an interesting voice. How about you?

These days a LOT of my reading is nonfiction research for books I'm writing, so I have a ton of historical reference materials, books on various careers, encyclopedias of things like surfing, football, advertising history...I just haven't cataloged them, because this site's focus is fiction (which is more fun anyway, right?).

I haven't quite gotten into supernatural/paranormal books, although I did read and enjoy Linda Lael Miller's vampire series years ago. I love contemporary romances, especially anything that can make me laugh. I see that you have lots of historicals! I like the Regency period, and I love the Amanda Quick books too. I'll have to look for some of the others you have listed. I've heard great things about Mary Balogh's books but haven't tried any yet.

Is it tough for you to choose books to read, since you know about so many of them? Do library patrons ever talk to you about the books they borrow? I know some libraries have reading groups, which is neat.

Anyway, thanks very much for your note. It's nice talking with you!

Lisa :)

posted by LPlumley at 11:44 am (EST) on Sep 12, 2007

Hi! Thanks for being my LibraryThing friend. It's nice to meet you. We have some great books in common!

Lisa :)

posted by LPlumley at 6:30 pm (EST) on Sep 10, 2007