Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Some people are never happy...


So y'all know I'm a bit, well, lazy when it comes to research. Not that I don't do it -- I do -- I just want to find the easiest way to get the information I need and not get bogged down in endless, unnecessary details.

I'd rather talk to people to get the info I need instead of trying to Google it (I mean, honestly, if I knew what it was I needed to know I would Google. But if I don't even know what I don't know, how am I supposed to find it?) My friends have had fair warning: if you have knowledge I need for a book, be prepared to be grilled endlessly until I have the book done.

I'm very, very grateful, and in addition to my undying gratitude for your knowledge, I will happily return the favor somehow -- yes, I will come help you put together a bookshelf. I'll send the Geek to your house to fix your computer. I'll make you cookies. Buy wrapping paper and magazines from your kids. Come speak to your book club. Whatever. You'll get a mention in the Dear Reader letter or on my website.

And, sometimes, I'll name a character after you.

Soooo... not so long ago, I bother a couple of my friends who have knowledge on a topic important to my current WIP. They also happen to know each other as well. They were very helpful, and in addition to my undying gratitude, I named characters in the book after them -- the characters* doing* the very things they'd provided the information for. (Granted, they were minor characters, but they were experts in their field in the book, too!)

I send them both an advance copy of the book. Three days later, I get a phone call from one of them on behalf of both. They're *not* happy. At all.

~Panic~
~Horror~
~Fear of litigation~

After I casually remind them that they agreed to -- and seemed pleased to -- have a character named after them (and signed a release form) I asked what the problem was.

The response?

"We get to be characters in a romance novel and we're just doing the same damn thing we do every day? And we don't even get laid?"

Sigh. You just can't make some folks happy.

PC
****

And on to the announcements!

~*~The winners from Molly O'Keefe's guest blog last week are:

Chey, Marcy & Linda Henderson

Congrats! Email Kira at instigator@writingplayground.com to claim your prize!

~*~ Tomorrow we welcome a good friend of the Playground to the blog! Be sure to stop by to meet Diane O'Brien Kelly

9 comments:

LA said...

I rather think that your research from folks that actually DO the job is far superior to anything you can get from Google. I wouldn't call that "lazy" at all...more factual would be a better term. On the other part....yep...too bad they didn't get laid.

Maven Linda said...

Put them in another book and let them get laid
:-).

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

If you'd had them get laid, they would've called to complain about something else. If I have someone in my book, you'd never get me to admit to it. "Loosely based" on a variety of people I know composited together into one character. Yep. That's my story.

I'm google all the way. The fewer people I talk to the better.

Playground Monitor said...

Yeah, some people just can't be pleased. But even though people pay me to do online research for them, I like the in-person kind best if it's possible. I was able to talk with a family law attorney and felt much more confident in the way I portrayed my heroine. And she got laid too. LOL!

Angel said...

LOL! I did not see that coming! Very funny. You'd think they'd be more worried about getting laid (with their names) and how you did THAT research. :) Lord have mercy.

Angel

robertsonreads said...

Ditto, you can't make some people happy.

Problem Child said...

I'm considering putting them in another book and letting them have sex with each other... that should solve the problem!

Stephanie Jones AKA Alicia Hunter Pace said...

That's so funny!!

Do people think that all folks do in a romance book is get laid?

Maybe you could put them in another book getting lucky with each other.

I think I got Jean's verification word: panstic-one who writes by the seat of their panst

Stephanie Jones AKA Alicia Hunter Pace said...

Opps, sorry PC. I should have read the comments ALL the way down before I shared.

Great idea you had!