So instead of chipping away
at the work in progress, I decided to do some research. We all know what
“research” means.
Pre-internet, “research”
meant an actual visit to a person or place, or it meant a trip to the library,
flipping through the card catalog or The
Readers Guide to Periodical Literature. Often it meant some quality time
with Mr. Webster or M. Roget.
With the internet, “research”
means typing into a little box and getting blasted with a fire hose-strength stream
of shopping, Pinterest boards, Tumblr pages, quizzes, and Facebook stalking.
Honest! I was researching the
title of a book I am using in my novel (Dumb
Witness, by the way) when I found myself at the official Agatha Christie
website. It’s fantastic.
Did you know you can take a 360
degree tour of the Art Deco-licious set for the PBS Masterpiece Mystery Poirot series? Take a look! Click on the
moustache for fun facts about the series.
From Poirot’s apartment, it
was all too easy to wander into The Sherlock Observation Game. Play only if you
are a fan of the New Sherlock and you have a tough hide. Less than stellar
results on the game will get you comments such as “You’re thinking. Boring!”
After Sherlock, I clicked
across the Atlantic and back to 2004. I found myself on the Tony Hillerman Challenge Quiz page, which was created in honor of the Masterpiece Mystery
series. You can test your knowledge of the Hillerman canon while a tiny police car
travels around the Southwest.
Thank goodness I had a lunch
date or I’d still be clicking, er, doing research.
Where has your “research”
taken you? How do you deal with the siren call of Internet distractions?
