Making Time to Write Monday: A Virtual Research Trip

Last week I shared a few pictures from my research trip to Emerald Isle, NC. I spent several days there gathering a few details for my young adult novel.

At the exact same time, my parents were visiting Bangkok, Thailand. They live in Thailand, but were visiting Bangkok for some vacation time. My young adult novel is set in Bangkok, a place I’ve never lived, but have been to many, many times. It’s a place that’s seared into my memory. However, I still did research while writing.

I had just a few things I needed pictures of, and I had a few questions I needed answered. I sent my questions and my request for pictures to my parents. They took dozens of pictures for me. And they even tried out a few things my protagonist did in the book.

While I’d love to go back to Thailand at some point (the last time I was there was 2007), I knew it wasn’t on the horizon for the next couple of years. So having my parents do a little bit of the research for me was a huge blessing.

All of these places are important in my novel, but I can’t reveal how–yet. You can get photos on the web, but there is nothing like personal photos of exactly what you need. Thanks, Mom and Dad!