6
Oct
I am in planning mode.
On the 29th October I’ll be leaving for Boston, starting a 2 week trip through the eastern USA, visiting friends. There will be a lot of talk about books, writing, books, writing, writing… and writing… 
You get the idea.
I’ll be jetting around the country, from Boston all the way down to Dallas, with stops in Rhode Island, Alabama and North Carolina. Possibly Tennessee, but not sure yet. That one is up in the air, because well… the woman is kinda busy. 
And while I jet around, I’ll take notes. And photographs. And more notes. And pick up leaflets all over the place. Talk to people. If you own a restaurant in any of those places… prepare to lose a menu.
Before then, I have a hot date with Samhain. The publisher, I mean. I’m pitching my "Short" story on the 13th October — wish me luck.
Another day for the calendar is the 1st November, when the results from the Cleveland competition are due in. Cross your fingers for me, pretty please. I’d like to final, at least.
Of course, Halloween (Samhain) is coming up. I’ll be in the US for that, obviously. I wanted to see how it is celebrated there, since it isn’t really done here — and I write for the US market.
I’ll be asking people all kinds of weird questions while I’m there. Sorry Bill, I’m gonna get you drunk and grill you about prisons, and American Football. 
Which brings me to the reason I’m writing this.
I don’t do package holidays to the beach. Can’t stand them. I get bored.
Even when we went to Egypt — a beach holiday for me, and a surfing holiday for my better half — I didn’t stay on the beach.
No. Way.
I spotted a guy with horses for hire — and I was off. I trooped around places regular tourists don’t get to see. I had a guide who didn’t mind my asking him lots of questions about the area, Egypt in general, and local customs in particular.
I had a blast and came away with a wealth of knowledge I would never have aquired had I stayed on that beach.
The thing is, a lot of people don’t get the way I travel. They look at the hopping from one place to the next, stopovers and multiple plane changes… and think I must be insane. (They’d be partially right, but that’s another story.) Why would anyone go zigzagging across the country?
Why not? I will see a lot of things, experience a lot of things. There are nice people everywhere, and I don’t really mind going through an airport to change planes. I take it as an opportunity for research.
Where is the coffee bar? Is there a chapel? Where is it? Do I have to go to a different terminal, or is it all in one place? Which airlines are where? Rental car agencies? How are they situated? Where do you pick up the car? Are the check in desks upstairs or downstairs? Customs? Elevators or closed in lifts? Both? Where is the taxi rank? Restaurants? Shops?
I have a Moleskine for just this purpose, I just haven’t travelled any place since I got it.
It’s called an "Info Moleskine" and I plan to put it to good use in those two weeks.
There is nothing worse than coming home and trying to recall where you’ve been. I make quick sketches of areas, make notes of odd stuff I notice. People I meet. Food I ate (and what I paid, too). Distances I’ve travelled and what I saw along the way that stuck out to me. You name it, I’ll make a note. Maybe not detailed, but I will make a note.
Why?
Because to me, it’s research. I might want a character to fly (or transit) to Atlanta. Well, I’ve never been to Atlanta Airport. I don’t know where anything is. I’d have to make it up, or be incredibly vague.
Things like that annoy me. I don’t want to be vague. I hate it when I read a book and the author describes an area I know — and gets it totally wrong.
So when I travel through, I will make a note of what I see. I can use it later, even if it will only make a brief appearance. But at least it will be authentic.
So the next time you go somewhere, think about making some notes along the way. You never know when they will come in handy, and the more detailed they are, the more authentic the scene you write.
That little moleskine? It’ll be a record of a place in time and it should survive a while. Who knows, in a hundred years, someone might read it and go "Oh, so that’s what it was like!"
It’s a record of a time and place you’ve been to, and reading it over again in a few years time will bring back memories.
It’s worth taking the time — and do it longhand.
