02/17/12
Joan Swan – What I Learned Writing Fever
by Hope Ramsay
Our Friday guest blogger today is Joan Swan. Joan is a triple RWA® Golden Heart finalist and writes sexy romantic suspense with a paranormal twist. Her debut novel with Kensington Brava, FEVER, releases February 28, 2012. Her second novel, BLAZE, follows in October, 2012. In her day job, she works as a sonographer for one of the top ten medical facilities in the nation. She lives on the California central coast in beautiful wine country with her husband and two daughters.
Here are some fun things I learned while writing FEVER:
- Glocks don’t have safeties
- Human antibiotics are also used to treat fish…yes, the little ones you keep in a fish tank at home.
- A breakfast feast can be created entirely out of frozen and dried food products.
- The various methods of stitching human skin.
- Upholstery needles are the best alternative to medical supplies for stitching skin.
- How to hot wire a car.
- All paranormal abilities related to heat, fire and healing.
- Aryan Brotherhood insignia.
- Racial slang I could have lived my entire life not knowing.
- How autopsy reports are phrased.
- The details of Nicole Brown Simpson’s and Ron Goldman’s deaths via their autopsy reports.
- How court appointed attorneys are assigned.
- Geography of Oregon, Washington and Canada.
- Radius of propane gas that is flammable.
- What type of spark is necessary to set a propane leak on fire.
What is something memorable you’ve learned while reading (or writing) a book?
About FEVER
When Dr. Alyssa Foster is taken hostage by a prison inmate, she knows she’s in deep trouble. Not just because Teague Creek is desperate for freedom, but because the moment his fingers brush against her skin, Alyssa feels a razor-sharp pang of need…
A man with a life sentence has nothing to lose. At least Teague doesn’t, until his escape plan develops a fatal flaw: Alyssa. On the run from both the law and deadly undercover operatives, he can only give her lies, but every heated kiss tells him the fire between them could be just as devastating as the flames that changed him forever…
Buy links: Amazon| Barnes & Noble | Booksamillion
Giveaway:
· Leave a comment for a chance to win a print copy of FEVER, US/Canada shipping.
· All comments are eligible for tour grand prize of either a COLOR NOOK or KINDLE FIRE. Enter: http://joanswan.com/giveaways/blog-tour-ereader/
65 Responses
I’ve learned how to hotwire a car and what poisons are hard to trace from books. I also learned that many authors are way too excited to do research, especially if it involves different ways to kill people. Thanks for the great giveaway.
LOLOL, Jennifer! So true, we authors are always trying to find fresh new ways to kill people! Too much time on our hands!
I’ve learned how the Russian nobility survived in immigration after the Great Bolshevik’s Revolution.
Okay, that’s very cool! Thanks for coming by Tatiana!
I’ve learned how horrid some people can be. You never really let some of the stuff you hear on the news sink in but when you read detailed accounts of torture and cruelty it drives it all home. I’ve read some paranormal/urban stories that actually made me hurt inside. I guess I learned that I can handle more gross stuff than I thought I could.
So very true Viki. I’ve seen that with myself in movies. Gut ripping stuff and it’s the stuff that actually does happen in the real world. Chilling!
Joan,
Love your blog! I did research about snow mobile accidents, and the trauma to ones body when hitting a tree, medivac procedures, how to care for an abandoned and emaciated dog, small cabin living, the psychological effects of being a foster child, etc.
All the things that make a book hard to write.
Jeez Elizabeth, that’s not bedtime reading — unless you want nightmares. All except the small cabin living…that sounds rather sublime at the moment! Thanks for the blog love!
My favorite books are the ones that give me a great story and teach me something new at the same time. Almost every one of Lavyrle Spenser’s historical novels have something interesting to learn. I remember the one where the hero was a cooper who was part of the whaling economy in Massachusetts. I also enjoyed The Queen’s Dollmaker, that had so many details about how dolls were made in the 18th Century. And I just love Bev Pettersen’s books about horse racing.
For my most recent book I had to research police call codes, photographic techniques that control depth of field, journalists who have lost their lives while covering combat, the history of the first Gulf War, including the combat history of various Marine divisions.
Joan, congratulations on your release. And I gotta say that your cover is totally amazing.
Hi Hope! Thanks so much and thanks for having me! I actually love YOUR Last Chance series covers! They are gorgeous!
I too love the books I read that are both entertaining and educational. And I especially love learning new things as I write something new. Can’t lose!
I’ve learn that plotting a book is a whole lot harder than coming up with chraracters or story line:)
Ain’t it the truth, sister!
Ah, yes, Gail. **Come over to the dark side** (aka pansters)
I love learning about places i’ve never went (in country and out). Teach me about a new place to have a romance and I’m a sucker for it.
Oh, me too, Lori. Only problem with that is that once I start researching new places for a novel…I always end up wanting to go there and I live with this travel bug for MONTHS!
I’ve learned that it’s a whole lot easier to try to write a clean first draft than to clean up a messy first draft – along with many other little gems which ate up time, resulted in bald patches, and gifted me with 25 extra pounds.
…and a ton more writing craft knowledge, putting you that much closer to your publishing goals (should you have them)
. Go Candence, go!!
For my current book, I learned about Carnival in Brazil, opals, and the fun part, Aussies. But I’ve also been researching fae, out of a ‘real’ fae reference book, lol, and the various types of amnesia. I also learned from reading what parts I skip over in a book, and it’s not the love scenes
Thanks for visiting us, Joan. I’m looking forward to reading Fever and Blaze.
Um…Livia…when will this book be out? Cause I already want to read it!!!!
My latest flight of research dealt with the history of the angora rabbit, which was first raised by the Romans, whoops. Sorry. Now I must find me somebody who can show me how to spin the bunny fur into yarn, how the yarn is blended with lambswool, and then figure out where I can find me a Scotsman who raises rabbits for to use their fur in those kilts…
It wasn’t Alice who fell down the rabbit hole. It was Grace.
Your local 4-H and Society for Creative Anachronism chapter should have oodles of info. A girlfriend use to participate in SfCA.
ROTFLMAO!! A little like the internet. I just went to check my email…then followed a link to a twitter post…which lead me to my facebook friend…that Linked me In to…
I learned that cover men on romance novels never have chest hair, and Chinese food in China is not anything like the stuff served here.
LOLOLOL, ah the invaluable knowledge just hovering out there, waiting for us to reach up and grab it!
I’ve learned a lot from reading. It’s always fun to learn about new to me places. Through romantic suspense books, I’ve learned a lot about crime and the procedures to catch the bad guy.
I particularly love romantic suspense and thrillers for learning about police procedure as well as police personality and what psychosis the job can inflict on a person!
I’ve learned about outlaw biker “prospecting” rites of passage, how to make crystal meth, how to cultivate a confidential informant, and how to ride a motorcycle. All useful things for my day job! I’ve also learned about middle eastern medicine and surgical procedures in the 12th century. And I love your book cover too! Can’t wait to read FEVER, Joan – congratulations again!
Hi Laurie!! Great to see you! Good thing I know you, or I’d be a little nervous there.
Thanks for coming out to say hi!
I learned how to fly s kite!
How FUN!!
I’ve learned more history than I did in school, mainly because I’ve read HR & PNR for decades. New “old” words and their different meanings. That on somethings I have a very low pain tolerance to read about (rape, torture, serial killers) even when I love the protagonists. In the right hands or the wrong moment everything object in the world can be wielded as a weapon.
Marines are just as drool-worthy in fiction as in real life (Virgin River series) and are also the biggest granite covered marshmallows.
That history may have moved at a slower pace, a kinder pace, it was also a very difficult life that I would not have survived long in, but I’d still choose to go through the stones.
The intricacies of dressing to impress. Trousers vs breeches. Humor was far bawdier than today. Life with a good horse will always be good, any era.
Any species of male can be won over with a bite of good food and a kind hand held out by a backbone of steel.
Good God, Larisa, I want to read what you read!! And I in fact picked up the first of the Virgin River series on audible for 4.95 during a special they were running and now that I know we’re talking mouth watering Marines…I know what I’m listening to on my trek home!!!
Writing about 3 Italian brothers, I learned to speak some Italian. And researched cities in Italy. Even got a pen pal from across the pond(another writer)for a while and exchanged emails with some Italian. Fun actually. Congrats on your release, Joan!
Thanks Marian. Are you itching to head to Italy now?
Great post, Joan. Welcome and congrats on the books. They sound so intriguing!
In writing my books I’ve learned
how record engineering software works, what’s legal and not legal to do in a critical wildlife habitat, how whale autopsies are performed, and how researchers study sea lion scat. It’s amazing the weird things you can put in a romance novel isn’t it?
Um…wow? That is some off the beaten track info you’ve picked up Lizbeth. Whale autopsies? Seriously? Who knew????
Oh, all the things I’ve learned from books…
Probably best not to tell what exactly. I would hate to be one of the first people brought in if something suspicious or evil happens… LOL.
Enjoy!
TBQ
Tooooooooooo laaaaaaaaaaate…may as well tell now!!
From the list of things you learned while writing “Fever”, it sounds like a very serious novel, not a lighthearted romance! I am intrigued so please enter me for the giveaway.
annfesATyahooDOTcom
Hi Ann,
No, FEVER isn’t a lighthearted romance, though I do pop in snark as often as possible
and of course I’m as fond of poignant moments as any romance author. FEVER deals with deep conspiracy theories, desperate choices and pushing oneself to the limit.
I tend to write on the edge.
I learned how to make Chicken Marsala. It was actually good. Also learned that there is a little evil in all of us, and most of us want happy endings. Can’t wait to read Fever. Congrats on the new release.
e.balinski(at)att(dot)net
Nice Joanne! You’re making me hungry!
Congrats to Joan on her upcoming debut release. One of the first things I learned was the ranks of the British aristocracy.
janie1215 AT excite DOT com
Thanks Jane. That’s very cool!
I have learned that you can’t find men that even remotely look like the cover men on romance novels in my town. In FEVER, I found that sometimes looks can be deceiving. Plus, all the cool stuff Joan mentioned above. That stitching scene was a bit too realistic for me. Yikes!
LOLOL, Phoenix, I had to do some hard research to write that scene
. Actually, I’ve been part of so many procedures and seen so many open and repaired wounds, it kinda, sorta came natural. Although I really did have to figure out how the heck he was going to stitch her up!
And I do LOOOOVE your name btw
Wow, when I think of all the stuff I’ve learned “accidentally” while reading
fiction, well, it’s kind of boggling. I have a thing for the Scottish Highlander
romance novels and I think I know Scottish history way better than your normal
American citizen – but that’s not a bad thing! Looking forward to Fever!
Totally not a bad thing Peggy! I’m sure there’s many good uses to which you can apply your Scottish history knowledge!!
This list is so random and so interesting! I’m curious as to the Aryan Brother insignia and the different methods of stitching human skin. Sounds like a lot of ouch or cringing involved.
Books can be so useful and I’ve learned a lot. Rcently I learned that putting stamps on upside down is a sign of distress.
REALLY???? I never knew that!
My list does seem random, doesn’t it? Well, at least until you read FEVER, then it all clicks!
Everything that Joan mentioned. When I read about the Fish stuff, I was like “What? Really?”
Books/Stories are a wealth of information. It’s really good when you learn something along with the story line. Research can always be fun!
Totally! The great thing about novels is that the information is always more interesting when it’s applied in a storytelling environment and to characters we care about!
Yes!! In storytelling the information stores in the head more.
I enjoyed your post. I would say the different rankings of nobility and how to properly address them.
Very cool!
I actually learned to expect the unexpected because growing up I was told Vampires behave a certain way but then Stephanie Meyers came on the scene and blew that way of thinking out of the water. I also learned “how” the Hollywood machine can take a naive young girl and make her unrecognizable to her family and friends and slowly kill the sweet girl she used to be. I so wish I hadn’t read how “evil” some people in Hollywood could be. Fever is my must have book of 2012.
Ooo, and you are my quoteable for the week!! “Fever is my must have book of 2012.” ~Raquel Vega-Grieder
In 5th grade, for a school project, I spoke to a police detective about the various degrees of murder and what each entailed (it was my uncle’s idea; I think he was just too tired to take me to the library to look that info up).
I knew about the fish medication; I used to buy them for my fish. Then I realized that they were getting the same medications I was.
LOL, you are the first person I’ve met who knows about that!
Aha, Joan, you learned the geography of Canada… no excuse not to visit, then. I shall put on the tea, stock up on red wine.
If you could give Gloria a few tips…
Can’t wait to catch the FEVER!
Would LOOOOOOVE to! You should be getting your review copy soon! Sorry those got going late.
I always enjoy learning things as I read. I’ve probably learned more historical facts from reading fiction than I ever did in school. That’s quite a list of things you learned for this book, and I’ll look forward to learning more about them from the book.
Hi Di,
Yes, history in novels is so much more interesting than in school! It’s applied to real people and we can see how it affected their lives. Now THAT is real history!
I love all of the etiquette rules that I learned from reading historical romances.
~Krista
Glocks don’t have safeties!? That isn’t, well safe obviously. It’s amazing the things you learn when writing a book. Now, how to hotwire a car… that could come in handy.
B