Research

I’ve admitted before that I’m incredibly lazy when it comes to research, which is why I write fiction. I’m going to say something shocking, though: I’m currently doing some research. Okay, it’s a pretty tame form, but nonetheless, I decided to re-read The Inferno by Dante. It’s been a looooong time since I read it. In fact, it’s been so long I searched through bookshelves and boxes yesterday and couldn’t find my old paperback copy, so I ended up buying a translation on Kindle for less than a buck. Why the research, you ask? I’m currently writing a book set on a planet called Hell, and I thought it might be a good idea to refresh my memory on the literary topic with The Inferno. Am I writing my own interpretation of the book? Goodness, no. It’s just something I can use to enrich my own story with a skeleton of a framework. It’s funny that as I’m doing this, I’m reading the new Longmire book by Craig Johnson, The Brothers McKay, in which the author embraces the story and characters of The Brothers Karamazov to such an extent that the good sheriff and his friends start to believe a murderer is following that book as their guide. While I’m using elements of The Inferno, at least nobody has been murdered. At least not yet.