As a journalist, I frequently do a quick search to recheck my memory on a fact or to gather further information on whatever it is I am writing. I try very hard to bring something a little extra to my articles; to add a piece of information that isn’t in every other article on the same topic…even if it is nothing more than to clarify something.
But, my most recent searches were all related to a book I was reading. I have made a great deal of use out of the map feature on my phone lately; looking up where locations in the book were. I like to get an idea of where places are in my books. Granted many fiction books use fictitious locations for their stories, but most of the stuff I read takes place in real locations.
The book I just finished – “Doomsday Key” by James Rollins – took place in the United Kingdom, France, and Norway.
Many of the facts and places in the book were true.
A few before that was “Zero Hour” by Clive Cussler which took place in the southern hemisphere in Australia, Antarctica, and Heard Island.
I wanted to know where these places were and to see how they were more than just a setting to tell a story.
One reason I like Rollins and Cussler is that they put their fictional adventures into real places; often taken using actual news items and weaving them into the story. By the time I finish the book, my Kindle is filled with yellow patches where I have highlighted information; which also sometimes requires looking thing up online.