I lucked out with the first three books. Admittedly, I did a lot of research on all of them, but it was anonymously done from the internet.

I really wish I could do that with the fourth book that I’m currently writing, but as I go, it’s starting to look like I’m going to have to get professional consultation.

This is nothing new for writers, especially crime writers. Before the internet, virtually all mystery stories had at least a full page of acknowledgements to various professionals thanking them for providing facts, statistics and appropriate anecdotes to give the fictitious crime novel proper credibility.

I will probably be no exception, but it’s hard for me. I don’t do well with authority figures. They intimidate the hell out of me. I do OK with emails because I can sensor my words so I sound like a normal person, but on the phone my innate ability to make an ass of myself kicks in pretty quick. People don’t tend to take you seriously when you make an ass of yourself.

However, it has to be done. I have to talk to doctors, researchers, and yes law enforcement officials (SCARY) to get my facts straight and give my beloved characters a believable plot. Somehow my perfectionism is going to have to override my antisocial behavior…or I could let my well-honed procrastination trump them all. Can’t I just do it, you know, later?

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