W.I.P. Wednesday - 22nd Feb

Today, Carole Matthews shares news about her research for her latest WIP.

The Joy of Research

Photos courtsey of Carole Matthews

Those of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook will know that I’ve recently come back from a fabulous trip to Lapland. It was undertaken in a tearing hurry when I came up with a brilliant idea (well, I think so!) for my Christmas book 2013. All my friends laugh at me when I say I’m doing a ‘research trip’ and jet off to somewhere exotic but, as a writer, I really don’t think you can actually beat going to a place and doing the things that you’re planning to write about. Sometimes that simple act can throw up all kinds of plot ideas that you hadn’t previously thought of. I know that with my last book - Wrapped Up In You - readers said they really enjoyed the descriptions of Africa. Yes, you can do a lot from the internet these days, but actually being there is a whole different experience. As a total hothouse flower, a cold, cold trip wouldn’t be my first choice, but Lapland was simply magical. I spent a day dogsledding, drove a snowmobile, stayed a night in the Ice Hotel and saw the simply fabulous Northern Lights. The whole experience was very special and I have some great material to draw on.  I’ve put a few funny Things I’ve Learned About Lapland on my blog:  http://www.carolematthews.com/2012/01/things-that-i-learned-in-lapland/

When I’ve shelled out a lot of money for a research trip, I try to make sure I do as much as humanly possible while I’m in the country. If my books are set in downtown Milton Keynes, it’s easy to pop back to somewhere if you’ve forgotten something. With this trip to 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle, it’s less so. Then I have to make sure that I have all my bases covered.  There’s no popping back! I write an extensive journal every day and Lovely Kev takes oodles of photos to remind me of what we’ve done.  (There are some fab pics up on Facebook). We have a big folder on every country we’ve ever visited!  So if we ever run out of money for research trips, it will be back to the filing cabinet which is filled with some wonderful memories.

I do two books a year now and work about eighteen months in advance. My publishers like to have a long lead time so that they can sell into supermarkets and plan some great publicity campaigns. It all takes time. I’ve already delivered my summer book for 2013 and have edited my book for this Christmas! And sometimes I wonder where the years disappear to!

SUMMER DAYDREAMS is out now in hardback and on Kindle, but I’ll be doing a lot more promotion for the paperback which follows on 24 May.

I’m on Twitter and Facebook. Come and chat to me there.

www.carolematthews.com