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Life of a Writer Mom Column
Research by Carla CharterI am one of those unusual writers that love to do research. I suppose this is a good thing considering most of what I write has a historical theme. When I go to the library with my fifteen-year-old daughter, I will often tell her I need to pop into the local history room for just one minute. She will roll her eyes (something I've discovered adolescents are real good at) and say, "A half hour! You have a half hour in there and then I want to leave!" I smile and say, "Sure." And before I know it I've retrieved the key to the history room and am lost with people I've never met before and am in places I've never been to. Worse yet, all of those people and places just seem to be begging me to tell their story. It doesn't get any better when we return home. While dinner cooks I can often be found with my nose in a book about whaling ships or the French American War. In my own defense though, the rest of the family can often be found doing the same thing. Then there's the monument/cemetery thing as my daughter calls it. Monuments, if you take the time to stop and read the plaques can foster many stories both fiction and nonfiction. The cemetery thing I discovered thanks to a person I met who was a graveyard historian of sorts. I thought it was rather strange at first too. Reading the stones though, especially the older ones, give you a whole new perspective on a historical time and a closer look into the people who lived during that time. Often these trips too can foster interesting story lines. Needless to say, taking a vacation can be interesting when your mother is a writer. Just ask my teenager. So armed with all this research and all those story ideas, I often sit down at my desk ready to write. Or if the idea is too good to wait, I pull out my notebook and scribble away. Waiting for my characters to unfold and take me back to another time and place. Another world. Carla Charter is mom to Samantha, Halden, and Mathew. In addition to being a mom, Carla is a freelance writer specializing in newspaper and magazine journalism. Among her publication credits are Woman's World, American Indian Report and New England Business Journal. Online she has been published in Scubasource.com and Military.com. She teaches creative writing courses at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Ma. Recently her novel Across Lots has been serialized at http://www.newenglandwow.com. She may be reached at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net. |
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