JAMES’ WRITING PROCESS Marcus James begins writing by understanding what his book is about and where and when it will be set. Once he’s figured that out, he dives straight into research, with used books he buys cheaply and highlights the crap out of, and also Google Earth, Google Maps, and documentaries. “I research down to the littlest detail. The last thing you want to do is say your character is wearing a pair of Hanes underwear in 1900, but Hanes didn’t appear until 1901 and underwear wasn’t their first product. Imbuing history and facts into your work helps to ground it in realism, helps to break down the barrier for the reader between imagination and reality,” novel The Beckoning One , he’s already journeyed to Boston, Salem, Manhattan, San Francisco, Savannah (GA), and then the cities near his home, Seattle and Bellingham. He also travels for literary research. For his upcoming He books historical tours, ghost tours, and house tours. Sometimes he’s even been known to tour an open house if it looks like a place he could use in a book. He meets with historians and pulls records, deeds, maps, prominent and historical families’ trees, and backstories. “Sometimes, research can involve going to a specific place just to feel it. To smell it. Touch it. Take note of the journey there. Landscape. I take thousands of pictures. All of the homes, apartments, hotels, buildings, etc. They are all real. Either places I know personally or from real estate sites.” He says intensive research ensures the reader sees, smells, feels, tastes, and hears everything. “Drown your reader in the sensory and sensual experience of reading. That’s what the late, great Anne Rice taught me.”
222
Powered by FlippingBook