DOING RESEARCH FOR BOOKS by M.E. Roche
Research in writing, or so I’d guess, is little
different from research in any other occupation. As a nurse, learning about a
new diagnosis, a new med, or a new treatment requires spending some time
reading and talking with other, more knowledgeable people. In my first three
young adult novels, there wasn’t much research involved as Nora Brady—my main
character—was a student nurse; I knew everything about that, didn’t I? When I
wanted her to move into law enforcement, however—something about which I knew
next to nothing—I knew I’d have to talk to the experts there, so I reached out
to my local sheriff’s department.
The sheriff’s department was more than
accommodating. I was able to interview the officers in charge, take a tour of
the offices, and schedule a ride-along. I was also lucky enough to be living in
one of the only counties in California—probably in the country—where the
coroner’s department utilized volunteers, and their staff was part of the
sheriff’s department. I wanted the experience of assisting with autopsies, but
more than that, I wanted the story behind an autopsy.
While Nora Brady moved on to become a detective with
the sheriff’s department, she continued to work as a per diem nurse at the
local hospital. That didn’t require much research, but when I started writing
my first standalone novel, BIGAMY, real research was involved. Set in the 1930s,
it was based on an actual case in a state about which I knew little. (Newspapers.com
subscription). There were little things like fixing peanut butter sandwiches on
Wonder Bread. Did they have peanut butter and Wonder Bread in the 1930s? One character
goes to jail and then to prison. What was the difference? What was it like? And
last year, I took a road trip to Nebraska to begin researching the life of my
great-aunt who came from Ireland (Ancestry.com subscription), worked as
a servant in Chicago, and married a homesteader from Nebraska in 1918—a time of
war, influenza, and the Dust Bowl.
For my recently released novel ONCOLOGY, I
researched work being done with phytoplankton—a marine lifeform that sustains
much of marine life and has the potential as a future food source for man. In
this novel, Nora Brady leaves her position as a detective with the sheriff’s
department following a personal tragedy. As a registered nurse, she takes a job
in the hospital’s oncology clinic. When it’s discovered that a recently treated
patient dies while on a cruise, and an autopsy shows no evidence of his having ever
had cancer, Nora and her team are left to wonder if he was the only victim.
https://www.amazon.com/ONCOLOGY-Cancer-Treatment-Can-Murder/dp/B0C1JDQLRT
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| M. E. Roche Bio: While the product of a Midwest upbringing, I've lived and worked on both coasts as well as in Ireland. As a registered nurse, I've had the opportunity to work in many facets of nursing, and although retired, I continue to volunteer and enjoy working at a neighborhood clinic. One of the first things my family did in moving to a new town was to see that each of us got a new library card. I'm a lifelong reader, and my favorite books have always been mysteries---the new and the classics. Like many writers, I thought of writing for many years before finally sitting down and doing so. My first novels were an attempt to show young readers what nursing was like today, as there didn’t appear to be anything out there beyond those series of the ’50s and ’60s. This resulted in my first three young adult novels. At that point, I decided to take Nora into adulthood with a new mystery series for adults, beginning with The South Spit Murders, followed by a stand-alone novel—Bigamy—and my next two Nora Brady mysteries, A Haunting on Dunbar Lane and my newest novel, Oncology. In the adult series, Nora has the somewhat enviable opportunity to merge her talents for nursing with those of law enforcement. |
YA Novels: Nora
Brady, Student Nurse Mysteries (3)
Adult Novels: The
Nora Brady Mysteries (3)
Stand Alone Novel: BIGAMY
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