I Didn't Google That - Did I? Romance Writers Weekly #lovechatwrite

The internet is an invaluable research tool for writers, but sometimes we Google subjects that would raise more than a few eyebrows if seen out of context. So this week Carrie Elks has challenged the Romance Weekly writers to 'fess up on the strangest thing we’ve ever googled, thus giving us a chance to explain why we were grubbing around in that particular search string.

Now, I’m pretty sure Collette Cameron has NEVER Googled anything too disturbing (she is much too sweet!) but who knows what lurks beneath that demure exterior? If you haven’t come here from there, be sure to hop back and take a look.

As for myself, here’s a list of my most recent searches based on my writing:

9 things you didn’t know about Disney’s Cinderella
Blue (colours)
Avant garde

I am writing a scene where my heroine (a blue-collar construction worker) needs to buy an evening gown for an event being put on by the hero’s symphony orchestra. I want her to feel out of her element – hence the avant garde search to make sure it meant what I thought it meant. But I also want her to feel good about herself, so I am giving the hoity-toity boutique she goes to a warm and cuddly manager. Maybe you can guess who that character is loosely modelled on by my next two searches – blue (so many different shades!) and Cinderella.

In the past, I’ve also Googled grizzly bear poaching, the symptoms of concussion, where to go canyoning in the Azores, videos on paragliding (because you’ll never catch me jumping off a mountain voluntarily), what security guards at universities do and more. To be honest, I don’t know if I could write without Google. I’m not the type that can just leave a spot blank and then do the research later. I need to know NOW, before I can move forward. The internet is truly a wonderful thing!

Well, time to send you on your way.  Head over Victoria Barbour to see what interesting things she’s been caught—er—needed to know.