And They're Off and Running - Sort Of.

Some Background

One of the most important tools for a writer is the computer and the Internet. Fact: 99% of those reading this had no idea what an Internet was in 1990.

In 1982, the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) was standardized, and consequently, the concept of a world-wide network of interconnected TCP/IP networks, called the Internet, was introduced. Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the National Science Foundation (NSF) developed the Computer Science Network (CSNET) and again in 1986 when NSFNET provided access to supercomputer sites in the United States from research and education organizations. Commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) began to emerge in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990. The Internet was commercialized in 1995 when NSFNET was decommissioned, removing the last restrictions on the use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic. (Wikipedia: History_of_the_Internet)

The Osborn Computer

These tools really began in the 1950's with development of electronic computers and development of various communication protocols in the late '60s and early '70s. My writing career really started in 1962 when actually paid for my work as a journalist. Introduction to computer enhanced communications came in 1968 thanks to Uncle Sam and use grew as did the Internet over the next twelve years. In 1979 I decided to make a slight course correction in my career (I was in law enforcement at the time), and began pursuit of a four-year degree in Criminal Justice. Familiarization with the academic side of computer research helped immensely while attending college. I vividly remember sitting in a small room off the University of Wyoming Law School library using an Osborn portable computer to compile information on a research paper about the legal system of China. Students and staff were looking through a small window in the door to marvel at what I was doing.

Late 1990 public access to what we know as the Internet became available where I was located in Washington. Earlier that year I began intensive research on a project to annotate the first five Books of Moses of the Judeo-Christian scriptures, a project that consumed all of my time for the next eleven years. Working from home I no longer had to make trips to a limited academic library thirty miles away, but had access to library collections literally around the world. In that first session I traveled from Illinois to California, Great Britain to Israel, and back again gleaning information from physically inaccessible collections, and doing it within one hour's time. I was able to access the writings of religious experts (now called blogs), and interact with them. The doors to the world's knowledge were flung open and knocked off their hinges.

I have dwell upon this to emphasize how writing has changed. We no longer have to spend countless hours traveling to accomplish research at distant locations and likely not find valuable information because it is stored where we'd not expect to find it. Case in point.

After writing a novel incorporating my religious research, I undertook a story that involved the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. They guard certain aspects of their religion carefully, keeping it from "outsider's" eyes. After extensive online research I acquired a foundation from which to work, and then made a trip to the area to see and interview people. In a few days I had all the necessary details to accurately present important elements of the story. That would not have happened so readily if not prepared.

Now, I understand that many writers may not wish or have an interest in portraying backdrop and characterizations with historical accuracy. What I write does. Perhaps that comes from my journalism days that required accuracy of the event. Today, I mix accuracy/realism with fiction. The other advantage today is that a person does not have to attend classes to learn writing skills. Such is available online or knowledgeable individuals share important skill-building techniques free, manuscripts can easily be shared for critique, agent inquiries and submissions done, and now print or electronic publishing accomplished. (Thinking on this, from conception to completion, not one word needs placed on paper.)

That brings me to this project, the writing of A Pirate's Legacy series. I am one of those guys that has a fascination with tall ships, sailing, and piracy in the 1600's. So what did I know of any of that? Not much, except that The Pirate Movie (1982), Cutthroat Island (1995), and Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) are fun movies, but about as accurate as a 17th Century canon. While completing a series of shorts, I began considering what my next novel should be. It was my wife who suggested a pirate story after seeing Johnny Depp's flick. That suggestion percolated in the back of my mind for a year as I worked on the New Mexico book. And there is the topic of my next blog - giving birth to an idea.