Mimi Riser

What kind of research do you do for your books? Do you enjoy the research process?

I research whatever is needed to get the details of a story straight. With I Do, for instance, that included everything from Highland customs, to Comanches and the Civil War, to medieval castles, the history of the electric light, how high an oak might grow in 50 years, and how a person could have traveled from Abilene to San Francisco in 1883…and quite a few other things, as well. I love research and have tons of reference books (including nearly twenty different sets of encyclopedias, some of them very old and curious). Then there’s the hands-on kind of research. Such as, say a character has been kidnapped and gagged and she’s trying to scream. What does it sound/feel like? How much noise can one make while gagged, anyway? Gee, I guess I’ll have to gag myself and find out, won’t I?...