Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Sandstorm!


If you’ve read Screwing Up Babylon, you know that a sandstorm figures in the plot. I loved writing it, but it was a stretch because I’ve never been in a sandstorm. I did a lot of research, Googling sandstorms and watching them online. I watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol—amazing movie which features a sandstorm (though that type of sandstorm is highly unlikely in Dubai due to the climate and geography).

My dad watched the movie with me. He used to live in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. (My dad has been everywhere. His travel advice is “don’t ask what you’re being served—it’s hard to eat sheep eyes in sauce when you know that’s what they are.”) In any case, when we saw the movie together, my dad pointed out various spots and gave me all the gossip about them. And the discussion morphed into his experience with sandstorms in other areas. There’s nothing like getting the details from someone who knows what a sandstorm smells like, sounds like, and even tastes like. Even more fun, he didn’t know I was asking him questions for my novel. Then, when he read it later, he found out how much he helped me—it’s like a gift I can give to him. And it’s a gift he gives to my readers.
  
BTW, the other day, I was reading an article that suggested that readers like to read about the personal lives of the authors they enjoy. To that end, if you’re interested, check out my blog, A Merry Heart, where I talk about the craziness that is everyday life. (For some reason that only the imps who run blogger know, my post on the wolf beater purse got posted here last week as well as on A Merry Heart. So, I guess that’s a sample for you.)

 Here’s a sandstorm.



5 comments:

  1. I enjoy all your posts, even the one about purses, despite the fact that I don't really care about purses. But do you have a good reason for splitting your posts between two blogs? I attended a presentation by author August McLaughlin, and she said it's best to put everything on a single blog.

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  2. Great question, Aaron. I guess I have two blogs because I started A Merry Heart before the Screwing Up Time series was published. I've thought about combining them, but I wonder if I'd lose blog readers. Hmm... I'd love to hear other people's thoughts/experiences--I know some writers have one blog and others have multiple blogs.

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  3. I had two blogs for awhile and found it was too much work. One was about science, the other was (and still is) mainly about my writing. Combining them, though, has created problems. I'm finding it's difficult to blog about sciency things I care about unless it's somehow directly tied to my writing.

    At some point in the near future, I'm going to separate them again. My advise is that if you have the time to handle two separate blogs, keep them separate. If not, pick one or the other. Don't try to do both together.

    -James.

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  4. I also enjoy reading both your blogs and posts.

    All the best.

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