Valley Life: Eat, chat, spy -- Who knew research could be so much fun?

By Penny Warner
Valley Times

Although I didn't plan to become a fiction writer, I was already making stuff up during my school days.Any time I had to do a paper that required research — which I hated — I always wrote from my imagination and hoped it sounded realistic enough to fool the teacher. I made up stuff on everything from visiting historic California missions to interviewing experts on the importance of atomic energy. And back then, I didn't even have the Internet for help.

Now that I've morphed into a fiction writer, I've come to love research. In fact, I'd much rather research a person, place or topic than actually write the book.I'm currently writing the second book in my mystery series and it requires a lot of research to make the story sound authentic. For example, last weekend, I spent the day just doing research.

First, I sat inside one of those teeny toy Smart Cars to see if my broad-shouldered love interest could fit. I found the car amazingly roomy inside, great for making U-turns on one-lane mountain roads, and perfect for a car chase on the sidewalk. I almost bought one, but they were out of yellow.

Next, I went to the San Francisco County Jail to see what it would be like to visit a prisoner, just as my protagonist must do in order to save her BFF.

Sure, there's plenty of information on the Internet about visiting the jail, like "No cell phones, weapons or gang colors." And good thing, since I'd planned to wear something colorful.

But I wanted to know more. Such as, what color are the walls? (Somewhere between Shenandoah taupe and caramel apple) and what does it smell like? (A cross between a hospital hallway and high school locker room). Those are details you just can't get from the Internet.

The characters in my books like to eat between action scenes and romantic interludes, so I had to check out San Francisco cafes, diners, and bars that would make interesting backdrops for their clue-filled conversations. I discovered a wonderful French cafe hidden in San Francisco's trendy South Park, filled with pony-tailed hippies and spike-haired hipsters, computer techs in logo T-shirts and bike riders in colorful Spandex, all gobbling blueberry crepes and croque-monsieurs. They'd be perfect for an appearance in my latest mystery.While sipping a café au lait, I eavesdropped on conversations that ran from dramatic breakups to outlandish adventures. And I took notes.

On the way home, I swung by Treasure Island, the primary location for my book, to see how I could make that unique setting become a character in the story.That meant attending a wine tasting (I bought a bottle of Treasure Island Wine because the label featured a pirate flag), talking with the security guard (who filled me in on the new TV show "Trauma" being filmed there), and chatting up the commodore at the Treasure Island Yacht Club (he tipped me to the best garlic fries on the island).

Although I'll probably use only a small percent of the things I'd learned, I hope those "telling details" will make the book come alive.

You just can't make that stuff up.

Valley Life: Afternoons in Leadville are anything but leaden

By Penny Warner
VALLEY TIMES Correspondent
Posted: 07/19/2009

I'M A BIG FAN OF summer reading. That's the time I can read anything I want, from cutesy chick-lit to hilarious Sedaris — all guilt-free.

This summer I've already finished "This Will Kill You" by HP Newquist (research for my mystery series), "10-Minute Clutter Control" by Skye Alexander (my son made me read it), "The Cruelest Month" by Louise Penny (Agatha Award winner), and, of course, the entire "How Do Dinosaurs"..." collection by Jane Yolen (at my grandsons' insistence.)

Local libraries enable my reading addiction by providing FREE BOOKS! And they have great summer events for us book-dependents. Last year, I worked with the Pleasanton Library's "Big Read" program to help make "The Maltese Falcon" come to life. This year, the library offers a "Reading Out West" program, with train rides, Civil War lectures and Western music.

This year, the Livermore Library celebrated "Livermore Reads Together," Dublin offers book discussion groups and San Ramon hosts the International Storytelling Festival. In Danville, you can hear such local luminaries as Mark Curtis discuss his new book, "Age of Obama."

But if you're lucky enough to be in Leadville, Colo. in coming weeks, the library there will host a "One Book, One Community" program featuring our local award-winning author, Ann Parker.

I'm especially proud of Ann. She took one of my writing courses years ago, but it wasn't until the last class that she finally read her first attempt at a novel. I knew immediately she'd have a book in the library one day. Three books from her Silver Rush historical mystery series are now on the shelves — "Silver Lies," "Iron Ties" and "Leaden Skies."

"I spent my childhood at the library," Ann said. "I thought it was magical how you could take books home and didn't have to pay for them. Unless they were late. And mine were always late."

Set during the silver boom in Leadville, her books feature the adventures of saloon owner Inez Stannert, a strong female role model.

"As a kid, I read mostly boy books because they had all the fun adventures," she said.

A science/technical writer at Lawrence Livermore Lab, Ann turned her pen to fiction and found her interest lay in historical westerns.

"I used to watch TV westerns with my dad," Ann said. " 'Have Gun, Will Travel,' 'Bonanza,' 'Wild, Wild West.' Again, the guys were having all the fun."

Ann's protagonist, Inez, is very loosely based on her grandmother, who grew up in Leadville during rough-and-tough times.

Being honored by Leadville is a career highlight, but Ann always seeks new horizons: "I'd like to write urban fantasy and explore where no man — or woman — has gone before."

I can't wait to go with her.



Meet Ann at Towne Center Books, 555 Main St., in Pleasanton at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Reach Penny Warner at www.pennywarner.com.