research – Sara Creasy

The Shed

Probably the most bizarre little art project I’ve ever done… It’s the shed! You know, the shed. It’s mentioned in every book of the Wynter Wild series, and The Beat Goes On (book 10) there are several flashbacks to the ashram and to this sanctuary where Wynter, Xay and Roman used to meet at night,Continue reading “The Shed”

Let’s Visit an Abandoned Copper Mine

In The Beat Goes On (book 10), Xay finds himself in an abandoned copper mine in Arizona. I did some research on what these places look like, and what the dangers are, and thus a storyline was born. To orient ourselves, the image above shows the landscape surrounding the Dragoon Mountains in Cochise county (inContinue reading “Let’s Visit an Abandoned Copper Mine”

Useful Free Internet Tools for Writers

Gone are the days when writers had to spend hours in the library researching how to care for their character’s pet python, or on the phone exploring the price of a plane ticket, or at the bookcase in the next room flicking through classic novels to find the perfect quote. Everything’s at our fingertips –Continue reading “Useful Free Internet Tools for Writers”

The Ashram at Touchstone Pass

Do you get a visual image of the layout of a place when you read about it? I have a very firm impression in my mind of the ashram in the Wynter Wild books, but I’ve never actually drawn a map. Now that I’m writing flashbacks for book 10 (The Beat Goes On), where weContinue reading “The Ashram at Touchstone Pass”

Tiger Mountain House – updated

I’ve updated the digital composite picture I made of Wynter’s home on Tiger Mountain. This one adds the garage and improves the driveway. On the left is the concrete area used as a basketball court. The goat pen, veggie patches, and “Wynter’s garden” with the stone wall are hidden by the main house.

Doorways: Wynter Wild Houses Part 3: Tiger Mountain & More

The previous posts show the homes of characters from the Wynter Wild books – those mentioned during the series, and all the previous homes of the boys. In this post I’m looking at homes of some secondary characters as well as other locations. Tiger Mountain Here’s a view of Tiger Mountain (facing east) showing howContinue reading “Doorways: Wynter Wild Houses Part 3: Tiger Mountain & More”

Doorways: Wynter Wild Houses Part 2: Childhood

In my previous post I showed pictures of the various homes (and a boat!) lived in by the family in the Wynter Wild series. In this post I’ll take a look at the two houses they visit for nostalgia’s sake in Montana, along with the Montana homes the children grew up in even before then.Continue reading “Doorways: Wynter Wild Houses Part 2: Childhood”

Doorways: Wynter Wild Houses Part 1: Locations

I often “drive” through cities and suburbs on Google Maps to get a feel for how a place looks, even if those descriptions don’t end up in my writing. I live in suburban Melbourne, which has many suburbs with their own distinctive and very Australian flavor. So it’s fascinating to me to compare American locationsContinue reading “Doorways: Wynter Wild Houses Part 1: Locations”

The Fairn Boys’ Motorcycles

Wynter’s brothers each ride a different motorcycle. I know nothing about motorcycles, except what it feels like to ride on the back of Caleb’s bike because my husband owned it, back in Arizona. Caleb’s bike is the 1985 Honda V65 Magna. It was manufactured for a few years during the mid 80s, and as theContinue reading “The Fairn Boys’ Motorcycles”