The Unusualness of Research and Why It’s Necessary

As I typed THE END on my 13th book written, with 8 published and a scheduled number to  be released in 2018, I took a moment to reflect.
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​Things I’ve researched in 2017 for books I’ve written:

​* Is pepper spray (OC spray) legal in Western Australia

* How does SIDE (School of Isolated and Distance Education) work

* Do Brahman bulls have noticeably large testicles

* How are feral dogs neutered in the outback (or not)

* What happens when you fracture your tibia and fibula into several pieces (ouch)

* Can I put a live horse on a theatre stage and get away with it

* Will a soldier get neck strain if he or she is carrying 60 - 100 lbs of gear in combat mode (duh – but I had to check the specifics)

* What is karma (It’s not what you might think)

* What time is it in Texas if it’s 6 am in Arizona

* How to put a roof on a hacienda

* How do you play Poker
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* If your nasty, criminally intent business partner choked on a chunk of pineapple, how long would it take him to die

​And just recently: 

* What might be a debt of honour for services rendered under certain circumstances that not only pull a person out of their comfort zone, but place them in the firing line for everything they don't want or had never expected to happen (this is my current research workload)
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* How would a dysfunctional but prosperous Australian family manage if it all went awry business-wise and financially within their long-upheld and given status of being top dogs in a highly regarded small but world-wide renown and ingenious fish pond (I don't have all the  answers to this one yet, but I'll be looking for them in 2018)

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I’m so looking forward to 2018 and my continuance of unusual but necessary Googling.

#Fiction - the alternative to real life.
Whether it's a good alternative or a shocking alternative, it makes us think.

I hope you got lots of books for Christmas.

Jennie x

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Jennie Jones is a bestselling Australian author with eight published novels to date and four due to be released in 2018 with Harlequin/Harper Collins Australia and Tule Publishing. You can find and follow Jennie on her Facebook page.

Photo credit: ​Gaelle Marcel