That's right! I am in sin city for the first time ever and despite the fact that this was not part of my budgeted expenses this year and I paid a fortune the opportunitiy presented itself and I knew it would be critical for my writing.
Your writing? Yep. My writing. That's what I said. I am doing research for the sequel to Love Sex Magick and it takes place in Las Vegas. We have lots of new characters in this book. One owns a chain of casinos and hotels, the other, a very underground night club. Having never been to Vegas, I felt like it was essential to get the true feel of the city. I am a visual person and I really wanted an authentic and realistic representation. I also feel like the city itself acts as another character in this book given the plot, that did not exist in the first book. So it is really important that I get this right.
Thus I have a suitcase full of goodies. I brought my new flip cam, the tripod. I have my nikon for photos. I have my iphone for voice memos/recordings and I have been taking notes like crazy. Each day I do a quick video of my reactions. What new things did I discover, what was unique about the city that I wouldn't have found out in a book or online. I prefer to take cabs to all the places (though my mom and her roomie would disagree) because the drivers are a wealth of information. I went on a small tour of the strip and was able to learn a ton about the rhythm of the city and have an excuse to take video and photos without explaining that I am researching a book. Though I know some folks were probably like, why is she taking pictures of random things in the hotel? Hasn't she seen a food court. LOL. Oh well.
I am still deciding but I think i am going to create a fictional casino/hotel but it will be a combination of several different pieces. I took photos of places that felt like they would fit the vibe and vision of what I am looking to create and will add them to the Book 2 Wiki. Yes I said Wiki. I am a nerd. I have a central document where I keep all of the basic stats of the series, character profiles, setting descriptions, timelines, and misc. research. It is so helpful, especially during the editing process to ensure consistency throughout three hundred plus pages of text. If you don't have one I suggest you get started. Especially if you are doing a series because you don't have to go back through the manuscript of book one trying to remember how you described a character's apartment when you are writing book four. It's a time killer! Just ask any of my published friends.
Okay I have rambled enough. I am going to be leaving the strip today. Should be interesting. I will post some of my favorite pics as soon as I get home. Well by the weekend for sure.
