NATIVE AMERICANS/INDIGENOUS PEOPLES/HISTORY/ANCIENT CULTURES

These are just a few of the keywords I used when I began researching for my book, KEECHIE . I realized early on that these terms were much too broad, and refined them to be more specific. Using search terms like "Creek Indians", "Prehistoric Georgia", and "Indians of the Southeast" were much more productive for my needs.

You have to remember that the internet is full of bad information along with the good. Try to determine the source of the information— whether it be from the content, or by listed references on the website. If your book is fiction, you may find that the speculative sites are exactly what you need, but for a historical fiction like KEECHIE I had to judge these sites with caution. I wanted the historical facts to be as accurate as possible on the culture, religion and lifestyles of the Creek/Muskogee people of ancient Georgia.

So after you have decided on the genre' of your soon-to-be masterpiece, and you have your basic storyline in mind, begin the research! I read twenty books and listed over fifty websites in the process of writing KEECHIE and found that not only did I gather the historical information I was looking for, I was never a victim of "writer's block"! I would become entranced by a single statement in the book or website— which would fire my imagination and get me back to the keyboard with another chapter pouring from my fingers as I watched the story develop in front of my eyes.

In a short time, I had gathered enough research material for a second book. I sent the first one off to the Library of Congress for its copyright, and let the story continue. The sequel, "Granny Boo ~ The Legacy of the Puman Man" is now over twice the word count as KEECHIE , and is still growing—all due to... RESEARCH!

It was more fun than the actual writing of the book.