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RESEARCHING EXOTIC ROMANCE

USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

The most important thing in any genre is -- write well. 
Your readers will forgive errors if the story is gripping enough.  Beyond that, keep your tone true to the era. Readers will forgive you if you use a phaeton before they existed, but saying things like -- "Too right, dude!" really jar.

My best research secrets are:
Chinese cultural fairy tales,
Buddhist morality plays,
Chinese judicial cases,
ghost/spirit stories.  (Fox spirits are extremely interesting!)

Where do I go for research? 
The Internet for geography and historical detail questions. 
For fairy tales, I have a zillion Chinese books bought in China and/or Hong Kong.  Some are better than others, but every Asian area has their own unique set of fairy tales.  I have books from Cambodia, Viet Nam, China--north, south, and east, plus urban legends from Hong Kong.

Instructional story--I am very leery of answers from e-mail loops, etc.  I have noticed a number of times when an answer was posted on line that was incorrect.  Know who your sources are.

Pet peeves -- Just because you know something doesn't mean you have to include it in your story.  Beware of having someone read your book and say: your research is showing. 

People read romances for the emotional content, not for Instructions on how to correctly lace up a corset.

Jade Lee  
www.jadeleeauthor.com

Cornered Tigress, Jan 2007
Shards of Crimson -- anthology, Jan 2007
Tempted Tigress, June 2007

 





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