Right now, I am working on the first book of the second planned trilogy. I had been working on the second book of the first trilogy, but some parts to it are hard to write because they’re being pulled, in part, from my own experience. So, not a lot of novel research there.
The first book of the second trilogy is a bit more fun. Yeah, there are the conflicts that always are there, that need to be there. But it is more of an introduction to the band and Jonathan himself.
So, how do I research this? A lot of reading. I’ve been reading books like I am Ozzy and many more rock biographies. These give me a bit more of a footing on what was going on during the periods that Torrent would have been forming and the music landscape. I also have friends who were around during this period and drawing on their experiences helps.
The internet also helps, because a lot of the era has been talked about online, and finding pages of information is a lot easier than it would have been if I had started to write these books before I left high school
My bookmarks are all over the place (seriously, if I die, don’t just erase my browser history, get rid of my bookmarks too!) because in my big ol’ head I’ve got the whole series planned out. I know the end game about Rebecca and Jon. There is one other person who does, and if he reveals the end, he knows I’ll divorce him (Love you hon).
I’m also writing stories/novels in other genres. I have a high fantasy story that simmers on the back burner while I write these. Not to mention a pile of ideas that I’ve not had the chance or energy to work on over the last ten years. So my bookmarks have a lot of that research and reminders there.
Using Scrivener makes consolidating all the information a lot easier as well. Even if I can, and have, lost half a novel in my notes there!