By Chris Goff
I love doing research. When I’m in the throes of writing a book, I spend a lot of time going down various rabbit holes. Some may say too much time. And I dig up all sorts of interesting shi…. information.
Take my current work-in-progress, Operation Gentoo. The story starts out in Antarctica, where penguins play a relatively minor role. The idea was triggered during a cruise to the frozen continent (#7 on my bucket list), when we (the passengers on our luxury cruise ship) were presented with a white paper study on the projectile trajectory of penguin poo. Specifically, it discussed their strong rectal pressure, complete with diagrams. You see, It turns out that penguins can shoot “poop bombs” more than 4 feet.
WTF, you ask?
This was anecdotal research presented by the exhibition team after a particularly smelly stop at a Gentoo penguin colony, but the concept that people actually studied penguin poop intrigued me. More research led me to discover that scientists can predict the migratory and eating habits of the penguins, and often determine the species of penguin simply by analyzing their poop.
Still with me?
All this led to me talking about this subject ad nauseum to my friends and family, who have now started sending me information on other things penguin poop related. For instance, my oldest daughter, Gin, just sent me a link on an ABC news report on “How penguin poop can help to mitigate climate change.” Apparently, penguins are “major emitters” of ammonia (back to the poop bombs), which reacts with gasses emitted from phytoplankton in the ocean, which—long story short—leads to cloud formation which helps keep the ice in Antarctica from melting.
Of course, this is a case where little-to-none of this information has a place in my book, but it’s fascinating.
Below are links to a few other cases where writers have gone done the rabbit hole of research. Have any of you ever researched something and found yourself amazed by something you’ve learned? I’d love to hear about it.
Chris Goff is the award-winning author of eight novels—six mysteries and two international thrillers. Her books have been finalists for Colorado Book Awards, Colorado Authors’ League Awards and Willa Cather Awards. In 2016, her debut thriller, Dark Waters, was a finalist for the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Crime Audiobook and took home a gold medal from the Military Writer’s Society of America. A former journalist, Goff is a long-standing member of multiple writing organizations and currently serves on the executive board of the International Association of Crime Writers. When not hard at work, she can often be found gallivanting around the world in search of stories and adventure.
Me too! Research is the most fun—and fascinating—part of writing for me. What’s hard is resisting the desire to go down the rabbit hole and never come out 😜
Well, that was an interesting bit of research on the penguins. As for research, I do a ton of it too. I like my readers to not only be entertained, but to “learn something” in the process.