Whenever I include something ‘real world’ in my writing, I want to make sure the way I include them is as correct as possible. I will do research on said topic to make sure I have a decent grasp of it, and then I’ll include it in a way that makes sense in my book’s universe. For something in Book 4 (no spoilers!), however, I had to do an enormous amount of research concerning physics. Yeah, science-y stuff, WITH homework. More specifically, I researched fluid dynamics and projectile trajectories. I did a lot of math using formulas discovered on that research, and I’ve gone about those calculations from different directions to make sure the numbers agree, thus hopefully confirming that the figures I came up with are correct. As I get close to finishing the climactic chapter, I’ve gone back and double-checked those numbers to make sure that how I present certain things and how characters use them are at least close to ‘real.’
It turns out that some of the mathematical principles I learned along the way actually do still come in handy. Therefore, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all the teachers and professors that I have had the luck to learn from over the years. As some of you said, your instruction is still pertinent, even now. Oh, and Google, too. Man, oh man, has Google saved me time and effort on more than one occasion. Without it, for example, I would have had to spend days and days at a library researching these recent topics.
Alright, back to writing.
Adventures in Lethera 