Jotham’s Rabbit Hole of Research Newsletter
SCIENCE QUICK HIT
After I write my Rabbit Hole of Research episodes I keep my eye on the science, and will update if I see some interesting new research popping up. But sometimes it’s a conversation over beers talking about my and my friend goes, “Have you heard about the frozen guy in a shed in Colorado?” And before I finished my beer I was off to the Google-machine!
And I found all about Frozen Dead Guy Day. So, long story short:
In 1989, a Norwegian citizen brought the corpse of his recently deceased grandfather to America, preserved on dry ice for the trip, and stored him at the Trans Time cryonics facility in San Leandro, California from 1990 to 1993. For one reason or another (mostly money issues), in 1993 Grandpa was returned to dry ice and transported to the town of Nederland, CO, where relatives planned to create a cryonics facility of their own. Things didn’t go as planned (more money issues) and grandpa was kept frozen in a shack behind the unfinished house. The family was evicted from the house, which had no utilities, and the frozen body of grandpa was discovered. One thing led to another (lots of laws about not storing bodies were passed), and a festival celebrating frozen grandpa was formed (he is still on ice in Nederland, CO).
Seriously, no handwavium here, go check it out: Frozen Dead Guy Days! I lived in Boulder/Denver for 4 years and didn’t know about this until last weekend. Want to Go?
Sometimes the Truth is Stranger than Fiction! Hopefully, this quirky tale of Cryonics in Action holds you over until the next edition of Rabbit Hole of Research in a couple weeks. To get ready for more Handwavium and quirky science you can reread episode here.
Email me and say hello, and let’s plan a road trip!
And now let’s meet this month’s featured author, Kim Iverson.
Author Interview with Kim Iverson
Kim Iverson
Author, Storyteller, Freak, Demi, Pan.
A shadow who resides on the fringes of society.
Living in a hovel, existing on the sustenance writing provides.
A pack of hellhounds stand guard to intercept all who dare enter.
They will believe what they like.
Judge from their own life view & experiences.
Better to be silent than proved a fool.
Few know all, but all know some.
Whether truth or fiction only the shadows at night knows
& a mermaid who loves without fail.
Spread rumors as you like.
Believe as you will.
Nobody can change a set mind.
Intrigued, read more about Kim below
Kim, How do you come up with ideas for a project?
Many of my ideas start out as dreams. I go through this process where a certain dream will affect me differently than others. It’s an instinct that sort of just triggers that feeling where I just know – this one. So, I write it down as if I were any other story idea with the plot point, characters, and what genre it may work for. Then shove it in my developing ideas, or story ideas notebook for later if I want to play, or need a new one.
On the rare occasion I will also just ask questions to come up with ideas, or one hits me from a what-if question. What if blank?
After you have a new idea, how much research do you do?
It depends on the story. I may say that a lot, but it’s true. If it’s one of my more regular style stories, most are made up so I can be as free as I like. Also throughout my life I’ve had an insatiable need for information so I may have already researched some of that particular idea. Otherwise I will go as deep down as I need to.
I’ll reference my Dark Moon Dynasty Universe world for this. With that world, I have used a lot from myths, legends, and histories. Biblical, Greek, Roman, you name it. I needed to create a history with names that would tie in. Well, what better resource than all sorts of legends and histories? So I spent quite a lot of time throughout the entirety of writing that world – a good ten years? – playing with research. I have a lot of self-control so for me, when I dive deep, it’s a controlled dive. I stick to my writing schedule, and will research outside of that time. Unless I’m stuck writing a scene and need help. So I will go deep and do tons of research, but it never gets in the way of writing or editing time. I do it separately.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve researched for a project (go check that Google search history)?
Gosh. Strangest and worst one was in Hope of the Future. She is trigged into giving birth in an alleyway and left for dead. I forget the exact search, but I was pretty well researching a baby dying for that. An early term one. Something to do with that. It’s been so long I don’t remember the exacts. Absolutely horrified me, but I needed the information.
When you write, do you try to stay close to the Actual Factual or are you fast and loose with Handwavium (a term used when a writer waves their hand at reality for sake of the plot)?
Goes back to my depends on the story comment. For the most part I do try to stay to facts and the like. Like gravity not being upside down, or we don’t breathe through a hole in our back. While at the same time, if I wanted a fantasy story, I’m going to throw caution to the wind for the sake of the story, but try to make it believable for my reader. It’ll depend on what I write. Writing in multiple genres has benefits in that way.
Have you ever stopped reading a story to go look up how factual something was?
I think I have. Can’t recall what it was, but I do think I have. Curiosity mostly, not being a critique and wanting to be sure something was done right. Just pure curiosity would drive me to that.
Do you create with music, other background noise or complete silence?
I write with everything in the question. I have a bunch of playlists on my YouTube that I now make public so if I do happen to listen to something with that particular story, I try to put it on that playlist. I have quite a few going. Even have a Christmas playlist for one of the stories I was plotting. It was that time of year, it helped, so I added it, lol. There are times where my head is hurting, or I just need the silence, or natural background noise so that comes in as well. Music seems to help most.
The type of music I’m into most right now –MusicLab playlists on YouTube, or any movie/TV soundtrack I like. Game of Thrones and Vikings has been popular for me as of late.
Do you have any pet helper?
I have a full pack of helpers. Shih Tzus and a Doberman, who as I write this, is annoying said Shih Tzus as she adjusts on the bed between them. She is convinced she is their size, so our smallest is letting her know it is not appreciated. Mila is shaking the entire bed. During they day they use mine. At night, most have their own bed.
Do you create better at 5am or 5pm?
Definitely in the morning over evening. I am online – writer friends of mine have been teasing me about being a robot so I’m going with it – around 9AM and shut down about 4 PM. Between those hours I am editing, writing, then editing again. I stick with a strict schedule right now which helps me loads.
Which team apocalypse are you on: zombie, asteroid, or alien invasion?
Oh, that is a really good question! I think I lean zombie. Zombie? Yeah, I’ll go zombie as first. Next’d be alien. I grew up watching so many zombie movies and something about them. Although I do like me some good ol’ pod people. So those two are pretty close for me.
So, you write in several different genres, do you start a story with the genre in mind or do you start writing and let the characters guide you?
I believe I have an idea of the genre as I’m creating so maybe it goes hand in hand for me. I never force too much of the “I must write this genre.” I get in moods and the ideas that grab hold are of a certain kind, then if I like, I pursue. Not much thought given to any genre. My muse really likes variety so it doesn’t get bored.
Which genre is your favorite/easiest to write or is it like children and you love them all equally?
Horrrrrroooorr. I am a horror chick through and through. I grew up watching Tales from the Crypt, the zombie movies, alien movies, Poltergeist, Aliens, all of that. I freaking love horror. Not gore – horror. Clear distinction for me. I don’t write near enough of it, but there will be stories with lots of little elements of it inside them. I love all genres, as I’m a fan of werewolves and fantasy creatures, vampires, and more. I don’t like kind and gentle monsters either. I like monstersas they’re meant to be. Love reading, watching, writing.
You mentioned you’re a gardener, do you grow vegetables, flowers, or both? How does gardening help you in your writing process?
I consider gardening pretty much anything outside. I also tend to the yard, and landscape it as well. My elderly mother can’t get out in the yard anymore so it’s up to me to take care of stuff. We struggle growing vegetables and the like in our yard, but I do like roses, mini roses, and hostas.
I find even when I weed, my entire body calms down, my mind slows down, and almost like taking a shower or handwashing dishes, ideas start to really percolate. So I think working in the yard in any way doesn’t just help us mentally and physically, but as a writer it allows the mind to just wander and play with story ideas. Work out scenes, work out things I want to pursue.
If you got to use some “Handwavium” and send younger Kim one note about writing, editing, or marketing, which would you chose and what would you say?
I would tell her to start out with her own name. I recently wrote about this on my website (kimberlysueiverson.com) and addressed a lot of why I’d used pen names to begin with, but as much as I try not to regret past decisions, I do have my moments with that one. Every decision we make brings us to the current moment so in that way I don’t regret doing it – I learned valuable lessons. But if I could go back, I may have started with my own name to begin with. Just a lot of problems came from not starting with my own name. I may experiment and use my full name (domain above) on books to see the difference in sales too. I like experiments and challenges. Science is another enjoyment of mine, like horror is. So I tend to experiment with a lot in life.
You have a great book list, if someone was new to your writing where would you tell them to start?
Thank you, I appreciate that. I tend to direct people to the Guardian of Lifeseries. The first in particular. That’s Hope of the Future. It’s a science fiction and fantasy series, with touches of horror thrown in. If they want strictly fantasy, I tell them to check out Anora.
You have a release coming out soon, can you give us some details?
Savage Lands will be releasing in August if all goes well. I’d love for that to be finished before your newsletter, but it may get pushed to September. Depends on how much time I get to throw at it. The story was inspired a lot by the story Wolfen by Alianne Donnelly. It’s a werewolf style story, but more of a science based beast. Really loved her story and idea.
What I loved most about that was the science based idea of a werewolf versus it being magic based. So when I had a dream that had similar, I was really inspired to pursue the idea. A werewolf that is more like you or I would be in normal life. Science based so that it’s not magic that allows them to shift, but an adaptation in evolution which allowed them to alter their very cells and shift them into the shape of a wolf. So what would come of that type if they were naturally immune to a disease raging in the world? What would happen in the world that came after such a thing if people knew that? What sort of animals and groups would be created/formed to hunt such a being? And how would they survive against such foes?
You can find the page for it here with all the information - https://kimberlysueiverson.com/savage-lands/
Kim, thank-you for your time. Is there anything else you’d like folks to know about you, your work, or your research process?
I really appreciate the opportunity to do this, and answer these questions. They were very good. Had to think about some of them for a bit.
If I had to say something about my work, it’s that I began publishing my work under a pen name when I first began. I’ve fought to ensure everything going forward was under my own name, but many sites still list it under old pen names. I am the one and only person who wrote those stories. The struggle with switching names is that people will confuse them with multiple people. All me.
Mistakes I made, horrible covers and all. I lost a good amount of readers because of those mistakes and switching of names, but it’s all me. The two names previous were A.H. Browne and Ariana Browning. Anything else – not me. Including the often confused with me Kim Iversen. We are two different people, but for years I have struggled with getting many who didn’t know me to understand that.
Let us know where we can find you on Social Media.
I stick with sharing my website in case I switch things about as I recently did to start a more private social atmosphere. If I have a social, and I’m active on one, it’ll be linked on kimberlysueiverson.com. If people want to check out my writing videos I will begin trying to post on YouTube, they can at http://bit.ly/KimIversonAuthorYouTube
Thanks Kim for spending some time with us at Rabbit Hole of Research!
Find out more and check out Kim’s other work at her Website
Welcome to the Fantasy & Sci-fi book fair!
Check out this Book Fair to discover over 100+ free, discounted, and Kindle Unlimited Fantasy and Sci-fi books and enter for your chance to win a Kindle Fire, a one-month gift subscription to Owlcrate, and a $10 Starbucks gift card!
Some Cool Stuff To Check Out and add to your—To Be Read List:
Author to Check Out: Luke Davids: Dark Elsewhere (Book 1) - A Sci-Fi Cyberpunk Techno-Thriller
Wild and Wonderful Book Giveaways! Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Westerns!