Words can heal. Words can hurt. Words can bring the real world sharply into focus or wrap us in worlds that only exist in our imaginations. To experience some of the power of words to motivate one to act, check out Shonell Bacon's recent Blood Red Pencil post, How a SUD or Two Inspires Me into Action . Words can also be a comfort. During these fraught times, I find myself turning more and more to an examination of words and language. Not so much the weighty words, such as justice, truth, and compassion, but random words and expressions that bubble up as I write. Since my Silver Rush mystery series takes place in the 19th century U.S. West, I need to be conscious of words, idioms, and slang that pop from my mind to keyboard to draft—are they contemporary to the times, or are they anachronistic? Anachronistic or not? Thank goodness for references such as this one. For instance, take the word "fraught," which I use in the paragraph just above. Step back, turn that wo...

Time-wasters. We all do it. Go look up one thing and get lost surfing. But don't despair, you're not wasting time, you're doing research. In that vein, I decided to list some of the more interesting and fun places to do research (in no specific order). (Warning: don't look unless you have a couple hours of free time.) 1. Oracle of Bacon Remember that 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon game? Well researchers at the University of Virginia actually did research on it. (Hey they get paid for that?) 2. Project Gutenberg Free copies of the classics and other books that you never got around to reading in e-version. 3. Best actors and actresses All kinds of awards , even Russian movies. 4. Silent Film Stars I love this site! Who's who in pre-talkie films 5. Vintage Clothing History Dress those characters right! All kinds of cool vintage clothing links 6. How People Lived Click the illustrations at Kraft Australia to see how people lived , ate and cooked in different generations. 7...