Writers and Authors

Showing posts with label David Burnsworth. Show all posts

Research Trips, Guest post by David Burnsworth

There’s only so much research an author can do surfing the net. Don’t get me wrong, I have learned so much more about obscure topics because I needed a detail to complete a scene. The internet makes this so convenient. But sometimes it isn’t enough.

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All but one of my books are set in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s only a few hours east from where we live now so travel is easy. Charleston is a beautiful city with so much charm and history. The beaches are great. To be honest, it still feels like home to me because I lived there from 2000 to 2005 and look back on that time with wonder. Did I really wake up on Saturday mornings and walk fifty yards to put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean? Yes I did.

We go back to Charleston now so I can account for the many changes the city is going through due to growth. The old beach apartment I called home for five years is still there. So are quite a few of my old downtown haunts, although many of the names of the bars have changed. What hasn’t changed is the underlying draw the city has on me. So going there isn’t vacation, it’s more of a pilgrimage.

The one book I wrote not set in Charleston took some of my characters to Atlanta, a city I had lived in during the 80’s. I did not pass up the opportunity to head back to see what had changed and visit with old friends. Not surprisingly, the city has changed much in the decades since I moved away.

While I enjoy learning new things about Charleston, my latest book, BAD TIME TO BE IN IT, heads back to the time when I lived there for part of the story. That was a lot of fun because I had all the details in my head. I’d been writing about the city since I moved away so I had not forgotten what it was like. But I also know that it has changed, a lot for the better.

I recommend visiting the places you write about. My current work-in-progress will also be based in Charleston, but other cities play a part. It will again be time to take my wife’s hand and head to the coast along with a few other cities. The writing life is not easy, but it can be a lot of fun!

David Burnsworth became fascinated with the Deep South at a young age. After a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee and fifteen years in the corporate world, he made the decision to write a novel. Bad Time To Be In It (July 2018, Henery Press) will be his sixth. Having lived on Charleston’s Sullivan’s Island for five years, the setting was a foregone conclusion. He and his wife call South Carolina home.