Friendship is an important theme in women's fiction, and Deceiving Elvera focuses on one of those pairings that's accidental and unlikely but nevertheless firm and long-lasting. I've been lucky enough to have several of those in my lifetime, the kind that take up even after long stretches without contact. Whenever you meet, you're back to where you were at twelve or twenty or forty, sharing stories and enjoying the feeling of being with someone who "gets" you.

Writing a book requires different kinds of research. The basic one is living. As we go through life, writers develop several senses: a sense of character as we meet people, a sense of place as we travel, and a sense of the differences among people as we watch reactions in others and compare them with our own. There's information research too, where you look up this or that bit of fact in order to "get it right." The internet has helped with that. I used to go to a library and surround myself with every book I could find on a topic and spend a day making notes. Now I paused for a few minutes and let some search engine find out for me what I need to know. Finally, there's personal research, which is my favorite kind. I love asking people to tell me about their experience with a time or a place.

This book brought about two great examples of personal experience. First, I wanted to know about life on Mackinac Island in the late '60s. It's about forty miles from where I live, so I knew about "the island" all my life. We visited. We enjoyed the old-timey sense of a place where cars are not allowed. We walked the hills and viewed the sights, Arch Rock, the lake all around us, the Victorian architecture. But I wanted to know what it was like to live there, so I looked for someone who had. My husband has a friend who spent summers there, taking care of the horses that are the main mode of transportation (other than your own two feet). At first he was slightly dismissive when I told him I wanted background for a book. It wasn't all that special. It was just a job. But as I asked questions, he warmed to the topic and started really remembering what it had been like fifty-plus years ago. I got lots of good insider information about what the workers on the island saw and did.

The other example is Thailand. I needed someone who'd been there, someone who could place my story in the time period with accuracy and conviction. I did my book research, of course, but I wanted a more human view as well. Luckily, I have a cousin who was in the Peace Corps in Thailand in the '70s. This led to extended conversations about food, customs, conditions, and even bugs. She was always generous with her help, and later, when the book was published, a reader who'd lived in Thailand said she thought I must have been there because the descriptions were so spot on. 

Deceiving Elvera concerns two women who meet as girls on Mackinac Island in the late sixties and begin a life-long friendship that ends with a horrific experience in Thailand. This book is available here for $2.99.