Research Takes Over

I couldn't understand my historical writer friends who said they would get so caught up in the research, it would put a major crimp in their daily writing.  One friend said she spent about three hours in research for every one hour of writing.

Now I get it. It's been happening to me.

We are so lucky to be living in the digital age, where things are available with the click of a button (or two). We get impatient with sites that aren't intuitive, and we leave, because there are ten others we could use as a resource. If a web page doesn't load in three seconds, we're off to the next one that will.

I've been doing lots of research on Navy SEALs for my series. I've subscribed to some loops for families of military, as well as some facebook pages that post information, and great pictures. I've made the mistake of reading some of the comments. And it distresses me a little.

Is it just me, or is everyone going bonkers all of a sudden? Or was it always this way, and I'm just now sensitive because of the election? Regardless of what side of the spectrum we are, there are some really mean, hateful people haunting certain groups or pages. And, like driving past a bad accident, I sometimes have a hard time not reading the comments. There are some seriously disturbed people out there. And the rumors! Yesterday someone commented that the government had killed the entire SEAL Team  6 in a secret helicopter crash. There's a novel in there somewhere...

I guess there will always be conspiracy theorists. Men and women fought and died for our freedom to express ourselves, to live the open and wonderful lifestyle we now have. So I guess we all have to put up with the crazies. God forbid anyone would label me such.

I have no problem turning off the TV or the radio. None whatsoever. For me, the ads are what I cannot handle any longer. I listen to Sirrius Satellite as much as possible.

That's why I like to write fiction, romance in particular. Fantasy. Make believe. Where everything has a  happily ever after, and I can clip or trim the dialogue of my characters to my own choosing without causing a stir. The opinions expressed are entirely my own. Heaven help us if I would get to be Queen of the World. Now that is truly a dangerous thought!

What about you? Do you get sucked into doing too much research, or reading too many "other" opinions it interferes with your real life? Your writing life? How do you cut it off?

Some great research books on the Teams below. Amazon spiders must have found me out!

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10  by Marcus Luttrell, Patrick Robinson  Price: $8.99  Service: A Navy SEAL at War  by Marcus Luttrell, James D. Hornfischer  List Price: $27.99  Price: $16.59  You Save: $11.40 (41%)  The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen  by Brandon Webb, John David Mann, Marcus Luttrell  List Price: $26.99  Price: $15.33  You Save: $11.66 (43%)  Seal of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of Lt Michael P. Murphy, Usn  by Gary Williams  List Price: $18.95  Price: $10.98  You Save: $7.97 (42%)  The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228  by Dick Couch  List Price: $15.00  Price: $10.20  You Save: $4.80 (32%)  SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper  by Howard E. Wasdin, Stephen Templin  List Price: $15.99  Price: $10.87  You Save: $5.12 (32%)  Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy Seal  by Chuck Pfarrer  Price: $7.99  4TH of JULY CONTEST: LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG POST FROM NOW THROUGH JULY AND BE ENTERED TO WIN A NEW KINDLE FIRE ON AUGUST 1ST. You can also get 3 extra points for leaving a review on either/or Goodreads or Amazon or any other review site, and send me the link to that review. You can get 2 extra points for following this blog. Happy reading. Happy commenting. Happy reviewing. And thank you! Sharon Hamilton Life is one fool thing after another. Love is two fool things after each other. Sharon's Blog ** Sharon's Website ** Facebook**Twitter Heavenly Lover    Underworld Lover    Honeymoon Bite  Accidental SEAL   SEAL Encounter    all at Amazon

Those That Didn't Make It Home

Tomorrow, June 28, is the anniversary of Operation Red Wings. We lost several SEALs in that raid, which is chronicled so well in Marcus Luttrell's great book, Lone Survivor. Luttrell is also one of the SEALs Dick Couch wrote about in his book about the SEAL training, The Warrior Elite, The Making of SEAL Class 228.

I understand that as civilians, we might not fully grasp or understand, let alone believe, what a man has to do to graduate from BUD/S training. And I've been told the TV documentaries and these books don't show everything, maybe perhaps half of what kinds of endurance is required to graduate. They say the failure rate is 70%-76%, but that only accounts for people who wash out and then are re-admitted, or are rolled back until they heal their injuries. Yes. They break bones. They get Mono. They get shin splints.

They are tested.

Some men don't make it, don't make it through the training. No shame in that. Anyone who would even try is a hero in my book.

But also some don't come back. I've included some pictures of brave young men who did not come back. People you should know about. Good people with lives, parents, grandparents, children, friends and buddies. And while every loss of life in war is a tragedy, we honor those who serve to protect and defend, without questioning the orders given. It does take a special person to do that. They act outside of politics. They complete the mission they are given.

In writing Fallen SEAL Legacy, the second book in my SEAL series, I've had to spend quite a bit of time there, thinking about the ones who didn't come home, because that is the premise of my book. Due to a Fallen, the hero, Navy SEAL Calvin Cooper, and heroine Libby Brownlee, get together in a way that heals them both.

Some days I feel totally ridiculous making romance out of such courage and sacrifice. Feel almost guilty I get to work the rich dark soil and fresh green produce in my vegetable garden. Get to cut the fragrant roses and lilies this time of year. Dead-head the Sweet William and daisies. My ordinary life seems just that: ordinary.

But that's what the stuff of life is all about. Beauty of life and death. Frail exquisite beauty of everything around us, no matter where we live, no matter what our mission. And the mission I was given: bring these and other stories to light. Give a reader a few hours of pleasure, a few hours of fantasy.

Because that's what these brave young men would want.

4TH of JULY CONTEST: LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG POST FROM NOW THROUGH JULY AND BE ENTERED TO WIN A NEW KINDLE FIRE ON AUGUST 1ST. You can also get 3 extra points for leaving a review on either/or Goodreads or Amazon or any other review site, and send me the link to that review. You can get 2 extra points for following this blog.

Happy reading. Happy commenting. Happy reviewing.

Sharon Hamilton

Life is one fool thing after another.

Love is two fool things after each other.

Sharon's Blog ** Sharon's Website ** Facebook**Twitter

Heavenly Lover    Underworld Lover    Honeymoon Bite 

Accidental SEAL   SEAL Encounter    all at Amazon

D is for DOR

I have a special connection to the Navy SEALs, and editing my first SEAL romance, writing the second in the series I call SEAL of Honor. We were just in San Diego this past weekend, and I never hesitate to watch the boat crews work on the beach, as a new class is molded, melded and forged in steel. As I have said earlier, many men try out to become a SEAL just to find out where their limits are. You never know until you try.


D is for DOR. It means Drop On Request. There is no shame in trying out for the teams. There is also no shame if a man finds he can't complete the training. Many of them get injured, some seriously, and have to roll back to another class after they are healthy. And some, find out where their limits are.

The reality of that is also just that: reality. Doesn't make you a better or lesser person. It is in the trying that all the courage and mental metal is produced. Many, though disappointed, will say that it was the one thing in their lives they truly were glad they did. Imagine that in this world of instant gratification (a funny spin on the word gratitude, don't you think?). Going through all the grueling training, and failing, but being glad they did.

I interviewed one graduate, who was barely out of high school. He said he felt lucky to have found the SEAL teams at such a young age. He was glad that he didn't have to wait until he was 30, or 40 or beyond in years before he could find out what he loved to do, who he was. Lucky. He felt lucky to go through the harsh training.

There are many great books about the teams. Dick Crouch wrote a compelling book, The Warrior Elite, about one particular class, and in that graduating class, several of the men from Blackhawk Down prepared their way, even though some would not survive. Lone Survivor is the story of one of those boys, Marcus Luttrell.

I'm grateful for many things, especially the men and women who put themselves in harm's way so we can go to the store, to school, to church, so we can spend a leisurely day shopping or just having coffee with friends. Because of the sacrifice of a few we have today and tomorrow as gifts.

I'm also grateful that we get to try, and that we fail, and we get up again and try again. Remember, it isn't in the falling down, or failing that all the miracles come. It is what you do with yourself, how you pick yourself up afterwards that counts. We live to fight another battle another day. One day at a time.