Real Life Research Helpers

[Shockhawk]

Greeting Writers -

Most of us either need to research or interview expert individuals at some point, right? So I had this crazy thought after reading a few writer bios from the WOTF volume I’m currently reading... why don’t we help each other get first hand knowledge by gleaming it from each other?

In volume XXVIII one of the writers bio says he’s a mechanical designer in the aerospace/defense industry. Wow wouldn’t this person be able to help answer first hand questions directly related to his field which might help us with our stories?

So I thought why don’t we start a thread where writers offer our field knowledge and expertise?

I think it’s a great idea so I’ll go first and if anyone has a question in any field I know a lot or a little about I’ll gladly answer any questions I can:

I was a retirement accountant for a 3rd party administrator for 8 years, owned a retail hobby shop for 3 years, was a loan processor at a community bank for 2 years, was a police officer for about a year, and currently work at a state dmv... there. Any questions anyone has about those careers for their stories feel free to ask away and I promise to respond with as helpful answer as I can.

No degrees besides peace officers license in the great state of Texas.

Anyone else?

[Pumpkin]

Hey hawk, this is a wonderful idea!

I can offer knowledge about life across the pond, I suppose. Ask me about England or schooling in England, heck, even what we eat in England. If any of your characters came from this side of the ocean, I’ll help you work on their linguistics!

On expert knowledge, I’m a bit lacking on this life experience part in general, but I do study Classics especially on Roman politics or mindsets in the late republic and Greek mythology. I also study a bit in philosophy with a focus on consciousness and identity. I don’t know how that would be useful to people, but I’ll put it here just in case.

[AlexH]

It's a good idea. Wulf asked us Super Secret participants for a similar reason in the Super Secrets thread.

I've worked in office-based telephone customer service, as a web developer and designer, and for the last few years as a Technical SEO Manager (helping make websites more user and search engine friendly). I live in the middle of England.

I'm a hiker and budget backpack traveller and travel often. My favourite places are those that don't seem real, usually outdoors. I like visiting abandoned places too. I always take my camera and have won a few prizes for my photography. I played keyboards in an original band for a few years but don't consider myself a musician. I love music in general and have knowledge of all sorts of obscure bands and artists that is probably of no use to anyone.

I most often help friends out with travel, website and photography-related things.

[crlisle]

I am a bookkeeper.
I have also worked in radio and helped put one on the air.
I have also worked with disabled students and created a volunteer reader program putting books onto tape.
I have lived mostly in the western usa and grew up in Silicon Valley.
My hobby is gastronomy.
Feel free to ask me about these.

[Reuben]

My hobby is gastronomy.

Goodness! I totally wasn't expecting that one! Then again, I thought gastronomy was something to do with biology. Turns it that it's all about eating food. I think I'm into that too!

Personally, I don't have that much to contribute, I never worked at any jobs, etc. I obviously can't profess any excellence in writing here...

I do know a bit about random stuff though, like graphology, hypnosis, intelligence, personality types and chess. Also, if you want to know how to roll a quarter over your fingers, feel free to give me a call.

-Oh, and just in case anyone is interested, there is a sort of thread regarding this, it's called "Your other life" in the kitchen sink section.

[nreavis]

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice and my day job is data entry for a cybersecurity firm.

I used to also be a theatre major and have stage-managed and done prop design for several stage shows and plays my first trip through college.

I love geology. No seriously, I study it on my free time. I just read an article on the impacts of tectonic shift global temperature that someone gave me at my last writer's group meetup.

I'm a board game aficionado, and I play a mean game of Carcassonne.

[crlisle]

nreavis, did you see the Oreo plate tectonics on Facebook? Totally cracked me up!

[nreavis]

nreavis, did you see the Oreo plate tectonics on Facebook? Totally cracked me up!

...makes note to Google later