Gemini Rising

Writing Topic - Research

I have all kinds of ideas for blog posts, but I never have enough time to really work on them, so I thought I’d give it my best shot this week.

My busy schedule could probably be a topic in and of itself, and maybe tomorrow I’ll do a blog on my “to do” list. Don’t laugh

Just some quick thoughts on researching.

I have 2 more stories left from my Victory Tales Press days that I’d like to publish: Gifts & Feast of Candles. Both are Christmas stories.

I’m working on Gifts right now, but I don’t know if I’ll be done in time for Christmas. This story takes place in Amsterdam. I used to go to Amsterdam semi-often when I was stationed overseas. Back then in the late 80’s, early 90’s, Amsterdam was something that I’d never seen before. I loved the canals and buildings. Didn’t know what to think of the topless ladies in the windows, but I wasn’t judgmental. I’ve been to the Keukenhof when the tulips were in bloom, and I’ve been to Enschede 5 times to take the driver’s test – passing on the 5th time. I’ve been to Enschede more than that, but it took me five times to pass that driver’s test. Yes, the land was flat, but the people were very nice and spoke better English than I spoke Dutch. So, when it came time to write for the Victory Tales Press anthologies, and they were looking for seasonal short stories 10-20K word count, I decided to go international if I could. Gifts would be set in Amsterdam during Christmas time. At the time, the Olympics were in the air and I’m a sucker for Ice Skating, so I made my main characters Pairs figure skaters who are trying to earn a spot on the Netherlands Olympic team.

Gifts was originally published in 2012 for the Christmas season. The plot was simple, two people (Christian Jenssen and Famke deVries) who know each other and are friendly, must quickly become a pairs figure skating team. They grow close and fall in love while dealing with the external pressure of side spins, death spirals and lifts.

Honestly, the original story is pretty solid and comes in around with an 11K word count, but as I read it, I thought I’d do a bit of content edit, adding some more personal moments and reflecting more on the internal conflict. That said, I needed to research a little about Pairs figure skating and what they go through. The best place to start? Gordeeva and Grinkov, IMHO, the BEST Pairs Figure skaters in the modern century.

So I’ve been watching some YouTube videos of the pair and I thought I’d reread “My Sergei” written by Gordeeva in 1996. I’m definitely taking away some inspiration.

The writing is not as fast as I’d like it to be, but I’m having a blast watching old performances. Here’s one of my favorites:



Sometimes researching can be sooo fun!

Who would I cast as Chris and Famke?

Chris is definitely Charlie White the Ice Dancer. Sasha Cohen, a female ice skater, comes to mind for Famke.

Who are your Ice Skating Favorites?