Research for the work-in-progress

One of the things I enjoy about writing a novel is the research. Yes, it is fiction and I am making most of it up, but at some point, something arises in the plot, or with a character, and making it up just isn’t good enough. This week I reached that point in my work-in-progress and today I had my first interview to discover the nuances of my main character’s job.

The first interview I ever conducted took place as a journalism student back when I was a freshman at Eisenhower High School. You may assume I was a journalism student because of my longstanding love of writing, but as I recall, I was a journalism student so I could schedule interviews with cute boys on the swim team.   In retrospect, it was very entrepreneurial of me. Of course, after I interviewed Roy Cencirullo, I was forced to follow-up and actually write about water polo.

Thankfully, those Byzantine days are behind me. Today, I interviewed Ilza Lewis over a slice of tres leche cake from Sweet Things Bakery in Tiburon. My goal? To help bring authenticity to a scene.

What?! You think I may have had ulterior motives? Perhaps I wanted to get closer to the rugala as it was being pulled, fresh from the oven? Yeah, that too.

Ilza gave me the inside scoop on what it’s like to open a bakery while it’s dark outside and the rest of us are snuggled into the sheets. And in case you were wondering, yes, it still smells sweet from the previous day’s baking when you walk into the kitchen at 3:30 in the morning. Because I’m a baked goods addict, I had to pursue this: “So the kitchen smells sweet. Sweet, like what?” I asked.

“It smells like cake,” Ilza said.

“Like cake?” I reflected, not willing to let the moment go.

“Yes, like caramelized sugar.”

Oh boy. Now we’re talking. 

Ilza was generous with her time and knowledge, but I’m not sharing more with you today; the rest goes straight into the manuscript.