Monday 14 May 2012

I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky.

I have always considered myself as a lucky person.  I seem to blunder through life with probably far too little thought about what I am doing, and where I am going, and still seem to end up landing on my feet, and finding that I have arrived at the best possible outcome.

I know that this could just be the result of me looking at the word through rose tinted spectacles, (and if that is the case, please don’t tell me – I like the view), but, yet again, I seem to have had a stroke of luck that has saved me a fair bit of work on my WIP that I would have had to do later, if I ever manage to get representation.

I tried to do some research on our nuclear defence in the UK.  For obvious reasons, the information is virtually nonexistent.  So, undeterred by the lack of information, I decided to make some logical deductions based on what I had managed to find.  My reasoning went that my YA readers would be unable to find out any more information than I had, and for the purpose of the story, it seemed credible enough. 

So far, so good, you might think.  I was feeling quite pleased with the story.  I passed a synopsis to my writing group, and it turned out that one of the members has written military articles about this subject!  I had been completely off track with my assumptions.  Luckily, he gave me a few pointers, and I now have a credible part to my story.

The question that I’m left with is...

Do you think that I was lucky that he knew exactly what I needed to know?  Or do you think I am finding things that aren’t there?

12 comments:

  1. Oh, I have these kinds of serendipitous moments too. I like to think they aren't just random. Like you I tend to stumble through life, landing on my feet more times than not.

    Stephen King said in a recent interview that whenever he's working on a project the exact thing/research he needs to write it often shows up just when he needs it. :)

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    1. It's good to know that I'm not alone :o)
      All I need to do now is learn to write to the same level as Stephen King. lol

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  2. Research is one of those things that never stops, just like revising. :) I think it's better for you to know, but man, it stinks to have to make revisions to make your book accurate, doesn't it?

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    1. You're right Emily. And then you leave most of it out of the book!
      It stinks a little bit, but I now have a glow inside that tells me that it'll stand up to a bit more scruting than before :o)

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  3. Wow! That's some incredible luck!

    And I say, if you're finding things that aren't there, keep finding them! That's what makes you truly lucky.

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    1. What are the odds eh?
      Maybe I should make some things up too. Like winning the lottery and then seeing if it happens. lol

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  4. You lucked out! That's so cool. :D

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    1. What can I say? Lucky would be my middle name if I changed it by deed poll ;o)

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  5. Wowza that's super lucky. I'm a pretty lucky person too. I always get the closest parking spot and I win contests a lot. And the other day I got out of getting arrested. That was lucky.

    I LOVE your titles. You're hilarious. If you win, I'll have to fly to England and shoot you.

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    1. I went through a phase of winning competitions too. 10 in one year, including a trip to LA, tickets to a couple of gigs, and a weekend doing a simulated Formula 1 pit crew thingy in Barcelona.
      When are we going to see the post on you getting out of arested?
      And... how do I fix it so that I win your comp? lol

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  6. I wish I was a little more lucky myself. I do consider myself lucky though to have found your blog though! Your comments crack me up on Erin's blog so I had to hunt you down myself. Good luck with your research! That sounds like quite a challenging subject to be researching but very interesting.

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    1. Thanks for visiting Leslie :oD
      It was certainly an eye opener finding bits out. I just hope that my Google searches aren't being monitored. lol

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