I just finished reading my friend Lee Polevoi’s first novel, 
“The Moon in Deep Winter.”
It’s a darkly comic tale of domestic treachery, set in snowy and frigid New England. Having done a good amount of reading and writing and some ice fishing myself, I can tell you that Lee has an eye for detail and the requisite “intoxication with language,” as Jim Harrison put it, to make this a book worth reading.
And given that it’s wintry outside and the moon will be full tonight, it’s the perfect time to check in with Lee on the habits of the craft of fiction writing, his thoughts on the state of publishing, and who he’d like to play the lead should this title ever make the big screen…
Q: Lee, how do you conduct your research? You’ve included some snippets of interesting knowledge on a number of far-flung topics and places (the mechanics of flight, an island in the South Pacific, Mexico City, etc.). Do you look these places up, or prefer to go there and experience them in person?
For the unwary writer, research can be a seductive trap. While researching various topics for inclusion in my novel, I had to be careful not to spend too much time looking things up and less time actually writing. Back in the day, I spent long hours in the library finding what I needed. In present time, I’ve become adept at hunting down what I need online, while doing my best to steer free of “quirky” sites and time-wasting chat rooms.
The key in research is to find the right one or two key details, which lend verisimilitude to the fiction, without overwhelming the reader with random facts and/or appearing to be little more than regurgitated research. As to “experiencing places in person”—yes, whenever possible, I like to go there (I attended college in New England, the setting for The Moon in Deep Winter) but when that’s not possible, again I seek out those details that add mood and atmosphere to the story’s setting.