Many authors get a charge out of doing the research that goes hand-in-hand with writing. I know I do. Except, perhaps, when the research takes me too long away from fingers-to-the-keyboard. That happens sometimes. 😉

But, research for story ideas and accuracy is often really fun, especially when the fact-finding involves travel. One of my favorite things about writing is using first-hand travel experiences and details to create an as-true-as-possible sense of being somewhere with me. I want my readers to feel present in my stories.

I’m also a HUGE fan of photography, particularly nature, landscape, and architecture. When you check out my Instagram images, you’ll see scads of things that catch my eye and inspire me and my stories. Funny, as much as I love words, I’m such a visual person. And, I hope readers see my stories the way I do … or, perhaps better yet, the way they want to, but through my lens, if that makes any sense. 🙂

Anyhoo, as I was saying…. I love photography, and since I take zillions of photos—predominantly with my cell, as it’s so portable and the camera’s resolution is so good—I have fabulous images to choose from when I need either ideas or a reference to clarify my description of a setting. BTW, I’m sure you realize that sometimes the images come first, sometimes the ideas do. Both work.

For this month’s post, I’m sharing images from my summer trip to the Czech Republic with my husband. I had a fabulous time visiting family and, among other excursions, exploring the Punkva Caves and the Macocha Abyss of the Moravian Karst. They were simply extraordinary to see. I’ve never before experienced such a unique semi-subterranean environment.

Two high points: the boat ride through the cavern, and the insane view of the abyss from the bottom of the gorge. Imagine you creep through cool, dank darkness, hearing ethereal music swell around you as you walk, and then you emerge from the winding depths of a cavern into sunlight that glows the treetops lime-green against a cobalt sky over 450 feet above your head. Stunning.

One reason I was excited to visit the caves is that part of my second novel, Treasure Bound, is set in a cave. I’m not sure how or when I began to like those underground spaces, but for most of my life, I’ve loved reading and learning about them, and exploring them when the opportunity arose. Now I’m having fun writing about caves, too. Cycle complete, maybe? 🙂

Ha—segue! I just remembered a science project I’d done in grammar-school on cavern formations. I devised a trick for remembering the difference between how stalactites and stalagmites are formed. The word “stalactite” has a “c,” just like the word ceiling, so I learned that stalactites are the formations that grow downward from the “c”eiling of a cave. Conversely, stalagmites are built up from the floor.

Uh-oh, I let my geeky cave secret out of the bag! Hee hee hee.

Needless to say, I’ve enjoyed the fun factor of caves for a looong time. And having the chance to explore some in another country totally blew me away.

I can’t pretend I’m any sort of expert on the caves we saw in CZ, so I’m including a link here to one website that has some cool information, if you’re interested.

What I will do, though, is share my favorite cave and abyss photos. Then, whenever the hell I publish TB, you’ll read for yourselves how I used this insider info to make my cave scenes more authentic (I hope), since I haven’t yet visited the actual caves I wrote about in the story. I don’t want to spill too many beans about TB, but yes, there are caves in the Caribbean!!!

For now, though, I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

Thanks for chilling with me. I hope you get a kick out of the photos. Let me know in the comment section which are your faves. Looking forward to hearing from you! I <3 my readers. Sharing = caring