autonomy Archives - Author K. Williams

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #373

What are your favorite resources for research?

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The internet at our fingertips is such a powerful tool. However, we can misuse this source of information unintentionally. Far too many people think that whatever is published on the internet is somehow vetted. If it’s on a page, it must be valid is not a great way to come to the information at our fingertips.

That said, if you know your way around, and you’ve come up to speed on how to vet information for yourself, this powerful tool can provide all you need to do your research. This is why I stress the importance of taking classes at a collegiate level. Regardless of what you believe, getting to consult with others on acceptable documents and so forth, is actually very important. Credible resources matter, especially in writing historical pieces and any work that rely on accurate events, places, and people.

Another point of importance on the validity of information: published books aren’t always accurate either. Not every author is trustworthy. How do we know who to trust? If you rely on books from which to gain information, you may fair better more often. Not every conspiracist with an ax to grind has access to publishing a book. It requires navigating a litany of steps to prove the value of your work to the public. Via books, only those with enough power or clout get to have their ideas presented.

Now, keep in mind, power and clout often make for a questionable concoction. It’s a lot easier to consider the source when you’ve been able to digest other moments and words from them prior to coming across their written word on any given topic. A healthy exercise of one’s skepticism is necessary with any research. This is a lot harder to do when the information is coming from an unfamiliar source.

How would you vet something that comes from someone with whom you’re unfamiliar then? Ask yourself a few questions: where is this being posted (vetted journal with a reputation, private blog, scholarly outlet)? What is the background of the author (do they have degrees or experience in the field, how are they viewed by their peers, what have they contributed to the area of knowledge)? Is this contributing to confirmation bias I may have, or is it bringing in facts and from where? Then, you’d go back through the questions with who is providing those facts.

All of this said, please remember that not all bias is negative. Some people will tell you otherwise, and that is often because it challenges their agenda. That is one of the things you’ll need to sniff out using instincts you hone over time. If your gut is screaming something isn’t right, there’s probably a good reason as to why.

I, for one, find the internet a great tool to get me started on the research I need to do for any of my books. Obtaining more detailed manuscripts is always a step in that process. Finding the right works to add to my bibliography has always begun online.

You can learn more about the processes that I utilize in writing my books through my series on Writing Historical Fiction. There is also my graduate papers on this site which provide some epic bibliographies on doing research. For example:

MacMillan, Margaret. Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History. New York: The
Modern Library, 2008.
May, Lary. The Big Tomorrow: Hollywood and the Politics of the American Way. Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Kuhn, Thomas. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 3rd ed. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1996.
Appleby, Joyce, Lynn Hunt, and Jacob Margaret. Telling the Truth about History. New York: W.
W. Norton & Company, 1994.

The above list enumerates my top recommendations to learn how to process and deal with information that we find online and out in the world. These books will set your perspective and help create those critical lenses required for this line of work.

In the end, it is up to each author to determine how far they will go in their research and what kind of work they wish to produce at the end of it. Not all books require this level of care. Not all authors are willing to put in this much effort, either. Therefore, the above list can provide the average reader with much needed tools in navigating the books that they consume. After all, how many times have you heard someone spout misinformation they learned through an Old Western? Passively absorbing information can do that to you, whether it comes from a film or a book.

Let’s hop on through the other posts our authors have written by clicking on their links below. Subscribe to this blog by dropping your email in the box on the top right, and this hop will be delivered to your email each Friday afternoon.

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #372

If you could live in any place, any time, any world, where would you live?

I’d never return to the past, unless it is guaranteed that I can come back to at least my own time. Many people love the idea of exploring the past if they had access to a time machine. I don’t blame them. The idea of getting to see persons and events that we’ve only read about, which had an enormous impact on our history, that’s compelling! However, when you consider the finer details, you’ll see why I have no interest.

Prior to modern history, women were not afforded the equal rights. The majority enjoyed a quasi servitude. Giving up the freedoms that I have now would be alarming. Certainly, women and femmes are not on equal footing with the dominant demographic. That said, would you want matters to get worse? Consider, if you will, how bodily autonomy is being ripped from the grasp of those who are not cis males. This is no joke and it will have ripple affects that lead us into an era of absolute authoritarianism not seen in centuries.

Following that vein, this leads me to the reality that those who veer from dogma face the possibility of harm from those who would enforce rules, laws, and norms. They don’t even have to be the majority of the group, a historically repeated phenomena. Small groups enforcing dogmatic beliefs have commonly been very dangerous.

open book blog hop, time, clock floats in cloudy space above an endless road

Lastly, another reason for my reluctance is the loss of present day medical advances. Especially in the case of female anatomy, there are a great many reasons to fear such a loss. While I am past the possibility of having children, there are other things that continue on. There are also hereditary issues to be concerned about. What if breast, cervical, uterine, ovarian cancer is a great risk? What if prolapses have happened? Fibroids? Aside from that, heart disease is one of the most common killers of women.

So, unless I can visit and return as needed and at the drop of a hat, I have no interest in the historical eras. I remain curious, however, about the future. It is likely that medical advances will lead to a healthier society (at least one that can address diseases we fear today). I also assume that bigotry against gender and sexual orientation will fall away along with the dogma that plagues our world in this time.

If one thing holds true, things get better, even when the echoes of those issues may still continue. It gives me hope that bigotry and all the suffering it causes will end. No, that wouldn’t create a utopia. There will be other issues that come to fill that void. What do you think they might be? If the catastrophic results of climate change, such as crop failure and flooding, don’t bring us past the pettiness of judging gender and skin tones, what do you think would?

Going to the future would answer these two questions, and I would love to see what shakes out. I’d feel a heck of a lot safer in a future world. That said, what if the bigots win? What if hate takes over and they rampage across the world like the hate-fueled factions of the Second World War? It is possible that this could happen. People are still acting just as complacent as our grandparents did in that time. So much has been allowed to happen that turning back could be impossible.

The frightening prospect of a world yoked by authoritarianism in the guise of morality and faith is so close to reality. Have we not just recently escaped such in recent history? Think about it. Is there any time outside the one you know that could be fun to visit? If you’re a fan of Star Trek, you’ll know that visiting any other time (past or future) could be like visiting a foreign world and the dangers are great.

I still think I’d take a chance on the future. Humanity has such a great capacity for compassion. I believe that will win out over the capacity for violence.

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