I Dig Research

No reason to deny it, I'm a research junkie. In many ways its the best part of writing. Oh, I also dig the creative process, the beginnings of a plot and conversations from characters demanding their story. But research--an excuse to waste (ah, spend) days chasing down my interests. I initially became hooked on research when I was writing Native American historicals which explains all my NA nonfiction books (well marked).
Research, for me, is free-flowing. I grab one piece of information which leads to another piece which takes me on a right turn to other possibilities. Most of it I know I won't use but how do I know what's important if I don't explore, right?
Current Example: I've been invited to write a novella for an Aphrodisia erotic anthology with a Cowboy themes. In other words, the story isn't going to be much longer than 25k words, hardly room for world-building or impressing readers with my knowledge of obscure subjects, but I can pretend, right?
I knew I wanted my hero to participate in a program designed to train and tame wild mustangs (there is such a program, sponsored by by Mustang Heritage Foundation) But strange as it must seem, I'm not an expert in handling wild horses so off I went into the Internet yesterday. The focus these days, thank goodness, is no longer on breaking a mustang's spirit. Instead, natural horsemenship gentling techniques are employed. I now know just enough to be dangerous (never fear, I'm not going to get in a corral with a mustang stallion, I ain't no fool) I've printed out a stack of pages on the techniques, the Mustang Heritage Foundation, and the competition my hero will participate in. I'm tempted to keep exploring, to run to the library, interview the local horse trainer who gave me the idea, maybe trek down to Sacramento and watch the next competition. However, I've yet to write page one of the story (or give it a title) and its due sometime soon. (Note to self, check contract)
Another however, I believe my heroine is going to be a vet tech, which I know nothing about so.....
And its a shame to limit my newfound fascination with mustangs to a novella and soon I'll be done with my current Aphrodisia book contracts and in need of writing a new proposal and since I have all this information....
HELP, I NEED AN INTERVENTION
Vonna
www.VonnaHarper.com