Hello

I’ve mentioned that I’m writing a novel titled The Geography of Love. Part of the novel takes place in the Western Sahara which is approximately 4, 200 miles or 6,759 kilometers plus an ocean away; a place I’ve never had the privilege to visit—though I’ll love to get there someday.

Though my imagination has gathered it’s images of the Western Sahara: shifting wailing sand dunes, a fiery ball of a sun, scorpions walking leisurely across the cracked desert floor, rock formations that looked like they were crafted then tossed aside by long ago giants; it’s not enough, I had to do the obvious: research. I read everything I could find on the Western Sahara and spent hours over pictures of the desert and those people who called it home so that the pictures in my head would have more life, yet I knew to make my story breath the desert air, feel the burning sand, admire a glowing sunset and pray for a breeze filled sunrise I would need to communicate with someone who’d actually experienced all these things in the Sahara.

I posted a message on the Fodor travel site and received a reply from Sarah who posts her experience in Western Sahara on her website. She was able to clue me in on an aspect of traveling in this part of the world I hadn’t come across making the information a must part of the story in my effort to root the novel in authentic experiences, give it that life, make it breath. If you can check out Sarah’s site at: www.sarahandflo.com, it’s terrific and you’ll be amazed at her travels, she’s been to twenty-nine countries so far and writes a piece on each one. She has offered to answer any more questions I have on traveling in Western Sahara and that’s invaluable to me and wonderful of her.

If you want to bring more power to your story and need to crank up your imagination, most times you have to go to an expert or those who've experienced what your character is experiencing and these day’s its easier than ever to get to them especially through the Net where experts have their own websites and e-mail addresses. I think most people are glad to hear from writers and enjoy talking about what they do or know best. The most important aspect to all this for us writers is that we want to do whatever’s necessary to make our stories come alive and utilizing real details and knowledge not only breathes life into the work, it makes our stories outstanding and ones that everyone wants to read.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me at:matwrite1@aol.com, I’ll love to hear from you.

Until next time God willing,

Lori