November 6 question – What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever googled in researching a story?
The awesome co-hosts for the November 6 posting of the IWSG are Sadira Stone, Patricia Josephine, Lisa Buie-Collard, Erika Beebe, and C. Lee McKenzie!
Good question! This week I googled myself for a blog post, and that was pretty strange. I’m fairly boring, but I did find people who shared my name that were more interesting. (See Monday’s blog post.)
I google a lot about guns for both of my series. But that’s not really strange.
More interesting, to me anyway, are the fancy driving stunts I search for, and how do do them. Not that I would ever try, but a couple of my characters do, as a hobby of sorts. And to evade pursuers, be they the bad guys or the good guys.
Then there’s the self-defense techniques the heroine in my mystery series uses. Thank heavens because she’s always getting herself into trouble.
But even those aren’t strange. You know when I get into really interesting topics?
When I get off track.
When I see something shiny and go down the rabbit hole. My blog post 
about googling my name led me to a page about about bridge jumping. (Bridge Day in West Virginia). And the report of two political opponents who had a gun fight after a meeting. Looking up information on jet boats in Oregon led me to the web page of a lodge in Oregon you can only get to by boat.
about googling my name led me to a page about about bridge jumping. (Bridge Day in West Virginia). And the report of two political opponents who had a gun fight after a meeting. Looking up information on jet boats in Oregon led me to the web page of a lodge in Oregon you can only get to by boat. Then there’s the stuff that comes up at work. We have interesting discussions. Like the gradual salt intrusion into the fresh water aquifers of Florida. Or the logos of car manufactures no one has ever heard of. Or the farthest geographic compass point location for each direction for the continental Unites States. (Hint- at least one of them you would never guess!)
Still, I don’t know if I’d rank any of these as strange. I’d call them fascinating.
How about you? Google anything strange lately?
I can usually stop myself, but I’ve watched mt wife bop from one subject to another after a search online.
Oh, I can stop myself, but it’s more fun not to!
Ah, the way conversations and internet searches can wend their way from one topic to the next … it’s interesting, and maybe a bit strange, but usually informative. 🙂
Agreed!
I’m always surprised when I Google myself. The things I find amaze me. I’ve also discovered there’s a stripper ( I’m sure a very good one) that has a similar name. Ah, fame. Isn’t is wonderful? Great to find you on IWSG
Thanks, Cheryl. Fame has, so far, eluded me. What was great fun was the story I wrote where my main character went undercover and I found the name she chose was a famous’ stripper’s name!
Going down the rabbit hole for sure. We lose so much time!
Great post!
Heather
I don’t know if I call it lost time, because you never know when I might use that tidbit in my writing!
Well, it is fascinating to see where a search will lead, but I like the adventure and I appreciate the ease of finding what I need when I need it. I just have to reign myself in. That’s the hard part.
Yes, I’m old school and learned how to research using a periodical index and microfiche. The internet is so much easier!
Bridge jumping and a lodge in Oregon you can only get to by boat? Sounds like it belongs in a story… maybe they could be linked? It’s so easy for a shiny new idea to pop up when googling.
I write mysteries and either one is the perfect scenario for a book!
I never thought to search out the other me’s…sort of like finding all the Sarah Conners before it’s too late. Ha!
I’m from West Virginia. Never once jumped from a bridge, though I know it’s a popular thing to do.
It’s something I would have done when I was younger, but not so much now!
I love Google. I am addicted. When I Google myself I am surprise because my SEO appears to be working as I am always on first page with my name Juneta Key
Happy Belated IWSG!
<a href="https://www.junetakey.com//"<Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
It was an interesting exercise to google myself, but probably not something I will make a habit of.
Fascinating would be a better word for a lot of it indeed. But yeah, following shiny things can lead you down some rather interesting rabbit holes.