I got more than I could have imagined. Asking questions and lovely details flowed forth. The book began taking shape, like an animator superimposed the book over thin air.

This is what happens when you interview people for your novel.

The subject of my piercing questions? My mother-in-law.

Before you get nervous, I did not kidnap her behind my husband’s back or resort to blackmail. No need.

Here’s how to get the best results from interviews:

• Schedule a zoom at a time your subject prefers. It’s essential that they are comfortable.

• Have a few questions, but follow their lead. Dive deeper into their expertise or memories rather than jumping from unrelated topic to topic.

• Don’t grill them through a list, rather make it a conversation.

• If you’re excited about something they share, tell them and show excitement - this will inspire more in that direction.

• Ask open-ended questions. Those that start with “How” or “What” tend to inspire the most detailed replies. (For example ‘How did the morning go?” is more effective than “Did you go to breakfast every day?”

• Transcribe, transcribe, transcribe. DON’T take notes as you talk.

If you learn only one thing from this post, please record the audio of the conversation at a minimum to run through a transcription service later. Taking notes makes the subject of your call feel they are being tested and they lose the eye contact and natural conversation with you.

There is also no way, unless you know shorthand, to capture everything. And even if you do know shorthand, I don’t recommend it for the reasons above.

My best recommendation is to sign up for a service called Otter.ai

Is it 100% accurate? Not yet. But it’s damned close, and close enough to guess what was intended if you read what’s transcribed aloud. If your subject has a very strong accent (think northern Scotland or similar) there may be a few more hiccups. For the most part, you’ll have what you need.

These conversations are pure gold for getting convincing detail in your book.

My cozy mystery is set on a small cruise off the islands of Scotland. Guess who had been on a couple of trips of exactly that description?

Correct. My mother-in-law.

We spoke for 40 minutes and I walked away with several details that will help me kill off both my victims. Priceless.

So ask yourself? Who has expertise or an experience that would help make your book just that little bit more convincing.

Send them an email and invite them to be a consultant on your novel. I dare you.

Let us all know how you get on in the comments below.

image: Rachel’s Interrogation, Richard Mauro

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