The Greatest Wonder Of All

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Lynn’s post on wonders of the world. My fast answer a week ago was computers and the Grand Canyon, but now after pondering the choices, I have to put the internet at the top of my list.

I have at least two thousand books, many of them research books, and I still treasure each one of them. But I find myself turning more and more to the Internet to pick up those vital pieces of information I need quickly.

There are some things you just can’t easily find in a book.

In one instance, I was looking for a book published in or before 1500 for "Beloved Stranger." I wanted a book that could have been available on the English border in 1513. My hero was a Scotsman, the heroine an English borderer and a member of one of the infamous "reiver" families. He was well educated for a Scotsman, a man who’d intended to be a priest, and she was, of course, illiterate. I was writing a scene in which he tries to teach her to read, and I wanted an actual book to do it. Clicking again and again to English literature, then fifteenth century, I finally found the perfect book, "The Thrissill and the Rois," an illustrated book about the marriage of James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, sister to the King of England. Since the romance of the two was featured in the first of the Beloved trilogy ("Beloved Stranger" was the second), it was perfect.

Never would I have found that book in any one of my Scottish history books. It is one of those tiny little details that make the author – if not the reader – dance with glee. Yep. There I was in my office, doing the Snoopy dance. I bet no one else has that little tidbit. (Of course no one else probably wants that tidbit). But for me it was a moment of glory.

Another instance: In my just-finished "Beloved Warrior," the last of my trilogy, my heroine was Spanish. But where was her home? I pulled up a map and visited tourist bureau sites of every town and city that was a possibility, until I found just the right one. Then right before my eyes were photos of the coastline, information on climate, historical data, etc.. If I needed anything else, there was a phone number to call.

Okay. Finished historical. Started contemporary suspense.

I needed a tax haven. Have you ever looked up tax havens? Unbelievable stuff. It’s step-by-step instruction on establishing offshore accounts and cheating the federal government or hiding ill-gotten gains. One site lists island havens and what they require in documentation, which is practically nothing. I clicked on each one and discovered that anyone wanting to hide money can easily do so. These "havens" offer any number of services to keep investigators at bay. (I keep expecting IRS people at my door. Surely they must be watching people who visit the site.)

Okay, I have my tax haven. Now I need information on military Court Martials.
Can someone really be tried and have much of the information, including evidence, be withheld from public record? Yes, indeed. I was able to download the entire army court martial manual, including the use of classified material. More than I wanted to know, but I found what I needed.
Next thing I needed was information on the latest in listening and tracing devices. I discovered how easy it is to pick up an untraceable prepaid cell phone, then went to my local Walmart and bought one for a ridiculously low price. Yep, it works.

I expect IRS and CIA agents at my front door any day.

That’s business, though wonderful business. I love research. I revel in it. I always try to find that one odd detail that makes a story more real to the reader. The internet places all those possibilities within a few moments reach. No trekking down to a library or days of phone calls, only to be passed on to still another person.

And when the book is finished, and I have moments to my own? What do I do?

Go to the internet, of course. I have the entire world at my fingertips. I’m like a five-year-old in a gigantic toy store. I never quite get over the wonder of it. News. Games. E-mail. Wonderful, wonderful email. Never have so many been able to so easily keep in touch with friends, make new friends, keep new friends, commiserate with friends, rejoice with friends, etc.

And, of course, there are blogs, and the development of communities. No one has to be alone any longer.

The physical wonders of the world are marvelous, but how many people actually see them in person? Everyone can use the the magic of the internet, even visit those physical places through cyberspace.

So my number one Wonder of the World is the internet.