One aspect of novel writing is research. Since my current project requires understanding the history and pre-history of the Pacific Northwest’s indigenous population, that’s what I’ve done. Specifically, I’ve spent the last two years reading about the Native Americans of this area, still only scratching the surface of this rich subject.
Now, in reference to my scratching, one of my favorite books I’ve run across is The River That Made Seattle: A Human and Natural History of The Duwamish Tribe, written by BJ Cummings. She gives an excellent summary of the Native Americans of the Seattle area and also gives a solid understanding of the history of Seatle—both the good and the bad (and there is plenty of bad!).
Key point here. I’m not an advocate of the “write what you know” school of writing fiction. Instead, I believe that you (or I) should “write about what you (or I) want to know,” and then learn about it. That’s part of the joy of writing—growing as a person. And researching (only to a limited extent—after all, it’s very easy for fiction writers to fall down the research rabbit hole!) this aspect of the Pacific Northwest, thanks to Ms. Cummings’s book, has indeed been a joyful experience.