Interview with S.M. Stirling on Black Gate

I just posted my interview of S.M. Stirling on Black Gate. Why should you go read it? Because I got his permission to post a picture of him wearing a bald eagle puppet, Uncle Sam hat, and bow off a gift during his citizenship party. I was not able to find one of the pictures where he pecked at his own eyes with said puppet. Still looking for one of those.

Included in the questions I asked and answers I got was:

You do a lot of your research for your books through personal connections, having people who are similar to your characters in religion and worldview give guidance on scenes. How do you find these individuals, and how do you usually work with them?

I’ve found most through friends of friends, and some of them have become friends in turn — like Kier Salmon out West, for example, who has been a consultant on the Old Religion and a good deal else (she’s a translator with a lot of medical knowledge). Steve Brady in England is a naturalist, a Morris dancer, and very good at British dialects.
Using first readers like that helps you avoid what I call false-knowledge errors. As the saying goes, it ain’t what you don’t know that’ll get you, it’s what you think you know that just ain’t so.

Head on over to Black Gate to see the rest!

Here's link to my favorite of his books.