Has taken me to some really amazing places. I do worry how deep in the rabbit hole I am from time to time, but following those trails is still rewarding. Since I’m not on anyone else’s schedule right now, I don’t see the harm once in a while in following a particularly meaty subject. I tend to dive into historical topics more than anything else, the older and more mythical the records are, the better. My absolute favorites are mythical founders of dynastic traditions, Romulus and Remus, King Arthur, Pharaoh Narmer (or Menes) of Egypt, and Qin Shi Huang of China for a few examples. Weird stories about these folks, strange portents around their births, lives, or deaths also intrigue me. If there are ruins or preserved landmarks associated with them on top of that, I’m hooked. I can spend day or hours tracking down information on any of this, but ultimately it all has a purpose. I end up using what I find to model characters, back stories, or plot threads for my books. Sometimes my characters have to follow clues I discovered in my research, or uncover something of that sort in their story. Ultimately even my dives into obscurity wind up on the page. (I spent a whole summer researching New Orleans!)