Whether you write current fiction, science fiction, romance, westerns, horror, or like me, write mysteries set in the 1920’s or short stories with a paranormal theme, you want to get things right. You don’t want Abraham Lincoln turning on a radio to get news about the war in the Western theatre. Then again you might if you are writing alternate history or science fiction, but I will stand by my statement.

One obvious place to start is the Library of Congress. Something more European, try the European library, or if you need something specific about England, try their National Archives.  Don’t want to slight Australia , so there you are.

Another site with many topics is encyclopedia.com.

Writerswrite.com is a clearing house to take you to more specific sites and is fun to browse anyway.

This is a fun site I found on Pinterest called Fiction Writing research site.

Of course I will mention Wikipedia and though I am aware one must be careful what you find here, I have primarily used when researching 1927. What happened in each month of the year, anything newsworthy I could use in my story. I also double checked the information I found to make sure.

Want to get geographical names correct try U.S. Board on geographic names. A word here on street names. When dealing with the past, some cities have changed street names. In my e-novel set in 1911, “Loonies in the Dugout,” I used a map of New York from 1911. I also used a 1927 map of Los Angeles for two e-novels. I don’t know if any of the names I used had changed, but it is wise never to assume; always use source material.

And if you want to see how wrong politicians are in their statements try Factcheck.org. Good for a laugh, or tears, or anger.

Or you can go retro like I do. I go to book sales where I find books like “The Oxford World Mythology,” “The Oxford History of the Classical World,” or “Gray’s Anatomy,” (helpful if you want a coroner to explain cause of death or any medical issues if you write murder mysteries). You can also explore your local library if you feel the need to get away from clicking, tapping, and out of your chair because your butt is getting flat, and be able to touch real books with lots of info, take notes with tools like pen and paper. Then cross check with Internet sources. Research is important and fun. You never know where your search will lead you.

If you have a site you want to share leave a comment.