Dear Mr. Cornwell, My name is Sarah McCabe. Im a senior in high school, and Im part of the Writing Center program at my school. Writing Center is a class run by upper classmen where you learn to become a writing tutor. Its basically students helping other students learn how to improve their writing skills. We teach the students who come in and ask for help, but we are also given assignments to help us become better writers. One of these assignments is a research paper on a topic of our choice. For my topic I chose to research Norse Mythology so that I can modernize it. We learn all about Roman and Greek mythology in school, but they never teach us anything about Norse myths. I want to re-write Norse myths in a modern light to help spread the knowledge Norse culture. So, Im sure youre wondering what any of this has to do with you. Well, for one chunk of our research paper, we have to have an interview with someone that could be considered an expert in the area we are researching. I wanted to interview an author since I wanted to know more about the research it takes to write from previous facts. I know how much work goes into writing a novel since Im trying to write one myself, so I dont expect to actually sit down with you and have a one on one chat. If you could answer a few of my questions though, Id be extremely grateful. I just wanted to know how much research you have to do when you write, and where you usually go to get good, reliable information. I was also wondering how you figure out where to stick to the facts youve got and when to take creative license. Is there a generally accepted rule or do you just play it by ear? Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions! I hope your next work is coming along the way you want it to, and that you dont get a severe case of writers block anytime soon. Sincerely, Sarah McCabe