The research I did for Softly and Tenderly had me delving into things that I would never have learned about just for the fun of it. How fast does a person’s body decompose once they have breathed their last? Just the thought of that gave me chills. When are bugs first attracted to the lifeless corpse?
Maybe it was because my mom died when I was so young that a fear of death hung over me for a very long time. Or perhaps it was the knowledge that bugs would crawl all over me and feast on my flesh once I was in the ground that caused me to shudder. When I chose to write about my mom’s death, it really surprised me. What shocked me even more was the way my muse turned it into a horror story.
There was no research before I wrote the story. The words flew out of me so fast that I couldn’t stop and do any. All of my research was done after I had the rough draft written. The things I researched and learned about helped me put even more of a creepy tone to what I had written down so fast.
Aspen chapel North Devon Crematorium, wikimedia commons
The funeral home needed a name, and I didn’t want to use the name of an actual funeral parlor. Lights Out Funeral Chapel and Crematorium came into existence after many other ideas, but this is the one that wasn’t in use anywhere. And it did fit, but it surprised me how difficult it was to come up with a name that wasn’t already in use. If by chance there is a funeral home out there with this name, it wasn’t listed anywhere on the internet.
Not a lot of other research on funeral homes was needed for the first part of Softly and Tenderly. The atmosphere and appearance of the inside came from memories of the first funeral I went to, but no part of the story, except for my Mom’s death that terrible morning, is even remotely true.
What song would play? The lyrics had to morbid and make one think of death. As far as I know, the song I chose isn’t normally played at funerals; it is more of an invitation song played at the end of a church service. “Softly and Tenderly” is a beautiful song, but there is a reason the third verse is normally skipped; it is creepy.
beetles, wikipedia
Where did the beetles come from? When I wrote the rough draft of the story, beetles just popped into it. I don’t like beetles. Ever since one got tangled in my hair when I was a little girl, I have had a severe dislike for them. Their little legs are sharp, and they have no business being around me or in my hair. Through my research, I discovered that beetles are amazing bugs. Much to my surprise, I discovered that the lightning bugs I always delighted in catching in my younger days are a type of beetle. Beetles have the job of cleaning up bodies, animal and human, that have died. Someone has to do it, right? Better them than me. But these beetles appear a bit sooner in Softly and Tenderly than they should have, and they refuse to leave.
girl writing, etc.usf.edu
What I learned during my search for information fascinated me and made me a want to learn more. And learning is a good thing. This book also had me researching fascinating topics like cremation, alien worlds, and medieval torture methods. I will write about those later.
At the end of the first part of the story, Lori wrongly thinks that life will go back to normal. She has no clue what is about to happen.
Amazon Link: Softly and Tenderly
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Softly and Tenderly by Lisa Binion, Part 1
Entomophobia, the Fear of Insects
