Sometimes book research means sitting at my desk surrounded by notes, old maps, and far too many browser tabs open as I go down my hundredth rabbit hole.

And sometimes it means heading into New York for a Bigfoot adventure like I did this past weekend.

I definitely prefer the second kind.

The trip gave me the chance to spend a day surrounded by people who are just as fascinated by Sasquatch stories as I am—and this time I wasn't only there for fun. I had my writer hat firmly in place, well, for the most part anyway. Lol.

One of the future books in my Hudson Paranormal Investigation series will venture into Bigfoot territory, so naturally I needed to do a little firsthand research.

You know. For accuracy.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

It was a LOT of fun. So much so, I'm already planning my visit for the Bigfoot Festival next year.

👣 Into Bigfoot Country

There is something especially fun about being surrounded by hundreds of people who are all willing to entertain the same question:

What if?

What if those strange sounds in the woods aren't what we think they are?

What if that shadow between the trees moved?

What if all those stories passed down through generations started somewhere?

As a mystery writer—especially one who likes to add a little paranormal trouble to the mix—that kind of atmosphere is irresistible.

And yes, my writer brain was taking notes, while I took plenty of pictures and videos.

🔎 The Stories Are Half the Fun

One of my favorite parts of research trips is listening to other people's stories. Here I am with John Sheridan, Jr. and his book about Adirondack Bigfoot.

He and his colleague, Paul Bartholomew, had some very interesting stories to share.  There were plenty of historical details and some folklore. I'm all about the folklore.

We were regaled with accounts where someone swore something happened to them in the woods years ago that was unexplainable, until you acknowledge the possibility there is something "more" out there.

The "more" even left footprints the investigators made casts of. Big footprints.

I don't have to decide whether every story is true to find it fascinating. What interests me as a writer is the question that comes afterward:

What could I do with that?

That's usually when trouble begins for my characters.

And Then There Are the Woods.

Lots of stuff happens in secluded woods, including those around the lake we cruised on during the Bigfoot talks. Lake George has a long history of "things" in the woods dating all the way back to the Native Americans. To be fair, the lake was formed by a glacier. Anything could still exist in the area.

Here I am getting ready to board the ship, along with 500 of my fellow Sasquatch enthusiasts.

The discussions among the crowd had me following their narratives like I was a ping pong ball bouncing from one spot to the next. This may have been the point when my imagination really started misbehaving.

There's something about talks of the forests of upstate New York that makes it incredibly easy to believe something might be watching from just beyond the tree line.

I've spent plenty of time in this part of the country, but visiting it specifically with a future mystery in mind changes what I notice.

The trees.

The isolation.

The sounds.

The places where a person could disappear from view surprisingly quickly.

Let me tell you, there are far more of those than I had realized from all the years I've been visiting the area since I was a child and now as an adult.

Perfectly innocent observations, of course.

What can I say? I'm a paranormal mystery writer.

📸 The Writer-Brain Moment

Bigfoot made a "rare" appearance here on the ship. Lol.

Every research trip seems to have at least one moment when something clicks and I think:

Oh. That's going in a book.

I'm not going to tell you exactly what that was this time.

Where would be the fun in that?

But I came home with photographs, notes, ideas, and more than a few possibilities for Gwenn and her companions. Hudson, her Bengal cat sleuth, might be in for a "big" surprise!

🐾 So...Is Bigfoot Coming to Wildemont?

Let's just say I've been doing research for a reason and plan to dive even deeper into it in the coming weeks.

There are still other mysteries waiting for Gwenn to solve first, including the one I'm writing now, Cookie-Cutter Alibi. But somewhere in my growing pile of Hudson Paranormal Investigation notes, the woods are getting a little darker...

...and something rather large may be moving between the trees. Shadows, rock throwing, and blood curdling screams are definitely lurking in the depths of the forest.

I'll share more when I'm ready.

For now, thanks for coming along on another behind-the-books adventure.

And if you're ever walking through the woods and hear something strange behind you?

Maybe don't investigate.

Then again, Gwenn probably would, or might go only because someone she cares about needs her help.

With magic and mischief,

Sheri 💜