Mary Margret Daughtridge shares with us some things she learned about SEALs while researching her book, and imparts some wisdom she picked up along the way.
Be sure to check out her first novel, SEALed with a Kiss. You can order it from B&N and Amazon. Check out Holly’s review here.
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Everybody asks about my research for SEALed With a Kiss– like was it hard and did I have to do a lot of it.
Yes, there was a lot of it. I read and reread twenty or thirty books about SEALs and Special Operations, cruised every sort of military and/or SEAL site on the internet, watched TV specials, corresponded with two SEALs for over a year.
And yes, it was hard, but not in the way you might think. To write a character-driven romance with a SEAL hero, I needed to get inside their skins. I didn’t care whether they preferred and H&K or a Glock; I needed to know what it felt like to be them. Trust me, letting myself feel what a SEAL feels, experience what a SEAL experiences and look at the world through a SEAL’s eyes is as far outside my comfort zone as it’s possible to get.
In the process, they became my people. My lovers, my sons, my friends. When I hear on the news that one has been killed, I feel personal loss. I cry.
Here are some things I learned:
In spite of, or maybe because of the dangerous things they do, safety is practically a religion with them. Doing something in an unsafe manner guarantees swift and severe consequences. Doing something that endangers another SEAL is grounds for dismissal.
SEAL training is exhausting, torturous, and painful beyond rational limits of endurance. Example: an exercise called “sand cookie” pretty much ensures they will get sand in and around the family jewels. And there it stays, chafing with every movement, for hours. Tomorrow it will happen again.
They can quit at any time. The ones who make it are not necessarily the strongest or most athletic. They are the ones who simply don’t quit.
On the whole, SEALs are not tall or unusually large men. They will tell you again and again that they don’t do things that are beyond normal human capability—they just don’t let it being hard or dangerous stop them.
They are extremely competitive with each other and yet capable of seamless teamwork. They are hyper-responsible, generous, nurturing, and tender, and yet, frankly, they enjoy violence.
The funny thing was that over time, living inside a SEAL’s character changed my character. Getting published isn’t as hard as being a SEAL, but it isn’t easy. Whenever I was tempted to give up, I’d remember a story I read about two SEALs in training. They were on a seven mile swim in the middle of the night, and one said to the other, “I can’t do this anymore. I’m going to quit.” And the other one said, “Shut up, and keep swimming.” That was all it took to get him past the moment of self-pity.
Whenever I’m tempted to give in to writer-angst, I tell myself to “Shut up and keep swimming.”
Best wishes, and good reading,
Mary Margret
Hello 😀
it’s great to read about what you learned on SEALs… we don’t have SEALs in Canada (well at least, to my knowledge), so I was wondering at first what was so special about them, except for the very hard training and being the elite.
I seriously can’t wait to read your book, esp. after reading Holly’s review and good words. Unfortunately, I’ll have to order it 🙁 but can’t wait 🙂
Just swinging by to say HI to my Sourcebooks Sister!
Interesting research, Mary Margaret. Can’t wait to get my hands on “SEALed with a Kiss” and WTG on all the rave reviews!
Cindy
Your book sounds great, i cannot wait to read it. I LOVE SEAL heroes. There is just something about their determination. Maybe because i do not have it. My FIL was a SEAL a long time ago. He does not talk about it much. He is not a big man but he has that determination in him still.
“Shut up and keep swimming”–yup, that sounds like what one of those guys would say.
And Holly’s review definitely sold the book to me.
Best of luck, Ms Daughtridge
When i read this my first thought (besides cute heros) was Dori from Finding Nemo singing, “Just keep swimming”
I just finished SEALed with a Kiss. Wow, great characters, great story and overall a very satisfying read. I’ll be adding it to my keeper shelves alongside Suzanne Brockmann, Cherry Adair, Tara Janzen and Christina Skye.