Research

One thing that kind of sucks about picking this manuscript up after a year and a half (aside from being reminded of how long ago I graduated college lol) is that I basically need to re-research everything. The narrator, Jarred, has an Oxycontin addiction. I, fortunately, have no firsthand experience with this, but that leaves me with a lot of information to find. What's an Oxy high like? What happens to you physiologically if you overdose? It's a lot to think about. How much does a bottle of pills cost, and how do users abuse them?

Fortunately, I found a rather nifty and incredibly easy-to-read memoir that I've been working off. If anyone's interested in reading it, it's called Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict, and it's written by Joshua Lyon. As it turns out, one of my friends on Goodreads recently posted a review of it, and I knew it would be perfect for what I need. The book does a really good job of describing the prescription drug abuse culture and has helped me root my story in something much more realistic. It's also much more interesting to read than pharmaceutical and medical websites, which is where I did most of my research before.

The fun part of my research involves watching lots of band documentaries, reading interviews with musicians, etc. I hung out with a few bands in college, so I have a pretty good idea of how their dynamics work, but more research is always helpful! Sadly, I wish I had more time to do it.