What did we do before the interweb?  I’m working on the second Urban Fantasy, and my heroine is about to go out to dinner with the president of SAG, and I needed a trendy L.A. restaurant.  I had picked a restaurant that was trendy back when I was in L.A., and did a Google search on the place.

Well, it’s closed now.  So I needed a new trendy restaurant.  Now, I could make one up, but I’m having fun going for the authentic so go to Google again, and  I type in “Trendy L.A. Restaurants”.  I get a site that has four pages of restaurants with reviews, menus, photos, etc.

I almost went with Yamashiro because I’ve been there, but I want a place that’s easier to get to by the paparazzi and trendier  So I go scrolling through until I find Ketchup.  It’s perfect for what I want.

Now I copy the address and I go to street view.  And I’m walking down the street in front of the place, and I realize my manager’s office is just a few more blocks west from this restaurant.

So, I have a picture of the place outside, photos inside, a copy of the menu, reviews, etc. etc.  When I go out to L.A. in June to do more research I think I’ll have lunch there.  Just for verisimilitude.

Wow, I love this new world.