Red Storm Rising in General

Tom Clancy, an insurance salesman, wrote and sold Red Storm Rising in 1986. With absolutely no experience in the military, intelligence, government, or international politics.
How in the hell did he do that?

I am alternating reading and listening to the book on Audible and I confess I am in awe. Again, how in the hell did he do that?

Research.

As I curled up under the covers on yet another cold Maine FALL night I wondered how one goes about that. How do you accumulate so much believable information and turn it into a believable story?

I pondered.

I have had an idea for a book that intimidates the ever living shit out of me.
A retired Roman Centurion and a few friends are recalled to their garrison during the Germanic Wars.

I have the concept of the story, which doesn’t end well.

But what I don’t know about the structure of the Roman Legions, or ever what they ate could outpace the story.

Any foray into historical fiction is fraught with haters. Holy shit, just read the critiques about the TV series Vikings. Once you cross into history, everything has to be practically perfect.

I looked into books about that time period and figured I would have to buy a dozen or so books.

I thought about finding huge caches of information about the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and where those might be.

At some point I fell asleep, because even thinking about the outline of a completely fictional story overlying a historical reality. Where do you even start?

I can blame Tom Clancy for this.