The question I’m most frequently asked is: How did you find the curiosities for the book? Well, I can tell you that Googling “curiosity,” “weird,” “odd” or “bizarre” doesn’t really work. (Believe me, I tried!)
 
My starting point was the state and local tourism bureaus. They’re the ones on the ground and they know where the bodies are buried –- sometimes literally -– and even where their ghosts are said to dwell! And, when it came to local lore, I went to town historians. The truth is out there, and they’ve got the documentation!
 
I also read a lot of newspapers -– on and offline -– and told everyone I knew that I was writing a book about curiosities. Before you knew it, friends were telling me about curiosities –- even curiosities were telling me about other curiosities!
 
You know that old story — If a butterfly flaps its wings on the other side of the world, it will start a chain of events that ultimately comes back to you? Sometimes it was like that. My favorite butterfly chain started with my friend Emily flagging an article she read in New York Metro about a junk museum in Brooklyn. I went there and the guy I was interviewing said, “Hey, do you know there’s an angel or something in that Brooklyn cemetery on the waterfront that’s waving back to the Statue of Liberty?” When I arrived at the cemetery, I asked a maintenance guy where the office was and, of course, told him I was writing a book. He told me where to go then said, “Hey, do you know about the wild parrots in Brooklyn?”
 
So, my advice is: Always be curious and don’t be quiet about it –- tell everyone you know!

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