Do Old Habits Die Hard?

 RHYS BOWEN:  Like many of you I belong to several Facebook groups: historical novels, Friends and Fiction, book clubs etc.  And I’m struck by something that surprises me. When I read comments on a post that says “what is the best book you’ve read this year?” the answers are not all newish books. One person answered Prince of Tides. Several mentioned Rosamund Pilcher.  This makes me wonder if these people maybe don’t read any more but want to be part of the conversation? Or they go to the library and choose random books?  Or… have a really large TBR stack???

I have to admit that I do reread old favorites and they are still favorites, but most of what I read has come out in the past couple of years. I always seem to have a book to blurb that hasn’t even been published yet, then there are all my friends’ books, plus new books by my go-to authors. 

I also realise, as I write this, that I don’t use libraries any more.  It’s so easy to click on Kindle and there is the book, ready to read. It’s a shame because I used to adore libraries. When I had small kids the library was my magic portal. I’d find my next Tony Hillerman or Mary Stewart and couldn’t wait to get home to start reading  (confession, I sometimes started in the car outside the library). I also stumbled across books I hadn’t known about. That cover looks interesting… give it a try. 

During my early writing years libraries were also my go-to for reference. Anything that I couldn’t find on the shelves I asked the reference librarian and together we sleuthed out the answer. In an early adult novel I wanted to know when elastic was invented. My hero was undressing the heroine! Could he just pull down her underwear or did he have to untie it? We searched and found that yes, elastic has been invented but it was only being used for the sides of boots at the time!

Now I do all my research online. For my Molly books with Clare we access the archives of the New York Times. It’s all so easy but I do miss my library visits. 

So what about you, Reds and Reddies? Do you still visit your local library regularly? And is your reading mostly from newish books?

HALLIE EPHRON: I do visit my library VERY regularly. I volunteer in the library bookstore which is stuffed with books donated by library patrons and sold for a few bucks a pop (or during “bag” sale week, $10 a bag). It generates a nice extra-income stream for the library.

But I can’t go in looking for a particular book. (The newly published ones that I find in book reviews I download onto my Kindle, sadly skipping the library or the bookstore.) I surrender to the complete serendipity of what’s there and what catches my eye. Often another shopper or volunteer or librarian steers me to whatever I end up taking home. 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: As a kid I was always always in the library, the one at school or the one in town. But now my connection with fabulous and life changing libraries mostly comes from doing events for them or appearing at them.   I am devoted and in love with libraries, as you can see in ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS, where some of the key scenes take place in libraries and with librarians.

My reading now, though, is almost always of new books..and most often, books that have not been published yet but are in the galley-for-a-blurb stage. Or for an author I am interviewing for one of my shows.

In fact, the weird thing about my reading is that I hardly ever get to “choose” a book to read anymore–they are mostly all homework! Assigned reading for a blurb or event or interview. I do love it–because it often requires me to read a book I might not have chosen on my own, and that can be wonderful.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am very embarrassed to admit that I do not use my local library–and I love libraries!! I was hoping when our main, and also nearest me, library branch opened a new facility more than twenty years ago that it would be a pleasant place to take my laptop for some good writing time, but unlike some other wonderful area libraries, they really didn't provide that. And now that library has been undergoing massive renovation for the last couple of years, so I'm crossing fingers that it will be a more welcoming place when it's finished.

As for taking out library books, I get zero points on that score, too. I love to browse in libraries, but I always have so many things I have to read, and when I used to check out books I could never find time to return them. I have aspirations to improve when our branch opens again! 

LUCY BURDETTE: But Debs, you should not feel bad that you don’t take books out of the library because you buy them like mad, and read them too!! (I’m in your camp:)

I spend a good bit of time in my hometown libraries for events, both mine and the Friends of Library etc. The renovated Madison CT library has wonderful places to work, and I go there when I’ve dropped Lottie off at the groomer and don’t want to waste time driving. They also have an amazing children’s area, which our grandkids love when they come to visit. Key West is more crowded–I’m afraid I’d end up chatting the day away!

As for what to read next, I’m on dozens of book recommendation lists (including Jungle Reds), and I listen to a few pals who read like mad and have similar tastes. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I still use my regional library, Portland Public, and approach it as Hallie does, looking for a new and interesting title I hadn’t heard of. Their new novel shelves are invaluable. My first priority is for blurbs or if I’m doing an author interview, then I try to keep up with friends, and THEN I try to keep abreast of what’s new and selling. Hank’s list of what she’s reading is invaluable for this last purpose!

However, sometimes I want to settle in with something I know I’ll love, and that’s when I re-read Rosemary Pilcher and Lois McMaster Bujold. In addition, I’m one of those folks who likes to re-read at least the last book in a series when a new one comes out - and if the author, ahem, takes her time between books like I do, I may re-read all of her prior novels featuring the same cast of characters!

JENN McKINLAY: My library is my area of temporary refuge. When I can’t concentrate at home, I go to my local library where I have a specific study carrel where I sit to get my writing done. I love it. As for books, I browse the shelves to see what’s popular and I check out books I’m not certain I want to buy.

RHYS: Well, Jenn, you know all about magical libraries. I suppose all libraries are magical in. a way. They are portals to so many worlds. In fact the book I've just turned in, next year's stand-alone novel, takes place in a fabulous library in a British stately home. Imagine owning a library with every antique book you could think of.  You wouldn't want to sell those books, would you? But my character might have to, unless.... It's calle THE LANGUAGE OF LOST BIRDS.

So what about you, Reddies? Do you still use libraries? And do you read mainly new books or revisit classics or old favorites?

Which Places do we Love?

 RHYS BOWEN: As you now know, my new book, THE CASTLE IN THE GLEN  is set in Scotland. I’d been wanting to set a story there for some time but couldn’t find any story idea that would fit until now. So I was delighted to send my heroine, Emma, up to the Isle of Skye to experience that atmospheric scenery as she tries to solve an old murder case. 

Scotland is one of those places that draws people…that mix of wild scenery, mists, storms, Celtic heritage and traditions and a wee bit of magic thrown in. We love to think about storm kelpies, shape shifters and small towns that only appear once every hundred years. When you set a story in such a place you start with a degree of expectation and even a sense of danger. Perfect for a mystery.

Thinking about this it’s interesting to me that some settings seem to resonate with readers more than others. Two of my books that have sold the most copies are the Tuscan Child, The Venice Sketchbook. There is something about Tuscany and Venice that draws people. We get a clear picture of hilltop towns, of canals and bridges. And of course they come with all the history and romance too. When you open a book about Tuscany you expect history, romance, sweeping vistas. If I set a book in Cleveland Ohio, I’d have to work hard to take my reader there.

Other places that seem to have instant appeal are Paris, of course. So many books with Paris in the title (yes, I’m guilty too). And look at Jenn’s Paris is Always a Good Idea, which I’m loving on TV!!! Then there is  the English countryside. Set a book in the Cotswolds or Cornwall and people will want to read it.  The other one is Nantucket. How many books have I seen recently with titles like The Nantucket Summer, the Nantucket Heartbreak. Now I’ve been to Nantucket and it is charming but there are so many charming villages up and down that coast. Why not the Gloucester Summer, the Kennebunkport Romance? I suppose Nantucket is an island, which makes it more appealing.

So I’d like your take on this: how important is setting to you? Is deciding on setting one of the things you do first? Or do you create your characters and then decide where to put them? Have you ever wished you’d set a book somewhere else? Why do you think certain places seem to draw in readers more than others? 

LUCY BURDETTE: I adored the Isle of Skye in your new book Rhys, but then all of your standalone titles have had wonderful settings. But think about Ann Cleeves for a minute. I suspect her best-selling series is the Shetland books, though I don’t know that for a fact. I like the backdrops in Vera and Two Rivers, but Shetland really stands out. You might remember that I took my family there a few years back because of Ann’s mysteries. It’s just as spectacular as she describes it, both in words and in the TV series. Kent Kreuger is also a master at setting–mostly the boundary waters of Minnesota. He’s able to use the setting to magnify the darkness of the books–this happens with Icelandic authors too.

Key West is different because it isn’t dark, at least on the surface. The contrast makes it an amazing place to set books. You don’t expect crime in such a beautiful place! Lots of my readers have been there once and the books allow them to travel back to a place they love. That’s how I feel about Paris!

HALLIE EPHRON: Scotland! Key West! Miss Marple’s St. Mary Meade! Philip Marlowe, Easy Rawlins, Harry Bosch, none of them could be rooted anywhere but Los Angeles. 

When I was writing my first novel I mistakenly thought that setting was “window dressing” - you needed characters to be rooted. But there’s so much more to it than that.So many great mystery novels, in particular, are particularly great because of the setting. (Hoping to one day to hang out with Cara Black in Paris on one of her tours of Aimée LeDuc’s hangouts.) Rhys, you totally ace it with THE CASTLE IN THE GLEN. *AND* we get to visit it in two timelines!!

JENN McKINLAY: Thank you for taking me vicariously to the Isle of Skye, Rhys! It’s on my list but this was so much easier than actually booking a flight. 

Setting is huge for me as an author. I like to write about places I want to visit because…research trip! As a reader, I definitely enjoy a well written setting but I’m more open to different places because I don’t have to write about them – if that makes sense.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I had the joy of taking myself to the Berkshires (in my imagination and memory)  for MOTHER DAUGHTER SISTER STRANGER, and it is fascinating how my lived experiences there for so many summers came back in the loveliest ways–and sometimes,  the scariest. And when you are actually there, you see and hear and experience things that make it so authentic. The turn of a phrase, or someone’s nickname, or how the windows fog up when you go inside.  

SO funny–the opposite works, too. When I wrote ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS, Tessa had to go to Des Moines. (too long to explain) I had never been to Des Moines, so I researched  like mad and it turned out that the Des Moines Public Library (and its surroundings) became the setting for several crucial scenes. So of course I went there on book tour, and I laughed for a solid hour. Because it looked exactly like how I had written it in the book! It was SO funny! I kept  thinking: My book is REAL!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Setting is SO important! One of my early influences was Tony Hillerman; there’s nothing in his books - character, crime, economy, dangers - that doesn’t flow out of the setting. Yes, there are times I wish I had written a series that took place somewhere other than the chilly Adirondack piedmont, usually when one of you are taking a research trip to the French Riviera or the English countryside!

There’s an interesting example of setting in Lee Child’s ONE SHOT. The midwestern city where the action takes place is never named, but Lee got the small details and the vibe so right multiple readers over the years have sworn it takes place in Columbus, or Cincinnati, or Omaha, or Kansas City, etc, etc. A lesson in how the particulars and the feel of a place make the setting for the reader, not the street names and locations.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: You couldn't have picked a more atmospheric setting than the Isle of Skye, Rhys! And what a fabulous place to "have" to do research!

I'm a sucker for setting, both as a reader and a writer. Setting has almost always been the first trigger for my books, a place that tickled my imagination, sometimes one already familiar and sometimes one I've wanted an excuse to visit. And I have to admit I'm most likely to pick up a book by an unfamiliar author if the setting appeals. Now, why we are attracted to certain places more than others is its own mystery…

RHYS: Now it's your turn. How important is setting to you? Are there some settings that instantly draw you to a book?

You Say Tomato, I Say Yes!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Do any of you grow tomatoes?

Should the tomatoes be ready now?

We planted them, just as we usually do, not as many as in previous years, but whatever. And we usually plant Sun Golds, which are those little orange cherry tomatoes, which are so sweet and so delicious and I adore them. And grew like mad.

But we couldn’t find them this year, and I reminded myself that everything doesn’t have to be exactly the same every year, so go with the flow.


So we got another kind, I forget the name, and I have to say this is a different experience.

First of all, this plant, this particular plant, was never happy. It is in a perfect tomato place, many plants have thrived here before, but this one, I could tell from moment one, was not enthusiastic.

It produced two little tomatoes, bigger than a cherry tomato but not as big as a big tomato, and they were growing nicely, even as the leaves were giving up the ghost.

They tried to grow, but yeah, they were not happy. See all the yellow leaves? And it had just the right amount of water and sun.

It tried, it really did, but I could hear the death rattle. I picked one of the tomatoes, the redder one, while it was still too green, after the rabbits got the other one. 

We put it on the windowsill to ripen, and here it is. Next to a peach. You can see the size. ::shaking head:: It did the best it could.

As for our other tomatoes, they look like Roma tomatoes, that Italian tomato shape. They are still super tiny. Should they be so super tiny still?

Even the grocery store, Whole Foods, does not have those fabulous tomatoes that I long for every year.   Why? Even the heirlooms are not tasty.

One of my favorite things in the world is tomato toast. It is toast, with tomatoes on it. No mayonnaise, no butter, no anything. Just toast and tomatoes. The tomato juice sinks into the toast, and it is ambrosial.

But the better the tomato, the better the tomato toast, and so far we are at 80% good.

What’s your tomato situation, Reds and Readers? Are you as fond of them as I am?

((PS: AND THE WINNER of HER PERFECT LIFE IN gulp, mass markeet paperback is : DEE! Email me your address at hank@hankphillippiryan.com)