Thursday, October 31, 2019

Our Characters Do Halloween

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Happy Halloween, everyone, from all of us Jungle Reds in Dallas! I think the only costumes we will be wearing today are our Jungle Red pashminas on our Jungle Reds panel. But as we'll be asking a lot of fun questions about our books, it occurred to me to wonder what our CHARACTERS would wear to a Halloween party. (And, yes, they do celebrate Halloween in England these days.)

My Superintendent Duncan Kincaid would go as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Arc, I'm sure of it. He has a brown leather bomber jacket. All he needs is the fedora and the whip! (And if you want to imagine Duncan looking like a young Harrison Ford, I'm okay with that.) 




My characters have a great advantage in that Portobello Market has all sorts of vintage clothing stalls, so they would be spoiled for choice. Gemma might be Amelia Earhart, although she's not cutting her hair! She could tuck it up in her aviator's cap, and I think she'd look quite dashing on Duncan's arm. 




Melody Talbot? Well, Melody would let out her inner rock chick--thigh high boots, bare skin and sequins, gelled hair and LOTS of make-up.

And Doug Cullen? Well, that one's easy. Harry Potter, of course.

JENN MCKINLAY: I have too many characters to costume them all so I’ll just go with my Library Lover’s characters. I suspect Lindsey will dress as a female sleuth, perhaps as Rhys’s Lady Georgie or Julia’s Clare Ferguson! And her sidekick Beth Barker, the children’s librarian, will definitely be Mo Willems’s Pigeon from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! LOL!

LUCY BURDETTE: Hayley snow Has to go for somebody in the cooking world, I’m thinking Julia child? Although that’s not really a cute costume. You can’t really dress like a food critic unless it was someone from the New York Times like Ruth Reichl, Tall and thin with a big mass of curly hair. And Miss Gloria? The more sequins the better! And by the way Nathan, no way is he wearing a costume of any kind. He’ll probably come as a key west police officer.

HALLIE EPHRON: Professional organizer Emily Harlow might go as an unmade bed. I see her business partner Becca going as Raggedy Ann.

RHYS BOWEN: I went to a Halloween party as Lady Georgie a couple of years ago but I think she might go as something naughty (a cancan dancer maybe) because she has been so pure in real life and her inner sexy lady is dying to get out.


JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Debs, this gave me furiously to think, as a friend of mine used to say. I can honestly say I never considered what the denizens of Millers Kill would wear for Hallowe'en! At first I thought Russ Van Alstyne might go as Jack Reacher, but that's a bit...vague. Who would know, unless he prominently displayed a folding toothbrush? Upon consideration, he'd dive into his love of upstate New York history, and go as one of Roger's Rangers, arguably the first special forces in America. He'd pooh-pooh the idea of making an effort with the costume, but wind up hiring a completely accurate 18th century uniform, complete with musket and powder horn.

Clare Fergusson, who loves Lindsay Davies' Marcus Falco mysteries, would love to dress up as a Roman matron, perhaps one going to her martyrdom in an arena. If it was too cold for a tunic and stola, she'd probably put on a jumpsuit and go as WASP, one of the brave women pilots who ferried planes and trained pilots in WWII.

Readers, share your inner fictional character with us!!

38 comments:

  1. I love this! You ladies are so clever . . . .

    I’d definitely wear my comfy pajamas and be Max from Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” . . .

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  2. I'm not much of a costume guy. I'm just not clever and creative enough to come up with good ones. This year, I'm recycling my Mr. Incredibles costume. An excuse to wear sweats to work? I'm in! I have a new eye mask that I should be able to wear all day without it cutting into my nose (my old one hurt!). As a bonus, I haven't worn this one to work before, so it will be new to them.

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  3. Oh, I've missed Jungle Reds while I've been out of town, and I'll be going again for a few days on Friday. I love you all assigning your characters Halloween costumes. So much fun. As for me, I'd go as a book, of course. Hahaha!

    I can't wait to see pics of the Jungle Reds' panel later today. I loved the one of all of you at dinner. Keep having fun and keep posting pics.

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    1. Kathy, be sure to check our various Facebook/instagram/Twitter accounts. That's where most of the at-this-time pics will be going up.

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  4. Fun! We did this on the Wickeds blog yesterday. Here's what I wrote: Robbie Jordan (chef and owner of a country store restaurant) would think of going as a pancake, but that costume would be hard to manage. Instead she’s going to belt up a trench coat, find a fedora at a thrift shop, dig up a big magnifying glass somewhere, and go as a PI. Investigating is what she spends half her time doing, anyway.

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    1. Edith, Youngest's sorority did a pancake breakfast fundraiser earlier this fall, and Youngest got to wear the pancake costume! It was a photorealistic print of a pancake with butter and syrup, cut in a large, round disk shape. Sadly, you only got the full effect when she stood with her arms stretched out, which made serving breakfast to other students a bit difficult. :-)

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  5. Not being one to dress up in a costume I don't know what I would dress up as. I certainly couldn't be a superhero since I'd be the fat version of any one of them and that would not be a good look.

    Essentially, my "costume" each year is that I dress up as a nice guy who gives away a lot of free crap at his door.

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    1. Well, since Jay is already Comic Book Man, I think he's probably superhero enough to the kids who show up at the door in droves! Happy Halloween, Jay!
      -Melanie

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  6. Oh my goodness, did mine not make it into the post! I think Jack Kirkland might go as Atticus Finch, rumpled linen suit and tortoiseshell glasses, just the attorney martha gardiner could go as… Oh! Helen Mirren in prime suspect. And Rachel north could go as Evita!

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  7. I like Duncan in Indiana Jones.
    The first fun thing that came to mind for me was to disguise in Louise Penny's RUTH, with a cane and a duck( plastic one).
    I hope it doesn't reflect my own self.
    Today, I'll wear my badge: I READ RED at Bouchercon. Please, if you see me, stop and say Hello, Inwould like to meet as many Red's fans as I can.

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  8. Oh my, Danielle, I LOVE the Ruth idea! And Deb, you forgot to add that Doug would go as Harry Potter grudgingly, after first protesting that he didn't want to go in costume at all, and finally giving in to Melody's cajoling.

    What I am ACTUALLY wearing today (we are allowed to do costumes in the office this year) is just black slacks and long sleeve tee shirt with an old (or should I say vintage?) Halloween vest over it that features witches and pumpkins and felt and sequins and who knows what. I've decided if anyone asks, I'm going to say I am dressed as a 1980's schoolteacher.

    But what I would wear if I was going to a party and wanted to put the effort in might be Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple. I think any excuse to dress as a flapper is a good one!

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    1. We had a Halloween party Saturday night, and a friend came as a very fetching flapper.

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    2. Susan, when I was a student abroad in London, my bff and I rented costumes from a fancy dress shop. I went as a Floradora girl (with a very brief skirt) and she had a fabulous flapper dress, complete with looooong necklace and a glittery headband with feathers. It was very glam - definitely young Daisy Dalrymple.

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  9. I can actually see Toby organizing--or insisting that Gemma organize--a whole Nutcracker theme for the Kincaid/James children. Kit would be the Nutcracker Prince because that would leave Toby free to be the Mouse King and whack everybody with his sword. Charlotte could be a sugar plum or snowflake.

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  10. So many fun costumes! Danielle-Momo, I love the Ruth idea.

    Of all the costumes I've worn over the years, my two favorite are Charlie Chaplin (complete with little black mustache), and the one that tapped into my one-quarter Hungarian heritage, the gypsy wench. Loads of bangle bracelets and petticoats, ribbons streaming, and a tambourine. With a fringed shawl, of course.

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  11. Will be thinking of you all having a grand time at the JRW panel today!

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    1. Thanks, Karen! We rehearsed last night at dinner and we were making ourselves laugh, so I think everyone will have a good time at the game show!

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  12. In the front row, waiting for the guest of honor to show up, after a long night in the bar. I wonder if Debs will be in costume!!!

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    1. Poor Debs had an interview at 7:45 this morning - we were all aghast!

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  13. Being a Halloween baby, I have had many, many costumes over the years, but don't do that any more. We used to do costume parties for our friends here, with all kinds of appetizers and desserts, including a huge trifle. One year, I dressed up as Gabby Hayes, with the baggy pants and the beard, tall cowboy hat, plaid shirt, etc. Sort or the old prospector look. Anyway, all our friend my age knew who he was, the friends just 7-10 years younger did not have a clue.
    Tonight we're going out to our favorite restaurant to celebrate. I think I'll wear a mini skirt and pretend I'm getting younger!

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  14. Love this. Jenn, I could see the cousins from the Hat Shop series as sisters from novels like Elinor and Marianne from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility ?

    My inner fictional character would be Nancy Drew.

    Happy Halloween!
    Diana

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  15. I can always wear my face mask that filters out the smoke from the Northern California fires. It is black with 2 round knobs on it and looks like it belongs on Darth Vader. I used to dress up as a flapper because my hair is usually styled in a short bob. Now I would be a gray haired flapper. 😑

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  16. Deana here (for some reason I can't get the wiFi to loaded JRWs on my Kindle today and my phone says I'm anonymous) Miss Ruth could go as Liberace (sp), he wore lots of sequins. Last time I dressed up, it was last minute invite - pulled out my old black choir cassock, puffed up my hair (which is no small feat) and powdered it and put on really pale make up. Okay, off to... somewhere but at 2:30 I'll be in Reunion G-H to hear the all of Jungle Red Writers at their game show. Lucy's interview of Deborah was great this morning.

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  17. Speaking of girl detectives, I once dressed up as Trixie Belden, in blue jeans and a Red Bob Whites of the Glen Jacket (BWG on the back), with Jim's great-aunt's diamond ring on my finger.

    Still have it upstairs in my guest room closet.

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  18. I'm stealing an idea I saw online earlier today--Darth Vader Ginsberg--Darth Vader head, black robe, lace collar, and a mean-looking gavel instead of a light saber!

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    1. That's fantastic! Rock on Notorious RBG! And, if I could disagree just a little, could she keep the light saber in reserve? Cause, there are times she might be needing it. Or, at least to flash it around before returning to the gavel.

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