Tuesday, March 17, 2020

BRAIN-storming with Betty Webb


HALLIE EPHRON: Meet Betty Webb. She writes delightful cozy mystery series. She’s been a folk singer, go-go-dancer, horse farmer, and along the way founded a literary magazine. She also worked in a zoo, so it was natural for her to write a series set in a zoo. Her protagonist is a zookeeper who's married to the local sheriff. Betty's sixth cozy Gunn Zoo mystery, THE PANDA OF DEATH, features a rare red panda. (Scroll down for the fantastic cover! Red pandas are cutey-pies.) What aa unique idea!

Are ideas like that a bolt from the blue? Betty's take on that surprised me.

BETTY WEBB: At some point during a book tour, every writer I know gets asked the same question: “Where do you get your ideas?”
       
Depending on the writer, the answers can be flippant, such as “I buy them at Walmart,” or more serious (and perhaps even truthful), “I just write about my horrific childhood,” or more hesitant: “Well, it kind of depends on which of my 35 books you’re asking about.”
      
The truth is, most of us writers don’t really know where our ideas come from. Sometimes we do, sure, but not always, and it’s the not always part which baffles even scientists. The only thing anyone knows for sure is that creativity begins in the brain.
      
So let’s talk brain scans.
      
In the past few years, researchers at Harvard and Yale have used MRIs to determine what parts of the brain are active, and when. An article in Psychology Today, written by Grant Hilary Brenner, MD, FAPA, and referenced by web content writer Hillary Grigonis, describes the brain as having three different networks. “A default network is the brain’s inactive mode; the executive network is the decision and emotion center, and the salience network determines what things you will always notice and what things you don’t,” Brenner explains.
       
Brenner posits the idea that creativity happens when all three networks decide to work together. Oddly enough, a study at the University of Central Lancaster found that this happens most commonly when a person is bored. Another strange study -- this one by University of Minnesota researchers Kathleen D. Vohs, Joseph P. Redden, and Ryan Rahinel – suggests that messy workspaces tend to increase creativity. In other words, the brain bigwigs believe that if we are bored and surrounded by a mess, our brains are much more likely to light up with an “Eureka!” moment.
       
When I first read about those studies, I thought they were hogwash, merely the ramblings of over-educated scientists who’d been locked up in their laboratories too long. But amidst my scoffing, I remembered something that once happened to me while my husband and I were unloading groceries from his car.
       
The big Isuzu SUV was a mess, littered with papers, camera tripods, gym clothes, and fast food wrappers (same as my car). I’m not in the least domestic, and I’d found the trip to Trader Joe’s excruciatingly boring, and the prospect of putting all those groceries away, looked even more boring. As we carried our haul across the rear patio towards the kitchen door, my husband, who is domestic, was saying something about cheese…
       
When suddenly, my brain caught fire.
       
Yep, caught fire. That’s the most accurate way I can explain it. My brain seemed to be aflame with a fire-fueled light, something akin to being struck in the head by lightning. For a moment, I was paralyzed, and almost dropped the big bag of groceries I was carrying. As the sensation of fire and light increased, my knees began to shake. I must have made some sort of noise, because my husband yelled, “What’s wrong?”
       
“Uhn!” was all I could respond.
      
I remember wondering if I was having a stroke. Why else would a veritable slide-show of a European city (one in which I’d never lived) be flashing through my internal “eye,” street after street, café by café? Then came the sounds: cars honking, horses neighing, people talking in a language I’d never spoken but recognized. And then came the smells: turpentine, flowers, freshly baked bread…
      
When my husband took the groceries from me, I staggered to a chaise lounge and collapsed into it.
      
“I’m calling 9-1-1?” he said, setting his own groceries on the ground.
       
Finally finding my voice, I snatching at his arm and stammered, “No! I… I think I’m getting an idea!”
      
That was two years ago. I am now on the third draft of that fire-lit “idea,” fiddling around with a few edits to page 321.
       
So there’s my personal experience with the lit-up, three-part-brain, explanation for creativity. For some artists, the experience is different. Yesterday, while I was listening to an old (1988) CD by Tom Scott and the Waterboys, I came across “Brakeman’s Blues,” in which Scott sings about wanting to be a fisherman or a train brakeman. Towards the end of that hair-raising song (you have to hear it to know what I’m talking about), he sings that one day, “I will be that fisherman! I will be that brakeman! With light in my head, and you in my arms! Woo hoo!”
      
Woo hoo, indeed. 

HALLIE: Has an idea ever come to you like this, a bolt from the blue? Does an UNTIDY work space inspire you??   
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Betty Webb’s newest book is “The Panda of Death,” and she is currently working on “Lost   in Paris.” Before beginning to write mysteries, she was a journalist, interviewing everyone from U.S. presidents, astronauts who walked on the moon, Nobel Prize-winners, and polygamy runaways. A nationally-syndicated literary critic for 30 years, she is a member of the National Federation of Press Women, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.

49 comments:

  1. Goodness, that panda is cute! Can you tell us a bit about the “Panda of Death” story?
    [And maybe, if you wouldn’t mind, tell us something about interviewing astronauts who walked on the moon?]

    Interesting indeed, about the brain scan, Betty. I’m amazed by your fire-flash of an idea . . . that must have been quite an experience. I’ve had an idea or two “out of the blue,” but never in such a spectacular way . . . .

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    1. In "The Panda of Death," a much-loathed screenwriter is murdered, and the suspects include the actors on a children's TV show, "Tippy Toe & Tinker." The sleuth is zookeeper Theodora "Teddy" Bentley, but she gets an assist from Poonya, a read panda. Also suspects are the boat-living residents of Gunn Landing Harbor, in Monterey Bay, California. Oh, and Teddy's husband, Sheriff Joe, gets a big DNA surprise when a son he never knew he had shows up at the door.

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  2. That was a bolt, Betty! I have a head start on the messy workplace, although I'm rarely bored. My ideas rise up when I'm out walking alone, sometimes so fast I can barely record them.

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    1. I get a lot of my ideas while I'm walking alone, too. In fact, that's how I get the majority of them. That "lightening bolt" just happened that one time.

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  3. Your panda is adorable, and your background of interviews has surely given you much grist for your idea mill. In my case, the messy environment is a given, but the boredom? Not so much. But I do think my mind goes wandering when it doesn't have a lot to do--like when I'm doing the routine housework necessary to clean up all that clutter. That's when random songs pop into my head that lead me down "What if?" rabbit trails. I also tend to take my characters along with me like invisible friends, so when I encounter a new idea I might think, "Oh, that's a problem for Ms. Eddy," or "Ray would really hate that," and the story flows from there.

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    1. I have to admit that I seldom clean my den in the midst of working on a book. And then I have 4 cats. Just imagine the mess!

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    2. Tsk. Betty! Four cats? Such a slacker. I have four dogs (border collies, no less!) and three very brave cats. Yeah. It can get untidy. All my best to you and your menagerie.

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    3. Ha! You sound like me. I once had two dogs, four cats, eight horses, and numerous chickens (speckled Hamburgs). I was living on a farm at the time, so I had plenty of room. But now that I'm all citified in my Scottsdale condo, I have to keep the livestock down to a dull roar. (Or dull meow)

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  4. Betty, congrats on the new book!

    To answer Hallie's question:

    I think I wrote about it on here a few months ago when it happened to me.

    I had a dream that was so vivid that I remembered pretty much all of it when I woke up. It gave me a character and all the background details to that character for a story I keep pretending that I'm ever going to write.

    I wrote down the details so I wouldn't forget but it was quite the amazing experience to have.

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    1. Yep, the "dream mind" loves to tell stories, which is why I always suggest writers keep a notebook and pen on their nightstand.

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    2. We're waiting, Jay... she said, tapping her foot.

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    3. I echo Hallie, Jay. Get on that story writing!

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    4. Yep, Jay. Now that you've told us, you'll have to follow through.

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  5. Welcome to Jungle Reds, Betty Webb. Intriguing to read about where your ideas come from. That has happened to me.

    You mentioned an European city that you never lived in. Perhaps your parents or grandparents lived there? I had a dream about a street with a landscape many years before I visited Edinburgh. Perhaps I dream about a photo I saw in a magazine or maybe it was because my great grandfather was born there. I thought of the Mulan movie about memories of ancestors.

    Can you have genetic memories of your ancestors' lives?

    Often, I have wondered if authors write stories after they have dreams? Do they remember their dreams then write stories based on these dreams?

    That panda is beyond adorable. Imagine a zookeeper married to a sheriff. I was reminded of an American tv show where the big elephant went berserk after seeing a cop with a gun. Does that mean the zookeeper's husband cannot carry his gun around elephants? My father said that elephants hate guns. I wonder if elephants connect guns with poachers who kill elephants for their ivory? Again, memories.

    Look forward to reading your novel.

    Diana

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    1. To my knowledge, none of my family has ever lived in Paris, which is where I'm setting my new series. But I sometimes suspect I lived there in a former life! As for the elephants, they seldom make an appearance in the Gunn Zoo mysteries, which tend to be about the smaller, cuddlier animals -- animals that couldn't kill you even if they tried!

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    2. Wonder if there was an elephant that the sheriff would have to hide his gun? Or is the sheriff not carrying a gun at all? I recall some police do Not carry a gun at all.

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  6. I just started the Gunn Zoo series so I’m not up to The Panda of Death yet, but I’m loving the books so far.

    Most of my ideas come when I first wake up, although never anything as powerful as yours. I wonder if “a flash of inspiration” or the image of a light bulb for a new idea come from this kind of light in the head vision?

    Also, I love The Waterboys and was so excited to see them mentioned here this morning!

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    1. Another Waterboys fan! I love them, too, and often think about the song while I'm working. It so completely labels the creative process.

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  7. What a great description of how an idea comes into the brain and affects the person. Wow! I've never experienced an idea arriving quite like that, but I have had ideas for collage projects arrive in my head fully formed. Most often that happens while, as Edith says, I'm walking to the bus or just out walking.

    Though my workspace often becomes messy while I'm working on either writing or art, I love a neat and tidy space to start. But look out once I get going! Then all bets on tidy are off...

    I didn't know about red pandas, Betty, but your cover is gorgeous and I'm off to find your books.

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    1. Although I was a zoo volunteer for years, I'd never met a red panda, either, until I visited the San Francisco Zoo, where I ran into the red panda who was the model for Poonya in my book. Incredibly adorable!

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    2. I agree, that's one gorgeous cover.

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    3. That artist is so talented! Really captured the soul of a red panda.

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  8. The wonderful minimalist wildlife artist Charley Harper was a family friend, and at one point my husband discussed making a film about him (that never got off the ground, sadly). He famously had an extraordinarily chaotic studio, from which he said his best ideas came. Charley was the artist who said "Audubon counted every feather; I count the wings."

    I've had flashes of inspiration, but never that kind of dramatic "bolt from the blue". How amazing that must have been, Betty. Cindy, you might be right about the light bulb!

    The Cincinnati Zoo has red pandas, aren't we lucky? A cousin's wife, who is a naturalist at Sea World, was privileged to study them in their native habitat a couple years ago.

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    1. Ohmygosh! How lucky to study red pandas in their native habitat! All my encounters with them have been at the San Francisco Zoo and the San Diego Zoo.

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    2. They're her favorite animal, too, so she was doubly blessed!

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  9. Great blog! Yes, I've experienced the "great shazaam!" when I'm trying to fit ideas and characters into a scenario. Usually when I'm driving, which means pulling off the road and fumbling for a paper receipt and pen to jot almost-illegible notes. I remember when a red panda broke out of the National Zoo and spent several days roaming an adjacent neighborhood.

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    1. I'll bet a lot of the people who saw that panda wandering around thought it was a fox, because it does resemble them until you look more closely. As for the "great shazaam," I experienced it only that one time. It was life-changing.

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  10. Love that cover and can't wait for the Paris book, to see what came of your brainstorm event. That was some powerful creativity manifesting itself! The brain is endlessly fascinating to me--and all of the research is (excuse the pun) mind-blowing! Just read an article that ponders the question of whether consciousness is actually seated in the brain or whether it exists outside of the brain. The possibilities are endlessly exciting.

    A good friend and colleague has an office that is House Beautiful material--a place for everything, everything in its place. She once remarked about the state of my office. Sad to say, it would not make a magazine cover. But, she pointed out, I could reach into any pile and find exactly what I needed. So, chaos to the casual observer, but layered organization in reality. That's what I tell myself!

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  11. "Layered organization." I'm going to use that term whenever my husband complains that the mess in my den is about to leak out into the rest of the house!

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  12. Hi Betty! You had me at messy desk! Mine has always been that way—no matter how I try. But I —and you know what’s coming next—know where everything is!! Xxxxx

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    1. I'm going with Flora Church's descriptor "layered organization," because that's what I've got: layers and layers and layers!

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  13. I can't work in a messy work space and I don't know if I've ever had a brain-bolt like that. But I think it was Agatha Christie who said the best time to plot is when you are engaged in a boring task, like washing the dishes. So the brain scientists are most likely on to something.

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    1. That's true. I once got an idea for a book while I was washing dishes by hand (a rare occurrence at my place).

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  14. I have a tolerance for clutter and when my to-do list gets too long, or my piles start having baby piles, I explode. Melt down into a straightening frenzy. My husband knows to leave the house.

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  15. I only start cleaning until I can no longer see so much as an inch of carpet in my den, and I have to get through the room by walking from pile to pile.

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  16. WOW,that is some experience! Looking forward to the book that results.

    My workspace needs to be what passes for organized, but don't open my closets! I find I get my best ideas when my brain is turned off. In the shower, running, in the car (not driving).

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    1. I think the mind has to be relaxed. You can force the work, but you can't force the underlying creativity.

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  17. I adore red pandas! The first time I saw one at the zoo, my kids had to drag me away after half an hour of watching him.
    As for the messy desk, I may have to try it. I'm really into organizing things,but not very creative.

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    1. I'm with you -- you just can't walk away from the cuteness that is a red panda.

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  18. Betty, that brain observation totally explains why I always get my best lot ideas while driving (as long as the weather isn't bad or the route challenging.) My brain is partially engaged, but I can't stimulate it with anything other than NPR or an audiobook. If I don't have those on, hey, presto, I'm an idea factory!

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  19. If that had happened to me while I was driving, I'd probably have wrecked my car. Fortunately, Hubby was the driver that day.

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  20. I like the way great ideas come in sideways, when you aren't actively thinking about them. If messiness is a sign of productivity I should be the Queen of the Heap! Your series sounds like fun and I adore that red panda!

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  21. Hi Betty! What a great story! I've never had a "lightning bolt" experience, but I did dream a big part of one book, and the experience was quite similar. Scenes, characters, dialogue, all in whoosh. It was like being plugged into a socket. I spent hours frantically trying to get it all down. The brain is truly fascinating!

    Now, for the red panda. How adorable! What a fabulous cover! And I love Monterey so am going to check out this series!

    PS I'd like to know about the astronauts, too.

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    1. About those astronauts -- I interviewed James Lovell about his experience on the ill-fated Apollo 13; he'd written a book about it called "Lost Moon," which was turned into a movie. But I was also fortunate enough to spend the whole day with Buzz Aldrin, and boy, that guy was a hoot! He was also in town touring on a book, but after the interview he asked me if I'd like to have lunch with him (and about a dozen other folks) and I sure wasn't crazy enough to say no. Lunch led to a long walk around the Biltmore Resort, the rest of us trailing him like little duckling. A strange, funny, and wonderful day.

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  22. PSS I get messy when I'm buried in a project, but clutter does not inspire me. I love having an organized desk, which, sigh, it is not at the moment.

    I love the partially disengaged brain concept. I get those floods of inspiration on walks, while driving, doing the dishes, but most of all in the bath. I think there is something magical about water.

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    1. It's the shower, for me. Creativity and running water seem to go together, don't they?

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  23. Wow, Betty! That's some impressive resume. And, on top of that, you seem such a delightful person. I hope to meet you at a book conference when life returns to a more normal existence. I'm not sure how I've missed your Gunn Zoo mysteries. I love the set-up, with the zoo and its animals. Your lightning strike idea experience leaves me speechless.

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  24. That is fascinating, Betty! I wish i could figure out how to get all three parts of my brain in lock step. Delighted to read your book about Red Pandas - they are adorable!

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  25. Betty, I have just ordered Panda for my daughter, who has loved red pandas since she saw one in the zoo as a little child. (Actually, she loves all animals - I may be buying the whole series) Like a lot of commenters, I tend to get ideas when I am doing mindless physical activities - walk, shower, folding laundry, cleaning up my office. Body busy but brain is free to wander. I've never had the remarkable brainstorm you describe - I'm so impressed. I did once get a story idea out of the blue, though. I'd been thinking about writing to submit to an anthology, knowing I was just trying to avoid the book I was working on, when my husband made a lame joke and I had the whole story in mind in a flash. Voice, plot, all of it. Wish it would happen more often! (And I prefer a neat office but seldom have one - am I going to write or file papers?)

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