Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Location, Location, Location: A Guest Post by Mary Keliikoa

RHYS BOWEN:  We have a plethora of fabulous guests this week! Today's guest, Mary Keliikoa, is writing about the importance of location in her novels--a subject dear to my heart as location is the driving force behind so many of my own books.  Mary reinforces how important it is to know a place well to bring it to life for the reader. I so completely agree!

MARY KELIIKOA:  They say to write what you know, and when deciding where to place my novels, I’ve taken that to heart. I was born in Portland, Oregon and spent many years living in the suburbs—horses, cows, and sheep were part of my everyday experience. As was bucking hay in the summer or walking quiet country roads to and from my friend’s house after school.


As an adult, I spent early mornings and late nights on buses, in and out of downtown Portland where I worked at a law firm. So, when it came time to pen the first novel in the PI Kelly Pruett series, setting it in Portland and the surrounding area felt like the right choice.

One could say that a city is a city. Highrise buildings, public transportation, the hum of people on every street corner. That’s true to some extent, but I’ve found each city carries the distinctive vibe and pulse of the souls who fill it.

Portland has a laid back, grab a cup of coffee or a microbrew, and let’s hang kind of vibe. Preferably at an outdoor café with your dog curled at your feet. The Japanese Gardens are a sight to behold with their cherry blossoms in spring. Council Crest has its twinkling and spectacular view of the city below. The bluish green and sometimes brown Willamette River flows toward the Columbia River, and then to the Pacific Ocean beyond. The park fronting the river is often filled with a mixture of joggers, or women in dresses and tennis shoes out for their lunchtime walk and talk.

Yet what I love most about the city as a crime fiction writer is that it has many facets that are anything but beautiful or chill.

Atmosphere is one of those facets. I know what it feels like to stand and wait for a bus in the pouring rain on Fifth Avenue, lights shimmering off the puddled pavement, and side-eyeing anyone who doesn’t look like they came from a professional office. More than once my pulse quickened at an approaching stranger, and I took a step more fully into the light or out of the confines of the shelter despite the certainty of being drenched. I know what it feels like to have the MAX train whiz past, flicking my bangs, or the screech of the wheels as it came to a stop, conjuring a slew of bad case scenarios in my mind. Or the sound of the bus sighing as it released its air brakes—as if it just dodged a bullet itself.

I know what it feels like to jog down a quiet alley after leaving a bar a little later than recommended. To find my car the only one in a parking garage…on the fourth floor. The echo of my footsteps as I sprint to it, the sound of the car alarm disengaging as I draw closer, its high shrill echoing off the walls, and my heart ricocheting until the engine turns.

I know the smell of a stairway used for more than just traversing from one floor to the next. And to pass a group of homeless camped out on the sidewalk. I also know what it feels like to pass money to someone who needs it more than I do. Or to hand a bagged lunch to a desperate mother and child.

I know all of that from the place where I grew up—Portland. And when it comes time to write those scenes in my novels where paranoia, concern, fear, and empathy are needed, I draw upon that well of emotion to make the scene real.

Write what you know…. I know Portland. It’s dark and shady, and its bright and shiny. Two sides of the same coin.


I write what I know not only in DECEIVED, the most recent installment in my Kelly Pruett mystery series, but also in my upcoming novel HIDDEN PIECES, which is set at the Oregon coast. Now that’s a location that has a beautiful peaceful side, and yet a creepy atmosphere. It’s also where I spent some of my earliest years. Moss hanging off sentinel trees. Breath mixing with the oppressive mist. Long-abandoned World War II structures crumbling with decay. History. A personality all its own—but let’s leave that for another article.

What emotion and memories stir in the location you know well? 


About the author:

Mary Keliikoa is the author of the Shamus finalist and Lefty, Agatha, and Anthony award nominated PI Kelly Pruett mystery series, as well as the upcoming Misty Pines mystery series featuring Sheriff Jax Turner slated for release in September 2022. She has had mystery shorts published in Woman’s World and in the anthology Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the ’60s. She spent the first 18 years of her adult life working around lawyers. Combining her love of all things legal and books, she creates twisting mysteries where justice prevails. At home in Washington, she enjoys spending time with her family and her fur-kids. When not at home, you can find Mary on a beach on the Big Island where she and her husband recharge. But even under the palm trees and blazing sun she’s plotting her next murder—novel that is. To learn more about Mary’s life and work, please visit: https://marykeliikoa.com/


About the book:

In Mary Keliikoa’s acclaimed Kelly Pruett Mystery series, a grieving single mother inherits her late father’s PI business, and begins tackling mysteries on her own, leading her into dangerous territory. Following the success of series debut, “Derailed” (2020) and sequel “Denied” (2021), Keliikoa is releasing another installment in the compelling mystery series, which has been praised as “satisfying” (Foreword Clarion) and “enjoyably knotty” (Kirkus).


In the third book, “Deceived” (Camel Press, May 10, 2022), Kelly finally feels like she’s coming into her own. With her personal life well on track, a gig uncovering what drove a client’s granddaughter underground could be good for business. But after her undercover operation at the homeless shelter reveals rampant drug dealing, she's suddenly kicked off the case... just as another girl goes missing.


Can Kelly stop a brutal killer in their tracks before the body count rises?


48 comments:

  1. MARY: Welcome to JRW! I enjoyed reading the first two Kelly Pruett PI novels & am looking forward to reading DECEIVED.

    As for location, I enjoyed my one visit to Portland in 2015. I remember a quirky fun city with its eclectic food stalls, the wonderful Powell's Books & travelling to different parts of Portland via the MAX train. The cherry trees were in bloom and I liked walking along that river pathway.

    My hometown of Toronto (Canada) is also a major city. I grew up in the suburbs but I spent plenty of time criss-crossing Toronto's distinct neighbourhoods via subway, bus & streetcar. It has an eclectic mix of food, indie businesses and people.

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    1. GRACE: Did you go to Bouchercon in Toronto in 2017? I visited Toronto for the Bouchercon conference.

      Diana

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    2. Thank you and I'm so glad you enjoyed the first two books in the series! The cherry trees in full bloom are a sight to see! I'm glad you enjoyed your trip here. Toronto sounds wonderful too! I hope to get there someday!

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    3. Yes, I went back to T.O for Bouchercon.

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  2. Congratulations on your newest book, Mary. It does sound as if Kelly has gotten herself in the middle of an intriguing mystery . . . .
    While I’m sure most cities are as varied and intriguing as Portland, my growing-up experiences center around a small, quiet shore town where everyone knows everyone . . . . .

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    1. Thank you! A small, quiet shore town sounds wonderful!

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  3. Good descriptions of Portland, Mary. My ex-husband grew up there, and we took our sons out west yearly from the Boston area to visit relatives, and also to their family house in the Cannon Beach area. When you started talking about the city, I was thinking about all the grittier sides - and got them!

    I guess for me any beach evokes memories of a lifetime of visits to both coasts to play, swim, and ponder. So many walks and naps, a bit of clandestine drinking, some early evening picnics, a few close calls with waves and currents, and certainly way too much cancer-breeding UV on my poor pale Celtic skin.

    But now I also imagine all the places and ways someone could be killed. Footprints washed away by tides! Shifting sand dunes. Lethal fishing implements. Marshy tidal pools. A crime writer's imagination never rests.

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    1. Thank you, Edith! And Cannon Beach is one of our go-to spots when we escape the city! And it is true--being a crime writer we definitely view the settings around us in a much different way than the average person! :-)

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  4. Great read today and congratulations on the new book Mary. I have it on order and I'm looking forward to reading it!

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  5. Congratulations on the book, Mary. What fascinating descriptions-- I've only briefly visited the Pacific northwest, for weekend conventions or to change planes. Your descriptions do not sound like the tourist brochures, not at all.

    I grew up on the coast of one of our inland freshwater seas, and it is smells that trigger things for me, because freshwater doesn't smell like salt water, and every lake and river has its own aroma. I smell desert when I first get off a plane in Los Angeles, and am always astounded by the first scent of tropics in Jamaica or Hawaii. I understand there is a word for the way the air smells when a rainstorm is on the way; I don't remember what it is, and since it is not in common use, would not inflict it on a reader (I hate fiction that sends one scurrying to the dictionary unless a word is absolutely necessary-- it speaks of a writer trying to assert that he or she is "more literate than thou.")

    Frank Herbert told me he conceived of "Dune" when, as a photojournalist, he was assigned to cover a reclamation project on the coastal dunes. "What if they did that to a whole planet," he said he'd wondered, and the seed for his best-selling science fiction novel was sown.

    I am a water baby. I have written haiku about the smell of a chlorine pool in the morning, the aroma and feel of lake water on a summer day. Well water, water from a fresh spring or a mineral one-- those are my triggers. Now you have me wondering what the Oregon Coast smells like.

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    1. Thank you, Ellen! And I love how you associate the smells to an area! You are so right that each place has its own. Now my brain is wandering down the rabbit hole of what places smell like--Hawaii of course most definitely has the scent of the tropics! And the Oregon coast...a bit briny!

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  6. Welcome to JRW Mary! Portland is beautiful, and so is the Oregon coast. I'll never forget the huge orange starfish clinging to the rocks on the beach.

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    1. Thank you, Lucy! Definitely agree and those starfish are amazing!

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  7. Congratulations on your book release, Mary. I enjoyed Deceived and hoping there is a fourth book coming. I love Portland, it was a nice place to visit.

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  8. It's odd, but I've been to Portland maybe three times, the last was in 2021 to visit the daughter who moved there at the beginning of the pandemic, but every time has been such a different experience. The first time I stayed in the pedestrian part of the city and only left to head back to the airport. Once we stopped there to have lunch at a harbor area with a view of Mt. Hood with new friends, and last year we walked and hiked and drove to various areas of town (and the wonderful Cannon Beach, and to a winery in White Salmon), but none of it looked familiar. It's a city with so many personalities. And despite the hair-on-fire news reports from two years ago, not "burned down" at all.

    However, I was absolutely shocked to see the numbers of homeless in the city, and saddened and numbed by all the dead trees on our way to the coast. So much beauty, but heartbreak, as well.

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    1. It really does have so many personalities! That's a great way to describe it. And it is shocking how many homeless are actually on the streets now due to lack of affordable housing, etc. As for all of the dead trees, a lot of that happened when we had temps in the 108 range. A first for our area, and quite devastating to many of our evergreens. But I'm glad you made it to Cannon Beach. It's an Oregon treasure!

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    2. Mary, when we were there last April, my daughter was having a terrible problem with rats in her chicken coop. We went looking for a cat-friendly solution to the rats (to save her little Siamese). The guy at the hardware store who helped us said that because of the lower rain levels and rising heat, Portland was having an explosion of rodents that would otherwise have drowned in heavy rains.

      Which made the homeless issue way more heartbreaking, too.

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    3. I hadn't heard that, but it makes a lot of sense. That is most definitely heartbreaking. We have definitely stepped up the rain this year, but that just presents another set of problems.

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  9. Welcome to JRW's Mary. I am always happy to read "Portland" in the intro to the guest. My daughters were born in Portland. We lived off of Taylor's Ferry Rd back before you were born. Back when Rose's was the best place for a Reuben, and the Original Pancake House was not a national chain was only on Barbour Blvd. Did I just earn my credentials? So yes, I read Kelly's adventures, not only for the wonderful mystery, but to bring me up to date on what is happening right now in "Stumptown".

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    1. Thank you, Coralee! I know Taylor's Ferry well, and enjoyed a Reuben or two myself at Rose's! I don't believe I made it to the Original Pancake House, but I see they're still around so it is on my list to check out! You most certainly did earn your credentials, lol. And I appreciate your reading!

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    2. The latest is on my Kindle now, waiting for its glorious read.

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    3. Oh thank you! I hope you enjoy!

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  10. Congratulations, Mary! I don't think I could write in a location I didn't know well because of all the reasons you list. The story just wouldn't feel authentic (to me).

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  11. I've never been to Portland or anywhere in the US northwest, so I'm looking forward to book-traveling through your writing, Mary.

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    1. Thank you, Amanda! That truly is the wonderful thing about books--all of that traveling without ever leaving home!

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  12. I frequently (or used to) travel to Portland to visit family and love the city. My next trip I can't wait to get a cup of coffee from Spella, with a french baggette from Little Tea, and a trip to Powell's Books to buy yours!

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    1. Coffee, a treat and a trip to Powell's?! Sounds like the perfect day! Hope you get here soon!

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  13. MARY: Congratulations on your new novel! I clicked on your website and your novels sounds interesting. I just subscribed to your newsletter. I was intrigued by Kelly's family. Her child was born Deaf. I have so many questions.

    Did you meet Deaf people before you created these characters? Do you know Sign Language? Will Kelly have a client who is Deaf?

    Though I did not grow up in the City, I remember going into the City ( San Francisco) to the Audiology center for my hearing tests. We went into the City to see the Ballet. I remember going to the Dickens Faire with my Mom and her English class when I was a young child.

    I grew up in a small town near Berkeley. The town looks like it could be a Cotswolds village in England. I remember walking to the Dime store from my House. We had a dog because several members of my family were allergic to cats. However, I remember from time to time, a cat would visit the backyard because we had a birdbath.

    Portland, Oregon is where a relative lives. Before the pandemic, she worked at the Children's Museum. I remember visiting Powell's Books with the maze of book shelves and aisles. And I remember the beautiful lunch cruise and we could see the city from the river.

    Diana

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    1. Thank you, Diana! When I was writing the first book in the series, DERAILED, I was in a writer's group with a friend who worked at the Washington School for the Deaf. We became close friends, and I visited her at work quite often, and even attended her wedding which she had at the school. And of course she would come to our get togethers with lots of stories about the kids--all of which were wonderful and drew me into wanting a Deaf character in my story. As for signing, I have been able to sign the alphabet since I was 6 or 7 years old. I've always found it so interesting...actually all communication is an area that I find appealing. I'm always trying to teach myself a new language or a way to connect with people. As for a client who is Deaf for Kelly, a storyline with that has long been in my mind. So it's quite possible!

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  14. Mary, welcome to JRW. Congratulations on book 3 in this series. It sounds exactly like the type of book I will enjoy, but first I'll look for the other two and start from the beginning. A reader can tell if a writer really knows a location. Your own experiences will definitely make a reader know what that feels like. On the other hand, it must be very difficult to make it sound like you are a native when you barely know a place.

    I have visited Portland several times to visit family and for family events. The areas of the city are all so different from one another that the climate and weather actually change depending on where you are. We have occasionally jumped into extended vacations from Portland, once visiting volcanos, once visiting Canon Beach, and once driving all the way up the Olympic Peninsula to spend a week on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. All good times and we ate extremely well!

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    1. Thank you, Judy! Each area really is so different. We are in such a unique location--less than two hours to ski Mt. Hood, or have our toes in the sand at the ocean. Five hours to Canada, or to the California border, depending which way you head. And it's hard not to eat well here! So many wonderful chefs and cafes that boast farm to table. Glad you've enjoyed your visits here!

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  15. Congratulations on your book! I love this post! As a native Portlander whose mom also grew up here, I have to say you capture Portland so well.

    I always take the stairs in the downtown parking garages and so am very familiar with the smell. I've never worked downtown, but would always take Max when I had jury duty or was going to a big event. The spring cherry blossoms are also great in Waterfront Park, and my friends and I always try to walk there in April.

    We've been seeing the dark side of Portland this spring, with only a few sunny days. Sun here makes everything worthwhile; the green and the blossoming are so lovely. Right now it's dogwood season.

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    1. Thank you, Gillian and hello to another native! :-) Yes, the days have been much darker this spring and it is funny how we all come to life with a little sunshine around here! I am definitely ready for a warm and sunny summer!

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    2. Mary, just please, no heat domes. Portland was not made for 116 degrees!

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  16. Congratulations on your newest! I've just fallen in love with a city I've never visited!

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  17. Mary, congratulations on the new novel! I need to read this series, as I haven't been to the Northwest area of the country and need a series set there to expand my reading zones. Kelly sounds like a great character, a likeable one. I have to say that your personal experiences, like waiting for the bus and going to the car garage late at night give me a chill. What excellent sources for descriptions and feelings in your writing.

    You know that people often talk about smells bringing back memories and emotions. I bring this up because the other day I was cleaning and putting stuff away (during our great window replacement project), and I came across a soap box, the kind that the top slides over, with seashells from over 50 year ago. It was a box kept in our hallway closet when I was growing up. I think it came from Florida when we spent a month there when I was 3 turning 4. Anyway, I opened the box up and smelled inside, and after all that time there was a good, strong soap smell still in the box. It took me back to the house where I spent years 2-15 and all the wonderful memories there.

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    1. Thank you so much, Kathy!! Oh I love that, and so true. Smells can definitely conjure up those memories and it sounds like that soap box stirred up great ones! Thank you for sharing that!

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  18. I've just been thinking about the interaction of location and character, because I'm going to be teaching a workshop on that topic this fall and I'm pulling together ideas. As a writer, I'm a big believer in really knowing the place you're depicting in your story - as you say, Mary; what it smells like after the rain and what your lonely footsteps at an early hour sound like. Creating an immersive, believable environment is a powerful tool to get your reader to suspend disbelief and sink into the story.

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    1. That will be a wonderful workshop!! And absolutely on making your story immersive. Also just wanted to say how lovely it was to share tea with you at Malice on that last day. Was definitely a conference highlight for me!

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  19. Setting is so important, I agree! When I was first trying to write I thought it was window dressing. But then I realized on every page it's not just what's surrounding the action but it's *filtered* through the viewpoint character. So old traumas... smells and their associated memories... etc all become part of "setting". Writing about the Oregon seacoast! Wow. I love that.

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    1. It really does becomes its own character! And you're so right--how the character processes their surroundings just adds another rich layer in the novel!

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  20. I'm so excited to see you here on JRW! Portland offers so much to a writer and you use the bright and dark sides of the city to perfection in your novels. I love that you mention stairwells. They do have a certain smell, and I have always rushed up or down them with a certain amount of fear. I'm a country gal and love to visit the city but couldn't live there. Setting to me is another character. When are you going to use Hawaii for a setting?

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    1. Thank you so much, Valerie! I'm sure there will eventually be a Hawaii setting...maybe Kelly, or my new upcoming series character, Sheriff Jax Turner, can chase a villain to that location or perhaps stumble upon a murder while on vacation? Hmmmm... Things to think about!

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