Monday, September 12, 2022

Writing What You Know, a guest blog by J. Woollcott

Julia Spencer-Fleming: Should you write what you know? That may be the most loaded question among writers, after "to self-publish or not?" On the one hand, of course not - we portray murderers, after all, and I'm pretty certain most of us haven't ever done someone in. Stephen King isn't a vampire or a telekinetic high-schooler, but he certainly hit the ball out of the park with Salem's Lot  and Carrie

On the other hand, there are places and characters and stories that can only be told by an author who knows. And there is a certain magic that comes when an author returns to their home, or their profession, and it causes their fiction to rise above the ordinary. That's just the case for Joyce Woollcott, who was far from both her present home in Ontario and her birthplace when she felt that magic calling her. The result? Her debut, A NICE PLACE TO DIE, the start of a new Irish procedural series. She's here today to tell us how it happened - and how you can go home again.



How I came to write what I know, sort of …

My husband and I were enjoying a Mediterranean cruise. As the ship sailed out of Valencia late one evening, with the lights in the harbour twinkling behind us, I realized that a lot of the fun we’d had was due in large part to the company we’d kept: my cousins and their wives from Northern Ireland. Not a raucous bunch, but they were funny and we had laughed our way through the holiday.

 

 

 

I had just recently decided to retire. I wanted to travel and paint and I wanted to write. I had completed a series of paintings of birds and flowers and they had been well received. I had also finished a manuscript, a mystery about a kidnapped child. I set it in Mexico City, Veracruz, and New York.

Some of Joyce's paintings

 

 I had enjoyed writing that story about a New York City Detective on stress leave going to Mexico to help solve a kidnapping. I’ve been to New York a few times but never to Mexico City or Veracruz. I’d done a lot of research for it, looked up settings online, but never lived there. Now here I was with group of friends and family, one of whom had been a policeman, and he had lots of stories to tell. That old write what you know line came to mind. Why not, I thought, write about the country where I was born?

 

It had been many years since I lived in Northern Ireland, and when I started on my first DS Ryan McBride book, I decided to set it in 2016. I didn’t have to incorporate Covid, but it did mean I couldn’t travel home even if I wanted to. Once again, research would have to be online. Writing the story, working on plot in the DS McBride manuscript, was fundamentally the same as my first book. But I still had to look up much of the detail. New streets, buildings, places I had never been to.

 

 

 

 

Setting and dialogue, however, came easily. I remembered the particular way people spoke. Yes, there’s death and various other crimes in A Nice Place to Die, but there’s humour, too, because that’s what people are like back home. Funny. One of the most important discoveries to me was my vivid memory of landscape and countryside. The descriptions came easily because I’d been there, I could feel it. Walking in damp fields with birds wheeling above, and rain showers coming out of nowhere on sunny days.

 

 

I don’t for a moment believe you should only write what you know. Yes, it helps, but I write about a detective who is male and I’m neither. I think it’s more important to write what you love to read. As I get older I seem to have drifted toward specific kinds of mysteries. I enjoy police procedurals and the careful, painstaking unravelling of the crime. I tend to gravitate towards UK-based stories. I love the setting to be overcast and gloomy. And don’t we all enjoy brooding, angst-ridden protagonists?

 

 

Do you have favorite locations or seasons? City or countryside? The dark and rainy Edinburgh of Inspector Rebus or the gritty Dublin of Tana French? Dark Nordic thrillers or lighter reads like the Kinsey Millhone series from Sue Grafton, set in the warm and sunny fictionalized town of Santa Teresa, California? Do you have a special kind of mystery you love to read?

It was A NICE PLACE TO DIE...

The body of a young woman is found by a river outside Belfast and Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride makes a heart-wrenching discovery at the scene, a discovery he chooses to hide even though it could cost him the investigation – and his career.

The victim was a loner but well-liked. Why would someone want to harm her? And is her murder connected to a rapist who’s stalking the local pubs? As Ryan untangles a web of deception and lies, his suspects die one by one, leading him to a dangerous family secret and a murderer who will stop at nothing to keep it.

And still he harbors his secret ...

J. Woollcott is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers and BCAD, University of Ulster. Her first mystery, Abducted, was long-listed in the Canadian Arthur Ellis Awards in 2019. Her second book, A Nice Place to Die, won the RWA Unpublished Mystery/Suspense Daphne du Maurier Award in 2019 in New York. A Nice Place to Die was also long-listed in the Arthur Ellis Awards for 2020 and short-listed in the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in 2021. She is working on part two of the Ryan McBride Belfast Murder Series, Blood Relations, due out in August 2023.

She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers,  and the Suncoast Writer’s Guild. You can find out more on her website, and follow her on Twitter as @JoyceWoollcott.

48 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Joyce, on your new book . . . it sounds like an intriguing mystery . . . and now I’m curious about Ryan’s secret! I’m looking forward to reading it.

    I don’t know as I have any particular favorites when it comes to mysteries . . . I enjoy trying to unravel the mystery and I love those stories that keep me guessing right up to the end . . . .

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    1. Yes! Me too, I love Vera and the Shetland series. And Edith is right, in a similar tone, I also enjoy Sarah Stewart Taylor, she's a wonderful writer with just the right amount of setting and character in her books. Joyce W

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  2. I am going to tell all the Reds and commenters - read this book! I'm about two-thirds through and it's a fabulous story. I met Joyce at the now infamous Guppies superspreader event at Malice in May, we had a good chat, and I could tell she was ready for this debut.

    Even thought I write mostly cozy and historical mysteries and like reading them, I love a change of pace with the darker side (although not as dark as Stephen King)..

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    1. it sounds wonderful Edith, but I can't bear to go too dark these days. Can you compare to another writer so I get a sense?

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    2. I think of Sarah Stewart Taylor, possibly also because of the setting, or even Julia's books. Maybe I meant "atmospheric" instead of dark.

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    3. Thanks Edith, and yes, atmospheric I suppose is a good way to describe it. That's what I was shooting for. That and more in-depth characterization. I'm not a fan of graphic violence, I like to leave that to the imagination. So glad you're enjoying the book! Joyce.

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  3. JOYCE: Congratulations on your book! I enjoy reading books set in all kinds of settings. But since I now live in landlocked Ottawa (Canada), I love reading books set in remote Iceland settings that are cold, dark and claustrophobic and then switch to a nicer warmer locale.

    Right now I am reading book #4 set in Cape Cod by fellow commenter Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell).

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    1. Thank you, Grace! I hope you love Murder in a Cape Cottage (I'll be on the front blog on Sept 29 to talk about it).

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    2. Yes, Grace, my goodness, they get into all kinds of trouble up there in Iceland and the Nordic climes! Maybe the weather has something to do with it, nice and chilly. Joyce.

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  4. Welcome Joyce! How exciting to have so many accolades for this book! Researching without being there must be a challenge--I do much better if I'm right on the spot. (Maybe that's a failure of imagination!)

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    1. Thanks Lucy! It would have been great to go home for the background, but for that flippin' Covid. So much has changed since I lived there as a girl. But on-line research is a lifesaver these days. I hope to go back next year though. (I should write a book set in Paris – just saying!) Joyce. :-)

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  5. Congrats to Joyce! I enjoy different settings, especially when they play the role of a character (PD James, Ann Cleeves). Can't wait to read your book.

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    1. Yes Margaret, me too. You tend to get lost in their worlds don't you? When those writers bring all the senses into their books. I love that. Joyce. :-)

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  6. Welcome Joyce ! I’m always happy to meet a new to me Canadian author.

    I like reading books with settings I already visited like Ireland but also England, Scotland, France, Australia . I also like to learn the different ways that justice is rendered.

    I just downloaded A Nice Place to Die
    Danielle

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    1. Thank you Danielle, I hope you enjoy it. It's great if a book features a place you know, especially if you recognize the location, I love that too. Joyce.

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  7. Congratulations Joyce! My grandma was born in Northern Ireland so I would love to visit through your book. I do love to travel through reading, and the UK holds a special place in my heart because of family connections.

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    1. I hope you get a chance to go there too if you haven't yet––to explore your roots. It's A Nice Place To Visit. (Haha!) Best Joyce. :-)

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    2. I hope to get back too... Nice place to visit and not die! I did spend one night in a B n B on the outskirts of Belfast when my then-boyfriend and I spent a week in Ireland (summer of '82), but never had a chance to try and track down relatives or visit Derry/Londonderry where my grandma grew up. I love your paintings by the way, and the lovely photos of Irish green countryside.

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    3. Yes Gillian, hopefully we can all travel widely again and not worry about Covid and delays etc. Joyce.;-)

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  8. Congratulations Joyce! A Nice place to Die is on my TBR pile and I can't wait to read it. Also, your paintings are gorgeous!

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    1. I hope you enjoy the book –– and thanks Christine for liking the paintings, nice to have something to distract me from writing! Best, Joyce :-)

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  9. I enjoy any setting. I like to learn about places I've never been through books, but it's also fun to recognize a familiar place when reading.
    Dying to know what Ryan's secret is!

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    1. Ha, Alicia, careful now ––I'm the one who arranges the dying! And yes, Ryan has quite a few secrets, :-O bad boy. Cheers, Joyce.

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  10. Joyce, welcome to JRW! I’m so excited about your book. And congratulations!!! I recall the peace accord in 1996 in north Ireland. I’m partial to settings in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. Also fan of Europe. 💚💜cozy mysteries. My guest post is coming up this week!!! Diana

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    1. Fantastic Diana! I'll look forward to reading it then. And I love the dark TV shows too, Shetland, Vera and lots of new Irish procedural TV shows happening now. Best, Joyce.

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  11. This weekend, I was thinking about Joyce's comments on how seeing and knowing a place is so good for informing your writing. I was at a wedding that took place at an off-season summer camp, and I kept thinking this would be a great place for a murder... By the time Youngest and I left for the eight hour drive home on Sunday, I had several elements of a plot stitched together - all and only because I had spent three days in this spot and seen the possibilities!

    We'll see if I ever have time to write anything from it, but it was a good lesson in how getting to know something - a place, a time period, a job - can indeed be foundational in creating.

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    1. Julia, I am hoping you wrote down all of those elements you had! Or recorded them to transcribe later. They could easily show up in your next book.

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    2. Julia, how perfect for your books. The tone and the atmosphere, I can just imagine it. Those camps can be so spooky off season! Although it must have been just lovely for a wedding. :-) Joyce.

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  12. Joyce, congratulations on the book! I love to visit different places in books and Ireland is a favorite, as well as all of the UK. I've never been to any of those places so I count on my favorite authors to take me there. I don't care for a lot of violence in mysteries I read; I'd rather things were solved with wits and clever thinking.

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  13. Judi, I completely agree. I'm not one for graphic violence – just the occasional dead body! I think you can create a grim and intense murder without all the blood and gore. Just using a dark and well-described scene that involves all the senses. Joyce.

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  14. Congratulations, Joyce. Sounds delicious.

    I love to visit places in books, and lately, I've been drawn to the British Isles. I'm trying to remember if I've ever read a book set in Northern Ireland. I don't think so, and that's strange, because my best friend's mother was born in Belfast and as an honorary daughter, I count Aunt Ruby and the cousins among my own family! Now I'll be able to remedy that with A Nice Place to Die.

    I tend to read contra-season. When I lived in Florida, I was introduced to a wonderful writer named Julia Spencer-Fleming because her book featured a chilly snow scene when Florida was steaming in temps hovering in the high nineties. The book didn't disappoint, nor did any of the rest of the series I've since devoured! Now that I live in Maine, I find myself attracted to beach books in December. Go figure!

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    1. I'm the same, Kait. I like to read Christmas-themed books in July! And beach books in the winter.

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    2. My setting is late summer and Fall, Kait, so I've tried to cover it all, and of course rain –– well it is in the Emerald Isle... :-) Joyce

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  15. Congrats, Joyce!

    I have heard some authors say "Write what you want to know." But if you pick something you love and you know well, that cuts down on the big research you need to do.

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    1. Absolutely Mark. And the feelings you have for a country tend to come out, so if you write about a country you love, it's obvious in the sense of place and descriptions, I hope so anyway. Joyce.

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  16. Congratulations on your book, Joyce! I can certainly sympathize with your distant research during Covid challenges. It's always a delicate balance, isn't it, between writing what you know and writing what speaks to you. I'm looking forward to diving into your Northern Ireland atmosphere!

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    1. Yes, the research is so difficult if you want get the details right. I haven't lived there for many years and while I remember the sense and atmosphere of the place, so many locations have changed. Time for another trip! And Deborah, if you enjoy my book even a little, I'll be thrilled! Joyce

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  17. Joyce, this novel sounds like a real winner! I can't wait to read it! I've not been to Northern Ireland (yet) but I've been to its southern neighbor twice now. The scenery is beautiful but the people are the main draw. Friendly and funny.

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  18. Pat, that's one of the things I hear most from people who have travelled to Ireland, north and south. The people. They love the scenery and the gentleness of it, but the warmth and friendliness of the Irish is what brings people back. And the humour, people from home are funny and they don't even know it. That's what I've tried to incorporate into the book, I enjoy books with a lighter tone to balance the murder and mystery. Joyce

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  19. This is Kathy Boone Reel. Once again I am unable to change from "Anonymous" to my name. So frustrating.

    Congratulations on A Nice Place to Die, Joyce! It sounds like a great read, and I'm so curious about DS McBride's tightly-held secret. I think the setting will be one I enjoy, too. I can't help but believe that an author's familiarity with a setting from personally experiencing it gives an added vividness to the author's writing about it.

    My favorite setting is England, various places around the country, with a special fondness for Devon and Cornwall and London. Of course, my number one author for London is Debs. Her Gemma and Duncan books bring the different areas of London so alive for readers. Scotland is another favorite setting, and I have a fascination with the wilds of Africa, the African savannas. I'm currently reading The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian. I have found that I am reading more outside of my comfort zone these days and finding so many wonderful reads by doing so.

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    1. Oh Kathy, I hope this book will add Ireland, both north and south to your list of favourite settings. I have tried very hard to make setting a central theme of the book, as much a part as character and dialogue. And the sights, smells and sounds of Ireland are unique. Thanks for your comments.

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  20. I like to write what I don't know as I learn so much along the way - that could be the librarian in me who loves research, however. Congratulations on your release, Joyce. It sounds like a perfect winter read. I do love a good seasonal story.

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    1. Thanks Jenn, my first book was set in Mexico and New York and it did take a lot of research, on setting – funny though, so did this one, just different kinds as I had police procedure to get right!

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  21. Ah, I played around with the commenting and figured out that I need to sign in as my Google Account to have my name and pic come up for posting comments. Yay! So, I wanted to add to my comments that I love your beautiful paintings, too, Joyce!

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  22. Thank you again Kathy. I paint Irish landscape too but there just isn't enough room! Cheers and best wishes, Joyce.

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  23. Joyce: Favorite locations include Oxford and the English countryside. The Alexander McCall Smith's Edinburgh is another favorite. When I visited Edinburgh, I never saw the gritty parts of Edinburgh, though. I loved London and the beautiful parks. I loved Scandinavia. Denmark was beautiful. I loved Wales too. I would love to visit Ireland someday. And Northern Ireland too.

    Diana

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    1. Just saw your comment, Diana. Yes, you must try to visit Belfast, such a shame to miss it, it's a lovely city. I'm always saddened when I hear from people that they visited Ireland, but didn't get a chance to make it to the north. Good for you, do the whole Island, it's actually tiny. You can make it from Belfast to Dublin in two hours or so by car. :-( Best, Joyce.

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