Saturday, October 1, 2022

Making It Up by Julia Henry


LUCY BURDETTE: I'm so pleased to host Julia Henry today, whom you may also know as Julie Hennrikus. She not only writes wonderful cozy mysteries, she's also the executive director of my favorite writing organization, Sisters in Crime. Welcome Julia, in all your guises!


JULIA HENRY: When Barbara Ross writes a book, she does a ton of research. The subject may be barely touched on in one of her Maine Clambake mysteries, but nevertheless she immerses herself in details, and could probably do a speech about the sex life of lobsters, the ice business, pottery and farming oysters.

My historical mystery writing friends, which include Jessica Ellicott and Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) do a lot of work to make sure their books are accurate. Reading newspapers of the time, finding out if a word was used then, fussing over the right bonnet and accurate footwear. Readers demand the accuracy, and they both provide it.

Cate Conte, aka Liz Mugavero, has made up the world of her Full Moon mysteries. But then she has to remember how things work (what can witches do when?) and be consistent throughout the series.

And Sherry Harris needs to know how a bar in Florida operates. For the sake of accuracy, she made several trips to the location where her Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mysteries are set, took pictures and had a cocktail or two. It is very likely that her research was more fun that learning about the reproductive lives of lobsters, but I digress.

Why am I bringing this up? I have a new book coming out on October 25, the fifth in my Garden Squad series. When I was thinking about what new gardening adventure could launch the book, Barb Ross suggested the Garden Squad cleaning off graves. From that idea, The Plot Thickets was born. A few early reviews and a couple of emails let me know how much readers enjoyed learning about how a cemetery works in a small town. They used terms like “fascinating” and “I had no idea”. Now, were I Barb Ross, I would have done a lot of research, site visits, had conversations, etc. I did do research, Julie style. Then I made it up.

This is not to say there’s not some truth in the premise of the book. Small towns in Massachusetts do have cemetery committees who make decisions about who has access to what. A friend told me that she and her sister used their town allocations for their aunts, so she’d either need to move to another town or be cremated when the time came. I read about two sisters who went to bury their mother next to their father, and found another coffin in the space. (It ended up a less than reputable company had been selling plots they didn’t own.) I heard about a friend’s father who was beside himself because he couldn’t get a space in the historic cemetery in town; he didn’t want to be relegated to the newer spaces. I read a town charter that made it clear that cemetery spaces were leased for a period of time, but they didn’t belong to the occupants in perpetuity. I thought about tombs in New Orleans and doing grave rubbings in Concord. I let it all steep and stew until an idea started to emerge.

Through my writing lens I came up with the idea of a disreputable funeral director who had managed to get herself on every committee in town and was running several scams. This isn’t to say that the situation in the book couldn’t happen. Though it is highly unlikely. My books tend to be heightened reality. Lilly Jayne’s house gets bigger and bigger in every book. Ernie’s store sells everything anyone could ever need. Tamara serves on so many committees it’s hard to believe she isn’t a candidate for burn out. Goosebush, Massachusetts is an alternate reality, based on a real town, but not really. Everything is a bit extra. Including the issues with the disreputable funeral director, long lost fathers, stolen jewelry and more. I’m glad that my world resonates with people, and that they find the information fascinating. I just hope everyone takes it with a grain of salt.

Writer friends, do you use facts loosely in your books? Readers, do you assume everything is true, or that it’s true in the world of the book?



Julia Henry is one of the pen names of Julie Hennrikus. The Plot Thickets is her tenth published novel. Julie is also the executive director of Sisters in Crime.  @jhauthors on Instagram and Facebook.


About the book: The ever-quintessential New England town of Goosebush, Massachusetts truly shines in springtime, but when an underhanded undertaker digs herself an early grave, it’s up to sixty-something gardening sleuth Lilly Jayne—and her fellow Garden Squad members of course— to unearth the cryptic killer . . .

With spring’s arrival in Goosebush, Lilly and the Beautification Committee turn their eyes to new projects. A cleanup of the historic Goosebush Cemetery may be in order, after Lilly and Delia find the plots there sorely neglected and inexplicably rearranged. Lilly soon discovers that Whitney Dunne-Bradford snapped up custodianship of the graveyard once she inherited Bradford Funeral Homes. But before Lilly can get to the bottom of the tombstone tampering, she stumbles upon Whitney’s body at the Jayne family mausoleum . . .

Though at first it appears Whitney died by suicide, Lilly has doubts, and apparently, so does Chief of Police Bash Haywood, who quickly opens a murder investigation. Plenty of folks in town had bones to pick with Whitney, including her stepdaughter, Sasha, and funeral home employee, Dewey Marsh—all three recently charged with illegal business practices. But when the homicide inquiry suddenly targets an old friend, Lilly and the Garden Squad must rally to exhume the truth before the real killer buries it forever . . .


39 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Julia, on your new book. I have to admit that I chuckled over some of your small town stories [especially the leasing of cemetery spaces for a period of time!] . . . .Mostly, I tend to assume that things are true in the world of the book, but I'm sure there are stories where true is true . . .

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    1. Exactly. In the world of the book, everything is true. One of the characters in the book, Delia, is constantly saying that truth depends on the perspective of the speaker. Facts are facts. My books have truth, but facts aren't always there to back it up.

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  2. Hurray! I love that you make stuff up! (and you do it so beautifully!) How often does reality turn out to reflect what you thought was fiction?
    And thank you, endlessly, for all you do for Sisters in Crime! Xxx

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    1. Thank you for all you do for SinC as well, Hank! It's funny. Sometimes I will make something up only to hear a story that aligns with it. We live in a world of endless wonder.

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    2. That’s exactly what I was thinking about! It happens so often, you wonder whether some little bit of knowledge stuck in your brain somehow? Or whether… Maybe you’re just so logical that it had to be actually true? Or maybe it’s just a coincidence, which is pretty funny.

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  3. It depends on the book and the context whether I believe something is true or not. And I wouldn't cite anything in a novel as a source for a non-fiction argument. But the things I "learn" while reading novels definitely do seep into how I view the real world, so I hope there is at least some basis in fact in them even if I'm not thinking they are really true.

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    1. A basis of truth is the only way to build a believable story. Where my imagination takes that basis is part of the fun.

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  4. Thanks for the shoutout, Julie! I can't wait to read this book. I love this series so much, and hope all the regular commenters here run right out and preorder The Plot Thickets.

    In my new northern California series, and also in my Cape Cod series, come to think about it, I set my fictional town vaguely near a couple of real towns. If anyone goes to drive the area, they will discover another whole town just wouldn't fit there! Too bad. It's fiction. ;^) But when it comes to history, I work very hard to get the facts right.

    And now you all can get green with envy: I'm going to have lunch with Julie. In person. Today!

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    1. Can't wait to see you! And yes, historical fiction needs to have the facts straight. Which is why I haven't written historical fiction. Yet.

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  5. JULIE: I enjoy reading your Garden Squad mysteries and its "heightened reality".
    Did you use more of your past experiences in your theater cop mysteries or was that mostly made up?

    Enjoy your lunch today with Edith!

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    1. Grace, my Theater Cop series was much more based in reality. Not the murders, but the people and the stage stories. I know the world so well, and honestly the theater world doesn't need a lot of embellishment to make it a rich source for stories. Thanks for mentioning that series--I loved writing it.

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  6. Julie, congrats on the upcoming book!

    I do a good bit of research for my books. The research for the Brewing Trouble series was loads of fun. I got to hang out in breweries and drink beer, lol. The research for my historical Homefront News mysteries wasn't quite as much fun. It's set in 1942 so I wanted to make it as accurate as possible. At the last minute, I remembered I'd better check what the weather was like in Pennsylvania during the time the books are set because surely some weather geek would email and say it wasn't sunny that day, it was raining. I fudged a few things in Death on a Deadline (releases November 8th) regarding war bond rallies so I put a note to the reader in the beginning of the book to cover my butt.

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    1. I loved your Brewing Trouble series, and learned a lot reading it. And I give you a ton of credit for the historical research and those attentions to details. I know that the readers of those books do demand that level of accuracy. Congrats on the new book!

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  7. Hi, Julie! Nice to see you on the front page today.

    Fiction is made up. So in my reading I suspend disbelief. It doesn't matter if it's "true" or not, unless there are flying characters in a book meant to be close to reality. As long as the premise is consistent, I think that's what matters. I don't get sticklers who complain about streets being out of place, or whatever.

    My grandfather was the sexton for the Catholic cemetery in my hometown when I was growing up, and since they lived on the edge of the graveyard (and we lived on the other side of it), I spent a good part of my childhood hanging around dead people. They make pretty good neighbors, actually. Very few wild parties. I absolutely love cemeteries, and was thrilled to find one on our farm when we bought it. One of the descendants used to come and clean graves every year, straighten head- and footstones, and make sure the grass was mowed, but I suspect he has long since died himself.

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    1. I wish I'd known about your grandfather while I was writing the book. There is a character in it who tended the cemetery for years, and still does even though it is no longer his job. I went to a Lyle Lovett concert this summer, and he talked about the annual family outing to the family cemetery to clean it up. He'd been doing it since childhood. It was a great story. And making it a family outing ensures it will continue to be done.

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    2. November 1, the Day of the Dead, is when Mexican families go to the family cemetery plots, clean the graves, and have picnics, sharing their food with the departed. It's a lovely, loving tradition.

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    3. I wrote this before I saw Gillian's comment below!

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  8. Julie, congratulations on your newest book and thank you for the work you do for Sisters in Crime. I am sure that many authors whose books I enjoy have greatly benefitted from the support of that organization. As a reader, I am in awe of the support female authors give to one another.

    I love the premise of the garden club helping to beautify the cemetery. And cemeteries are terrific locations for mysteries.

    There are several organizations which do take care of historical cemeteries. For example, The Greater Hartford Jewish Federation has assumed the care of many cemeteries which belonged to individual synagogues that have closed over time. It is a big responsibility. It's easy to understand how care of an old cemetery can slip to the bottom of a town's list of priorities and spending.

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    1. Judy, tending to neglected or abandoned graves is a wonderful thing to do. In my series, Lilly and Tamara have created a Beautification Committee to tend to those items that have slipped to the bottom.

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  9. Congratulations on your book, Julie! It's amazing that it comes out on October 25, just before Day of the Dead when many families in Mexico will be cleaning their relatives' graves and having a party. It's an incredible fun celebration, part somber remembrance and part joyful family time.

    I usually suspend disbelief when I read, but sometimes I get to a point where I think,"All those terrible things couldn't have happened to her" or "Why do you keep making such dangerous choices?"

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    1. I didn't realize the timing of the release. Now my mind is whirring. I love that idea of ritual, remembrance, and a party. What a great mix. And yes, in books like mine you need to suspend disbelief. After one adventure most people would pack it in. But in my books, they keep seeking them out.

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  10. While I know that writers do their research before writing the books, I'm not sure I tend to think too deeply about just how accurate vs. enhanced for the sake of the book certain details may be.

    Something so deeply wrong that even I know it is off is one thing but when a certain word came into use or the sex lives of lobsters, I just figure it is true "enough" for the books and likely true in the real world. I guess if I spend too much time deliberating over it, I will be pulled out of the story.

    I'm in the midst of reading the ARC for THE PLOT THICKETS myself and I'm enjoying the book a lot.

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    1. True enough is a great internal barometer, isn't it? I'm so glad you're enjoying the book.

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  11. Congratulations on your latest book! Sounds as if I need to read The Plot Thickets as my Cliff-notes on village cemeteries. Looking forward to seeing you again too!

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    1. I look forward to seeing you again, hopefully soon. The book is a Cliff-note, but to be taken with a grain of salt.

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  12. Congratulations on your latest book, Julia Henry! I always think it is true in the world of books. I'm reading fiction, right?

    Diana

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    1. Indeed! Though more than once I've wished my fictional worlds were real.

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  13. Oh, Julie, you don't know how happy it makes me to hear another author admit they just go ahead and make $#!* up. I mean, I DO look up lots - what time is twilight? What commonly found ingredients can be made into IEDs? But there is so much I just wing. Over the course of my writing career, I've discovered if you get cars and guns right, readers will forgive you the rest.*

    *Caveat: Offer not valid for historical fiction or novels set in real locations.

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    1. An excellent caveat, and one that I also use. And you'll notice in my books there aren't guns, and I barely mention cars. So glad you make it up as well. That makes me feel better.

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  14. As someone with an undergraduate degree in history and a past life as a paralegal, research is second nature and I love doing it. Getting those little details right, priceless. But then there comes a time in every book where I remind myself I'm not writing a treatise on 21st century America and some detail needs to be embellished. Then, and in those instances, I bend the facts to serve the story!

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    1. Based in facts, but a truth that serves the book. Sounds like the perfect mix!

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  15. Hi, Julie! Delightful post. I see you're a kindred spirit in the marrying of research with making it up as you go along. Since we write fiction, it seems perfectly reasonable to me! I can't wait to read The Plot Thickets! A perfect October mystery!

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    1. Jenn, I always love visiting the Jungle Reds. And cheers to a kindred spirit!

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  16. I do expect historical fiction to be factual within certain parameters. I think it's a responsibility of the author to inform readers what matters or parts were bent in the notes at the end of the book. But, other fiction, I can accept stepping away from reality. If I'm interested in a subject or event or whatever appearing in a fiction book, I'm going to be falling down a rabbit hole anyway and looking up more about it. Congratulations on the new book, Julie. I do love a good cemetery story.

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    1. That's a great delineation. My hat is off to historical fiction writers.

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  17. Hi Julie! I can't wait to read The Plot Thickens! I think you've got just the right combination of research/making it up. I do a lot of research but I also make stuff up. I know, for instance, that real murder investigations take a much bigger cast than in my books, and that detective superintendents don't actually go out and interview people, but fiction is much more fun.

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    1. Fiction is more fun, isn't it? And stretching things by having detective superintendents interview people is a gift to the reader.

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  18. “Everything is a bit extra” – yes! I love that. I look forward to reading The Plot Thickets, which sounds utterly charming. Having grown up in small-town Massachusetts, I know firsthand how intense cemetery politics can be. What great fodder for a mystery.

    I’m a regular listener of the SIC podcast and have discovered so many wonderful new authors via your thoughtful and entertaining interviews.

    Best of luck with the launch!

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    1. Thank you for your kind words about the podcast! I love talking to writers. Such a fun part of my job. Your small town Massachusetts background will add a lot to your reading. I include town halls, petty ordinances, and lots of grudges. Typical NE town action.

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