Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Too Close To Home?



HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It was a day that will live in book infamy. The day the Massachusetts Department of Transportation completed the demolition of the Cape Cod rotary (a hideous terror ride for drivers that was impossible to navigate and equally impossible to survive) and replaced it with the streamlined and efficient "flyover" traffic pattern.

Good for drivers, terrible for me. Since that Cape Cod rotary had been a huge plot point in one of my books.

But the only good thing  about such writer drama is commiserating with my pals. Do you know Tessa Wegert? Of course you do! She's brilliant and so talented, a terrific writer and a treasured friend.

Real-life geography also had one very unsettling close-to-deadline moment. But! She prevailed.

That time when life imitated art: The challenge of real-world settings in crime fiction


By Tessa Wegert

At this year’s New England Crime Bake (which was excellent as always), I participated in a panel about fiction vs. reality. Together with Bruce Robert Coffin, David Handler, Frankie Bailey, and moderator Edwin Hill, we discussed all the ways that real life can seep into stories, particularly when it comes to real-world settings that are too perfect (or too perfectly creepy) not to immortalize in a book. Oscar Wilde said, “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life,” and that was certainly my experience when writing THE KIND TO KILL.


The Shana Merchant series, about a New York State Police detective tasked with protecting the Thousand Islands while living in the shadow of her serial killer cousin, is largely set in the true-to-life community of Alexandria Bay, NY. Whenever possible and relevant, I weave in the area’s fascinating history (think Gilded Age island mansions, titans of industry, and—I kid you not—river pirates).

One real-life location made its way into the fourth book in the series, called THE KIND TO KILL.


Photo Credit: Mike Franklin


Take a moment to Google “Carleton Island,” and you’ll see why: for over 70 years, the once-spectacular home sat abandoned, slowly crumbling at the water’s edge. The Carleton Island Villa off Cape Vincent became the inspiration for The Carleton, the fictional upscale bed and breakfast where much of the action in my mystery about a missing tourist and potential copycat killer occurs.

It didn’t occur to me that, after so much time, someone would come along and snap up the property, let alone plan to renovate it just as the fictional Barlowe family does in the book. It wasn’t until two days before my copyedits were due that I discovered the island had been sold…and that its new owner intends to open a bed and breakfast.

Out of respect for the new owner, I changed to the name of my inn, though regular visitors to the area will still recognize the iconic island home.

There’s a reason why a good many authors choose not to cite real locations in their work. 

Doing so might offend a local, upset a property owner, or – particularly in the case of crime fiction – jeopardize a business. At the same time, there’s something irresistible about a story that bridges the gap between fiction and fact. I’m one of those readers who’s often drawn to books based on setting, and who makes a point of visiting the places I’ve read about in novels. 

THE KIND TO KILL involves a raucous pirate-themed street festival, an event that is—in fact—held in Alexandria Bay every summer. One key character works for The Watertown Daily Times, the local newspaper that residents of the area turn to every morning, and tourist attractions like Heart Island’s Boldt Castle provide a backdrop for Shana, her partner Tim Wellington, and her Bureau of Criminal Investigation team. I’ve found that knitting colorful bits of reality into my stories adds authenticity, credibility, interest, and even a sense of urgency for the reader.

Maybe the key to balancing fiction and reality is to pay homage to the places that inspire us while putting some distance between the real world and the universes we create on the page. Doing so gives writers more artistic license, and the freedom to manipulate settings to meet our plotting needs.

I sometimes wonder if I’ll be hearing from the developer who bought that property. With any luck, he’ll agree to sell THE KIND TO KILL to guests of the real inn on Carleton Island.

Do you include real settings in your writing, or enjoy reading about them in the work of others? Share your thoughts about fact vs. fiction and art imitating life (or vice versa!) in the comments.

HANK: I love to read about real life settings! How about you, Reds and Readers? And have you ever gone anywhere AFTER you read about it in a book? (And that gorgeous house in the blog seems like a perfect pace for a Jungle Red retreat!) And--we will clamor for the book!



 


THE KIND TO KILL

 

Former NYPD detective Shana Merchant is a skilled Senior Investigator keeping New York’s beautiful Thousands Islands community safe. She’s a loving partner. A strong woman. A survivor.

 

She’s also bound by blood to a serial killer. And after months of concealing the truth from the world as she hunted Blake Bram down, her secret is finally out.

 

Shana just wants to get on with her life and win back her community’s trust. But as Alexandria Bay fills up with tourists in advance of the annual festival known as Pirate Days, a visitor goes missing, and the case threatens to destroy not just the celebrations, but what remains of Shana’s reputation.

 

Shana’s not to blame for the killer in her family, but people are starting to whisper that she attracts trouble. That A-Bay was safer before she arrived. And as the investigation deepens, Shana starts to fear that they may be right.

 

Because while Bram is gone, he is far from forgotten.

 

 

Tessa Wegert is the author of the popular Shana Merchant novels, which include Death in the Family, The Dead Season, Dead Wind, and The Kind to Kill. A former freelance journalist and digital media strategist, Tessa’s work has appeared in Forbes, The Huffington Post, Adweek, and The Economist. She grew up in Quebec and now lives with her husband and children in Connecticut, where she studies martial arts and is co-president of Sisters in Crime CT.


76 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Tessa, on your new book . . . it sounds like quite an adventure for Shana. I’m looking forward to reading it.

    As for settings, I really enjoy the real-life settings; it’s lovely when the author’s description of the real place truly fits into the story being told.

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    1. Thank you, Joan! I'm with you...it's always fun to see a writer dig into a familiar place. Happy holidays!

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    2. Yes, so agree--it's fun when the setting is familiar!

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  2. I've definitely gone places because I've read about them in books. But I can understand the problems that can cause for the writers when art and life collide like that.

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    1. Me too, Mark! I often bring location-specific books with me when I travel so I can experience them in the setting they feature. Along the same lines, I like to read seasonally when possible (wintry books in the winter months, etc.). It really makes me feel immersed in the story.

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    2. And do you compare the reality with the book?

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    3. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I give the author artistic license. It partially depends on how different it is, and if it seems like lazy research for something done on purpose. I once read a book where the authors got the freeways wrong in my home town. It was a throw away line and it irked me because there was no reason to get it wrong.

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    4. That kind of mistake makes me crazy, too, Mark.

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  3. I love reading about places I've been or visiting places after I've read about them. An example of both these are connected to the Jungle Reds. The first, reading about places I've been, has deep satisfaction in reading Lucy's Key West series. I so enjoy walking down the streets of Old Town and longing for the food of some of the places I've eaten as I read about Hayley Snow's latest adventure. And, the second, visiting places I've read about, involves Julia's Clare and Russ series. When a friend and I attended our first Bouchercon in 2013 in Albany, we decided to drive on up to Niagara Falls and spend a few days. Before we went to the falls though, we took a slight detour into the Adirondacks and ate at a lovely place on a lake. I wish we'd had more time to explore there. So, real-life settings are definitely a hit with me.

    Congratulations on your new book, Tessa. It sounds like one I would really enjoy.

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    1. Exactly Kathy, I couldn't agree more! Both the Key West Food Critic mysteries and Julia's Clare and Russ books (which I recently started reading...I'm very late to the party, but it was worth the wait!) have such a wonderful sense of place. On my last trip to Southhold, NY I brought along a copy of Nelson DeMille's Plum Island, and readers have told me they travel to the Thousand Islands with copies of my Shana books in tow. Thanks for the kind words, happy reading, and I hope you enjoy the holidays!

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    2. (and sidebar--KATHY! I just read your review of THE MURDER LIST in Janet Rudolph's Mystery Magazine--THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! WOW! (and now back to our original programming..)

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    3. Tessa, I am definitely checking out your Shana books. And, I'm blaming it being 3:45 in the morning as to why I didn't gush about Deb's London settings, too. I guess I had my mind on places I'd been settings. I have long dreamed of a Debs led tour of London because I know I'd recognize places due to her Gemma and Duncan books. Hank, it makes me so happy that you liked that review. I loved that book!

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    4. Thank you! I hope you enjoy the series (and guessing which settings are real versus fictional)!

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  4. I must catch up on this series! And how amazing about the real life inn, Tessa. What did you change the name to?

    Except in my historical series, I've always created a fictional town in a real place, which, as you point out, makes it easier for the author to wreak mayhem and murder wherever it suits the characters and the story. Action also happen in neighboring real towns and cities.

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    1. Thank you, Edith! The new name is similar enough that locals will still recognize it, but those unfamiliar with the area would have to dig a little to find the real deal. It's my little nod to the community, which has been so supportive of the series. It's fun to sleuth around real places for inspiration, isn't it?

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    2. Yes, there's a town in MA in Her Perfect Life called Marbury. Doesn't it sound like a real New England MA place? Nope.

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  5. I use real life settings in my cozy mysteries set in Braga. But when something bad happens, I make sure it happens elsewhere. This series sounds great. And that building! Anything could happen there!

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    1. A great strategy, Elizabeth! I've found that locals are excited to see their communities represented on the page...but maybe not so much if their favorite spots become crime scenes. :) Thanks for the kind words, and yes the building is certainly amazing! I can't wait to see what the developer does with it and intend to be first in line for the grand opening!

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    2. Exactly! Can you imagine a familiar beloved place coming up as a murder scene?

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  6. TESSA: Yes, I enjoy reading about real-life settings & I like that I visited many of these places in person. But I also enjoy fictional settings, esp. in cozy mysteries.

    I'm looking forward to reading Shana's latest outing at the fictional B&B.

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    1. Thanks Grace! Happy reading and enjoy the holiday season!

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  7. Shana, good morning from West Hartford! Congratulations on your new book. The series sounds amazing.

    I love when writers use real places although I don't usually seek them out when I travel. You can take Harry Bosch tours of LA! I want a Gemma and Duncan tour of London!

    Most writers are careful about not committing their murders in real businesses and I think that's a very good rule to follow. You must have been scrambling to change the name of your venue when you learned of its sale. The timing, while horrible, actually gave you a reprieve. What a great story!

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    1. I'll go on the Gemma and Duncan tour with you and Debs Judy!

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    2. Would love to go on the Gemma and Duncan tour with you all. Diana

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    3. Hello from down the road in Darien, Judy! I love the idea of book-themed tours. A friend has been trying to convince me to organize a Shana-themed boat tour in the Thousand Islands. Maybe someday!

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    4. Me, too. I have to catch up on Shana's books, but I can do that!

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    5. Judy, I have been begging Debs for years for a Gemma and Ducan tour of London. Maybe now with your help and others, I can convince her.

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  8. Welcome to JRW Tessa! I'm an inveterate real place user, both in the Key West series and Unsafe Haven. I've had to give up on worrying about how those real places change and write it off to fiction. I need to catch up on your series!

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    1. Thank you, Roberta! On my next visit to Key West I fully intend to visit your real places. Happy holidays (and say hello to Elise)!

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    2. Yes, it's FICTION! But try to tell that to someone who says:- "but that's a one way street!"

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    3. Susan C Shea: Exactly, Hank!

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  9. TESSA: Welcome to JRW! I love reading about real life settings as well as fictional settings. Funny story. I was reading about Ebury Place in London and I had stayed at a bed and breakfast on Ebury Street. I asked the author about Ebury Place and she said it was fictional. Still, I adored the story.

    Currently writing my first historical cozy mystery novel set in ? England ? and I created a village based on the village where my grandfather was during the First World War. His ship was attacked and a British Navy ship rescued him and his crew. My grandfather and his crew were on lifeboats! My great grandparents got a telegram from the War Office at their home in Chicago, USA that my grandfather was killed in action. It was a Mistake! My grandfather sent them a telegram or a letter from England letting them know what happpened.

    This is a great post!

    Diana

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    1. Thank you, Diana! Isn't it funny when real life imitates fiction? And wow, what a story about your grandfather! No shortage of inspiration there. Best of luck with your writing!

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  10. Tessa, wow, what kind of baggage is that? My cousin the serial killer! I need to find this series asap.

    I like the blend of real and fictional in settings--a fictional town in a real environment, a fictional neighborhood in a real city. Those work well, I think, for both author and reader. At the same time, a real setting works beautifully when an author puts in the effort to keep it real.

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    1. Ha, yes! It certainly keeps Shana on her toes. I hope you enjoy the series! The first book is called Death in the Family, but you can jump in anytime, including with The Kind to Kill. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and happy holidays, Flora!

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  11. Now, I can't wait to read Tessa's Time to Kill. I get inspiration from actual locations for my Chesapeake Bay Mystery Series. Like many of you, the original buildings and businesses exist, but I tweak them to fit my storylines. Readers enjoy their sense of a scavenger hunt as they recognize them and some tour Turkey Point Light House to relive its cliff-hanger ending. Thank goodness for historic places!

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    1. Thank you, Judy! Your series sounds wonderful. Thank goodness for historic places is right! I incorporate a lot of them into my books too, including Deer Island, owned by Yale's Skull and Bones secret society. That was one place I had to research from afar. ;)

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  12. I am currently reading Death on Tuckernuck by Francine Mathews. I enjoy that it is a real place and since I live on the West Coast and had never heard of this island it was enlightening to learn more about the islands around Nantucket. I had previously visited Key West prior to reading the Key West series by Lucy so it made it super fun to know the famous spots Hayley goes to like the Truman & Hemingway homes and many of the restaurants. England seems to be the setting for many (fictional and real) characters in books - Paddington Bear (Windsor Gardens), Sherlock Holmes (Baker St.), and we took a Harry Potter tour in London one year where a guide pointed out places in the film.

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    1. Hello! Yes I think you're right, there are many books set in England, and London in particular. I guess that's a challenge for writers to some extent: what can one do with the setting that hasn't been done before? Maybe that's why I chose a place that's rarely featured in crime fiction. :) Enjoy the holidays!

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    2. I always wonder if the real life is more compelling than the fiction..or the other way around. We do hav mental pictures of these iconic places--and what if we're wrong?

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  13. Congratulations on the quick pivot, Tessa! I like to have one foot in make believe (made up town) and the other in reality (factual surrounding area) that way those pesky historical societies don't come after you :) Looking forward to The Kind to Kill!!!

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    1. Thank you, Jenn! I love that approach. We need to leave ourselves some wiggle room, right? Hope you enjoy the book!

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  14. I love reading about real places but I also like to read fictional settings put in real areas, such as what you have done. I almost always dig out my maps to find places I'm reading about and if the author moves or changes things like rivers, that becomes tricky. Then there is the wonderful Three Pines, that is so far off the beaten track it's not found on any map!

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  15. Oh my! I love Pirate Days at A-Bay! And I love when books use real locations. Ooh Hank, I’m going to have to add this series to my TBR list now!

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  16. Congratulations Tessa! Your book (and the whole series) sounds intriguing. I do like learning about real places from my books.Even fictionalized versions can give you the sense of an area (Miller's Kill for instance). I've visited Haworth in Yorkshire a couple of times and hiked across the moor to Top Withens, which is said to be the setting for Wuthering Heights. My sister and her family made a side trip to Swindon when they were in the UK only because they love Jasper Fforde's books.

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    1. Oh, how amazing to see the real (maybe) Wuthering Heights....

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  17. Your series sounds wonderful -- I will look for the books after this post.
    I love the area you write about. Hubby and I went over that way a few times. They used to rent rooms at the Cape Vincent lighthouse, though we didn't stay there.
    Somewhere we went to a museum that told us about the rich families of the past -- Singer sewing machine magnate, LifeSavers candy magnate....etc.
    Clayton has an antique boat museum. At the time we went, they offered rides in one of their mahogany runabouts -- what fun.
    We also went to Sackets Harbor for the military history. We crossed Wolfe Island to Kingston, Ontario a few times. Once for the buskers festival and another time we saw the Canadian sheepdog trials just outside of town.
    There is so much to do in such a small area. You have a rich area to work with. I love learning about new places from the books I read.

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    1. This is great! SO many adventures..that museum sounds incredible!

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  18. Do I like to use bits of real places? Of course. I wrote a whole series about different Brooklyn neighborhoods and their present and past. But what excites me this morning is learning about Tessa and her books. And thanks to Reds for the introduction. I grew up in the area- Watertown is my home town! - and spent a few lovely fall days this year in 1,000 Islands region. I've written some stories about it too. Beautiful and fascinating and not as well known as it should be.The fiction I've read , set there, has not captured it for me, so I can's wait to get to know Tessa's books. Off to order ASAP

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  19. I didn't know the Carleton Island Villa had gotten an upgrade! We used to sail the Thousand Islands on summer vacation; I remember thinking how romantic and decayed it was. I suppose there's a little gothic in all of us.

    As for using real life places, I try to keep them on the edges of my novels - characters travel to Glens Falls and Saratoga, but no one gets murdered in a real location. The towns in my books are 100% based on actual places in Washington and Warren counties in New York, but I like the luxury of adding, subtracting, and shoving geography around as I need it. Plus, no emails from readers complaining the Stewart's Shoppe is on that corner, not this one.

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    1. "There;s a little gothic in all of us..." QUOTE OF THE DAY"

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  20. Like you, Tessa, I've set scenes in real locations in my books, never thinking how fast things can change. Since the first book debuted in 2014, a beloved, long-lived local restaurant closed and a landmark hotel completely altered its identity. I fretted over this until I realized that most readers probably don't care if settings are real or fictional. And truly, won't all our contemporary novels become historicals as time moves on?

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  21. How could you not use that house?

    I do write real settings. However, one is back in the 1940s, so no one to object to anything. For my contemporary series, I try not to have major crimes occur in real places.

    But I love reading about real places, especially when the history is blended into the story.

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    1. That was my thought too, Liz...the house is just too spectacular to ignore. As to your own writing, that's a perk of historical fiction I hadn't considered before. It might be time to rethink my approach. ;)

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  22. I think one of the best series that immerses the reader in the location is the Martha's Vineyard (J.W. Jackson) mysteries by Philip R. Craig. Before he died, he and his wife published a collection of authentic island/family recipes appropriately called Delish! I'm lucky to have a copy signed by them both. Nothing like food to evoke a setting.

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  23. Real settings are great for inspiration…. But being a bit cagey about precisely where us wise … you want readers to be paying attention to the characters band what they’re up to - Tessa congratulations on the new book and welcome to Jungle Red!

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  24. I love reading books with real settings, and I use real settings in my own--or a combination of real and made up. Sometimes it's tricky to get the balance just right!

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  25. I go back and forth and would love to hear more from other authors and readers. People who love to visit - in person or by armchair - France want real places, which is fine sometimes but can be awkward. I invented a hamlet in my first Burgundy mystery but it sits where the real one does, and the surrounding towns are real and carry their real names. For the newest (the third), I have set the action in a real, historically interesting town, but specifically at a fictional chateau. I got bold and set a murder in a real museum in a real town for my second, but when out of my way in the Author's comments page to praise the museum and emphasize that no murder ever happened there!

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    1. Eager to hear--as they say, just spell their name right? xoxooo But there have certainly been fictional murders in The Louvre, right? And Dan Brown made a glorious career with real places!

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    2. Great point about Dan Brown, Hank! There may be a tour related to his books too...

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  26. In the Polizei Bern books, I describe Bern's streets and landmarks as accurately as I can, and I've had Swiss readers tell me what a kick they get out of following my characters around the city. But the first two books also featured villages outside Bern where people are murdered, and, even though I based the villages on real places, I decided to give them imaginary names (like Susan Shea above). No point in upsetting anyone unnecessarily, right?! But as you say, Debs, it can be a tricky balancing act.

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    1. There's always a challenge--that's why we love it! xx

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  27. I do use real places with their real names (for the most part) in my novels. I want my reader to walk the streets of the two-bridges neighborhood. To feel it. I do use fictitious names for real characters. And I use real events overlaid with a fiction.

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    1. I'm with you Nick, it's so nice for readers to have that real-world experience in the context of fiction. Happy holidays!

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    2. Happy holidays to you as well, Tessa. Stay brilliant, healthy, and hopeful, my friend, Nick

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  28. Sorry for the anonymous above, the comment is mine.

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  29. Julia, I have family in Athol, Warrensburg, Schroon Lake, and Saratoga. The Adirondacks is one of our absolute favorite places. We rented houses on Lake George for summer vacation trips for years and years and in the winter in Keene Valley with views of White Face. We have many fond memories. Love your mysteries in those settings. Warm regards.

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