The Pregnant Sleuth

LUCY BURDETTE: At the end of my 15th Key West food critic mystery, THE MANGO MURDERS, my food critic sleuth Hayley Snow turns up pregnant. I hadn’t planned this, and to be fair, neither had she. But I had the sneaking suspicion that this book would be the end of the series. If it was, what better way to go out with a flourish than with the happy news of an upcoming baby? Except, it turned out, the series didn’t end and now I was weighted down by a pregnant sleuth. Oof.

As I began writing the 16th book, A DELICIOUS DECEPTION, Hayley is struggling through the ninth month of her pregnancy. She feels the loss of her autonomy, her usual spunk, and her privacy. Everybody has an opinion about what a very pregnant sleuth should be doing, beginning very emphatically with her protective police officer husband, Nathan. Hayley is known for being hot-headed and independent, but that only goes so far as a reasonable explanation in this situation. I had to work hard to give her a case that pulled so hard on her sense of justice that it would overcome her physical and psychological worries. I hope I did her justice!

Reds, it’s a sticky wicket;  it’s a natural progression for a young woman to want a family, but this makes it hard on the author. What have you learned by writing your pregnant sleuths, or why did you decide to skip this milestone?

RHYS BOWEN: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked myself ‘what was I thinking’ when I got my heroines pregnant? The problem is that writing about young women in the past, when they fell in love and got married there was no birth control or at least they didn’t know about it. So pregnancies were inevitable. I remember the book in which Molly Murphy has to flee to Paris with her new baby and then has a horrible mystery to solve concerning her two friends there and every four hours she has to rush home to nurse that baby.

The problem with having a female sleuth who is also a new mother is that I have to ask myself all the time, would I put myself into danger if I was responsible for someone else’s life? And so most of Molly‘s cases since she had her first child have been ones that concerned her, her family or close friends, and which  she had a moral obligation to help solve.

At least Lady Georgie has it slightly easier as she has a nanny. Not that that was always a good thing but now she can relax a little knowing her child is in good hands.

So my advice would be if you consider giving your heroin either a baby or a dog – don’t. Readers will write and tell you if you haven’t fed the dog for 10 pages. I will certainly notice if you’ve left the baby lying in a crib for three chapters.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I decided my co-sleuth, Clare Fergusson, would get pregnant because I wanted to explore the dynamics between her and her brand-new husband, who had agreed with her they WOULDN'T have any children. It added interesting layers to her character - she was always reckless, and had to deal with the fact anything that might happen to her would also affect her unborn child. There are, of course, the physical challenges of going after bad guys when your center of gravity has shifted and it's hard to bend over! The biggest and most dynamic change was the way others saw her - a visible pregnancy makes some observers more protective, and some willing to take advantage of her supposed vulnerability. 

At the end, the real challenge of having a pregnant sleuth, as in real life, comes AFTER the baby is born and you have to deal with it!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Yeah, my heroines are not pregnant. They often have children, though, their own kids but young, or a child-adjacent character like a niece. As you say, Julia, after the child is born brings its own set of challenges (like they keep needing to EAT, for gosh sake, and they can’t even DRIVE) but that’s for another blog.

HALLIE EPHRON: There’s a reason Raymond Chandler quipped: “A really good detective never gets married.” Oy, the complications of child care. Pregnancy complicates things even further. But what fun, giving your sleuth problems!!

I did it with my first standalone, NEVER TELL A LIE. Domestic suspense, of course, my sweet spot. And Ivy Rose is 9-months pregnant when a woman from her past drops in on her yard sale (Ivy is nesting!) and turns her world upside down. (Pregnant Ivy muses “A fullly pregnant belly was pretty astonishing. Right up there with a prizewinning Hubbard squash.”)

The stakes are as enormous as the sleuth’s belly.

JENN McKINLAY: LOL, Hallie! Personally, I couldn’t write about a pregnant amateur sleuth and thus opted out of doing so. I couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough to accept that a pregnant woman or the people who love her would be okay if she and the baby were put in harm’s way because she’s nosy. It's different if she's a cop/detective where it's her job, baby or not. That being said, If anyone can pull it off, Lucy, you can! Can’t wait to read it. I did end the cupcake series with a pregnant main character but my plan if I’d written another one was to have her staff take over the sleuthy part–rather like Archie Goodwin helps Nero Wolfe (leaving him to tend his orchid babies).

DEBORAH CROMBIE: When I first started my series I gave Gemma, then a single mum, a two-year-old. I knew I wanted to write about women in the job (policing) dealing with the things real women deal with, like juggling work and child care. Then a few books later, Gemma gets pregnant and it really upsets her new-found stability. Unfortunately, she loses that baby six months into the pregnancy, possibly due to a violent encounter with a villain, and it’s very difficult for her to regroup.

But I still think a pregnant sleuth, amateur or professional, makes for great plot opportunities, and I think Rhys and Julia and Hallie have handled it really well. Lucy, I can’t wait to see how Hailey manages!

RED READERS, please weigh in with your thoughts on the pregnant sleuth. Do you enjoy this life twist in your mysteries? Why or why not?

You’ll be able to read about Hayley’s adventures in this delicate condition beginning July 14. Please pre-order here! 

Or join me at RJ Julia booksellers on July 14 at 6:30 in Madison CT. You can also order a signed copy at the store. 203-245-3959

Revealing Our Musical Crushes

 LUCY BURDETTE: A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated music Sunday at our church. Our music director is incredible, and he’s infused amazing life into the choirs. Plus he’s a fantastic organist, and tons of fun besides. He often brings in guest musicians for special occasions. I read in the Sunday bulletin that the drummer he’d engaged to play for us tours with Mickey Dolenz and the Monkees.

This was such a blast from the past! Mickey Dolenz was my very first crush. Somehow, I persuaded my parents to let me attend a Monkees concert when I turned 13. My first (terrible) short story was about a jilted teenager who runs up the steps of the Hatteras lighthouse and finds Mickey Dolenz at the top! Trust me, if that had really happened, onlookers would have witnessed a major freak out. Apparently, Mickey and the Monkees band are still touring and this visiting drummer was going out on the road with them in several weeks. I introduced myself and asked him to say hello from Roberta.😂

So Reds, there is the question for the day. What do you remember about your first musical crush? How old were you and what drew you to him or her? Are they still alive and kicking? If you didn’t have a crush (really?), what was your first concert?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: That’s an easy one, Lucy! I was eleven when the Beatles hit the US airwaves. I fell madly in love with Paul McCartney and I have to say I never recovered. Paul just turned 84 on June 18th (of course I know his birthday) and he’s still adorable and is still performing and still writing great music. His new album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, is terrific. I did the Beatles tour in Liverpool a couple of years ago with my pal Kate Charles and now I know the places he’s singing about.

And the first concert was The Beatles, in Dallas. We had seats on the 12th row, can you believe it? Of course you couldn’t hear them for the screaming, but it was still a life-marking experience. I’ve seen McCartney live twice over the years since, and they were the most joyous concerts  vvvI’ve ever attended. We love you, Paul!!

LUCY: So jealous of that concert Debs–Paul was my guy as well:)

RHYS BOWEN: In school my friends were all into Elvis in a big way. We’d listen to Heartbreak Hotel and they’d all swoon. Not me. There was something about his looks I didn’t like. I think my first crush was Gordon McCrea in Oklahoma and Carousel. I had the records of both and played them non stop. But when the Beatles came along— well, who wouldn’t love them?

JENN McKINLAY: First crush was Shawn Cassidy! He had a singing career, I guess, but I crushed on him because he played Joe Hardy on The Hardy Boys Mysteries every Sunday night! This is likely where my love of amateur sleuths began. My first concert was RUSH in the New Haven Coliseum! We all packed into a friend’s ancient Datsun B210 and drove 45 minutes to get there. No cell phones, GPS, or AAA. Can’t believe we survived – LOL. 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: My first musical crush..well, definitely not Elvis, I agree, Rhys, there was just no spark for me. But oh, absolutely, the Beatles. I sobbed, watching them on Ed Sullivan, and I was the vice-president of the Midwest Chapter of the National Beatles Fan Cluub. It was an actual thing! Paul, and John, oh, they were so cute, and so talented! I saw them at the Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and fairly levitated. Was that my first concert? No, I’m sure I went to many with my music critic (for the Chicago Daily News)  father –I do remember having a huge crush on Roddy McDowell who I saw playing Mordred in the musical Camelot, gosh, that was in 196-something?(The bad-boy thing, I guess. I never liked Lancelot.)  But the Beatles was the first concert on my own, and soon after that  I was all about Paul Simon. Still am. 

HALLIE EPHRON: My first concert was at the Hollywood Bowl: Joan Baez with an unknown rumpled male singer. She was terrific. He mumbled his way through a set and I, with my great prescience about musical talent, wrote Bob Dylan off as a never-gonna-be.

I’m a big baby when it comes to crowds, so concerts have never been my thing. If that weren’t the case I’d have haunted Paul Simon. Also Buddy Holly. Also LIttle Richard. Hmmm, also Pete Seeger and Johnny Cash.  

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Jenn, my sister and I were absolute devotees of THE HARDY BOYS, and agreed she would get Shaun Cassidy and I could have Parker Stevenson. I understand he’s Episcopalian, so maybe I’ll run into him in a church one day…? Both those men have aged VERY nicely.

My first strictly musical crush was - don’t laugh - Barry Manilow. No, the fact he played with Bette Midler in the Baths did not tip me off. He came to Syracuse for a concert and my BFF and I got tickets. My first show, and WOW it was so good. I’m happy he’s out and proud and living his best life, and I’m happy to have listened to “Barry Manilow II” and “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling” so many times I had to replace my record player’s needle.

PS, Lucy, my Monkee was Peter Tork. Somewhere out there, there’s got to be a personality quiz that reveals who you are based on which of the Monkees or Beatles you crushed on! 

LUCY: I’d be surprised if that quiz doesn’t exist Julia! Red readers, tell us about your first musical crush…

The Agony or Joy of Anticipation.

RHYS BOWEN: How  many of you have enjoyed The Other Bennet Sister? I am. In fact I don’t think I’ve been invested in a series since Downton Abbey. Maybe it’s because I’m a huge Jane Austen fan and whoever wrote this has given it the exact feel of the Austen novels, and many similar scenes (when Mary faints and Tom Hayward sits outside her room is a replay of Marianne Dashwood and Colonel Brandon). So even if she has borrowed heavily from the original, nevertheless it’s enjoyable. Mary is such an identifiable character–unsure of herself, feeling lesser than her sisters, awkward in company.  I’m sure today we’d suggest she might be on the spectrum!

One of the things I’ve enjoyed is having to wait a week for the next episode. Every week Britox tries to tempt me. Upgrade to Premium and you can binge the whole series. Very tempting BUT the wait and the anticipation is one of the things I’m really enjoying. Thinking “In three days I get to see another episode.”

I’ve always been a person who loves anticipation. I spent my childhood telling myself : In a month it will be my birthday/Christmas/Vacation. Counting down to the event made it even more delicious. I suppose I grew up in the lean years after WW2 when treats were few and far between. Turkey, tangerines, nuts only at Christmas. Ice cream occasionally in summer. And the going without made the treat even sweeter.

My daughters went to an expensive private school where most of the girls were richer than we were. They had a snack bar where the girls could buy treats. Clare’s friend Sabrina had money for an ice cream every day.  I could just about afford to give Clare money for an ice cream on Fridays. “Sabrina has one every day,” Clare pointed out.  “Do you think they are as special to her as they are to you?” I asked. “You look forward to Friday, don’t you?”

        She thought about this and agreed.

And so I am still one who enjoys the anticipation. In two months I’ll be flying to England…That’s why it has been hard during the last couple of years. With John’s declining health I had to cancel so many things at the last minute that I did not dare to look forward too much. Now I can again. And it’s great.

What about you, Reds. Do you binge whenever you can? Do you find yourself counting down to big events?

LUCY BURDETTE: I’m an anticipator too, Rhys. I love planning vacations way ahead and figuring out where we’ll eat and where we’ll go. I had a sister-in-law who loved to travel but never made reservations ahead of time and couldn’t imagine why I was wasting my time. I’m sure I do miss out on some spontaneous decisions, but the anticipation is truly one of my greatest pleasures! And ps, I do not binge either:). 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, this is so fascinating. I love anticipating! But I’ve never really thought about it.  Counting down, yes, absolutely. And when the thing happens, it’s over, you know? In the anticipation part, absolutely anything is still possible. 

And during anticipation, there is still time to get ready–oh, I’ll think, plenty of time to pack/write/plan/prepare. I love it.

And yes, in TV, I definitely do not mind waiting for the next episode. It gives us time to discuss and predict! 

HALLIE EPHRON: What an interesting question. Jerry was a great travel planner and what I loved was NOT knowing a thing about where we were going or what we were going to do until we got there. I didn’t even want to see pictures. 

I think he’d have liked me to have been more onboard with the planning, right up until I started having opinions. 

He never took me somewhere I wouldn’t have wanted to go. And seeing without knowing what was coming next was a special pleasure.

JENN McKINLAY: I’m not a binger. I prefer to watch one episode at a time – good thing because I’m always on deadline and couldn’t binge if I wanted to. I do like anticipation but then I also find it comes with anxiety. Example: Anticipation: I’m really excited to go to (insert place). Anxiety: What if the hotel loses your reservation? I never used to feel like this. I think it’s a post-Covid thing where everything was cattywumpus all the time. When the anxiety spikes, I have to remind myself that everything goes my way, and it usually does, even if it’s not how I expected it to go. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I love anticipation, although this winter was SO long in New England I went past anticipating spring to getting ready to ask to speak to the manager…

We’ve talked about the pleasant anticipation of watching streaming shows the new old-fashioned way, but my mind goes to books! Is there anything more delicious that learning one of your favorite authors has a book coming out, with the date set, and getting to pre-order it. Back in the day, you had to show up at the local bookstore, but now, of course, it pops up in your e-reader or arrives on your doorstep like a present. 

Youngest taught me the Dutch have a word, Voorpret, which describes the feeling of excitement and anticipation you experience when you’re getting ready to go out. I wish I had known the word back in my single days, when one of the best parts about going out with girlfriends or on a date was the sense of anticipation while picking out an outfit, putting on my face, and dancing around my room to Duran Duran. So much voorpret!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am definitely an anticipator. I was the kid who didn't want to open Christmas presents early, and even on Christmas morning would save mine until everyone else had opened theirs. I think planning trips is half the fun–although I am open to a little bit of travel spontaneity. Like Julia, I love pre-ordering and looking forward to books, and I am happy to watch TV shows once a week. Of course, Rick is just the opposite, and doesn't want to start a series until every episode has dropped.

RHYS: I'm anticipating lots of things at the. moment. All good things: a week in San Diego, England and Scotland at the end of September, oh... and my new stand alone, THE CASTLE IN THE GLEN, comes out on August 4. 

Who else is good at anticipating? Who hates it?

Escape or Staycation?

 RHYS BOWEN: When you read this I’ll be on my way to the airport, flying today to Canada. My son Dominic, his wife Meredith and I have rented an AirB&B on Vancouver Island–actually on a small island off the coast of Vancouver Island. It’s on a beach, surrounded by trees.  The perfect escape, actually.  It’s what we all needed… to be in the middle of nature with time to decompress, to think, to journal and for me to adjust to a new way of life. 

A vacation with them will be perfect. They like to experience everything… so they’ll find the best artisan bakery in the area, fresh seafood, craft shops, farms where you can pick your own blueberries and with plenty of down time too.  This will be quite different from vacations with John, who would have planned out in advance what we were going to see every day. His idea of Vancouver Island would be driving several hours up the coast until we had circumnavigated the whole thing.  And if I saw a sign to a craft fair along the way it would be ignored because it interrupted his plans and we had to reach the motel he had booked by four PM check in.

So one of the things I’ll be learning to do is to go with the flow–to sit and do watercolor if I feel like it, to realize I have nobody to please but myself. Dom and Mer are so easy-going and get delight from the smallest things. They are definitely foodies so there will be a lot of trying nearby restaurants ( poutine at least once).  I can’t wait.

So how about you, dear Reds? Any plans for this summer? What is your ideal way to decompress?

LUCY BURDETTE: we will be spending lots of time with the grandchildren over the next two weeks! The family has already been to New York City (with three kids under 10 in tow) and then to Montauk to visit relatives, and next stop Connecticut. It is always a busy and fun time to have them here. After that, I can’t think of any trips on the docket this summer. So I should be able to get my work done and also do some relaxing and I hope extra reading!

JENN McKINLAY: I’m glad you’re finding a new rhythm, Rhys, and doubly glad you have Dom and Mer to ease you into it.

I just got back from a trip to Connecticut and Massachusetts and South Carolina. The trip broke down into a book thing in CT, a family barbecue in MA, and checking out my college roommate’s new home in SC–hard to believe we’ve known each other for 40 years! We spent hours on the beach in SC and I am ready to move. Seriously! 

I’ll be headed to Canada in a few weeks to our summer place in Nova Scotia and I’m looking forward to that. More beach time! But in the meantime, I have loads of work to do–revisions and proposals and promoting the streaming series based on my book Paris is Always a Good Idea, the first two episodes of which air on Hallmark Plus on July 30th! Yay!

HALLIE EPHRON: July 30 for PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA! Hallmark Plus… We’re all writing it down. 

I’m just back from teaching in Paris… there for 10 days and could easily have spent another ten. And I’m missing my Jerry who, like Rhys’s John, did the trip planning so I could just relax and be surprised. We shared the same priorities (he traveled with a little pad filled with menu translations, along with a list of where we were going and the culinary specialties in each place.)

The summer will be quieter than usual. 

Mid-June I’ll be teaching a master class on harnessing voice and viewpoint at Book Passage’s Mystery Writer’s Conference in Corte Madera, CA. Hobnobbing with Cara Black, Tim Maleeny, Elizabeth George, Lisa Scottoline, Rachel Howzell Hall, and more! I love this conference. So much heart and professionalism. 

For any aspiring mystery writer who’s never been there, write it down!! 

Then things slow down for some medical procedures (ick) and visits from my daughters and grands (yay!) Hoping I’ll be able to take a low-key week with my family on Peak’s Island in Maine. Beach. Hiking (flat!) Lobsters!

HANK PHILLIPI RYAN: Absolutely, on July 30 I will be at my TV, cheering! This summer is wild–no vacations, because Jonathan has a murder trial (he’s the lawyer, come on!) so he’s preparing But my days are super-full, because  I have a book DUE August 1, AHHHHH because then the paperback of ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS comes out  August 11, so I will be on a mini-tour …in preparation for the launch of MOTHER DAUGHTER SISTER STRANGER  in September! When I will be on the road again.

So it’s interesting–I have cut way back on events for the next two months to be able to focus on the writing. It’s terrific to be able to really buckle down.Okay, well,  I am interviewing some fabulous authors in person at local bookstores though–Hannah Selinger, and then Robyn Gigl, and then Riley Sager! Very exciting.

Rhys, your escape plans are perfection. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Hank, Riley Sager is going to be signing here in McKinney, and Kayti and I have tickets! CJ Box was here, too, a couple of months ago–maybe McKinney, Texas is becoming a literary destination! We also have a great indy bookstore, so if anyone wants to come here and do an event… Kayti and I are also seeing Jo Piazza at the DMA (Dallas Museum of Art) Arts and Letters Live–has anyone read her? And then, I think, Karin Slaughter, so sometime between now and mid-August I need to read some of her books!

Those are my big summer events. Otherwise I am doing loads of catch up and edits, which is all fine. Oh, and watching Jenn's Hallmark movie! So exciting! Do we have to sign up for the Hallmark Channel streaming, Jenn, since we don't have cable or satellite?

RHYS: Now it's your turn, Reddies. Who has exciting plans this summer? Who is planning on a relaxing time at home?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I also want to know how to watch PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA while streaming! Jenn, you have to do an announcement for all of us who are your fans.

My summer plans were ALL stacked up in June: the visit from Youngest and VOC, my son flying in, two weeks of non-stop activities, several professional events and then a five-day writing retreat. Now I have nothing on my calendar until the end of August, when a dear friend’s daughter is getting married. I’m actually thrilled - this is the least scheduled summer I think I’ve ever had, giving me lots of time to enjoy Maine in its best season and get a whole bunch of writing done for my next book!

Are You A Lark or A Nightingale?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: The other morning I woke up at 6:30 AM. Just–bang. Awake.

Go to sleep, I told myself. But my brain said no.

Finally, I just got up and started working, and when it got to be 8:30, the time I usually get up, I had gotten SO much done!

Whoa, I thought, this is a genius thing. I should get up earlier!

Thing is, we usually go to sleep at about midnight. So long term, this getting up early thing is not going to work.

In fact, I am happiest writing late at night. I really fly through the pages! It might be because of all those years as a reporter, working for the 11 PM news–my brain's metabolism has gotten very comfortable with that rhythm.

Still though, I am working on getting up a bit earlier. I am really delighted to have that extra time.

How about you, Reds and readers? What time is your wakeup call? And has it always been that way?


RHYS BOWEN: I’m an early bird. I usually wake around 6:30 and I like working in the morning. I’m also asleep by 10 to 10:30. I think having to get 4 kids off to school or to swim practice at 6 am has conditioned me to wake early. The only problem has been if I wake at 4 or. 5 I can’t get back to sleep.

LUCY BURDETTE:  Pretty early here too! I’m usually up by 6:30 or seven, and if I sleep until eight for some unknown reason, I feel like I’ve missed half the day. I like to be asleep by 10 or 1030. My brain is much fresher for working in the morning, although lately I’ve been getting a surge at 5 o’clock. Which is no use to me because that’s when I make dinner and we eat supper and watch the news and sometimes a show. By then it’s too late to work! Plus, I do need time to read for fun…

HALLIE EPHRON: I’m an up-with-the-sun person. Which is very inconvenient when sunrise is before 5 AM. Like Rhys, once I’m awake I cannot get back to sleep. I suppose it would help if I went to sleep later, but when you get up at five you’re pretty tired by ten. It’s a vicious cycle.

I wish I could say I do something useful with those early hours, but no. I read the day’s papers and start on a crossword puzzle or two.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Hank, I’m on your schedule. I’m doing well if I get to bed by midnight, and am usually up around 7:30 or 8:00. I like being up in the mornings, but I have a really hard time getting to bed. Partly this is because I live with the Uber Night Owl–when Rick worked dispatch for the police department, he preferred the 11 pm to 7 am shift– and partly because my brain just seems more active in the late afternoon/evening. I’m actually doing better at morning writing than I used to, though.

JENN McKINLAY: Up at 6 in bed by 11. I try to sleep more than seven hours but I just can’t. I’m always eager to start a new day. Every now and then I’ll sleep 8 hours and I’m so refreshed I don’t know what to do with myself! It’s a wonderful thing to have a comfortable bed, a roof over your head, and plenty to eat. I try to be grateful every day.

HANK: And here we will pause for applause. Exactly, Jenn. Exactly.

How about you, Reds and readers? Lark or nightingale? And have you changed over the years?

Which is More Difficult: Truth or Fiction?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Weird question for you. I was talking to someone at an event recently, and they asked if my new book was based on a true story.

When I said "no, I made the whole thing up," there was a look of...disappointment.

"Oh," this person said, "I always love when books are based on true stories."

Well, yeah, sometimes I do too, and real life is always an inspiration for everything I write, of course, my books can only be my books because they come from my experience and my curiosity, and my adventures and my hopes and dreams and my way of looking at the world. And coincidence, you know, what I happen to see and when I happen to see it.

And of course people think my books are based on my television stories. And when I say “well, of course my experience in being an investigative true crime reporter certainly is reflected in my novels, but my novels are not my television stories disguised into fiction” –Again, disappointment. Or maybe surprise.

Why is this, Reds and Readers? Do you think a novel is more interesting if it’s based on specifically and solely real life? 

I always think, I have to say, doesn't it take more brain power to actually make something up? Yes yes yes, our imagination is inspired by real life, there’s no question about that. But are you disappointed when something is not based on precisely something that happened in real life? What do you think about this?

I mean, Lee Child was once asked how he knew that the ignition switch of a certain kind of tank was red. “Wow.”  the person said, “you must’ve done a lot of research.” And Lee said “well no, I just made that up.”

 And the person was–you guessed it– very disappointed. 

Really?  Doesn’t it take an equal amount of talent to create a story so realistic that it feels real? I mean that’s what we’re going for, right?

Or–what?

HALLIE EPHRON: The trick is knowing what you can make up and doing enough research to make it believable. I think people ask the question because they are fascinated by the answer to: Where did you get your idea. For me, at least, there’s *always* an answer that involves some experience I had or a friend had or something I read about that piqued my interest (or horror) or made me laugh.

Sometimes I have to do a ton of research to be sure that I get the details right. Some books require it more than others. Writing a mystery set in Hollywood in the 60s, I drew a lot on experience, growing up with screenwriters as parents. A murder in a present-day MRI lab required much more research. 

And woe be to the mystery writer who gets her ballistics/gun details wrong. 

But to beg the question, I think all of our books grow out of some kind of personal experience, if only emotionally. Which is pretty glorious.

HANK: Oh, sure, research is different from experience. SO agree. But I keep finding that people want a one-on-one on-the-nose THING that happened to you or someone, and then that we took that incident and fictionalized it. 

RHYS BOWEN: I’m always bemused that a person wants to read fiction but wants it all to be true. That’s why you read true crime.  Having said that I am meticulous in research for my historical novels. If they are set in a real time and place then everything has to be correct  apart from fictional characters I have planted there. I can’t tell you how much time I spend staring at Google Earth, old maps, old newspapers etc. But the reward is when someone says I grew up in Greenwich Village, so did my mother and grandmother and you have taken me back to my childhood. Then I know I have done it right. 

Sometimes I have to create a fictitious place because bad things happen in my story that didn’t happen in the real place.  So Cassis becomes St Benet in Mrs Endicott. 

But the actual plots? Sometimes there is a seed of inspiration based on something I heard, read or observed but the story has to come out of my head! We are creators not reproducers!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: This is a really curious thing, readers’ desire for a  novel to be “true.” In which case it wouldn’t be fiction, would it? My agent has been known to say, “Just because something really happened doesn’t make it good fiction,” and I’ve tried to adopt that as my motto. That doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes use things that really happened as a jumping off point, the beginning of many rounds of “what ifs.” I’m sure we all do that–something has to jumpstart that creative spark, and maybe that’s where the fascination comes from, people wanting to know where ideas come from. I do try to be meticulous in my research and details, however, as that’s what makes stories feel real.

LUCY BURDETTE: I too find it curious that a reader would be disappointed if a book isn’t based on something real. I agree, Hank, that making something up completely is the hardest! That said, most of my book ideas come from a little snippet of life. In my upcoming A DELICIOUS DECEPTION, the idea was sparked for me by a newspaper article talking about a place for safe custody exchange now required for all Sheriff’s departments. That got my writer brain whirling…

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I suspect the “is it true” folks have fallen down the True Crime book/ podcast/documentary hole and now expect every mystery to be based in fact. My motto is “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” With a story, you can shape events and characters to embody truths you sometimes can’t get to when you stick to facts. The greatest thing about fiction is that, when done well, the reader is emotionally transported into someone else’s experience. Walking the proverbial mile in another’s shoes. You certainly can’t get that with true crime, because half the pleasure of reading those stories is assuring yourself you NEVER would have done a, b, or c and thus gotten scammed or murdered.

JENN McKINLAY: This reminds me of the years I dated an artist and he would tell me how people only thought he was talented when he did drawings or paintings that looked “real” or “like a photograph” and he would sigh. Because, of course, art like writing takes what we see or feel or think and turns it into so much more, giving us new and different ways to process and navigate this journey called life. 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Yes Jenn, exactly.

And I do think this is all so interesting because  research is a different thing, and of course we want to get it right.

And being inspired by our own  lives or a random thing we read or see–sure,that’s devoutly to be wished. And that’s why our books are so different from anyone else’s.

But it’s a totally different thing to take an event that has already happened and change the names and potentially the outcome. It's a different thing to say: oh, is this based on the –what, the murder of x person on their honeymoon in the Alps? Or Natalee Holloway or the Louvre robbery or –you pick a true crime. Those would be terrific books. And I am sure they already are.

(And sure, Casey Anthony and my book Trust Me? Are definitely sisters in crime.)  

But what about something that never really happened? Something we have to think of out of nothing but our own imaginations?

Because some things are just imagined.  MOTHER DAUGHTER SISTER STRANGER?  Yup. Fiction. (Far as I know there are not two sisters who survived the suspicious small plane crash that killed their parents. Let me know if you’ve heard of that.)

What do you think, Reds and Readers? Do you need your fiction to be connected to a true story?

RATS! By Jerry Touger

HALLIE EPHRON: As most of you who've hung around this blog any amount of time know, my sweet husband, Jerry Touger, was a brilliant cartoonist.

He was never without a pencil or his weapon of choice: a BIC pen. And in a life filled with boring academic meetings, after completing the day's crossword puzzles in record (and recorded) time, he had ample opportunity to doodle. 

As far as I can tell, he never threw any of his doodles away. I love them all, and this leaves me with the onerous task of trying to figure out what to do with all of them.

I've scanned ALL the Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, birthday, Valentines Day, and Mother's Day cards he made for me and copied them onto flash drives for my daughters. 

Add to that a gazillion printed meeting agendas with doodles all around the edges, some are recognizable colleagues.

My favorites are the many miscellaneous drawings of highly opinionated rats. 

Why rats, you ask. Beats me. 

Today I'll share some of them with you... Largely his rats were dyspeptic, as this pair...

But they could also be graceful.

And affectionately parental, as in this Mother's Day card.

(One of his pet names for me was SMEDLEY. Why? Again I have no idea.)

He even illustrated his INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS text with cartoon rats 

Do you doodle? Have a loved one who does? I'm sure you agree those drawings are not only a precious legacy but a window to the soul. 

Jerry's was a goofy, sweet place. 

CROISSANTS are to Paris as....

 HALLIE EPHRON: I’m just back from Paris where I spent a wondrous week teaching a class on writing mystery and suspense for WICE Paris (Where Internationals Connect in English.) My daughters came along and we filled our free time with (pause… suspense… what would we have spent our free time doing?) EATING.

I had forgotten what a croissant is supposed to taste like. The aroma. The tissue-thin layers of yummy. And available freshly baked every morning at any of the half-dozen cafes and bakeries within walking distance of our AIRBNB. 

Paris is to croissants what New York City is to bagels. What Los Angeles is to... What Chicago is to...

What’s your favorite (and at its best only truly available in one place) goody, what makes it so special, and where’s the one place you’re guaranteed to get it perfectly prepared?

RHYS BOWEN: The one thing you should add about croissants in France is that they only cost a Euro, not five as they do here.

In September I’ll be going to John’s sister in Cornwall, something we have done every year. It’s a different world, slower pace, lovely people.

Oh, and I stay in a manor house! And eat.., cream teas with the best clotted cream ever, fish and chips and Cornish Pasties.

The first thing we do when we arrive is to eat a pastie.

We have our favorite bakeries in several villages. And for those who don’t know pasties are pie crust around meat and vegetables. They were made originally for the miners to take their lunch down the mine. Thus they have a rim of pastry around one side so the miners could hold them with dirty hands and not spoil their meal.

Simple but delicious served hot!

LUCY BURDETTE: I know I can be a food snob, but I won’t eat a croissant unless it’s in France. I went to La Maison d’Isabelle a couple of years ago in Paris–they won best croissant in France in 2018–and I still dream about those flaky, buttery layers.

But if I have to move on from pastry, I would say Key West pink shrimp. They are caught near the islands so are perfectly fresh and gorgeous. They are heads and tails more delicious than frozen or imported. Yes, more expensive too, but a good treat once in a while!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I think part of the answer has to do with pizza.

I can’t really quite articulate it, but there’s a certain kind of pizza that tastes like real pizza, and then there are a whole raft of different categories that are not necessarily terrible, but not real pizza.

There’s like, yuppie pizza, with things like prosciutto and balsamic vinegar, which is delicious! But it’s not really pizza. Real pizza has thin crust, and tangy tomato sauce, and chewy cheese that strings out when you try to cut pizza and oregano.

And oil on the top? Somehow? It just tastes like good old street pizza. It probably has pepperoni. I also think it has to do with the brick ovens.

I don’t really connect with New York, although I bet that’s what it is. Anyone have any ideas?

And if you have a Margarita made in Mexico, it’s beyond wonderful.

JENN McKINLAY: Hallie, I love the scene in Hacks when Deborah tells Ava that you haven’t eaten bread until you’ve visited a boulangerie in France. So true.

I ate my body weight in bread while I was there!

And, Rhys, I love pasties. Of course, I haven’t been to Cornwall (yet) and have only the local Cornish Pasty Co in Old Town Scottsdale to judge by – although, I did have a pasty in Victoria Station once that was very tasty.

Anyway, all that to say, there is no pizza like New Haven, CT pizza – which I’ve mentioned before and Roberta will back me up. I’ll be there this weekend and am already anticipating a white clam pie!

As for home, in AZ there is nothing like a Sonoran hot dog (it beats the Chicago dog, sorry not sorry). It’s wrapped in bacon, served on a bolillo roll and loaded with pinto beans, jalapenos, tomatoes, onions, and mayo. Best dog ever!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: You are all killing me! Jenn, I want that hot dog! And so many other things!

I do love pasties. I remember the revelation of first eating one in Cornwall on my first solo trip to England years ago.

Hallie, you've reminded me that our bakery just down the street makes fabulous croissants, but I don't usually buy them. (Probably a good thing, especially as I like to slather them with butter and orange marmalade…)

But what I would really love is a PROPER scone, loaded with strawberry jam and then clotted cream. (Yes, jam first, so that you can get on more cream.) What are usually called scones in the US are sometimes good (see local bakery, above) but they bear no relation to a real English scone. Even in places–sometimes even chef-y places) that claim to offer a real afternoon tea, the scones are not the same. Maybe Rhys can tell us why.

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I live in Maine, on of those places where we do have our own, iconic, it'll never taste as good as when you have it here food, and of course, it's lobster. Part of the reason is because you'll never get it as fresh as you can when you're near the coast of Maine - the crustacean you're enjoying for dinner will have been landed that morning.

Lobsters are kept alive until they reach their ultimate destination, but the other seafood you can pick up at the fishmongers or order at one of our award-winning restaurants is also, if local, fresh out of the ocean, so do try some!

The other reason lobster never tastes quite as good as it does when you're visiting my state is because of where you're eating it. An overstuffed lobster roll at a clam shack, sitting outside on a weather-beaten picnic table watching the water and the blue sky overhead. A perfectly steamed whole lobster on the deck of an ocean-side restaurant, with boats coming in and out of the harbor and the seagulls wheeling overhead.    

Hey, tourist season has barely begun, and we're a lot closer than France and England. We also have 180 independent breweries and four James Beard Award restaurants to tempt you...

 

 

 

HALLIE: So, if we were coming to YOUR neighborhood, what would be the A-1 MOST FABULOUS LOCAL AND FOUND NOWHERE ELSE THIS GOOD thing the rest of us should seek out to savor?? Fried chicken?? Cherry pie?? Barbecued ribs??? I'm getting very hungry...

Trademarks by Jenn McKinlay

 JENN McKINLAY: What a wacky week in the book community! A book blogger trademarked the phrase "hot girls read" and the book community has lost their ever lovin' fluffin' minds. And rightly so. 

Etsy Shop: Dust Jacket Goods

One glance at etsy.com and I can see hundreds of vendors use that phrase to sell booky merch. So to trademark it is a slap in the face of all the other book merch vendors who've been using the phrase on their notepads, t-shirts, stickers, and such for years. 

How is blocking these vendors from using that phrase going to impact the woman who trademarked it? At a guess, not well. Is she really going to spend her days demanding the platform take down all the other vendors by waving her trademark papers? Does she not have anything better to do? At all? 

While the book community can never agree on anything, such as favorite book, character, adaptation, and such, if someone goes after one of them, they will get all of them coming for them. Seriously, book lovers are "we ride at dawn" defenders of all bookdom.

But back to the broader discussion of trademarked phrases. In answer to the question "what are some of the wackiest phrases that have been trademarked?" Google returned this:

• "Let's get ready to rumble!": Sportscaster Michael Buffer successfully trademarked this iconic boxing phrase in 1992, allowing him to legally control its use in entertainment, events, and merchandise. 
• "That's Hot": Paris Hilton secured the rights to her signature catchphrase in 2007 and even used it to successfully sue Hallmark for printing it on greeting cards without her permission. 
• "This Sick Beat": During the 1989 era, Taylor Swift filed a famous trademark on this lyric, along with "Party Like It's 1989". 
• "Tiger Blood": Charlie Sheen filed 22 trademark applications in 2011 to lock down his famous interview soundbites, including "Duh, Winning" and "Vatican Assassin". 
• "Tebowing": Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow trademarked the act of kneeling and praying in a pose that became a viral internet meme. 
• "Let's roll": The phrase—famously spoken by Todd Beamer on hijacked United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001—was trademarked by his foundation to protect it and sell merchandise with proceeds going to charity. 

The only one I agree with is Michael Buffer because the man uses it in his work every single match, so it feels legit. The others? Not so much. But here lies the problem, it's all rather subjective isn't it? The person in charge of your application at the trademark office is the one deciding if it gets trademarked or not. What if they're having a bad day? Or a good day? Or they hate whatever it is you're trying to trademark? 

There's actually a person who trademarked the phrase "boy mom." Yes, I'm serious and as a boy mom, I'm bewildered as to WHY a person would do such a thing? Are you really trying to corner the market on "boy mom" merch? Phooey. I'll go to an online pay on demand print shop and design whatever I want myself so thanks but no thanks.

So, Reds and Readers, how do we feel about this trademark trend? Yay or nay or what the heck?