Lucy is Borrowing Bits from Life #amwriting

Lucy and John Mallory Square sunset

 LUCY BURDETTE: I am feeling my way through the 15th Key West mystery, hoping to scribble most of the story on the pages before we drive north for the summer. As always, there have been distractions. Two weeks ago, we had our kids and grandkids visiting—there wasn't much work getting done! But even when not actually writing, I’m always watching and listening, looking for interesting bits of real life to weave into my books. One night we planned to have dinner near Mallory Square at sunset, where the inciting event of the 15th book, an explosion on a boat, occurs.  I took my granddaughter Thea over to see the square while we were waiting for our food. One of the acrobat/performers was there and I introduced him to Thea. Later, he chose her to help him with his act—and that became a snippet of the background in this chapter.

In the scene below, Hayley and her mother return to Mallory Square the day after the explosion, trying to figure out what happened. It's important because not only were they on the ill-fated boat, but they’d also hoped the cruise would bring a boost to their reputations and business. Worst of all, they’ve also just learned that someone on that boat died. They visit their friend, Lorenzo, the tarot card reader, but also talk with a pair of acrobat/jugglers who had been performing that night. 

Tobin and his partner, David, wearing their trademark bright red pants, black shirts, and black shoes, were finishing up their performance. This time they’d included a little girl in pink leggings and a blue shirt with hearts—she stood in the center of the ring holding up giant knives, while the crowd around her chanted “Thea, Thea, Thea!” When he was finished, Tobin thanked her for her assistance and tucked a ten-dollar bill into her fist. Then he thanked the spectators and encouraged them to drop tips into a glass jar. He was drenched with sweat, and looked tired but wound up, too. He was much like Lorenzo in that his work took a lot of concentration and energy, though Lorenzo’s was more mental and Tobin’s physical. 

We waited to approach him until the last of his admirers—the smiling girl who was now holding her father’s hand—moved away. I introduced my mother and explained that we had been on the boat that had blown up the night before. 

The cheery smile fell from his face. “Sorry to hear that, hope you’re okay.”

“Pretty much, just a few post-calamity jitters.” We all laughed, a bit hysterically in my case. “I know it’s unlikely, because you were working hard, but I wondered if you might have seen anything unexpected in the water or on a nearby boat before the fire started and all those emergency vehicles arrived? Apparently, the police haven’t yet come to a conclusion about what caused the accident.” If it was one, I thought but did not say.

Tobin absorbed my question carefully, rasping his knuckles over the stubble on his chin. This made me wonder whether he had pre-game rituals, such as eating certain food or not shaving until after a performance, like some professional athletes did.

 “You’ve probably reviewed all of this with the authorities,” my mother added, “but might it be helpful to talk about what you noticed before the incident occurred?”

He nodded at her. “We were in the middle of one of our shows when all the shouting started and we the heard the boom. A precarious point,” he added, with a small grin, “because I remember bobbling a little on the ladder. I was upside down at that moment, balanced on my partner’s shoulders. Everything looks different from that perspective.”

“Can’t imagine,” my mother murmured, nodding with encouragement.

“Nothing out of the ordinary sticks out that I can think of. It was a pretty good crowd for this time of year. And we’d snagged the cutest kid to help with our act. That always helps with tips.” He winked. “It looked like smooth sailing on the Gulf; I saw nothing that would have caused me to predict trouble. Oh.” He stopped for a minute and rubbed his chin again.

“It’s possible someone dropped off the edge of that boat and swam to a nearby dinghy. It didn’t register at the time, and maybe I’m making the whole thing up, but it’s possible that it happened this way.”

So that’s tiniest bit of real life worked into the story—it amuses me and I hope it amuses the folks I include as well. Have you noticed real life details in the fiction you read?

Lucy Burdette Launches FATAL RESERVATIONS

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: We love it that you share these moments with us.  Here at Jungle Red, there's a special reverence for days like today. Launch day. The day the rest of the world gets to read what we've created, agonized over, celebrated, wondered about, embraced--the book that's the very very best writing we can do. The book we offer you, our readers, saying--"Hey, this is a good story! And I am crossing fingers you love it, too. And I gave it everything I had!"

So today is the big day for our darling Lucy Burdette and her brand new fabulous FATAL RESERVATIONS! We are cheering, we are crying with joy, we are celebrating.  We are so  thrilled--and here she is to tell all--with a message especially for you. (And then, Jungle Red is offering a special prize!)


LUCY BURDETTE: A few weeks ago, I had lunch and went walking with a dear friend whom I hadn't seen in a while. She remarked how much my life has changed since we first met–back when I was a psychologist and an avid tennis player. And well before writing fiction was even a glimmer in my eye…

And she's right, my life has changed. It is rich with writing friends who console me on the agonies of the business and celebrate the ecstasies. And it's rich with people I’ve never met who read my books and are kind enough to write about their reactions. And rich with my new friends in Key West, both real and imaginary. My neighbor describes this series as a love letter to the island. And she's right, too!

So on the birthday of the sixth book in the Key West series, the most important thing I want to say is THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, thanks to every single friend, reader, librarian, writer, bookseller!

On to the events of the day: FATAL RESERVATIONS, the sixth book in the Key West series is in bookstores today. You heard during our last “What We’re Writing” week that Hayley Snow’s great friend Lorenzo has been accused of murder. Then he disappears, leaving his new kitten with Hayley and Miss Gloria. And that only makes him look more guilty. So Hayley plunges in, trying to discover the secret he’s hiding.

You know by now that I can’t seem to help weaving real details into my stories. I’ll tell you about a few…

While I was writing this book, I saw this tattooed on a young man's arm in the Miami airport: I used to disregard regret, but there are some things I can't forget. I was so taken by the words, I had to ask him about it. He said it was a line from a song. 

Of course I Googled it when I got home, and learned it’s from a song called NO WORDS, written and performed by MAKE DO AND MEND, a band I'd never heard of. I wrote the songwriter for permission to use that line and it’s become one of my Favorite Clues Ever.

photo by Carol Tedesco

And there was the matter of the cemetery burglar in Key West. Over the period of a year or more, again while I was writing this book, a series of unsolved, nighttime burglaries plagued the town, scaring the residents who lived in homes around the cemetery and baffling the police. The cemetery is a beautiful, spooky, historic place—a perfect mystery setting. I decided that Hayley’s houseboat-mate, Miss Gloria, would take a job as a cemetery tour guide so that she and Hayley would have reason to visit more than once. And that way I was able to echo the real suspense of the cemetery burglar in my fictional mystery. 


And the food…yellow cake with raspberry cream cheese frosting, blue cornmeal pancakes, walnut-spinach pesto, nocciolato fudge...it's a good thing I don't gain weight just by writing about these things. (Nor will you gain by reading!)

And finally, I can’t help leaving you with one of my favorite cameo characters, Snorkel the Pig. I love this guy--he's one of the street performers at Mallory Square. Here he is, performing in his full glory! He doesn't do much more than this in the story, but really, should he have to?

Thanks again to each and every one of you! FATAL RESERVATIONS can be found wherever books are sold!

HANK: Want to win a book?  Just comment and say: I want Fatal Reservations!  and…well, you'll have to take care of that yourself. But one lucky winner will win any other Jungle Red authors' book of choice. Any of our books, you name it. Even the ARC of WHAT YOU SEE.  Let's celebrate Lucy and FATAL RESERVATIONS!