What We're Writing--Debs is Antiquing!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I have been making progress on Kincaid/James #20, now that things have settled down a bit from all the book launch hoopla (which has all been great fun--and just in case you missed this tidbit, A KILLING OF INNOCENTS debuted at #8 on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller List!) For the new book, I have the bones of the plot, many character names and backstories, and maybe, just maybe, a title. But we will talk about all of that the next time, because this week I have been not writing but shopping--I mean researching--as it is once again time for the spring antiques market in Round Top, Texas!

My daughter and I were lucky enough to snag a room actually in Round Top, which was quite a feat. Situated about halfway between Houston and Austin in the rolling hills of central Texas, Round Top is a one-stoplight cluster of old buildings, many of them built by German immigrants in the late 1800s. Here's our little one-room cottage, dating from about 1890.

Most of the antiques markets are set up in big tents in the fields of surrounding ranches. This is Marburger Farm, the show we buy tickets for.

There are eight of these football field-sized, double-aisled tents at Marburger, along with some smaller tents and buildings.

This is one aisle of one tent, and the variety of STUFF for sale is just astounding. China, glassware, silver, jewelry, clothing, art of all sorts, furniture (lots of really hideous mid-century modern again this year!) Even vintage typewriters.

It was so windy our first day that Kayti and I nearly blew away. We had to literally hold on to our hats and more than once they got away from us.

Hats, by the way, are a must, and not just for sun protection. There is an unspoken fashion code at Round Top, which consists of denim, bandanas, hats, cowboy boots, and LOTS of jewelry, especially turquoise. You cannot over-accessorize in Round Top. Add a flowered dress or skirt to the above and you are rocking it!

I would go just for the people/fashion-watching, and to enjoy a few days of views like this.

And this.

It was wildflower season but, alas, we somehow didn't manage to get any photos of the bluebonnets.

I might, however, have figured out how to have shopper's luck. I said that I had no agenda this year other than to enjoy the trip with my daughter, and that I was definitely not in the market for a quilt.

So I brought home this. (Any quilt experts out there want to guess at dates for the fabrics? It came from a collection in Ohio, and is in mint condition.)

And then there was this little darling.

Last year I looked and looked for a Staffordshire dog to commemorate A KILLING OF INNOCENTS, but couldn't find one that I liked and/or could afford. This year, bingo! Now this guy is adorning my mantle!

I'm hoping this allows me to call the trip research...

REDs and readers, have you ever stopped looking for something, only to have it then fall into your lap? 

What We're Writing--Debs on Decor

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We've been having some fun conversations about building character this week. As writers, we use dialogue and appearance, clothing and mannerisms, but describing a character's environment can also give us clues to a character's makeup. It can also be a lot of fun--and take us down research rabbit holes!

For example, the character in the scene below from A KILLING OF INNOCENTS belongs to a profession from which you'd expect a fair amount of tidiness and reasonably good hygiene, but I imagined that his private life might be quite different, not to mention odd.  I thought he would collect something unexpected and this is what occurred to me:

Kincaid found the light switch and a ceiling fixture threw the room into sharp relief. It took him a moment to sort the visual jumble of too much furniture in too little space, all of it seemingly brown and assembled from flat packs. Two sofas faced each other with a long coffee table squeezed in between. There were piles of newspapers on both, leaving only one clear space where the owner apparently sat. More newspapers were spread across the coffee table, splattered with yellow stains from an empty takeaway container—curry, from the smell.

This, Kincaid had taken in in a glance. It was the rest of the room that held his attention. Cheap book cases filled every available wall space. Their shelves were crammed, not with books, but with pair after pair of china dogs. Two tables on the other side of the room were similarly filled. One dog lay face up on the coffee table, its black painted eyes staring blindly at the ceiling.

“Good god,” breathed Sidana, stepping forward to stand beside him. “What is all this rubbish?”

But Kincaid had moved to the nearest bookcases and was examining the figurines more closely. The paint had faded on many of the dogs. Some were chipped, or cracked and re-glued. The small faces had distinct personalities—even within a pair, there were minute differences. Most were King Charles spaniels, the most common type, but at the end of one shelf Kincaid spied a pair of Dalmatians, rather crudely executed.

Shaking his head, Kincaid turned back to Sidana. “Not rubbish, I don’t think. We have a friend who’s an antiques dealer. I’ve seen similar dogs on his stall once or twice. These are Staffordshire, and I don’t think they’re reproductions. If I’m right, some of them”—he gestured towards the Dalamatians— “are worth a small fortune.”

I knew something about Staffordshire dogs, which were popular in English homes in the first half of the 20th century, but had no idea they were such a thing now! They are indeed very collectible and there are pages and pages of them on Pinterest and Etsy.

But they are also just a bit weird, especially those with the muzzle baskets--they look like little Hannibal Lecters! Perfect for my character!

And then we have something completely different, as Kincaid interviews the first character's neighbor :

He supposed he’d been expecting fussy, or at least cluttered, after the chaos of the downstairs flat. But when he’d knocked, and greeted Wallace the terrier, he was met by something very different indeed.

Light from the street-facing windows filled a sitting room that seemed airy despite its small size. The white walls held a series of bright, contemporary paintings, giving the space a gallery-like feel, and the furniture had been kept neutral so that it didn’t distract from the art. The ceiling was higher than the lower flat, and the kitchen had been opened up to the living area.... 

Kincaid saw that the glass-topped coffee table already held a teapot, two cups, and a plate of biscuits. The teapot and mugs were a deep glossy blue and looked hand thrown. As Kincaid took his cup, he noticed a rather incongruous stack of the Radio Times on the other end of the coffee table.

                                                                        In the Blue Light by Winston Branch

I could see this flat and its paintings so clearly in my imagination, but here's the fun part. I'd decided that this flat's owner was a retired appraiser for the famous auction house Christie's, and when I took a little look at Christie's website, what popped up in their catalogue but absolutely gorgeous paintings by an artist named Winston Branch. I'd never heard of Branch, or seen his work, but his painting were exactly what I'd visualized when I was describing the room.

                                                                                        Sunrise on Bodega Bay by Winston Branch

I love it when art imitates life. I did attribute the paintings to Branch, later in the scene.

Readers, do these little excerpts tell you something about these two characters? 

P.S. For the spoiler-averse, I've snipped out the characters' names.