Tuscan flora, fauna, food, wine... and a cat on a leash

HALLIE EPHRON: A little more about my trip to Tuscany. The landscape, the flora, fauna, the food...

The vistas are spectacular. Just what you've come to expect from the art work and movies that feature the region. Fields of olive trees and vineyards stretching to the horizon, dotted with cypress trees and pink-stone buildings with terra-cotta tile roofs. 

Here's one of those roofs, close up from our hotel window.

I think those flowers (like miniature daisies) might be pink because of the color of the terra cotta tiles (like flamingos are pink because of the shrimp they eat.)

Lizards make their homes in the stone foundations.

There were flowers everywhere. Like us in New England they'd had a cool wet spring and now, with the sun shining, flowers were bursting open. Brilliant red poppies. Irises so hardy they were growing out of stone walls.  Flowering yellow broom. Amazing fragrant roses.

Birds! We were not disappointed. Here's a European Redstart, a new one for me. And a saucy European Blackbird, who struts about the lawn looking for grubs. It's got an orange eye ring, orange beak, orange feet, and a very loud and distinctive call.

Gelato! Every town has at least one gelateria and it's always delicious. This one is in San Gimignano -- Gelateria Dondoli -- which was actually named #1 in the world. I had a cup with lychee/rose and passion fruit. Sublime.

There are cats (and dogs) everywhere. This one seemed perfectly content to be walked on a leash, wearing a necktie, at the weekly farmer's market in Castellini in Chianti.

Art! Most of it's in the churches and the treasures are from the middle ages when Florence and Venice were arch enemies and competed in every venue. Here's a fresco in the main church in San Gimignano, demonstrating in graphic detail what awaits you if you misbehave.

And of course, the food and wine. Chianti Classico is the prince of wines in this region. We drank many glasses and I wish we'd brought home a bottle or two. 

They also make a rose, and there's a lovely white wine, Vernaccia, from San Gimignano. 

The antipasti tables are bounteous, the pasta sublime, and Tuscan steak, Oh my! One night four of us shared a T-bone steak, grilled and served rare with fried potatoes. 

Alora... we will be going back to Italy.

And a reminder, if you're interested in a week-long workshop next year with Ann Cleeves, visit Minerva Education.

Hallie's back from Tuscany

HALLIEEPHRON: I’m just back from a ten days in Tuscany, teaching a writing workshop for MINERVA EDUCATION. Rhys taught there last year.

Here's me arriving at the Florence airport and being met by... just kidding, though I am at the airport.

Seriously, it’s a rare gift to get to work with a small group of writers long enough to really understand the book they’re trying to write, help them grapple with their story, and see the revisions they’re capable of. This group completely blew me away. I look forward to hosting on Jungle Red each of them on Jungle Red when they publish their books.

Here are some of a few of my take-aways:

- Alora... this is my new favorite word. Italians use it to preface just about anything they're telling you. I think it's equivalent to "So..." which is my favorite crutch word. Saying it, they stretch out the middle syllable (alorrrrra). 

- Opening scenes are brutally difficult to write. There’s so much to establish (characters, setting, situation) for the rest of the novel to work, and yet… you have to capture the reader’s attention without bogging them down with information.

- Arcs are elusive. They're what presented these writers with the biggest challenge. It’s one thing to write a great sentence of paragraph or page. It’s the arcs that kill you—the changes that take place, the before/after. Related to this is the realization that “The king died and the queen died” is not a plot; “The king died and the queen died of grief” is. (Per E. M. Forster)

Every novel needs one major and several minor overarching arcs that stretch from beginning to end. Ever scene needs one. Every main character needs one. If you know what they are when you set out to write, then you’re lucky. For most of us it’s a voyage of (painful, laborious) discovery that involves writing and rewriting and rewriting again. I felt as if in the week we worked together, these writers found their arcs.

- Uniqueness is every writer's gift. Every writer’s story is uniquely their own, even when they’re writing fiction. In this group, if you spent 10 minutes with each of the writers and then read their pages, you’d have no trouble matching the person to the work. It’s what makes their work so special but it also makes it harder to “murder your darlings.” Every single writer in this group was up to that task.

- It’s easier to critique than it is to write. ‘Nuff said.

MINERVAEDUCATION is the 6-year-old brain child of Pier Raimondo Baldini and Cajsa Baldini. They’re both professors at Arizona State University. They are charming, amazing organizers and lovers of good writing. The workshops are based in the absolutely gorgeous Hotel Colle Etrusco Salivolpi (a so called agriturismo, a converted ancient farm house). We worked most days on this porch overlooking vineyards, an Etruscan tomb, and a valley that stretched to the horizon.

The hotel is walking distance from the delightful Castellina in Chianti, with charming restaurants, churches, shops and services. We made regular pilgrimages for gelati and leather goods. Meals most nights were at a restaurant just up the road where we all fell in love with pici al cacio e pepe—fat spaghetti-like local pasta that’s rolled by hand and perfectly coated with cheese and pepper. Simple. Delicious. It's what Italian food is all about.

Alora... next year, Cajsa and Piero have lined up Ann Cleeves to instruct. All I can say is, count your pennies and if you possibly can, sign up and sign up early. When they say small group they mean small.

Have you treated yourself to a working vacation? Where did you go and, looking back, what was your before/after arc?

2019 Summer writing workshop in Tuscany with Hallie

HALLIE EPHRON: I was so jealous (but so well behaved that I didn’t show it) when Rhys told us all about her amazing ten days as writer in residence teaching a writing workshop for Minerva Education in Tuscany. 

This summer, it’s my turn (May 29-June 27)! 

I'm calling my workshop “From Inspiration to Book." It's being held at Hotel Colle Etrusco Salivolpi (a so-called agriturismo, a converted ancient farm house, remodeled with every modern comfort.) Its grounds go back to Etruscan times. The hotel is within walking distance from the center of town with its charming restaurants, churches, shops and services. And within easy striking distance of Florence, Siena, and Arezzo.

I’m so excited for two reasons… make that three.

1. First, I have several writing friends who’ve raved about their experiences with Minerva Education and its leaders, the husband-and-wife team of Pier Raimondo Baldini (he grew up in Florence) and Cajsi Baldini, professors at Arizona State University. The hotel is reputedly fabulous, ditto the food.

2. The opportunity to work intensively for more than a few days with a small group of writers will be a rare luxury. Not just TEACHING but getting to work on the writing in the most collaborative way. Time to write. Time to REVISE! Time to share and learn what works best for that writer.

I want to use some of the time to explore something I heard Walter Mosley say: 

“Story is what happened; plot is the order in which it’s revealed to the reader.” 

I immediately wrote that down and have been thinking about it ever since. To me, this is directly related to character-driven plotting--the thing that separates workmanlike novels from memorable ones. And it speaks to the reasons why mystery novels, in particular, are so challenging to write. Can't wait to unravel it.

3. TUSCANY! A few years ago I spent a week there and have wanted to get back for an even more extended visit. I remember vividly the rolling landscapes, fields and vineyards, roads lined with tall Cypress trees. Beautiful weather. Birds (we saw hoopoes!) Sublime food... Bruschetta that started most meals, toast topped with fresh tomato and basil. Fresh made pasta like nothing I’d ever eaten (I went home and bought a pasta maker). Cinghiale, Tuscan wild boar (photo: Wikimedia: Valentin Panzirsch) which we tried not to run into while walking in the woods but relished in rich a Bolognese-y pasta sauce. Wine: Brunello di Montalcino! Be still my beating heart!

Did I mention the cheeses? The gorgeous affordable leather goods? (I’ll bring an extra suitcase.) The town squares. The churches. The art and history. The panoramas…

I’m going back! Join me! For the writing, for the WRITERs, for the food, wine, leather, and wild boar.

Do you have memories of Tuscany? Italy? Here are memories from MY memory book... we'll be making new ones to follow!

 

***

Hallie Ephron will be teaching a 2019 summer writing workshop in Tuscany.

She will be writer-in-residence offering a personalized, intensive writing workshop (“From Inspiration to Book”) 5/29-6/7/2019 near Castellini in Chianti. For writers who are just getting started as well as mid-level writers who are already experienced and accomplished. Register now and enjoy this incredible experience in Tuscany and propel your own writing to the next level. More information at www.minervaeducation.net or email Hallie at Hallie@HallieEphron.com.

Living The Tuscan Child

RHYS BOWEN: Every time I give a talk I am asked about my research. How do I research long ago and faraway places? Well, during the next two days I'll show you some of my research from this year's book and next year's upcoming book.

Whenever I can I try to go to the physical place. I can read every book on Tuscany, visit museums, look at photographs but nothing give me the real essence of the place like walking down a narrow cobbled street, listening to raised voices, a radio, a baby crying.. with the smell of garlic and baking bread and the sound of pigeons cooing under the tiles of the roof. And when I'm in a place I'm always finding things that surprise me, small things that will play a big part in my book.

So I'm sharing with you some of my photos that became parts of The Tuscan Child.
This is the hill town of Castellina in Chianti, where I have taught my writer's workshop twice now. I wanted to set The Tuscan Child here but I found out that the allies had recaptured this part of Tuscany in the month I wanted to set the story. So I had to move it further north and find a setting that exactly mirrored it. Not an easy task and several days of staring at Google Earth!

But here is my inspiration for San Salvatore in my book:

And this is the town square where Joanna is invited to join a group of men for a drink when she arrives in the area:

And is directed to Paola's farmhouse through a rather spooky tunnel cut in the side of the hill (old defenses. 

And ahead of her she catches a glimpse of Paola's farm:

And arrives at the farmhouse: (which now just happened to be our hotel, nicely modernized inside)

So you can see how a story took shape just from wandering around a small town and seeing what it had to offer and where it spoke to me. And of course I had to learn about the food as well....

So Reds, how do you form your stories from your research?

Tuscan Delights

RHYS BOWEN: Because I've been eating lots of good Tuscan food, I thought I should share the bounty and little and give you two of my favorite recipes:

Buon Appetito!

Why We Teach

RHYS BOWEN: As you are reading this I'm sitting outside an old farmhouse in Tuscany, amid the olive groves and vineyards and I am teaching a writing workshop I've called Novel In A Week. No, I don't expect them to write a novel in a week. The aim is to take an idea they have for a novel, an idea they haven't dared to tackle, or to take a stalled novel and give them the tools to structure it, to give them the bones to build upon so that they can go home and say "Now I see where I have to go."

Too often a beginning novelist has a brilliant idea but gets bogged down  in the middle of exposition and gives up in despair. So I'm looking forward to helping a group of writers turn their dreams into reality.

Someone at Malice asked me why I teach. Aren't my books now bestsellers? The answer is yes. I don't need the money, and in fact a lot the teaching I do hardly pays for my transportation. I teach because I enjoy sharing what I've learned. I guess it must be in the blood. I had a great aunt who was a teacher, my mother became a school principal, my aunt was a teacher and two of my children have been teachers. I have also run a pre-school and taught college--the broadest spectrum of teaching.
Of these I found the college writing classes I taught were challenging, stimulating and really beneficial to me. When I had to stop and think why a particular aspect of a story worked or did not work it gave me insights into my own writing.

Now I find that every time I teach a course I learn something. I am energized and can approach my own writing with enthusiasm. And I find it exciting when I see a new writer who has great potential. I've been on the faculty at the Book Passage writers conference for several years and at least two of my protegees have been published. One is my now good friend Susan Shea! I read her first three chapters and told her that her book actually began on page 19! She sold it!

So, dear Reds and Readers, how about you? I know Hallie and Hank teach all the time. How about the rest of you? Do you teach and if so why? Any experiences to share?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I taught for several semesters at the University of Southern Maine's creative writing MFA program, called the Stonecoast Program (after a spectacular Victorian-era stone house that has sadly been sold off.) And I've taught a number of quick two-hour seminars. I very much enjoy it, for much the same reason as you describe, Rhys - it helps me focus on the underpinnings of my own work when I have to dissect it (and other fiction) for my students.

There's also a great joy in helping someone find his or her voice and seeing them become a better writer. I believe there are some aspects to fiction writing that can't be taught, per se - for instance, you either have a writer's imagination, or you don't. But there is an enormous amount of technique and clarification that can be passed down, and we're all the better for participating in that process.

LUCY BURDETTE: Darn, I wish I was going to Tuscany! I have 2 books that are stalled, and that sounds like heaven. I don't teach as much as some of you others, but I agree, it always helps me see things in a new way. And it's so much fun to watch someone take a leap forward after getting feedback on their work. I have some very clear memories of classes and workshops I took as I was learning to write. Some of them nearly discouraged me completely, while others provided just the fuel and excitement I needed to forge ahead. I try to do the latter, always!

HALLIE EPHRON: As I write this I'm teaching at Pennwriters. There are two writers here whom Lucy and I taught at our own writing retreat (Ramona Defelice Long and Kimberly Kurth Gray. And other writers I've met at Crime Bake and Writers Digest conferences. And it's always a thrill to hear about their success. Teaching is FUN. And I never get teacher's block.

INGRID THOFT: I love teaching and find that it is a wonderful counterpoint to my own writing.  I think it’s essential for writers to, every so often, get up from their desks and interact with other readers and writers.  My goal when teaching is to get people reengaged with their work if the spark is gone and to also give them practical tools to get the story onto the page.  In December, I volunteered with a second/third grade class to help them write bedtime stories—in my pajamas!  It was a hoot and so gratifying to see kids excited about stories and language.  I’m inspired by the passion and enthusiasm of my students, whether they’re in elementary school or retired or somewhere in between.

JENN McKINLAY: I've taught workshops, mostly, at libraries and senior centers, and a few conferences. Usually, I am trying to kick start the people who want to write a book but don't know where to start. I find I'm mostly teaching them how to get out of their own way. Don't get hung up on selling the book before you write the book, don't sweat the font size. I like to say, "'I love your Fifty Shades of Girl with a Twilight Tattoo, but I'm passing on it because you used the wrong font,' said no editor ever." LOL. The hardest thing about deciding to be a writer is that you have to actually get your butt in the chair and write the book. It's always very rewarding to see students who get it. It reaffirms my own work ethic every time.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It is the joy of my life. And yes, I do it often, and with much delight.  When I think of how much I had to learn, and keep learning every day, and how many things I wish someone had told me..ah. And sometimes you see it, you know? That spark of recognition of the bit of advice or guidance that connects, and maybe changes a life--or a book at least. It is incredibly gratifying. Paula Munier and I just taught an intense, intensive and totally immersive weekend seminar on Cape Cod for WritersDigest. It was exhausting and exhilarating, and none of our lives will ever be the same. My goal is to have a "student" be at their computer, one day after the class--and say to themself: "Oh! That's what Hank meant!" And I always learn something when I teach.  SO rewarding.

DEBORAH CROMBIE:: I don't teach as much as some of you. I do enjoy it, but I enjoy being a student even more. My favorite part of going to writers conferences is the opportunity to listen to other writers and absorb their insights. I always come back full of ideas that I want to apply to my own books. I would absolutely LOVE to be in Rhys's class in Tuscany right now. I'm sure I would work out all my plot problems while eating delicious Italian food--and that it would be cooler than Texas.  Rhys, your students are so lucky!


RHYS: I was always told Those who can do, those who can't teach..Clearly this is not the case. Here we are.. eight well known, well respected writers and teaching is something we enjoy and look forward to. So do share your experiences: for the writers among us, do you enjoy teaching or have you taken workshops that have been an inspiration, changed the way you think about your writing?

Who teaches other subjects? What does it mean to you?

Rhys Celebrates Publication of The Tuscan Child

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm so happy today to host our dear Jungle Red Rhys Bowen's new book, THE TUSCAN CHILD, out today! I was privileged to read an early copy and I can tell you you're in for a treat--and that you'll also spend most of the book hungry! Here's Rhys to tell you more about the book and about her adventures in Tuscany. Research is hell, right?

Happy book birthday, dear Rhys!!!


RHYS BOWEN: We authors really suffer for our craft, you know! When I decided I wanted to write the Tuscan Child, of course I had to go to Tuscany to do the research. (I hear your groans). Luckily I was invited to teach a workshop in a Tuscan hill town so I went there knowing that I wanted to be a sponge while I was there and observe everything, taste everything, take in everything.

First there were the sights: the views across the countryside, the misty mornings, the abundance of poppies blooming in the fields.





There enticing alleyways and arches, old men drinking in the square, their loud voices echoing from high buildings as they argued.

  

Then there was the food: the fruit and vegetables in the market, the local pastas, the rabbit ragu and the desserts!!! Half a lemon stuffed with lemon sorbet or the panna cotta, the rich vin santo with biscotti to dip in it.  You can imagine how I threw myself into this research with enthusiasm, can't you?

We worked hard at our workshop every day but in the evenings there were wine tastings, balsamic vinegar tastings, and visits to Etruscan tombs, to Sienna. We witnessed the Corpus Christi procession around the town, led by the town band. 




 And I had my water colors and sketch book with me to jot down some personal memories.

So when I started to write the book, the town was still so clear in my mind. I have relived the taste of those meals as I wrote the book (eating Tuscan food vicariously contains no calories) 

 Here is one of the simple recipes. You can also top the bruschetta with many other things: liver pate/mushrooms/ tapenade/braised fennel and pecarino cheese... the choice is endless.

Tomato Bruschetta

Serves: 12

INGREDIENTS

• 8 chopped ripe roma (plum) tomatoes
• 5 leaves chopped fresh basil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 pinch of dried oregano
• 1 dash of crushed red pepper
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 2-3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 loaf of Italian-style (or French) bread, cut into diagonal slices

1. In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic, oregano, red pepper, salt, pepper and olive oil. Use more olive oil, if necessary, to coat the entire mixture. Allow the mixture to sit for 10-15 minutes for flavors to blend.
2. In the meantime, preheat the broiler. On a baking sheet, arrange the slices of bread in a single layer and brown both sides slightly in the oven. Remove the slices from the oven.
3. Spread the tomato mixture on the still warm toasted bread slices and serve.

 And I have been invited to teach that same workshop in Tuscany this summer. If you are reading this and have a novel you would love to jump-start or complete, I believe there are still one or two slots still open.  Details are at www.minervaeducation.net.

THE TUSCAN CHILD is a sweeping story set in two time periods. In winter 1944 a British pilot has to bail out of his stricken plane over Tuscany. Badly wounded, he lands in an olive grove and is hidden in a bombed monastery by a local woman. In 1973 his estranged daughter is going through his things after his sudden death and finds a letter that was never delivered. It is a love letter to an Italian woman and contains a dark secret. Her journey to Tuscany to discover the truth of what happened in that hill town during WWII may prove more dangerous than she believed possible.

RHYS will give away a signed copy of The Tuscan Child to one lucky commenter today. 

The Accidental Expert

RHYS BOWEN: The Accidental Expert

I was watching PBS a while ago when they showed two subsequent programs, one on Coco Chanel and one on Paris in the early 1900s. And I found myself adding my comments and corrections out loud to both programs because I knew more than they were telling. I wouldn’t have said I’m an expert on modern art or on Chanel, but it seems I have become one because they were both featured in my books. Coco Chanel played a role in my Royal Spyness book called Naughty in Nice and post-Impressionist Paris is the focus of my Molly Murphy book called City of Darkness and Light.

                Since I write historical novels it’s become very important to me to get everything right. After all my books take place in the first half of the Twentieth Century—there were newspapers for every day. There were photographs of every scene I need to describe. There were newsreels featuring famous people. So I have no excuse for getting anything wrong.

              

  I don’t know about you but if I find one detail that I know to be wrong in a book, that entire story loses validity for me. I no longer believe in those characters.  I have recently been asked to blurb books in which significant details about London or life in the early 1900s were wrong. A train from Yorkshire came into Victoria Station! I dropped the book hurriedly!

  I think it’s up to the writer to do her  homework properly and thoroughly, to make sure all the little details are right. For Molly Murphy, where the books are usually set in New York, this involves walking the streets Molly walked, noticing what she would have seen—is the Brooklyn Bridge visible from here? Have the leaves fallen from the trees in Washington Square in late October?  I have also acquired a large collection of photographs from the time and I can check what was on the billboard or what was the name above the tailor’s shop on a particular street. Not necessary maybe, but satisfying.

I love it when I get letters from people who grew up in New York City thanking me for bringing their childhood memories back to life. One woman said that she was born in Greenwich Village, as were her mother and grandmother and her grandmother used to buy bread at the same bakery on Greenwich Avenue as my characters. That made me feel really good--that all that research was worth it!

                What a wonderful extra bonus, as well as writing a story I enjoy, I am delving into areas I would never have explored… becoming an accidental expert.

                This has happened throughout my life. My husband became a sales manager of Air India. Suddenly we were called upon to host important Indians, give talks on India, even lead trips to India. We went there several times, covering the whole country from Kashmir down to Kerala.  We were patrons of an Indian dance school. We cooked Indian food. And all this was accidental. If he had instead taken a job with Air Finland I’d know all about reindeer and saunas.

                When I wrote In Farleigh Field I read numerous books on World War II, autobiographical accounts of working for M.I.5 and at Bletchley Park. Then I went to Bletchley Park and nosed around, asking questions.  When I write about the royal family in my Royal Spyness books I try to make them as accurate as possible so that anything they say is an opinion I know they actually expressed. I’ve read all the biographies. Been to all the palaces. You might say it’s fiction and it doesn’t matter, but it does.

                So a word of warning to writers: if you put something in your books you will be assumed to be an expert. If your sleuth breeds llamas, you will be asked to judge llama shows. If she bakes cupcakes (Jenn McKinlay) you will be asked for recipes. So don’t give your characters any skills or interests you’d absolutely hate in real life.  You will have to do a lot of reading and study, to make sure everything is right, because somewhere, someone in the world who is an expert on llamas or spinning will write to you and tell you what you have wrong!

                My latest research has been on Tuscany. I’ve set a book there, partly in WWII, partly later. I've just seen the cover: isn't it fab?

 I knew I wanted to write this book so I studied every detail from the making of olive oil to the mummified body of a saint in the church, to the parade on Corpus Christi Sunday  (which comes in the book).  And of course I had to study the food and wine in depth. In the name of research, you know.  We suffer for our art!  But the point is that settings only come to life through the little things—the smell of bread baking, the sound of a voice singing from an upstairs window, the scent of a particular flower on the breeze.  Now I’m itching to go back again. That vin santo was awfully good…. And my wish is to be granted. Next summer I ve been asked to repeat the writer's workshop in the Chianti region. Who wants to join me?  Details on my website:

So Reds—in what areas have you become accidental experts?

May Day!

RHYS BOWEN: I was thinking about what to post today when I looked at the date and realized it was May Day. May Day doesn't mean much to most of us in America but when I was growing up it was a big thing in some English villages. I remember learning to dance around the maypole at my elementary school. It's not easy to make sure those ribbons don't get tangled up! And we crowned the Queen of the May.

 I was once in Padstow, Cornwall on May Day and they have the tradition of the hobby horse, or 'Obby 'Oss as it's called there. This sounds delightful but it's actually quite scary: a big black, round creature wearing a mask and pointed hat, and it's followed from house to house by a group of young dancers and musicians, all dressed in a red or blue bandanna. There are actually two 'Osses, the red horse and the blue horse and they cover different parts of the town.

The whole town is decked with flags and flowers. Only families who have lived in the town for two generations can participate. As it approaches each house there is some kind of ritual and everyone sings a song. It starts like this:
Unite and unite and let us all unite,
For summer is acome unto day,
And whither we are going we will all unite,
In the merry morning of May.
Arise up Mr. ..... I know you well afine,
For summer is acome unto day,
You have a shilling in your purse and I wish it were in mine,
In the merry morning of May.
All out of your beds,
For summer is acome unto day,
Your chamber shall be strewed with the white rose and the red
In the merry morning of May.
It didn't actually sound like that. Quite disturbing, actually.  It sounded pagan and primitive almost in a language I didn't understand. And of course it is a continuation of an old Celtic festival. Beltane.

I"ve been to other festivals in May. In Helston, Cornwall, they have the floral dance, or flurrie dance. All the villagers form a chain and dance in and out of the houses in the town. I presume, like the hobby horse, to bring good luck or good crops or a good summer.

I've been in Tuscany and Umbria in May. In Orvieto at Pentecost there is a medieval procession and band and a cage comes zinging down a wire across the main square to the cathedral where it explodes in a mass of fireworks. A man climbs up to retrieve the little cage and we were horrified to find it contained a live dove which was then presented to the archbishop. A symbol of the holy spirit.
In Gubbio teams of men race up a mountain with forty foot wooden candles on their shoulders to a special chapel. In Cortona we witnessed a crossbow competition complete with medieval pagentry.
I should point out that none of the above were done for tourists, in fact in Cortona there were hardly any outsiders. They are all carrying on local tradition.

This is one thing I miss in America. I don't know about you New Englanders, but here in California there are few festivals. We have a couple of parades on July 4. The big Chinese New Year parade in San Francisco. St. Patricks Day in San Francisco, oh, and Carnival and Gay Pride. But local traditions don't exist. In England and Europe you will find quirky little festivals throughout the year. The pancake race, the rolling cheeses down the hill race, the procession of First Communion children on Corpus Christi, the blessing of the harvest. On the Continent they are often linked to saints' days or religious celebrations. In England mostly to village lore. But the good thing is that everyone participates wholeheartedly. It's a reaffirming of hundreds of years of culture. And I miss them.

So, Reds and Readers, are there any festivals near you? Did they ever celebrate May Day when you were growing up?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I agree, Rhys, that England has so many wonderful and quirky little celebrations. May Day and harvest festivals and cider festivals, and there is always that little spine-tingle of the pagan mixed in. I love Boxing Day, too, and what about the Scottish celebration of Hogmanay? Americans are sadly lacking, I fear, although most towns smaller towns in our part of the country make a big deal of the 4th of July, with parades and ice-cream competitions and chili cook-offs. Cinco de Mayo is a big deal in most parts of Texas, too.

JENN MCKINLAY: Rhys, I do remember making May Day baskets and leaving them on neighbor's front doors. It was so much fun to ring the bell or knock and run to hide behind a nearby tree and watch my mom or Mrs. Graham, my favorite neighbor, open the door and smile at the clump of wildflowers my brother and I had smashed into a paper doily cone fitted with a fuzzy pipe cleaner handle. At the time I thought they were spectacular displays but I'm guessing they were probably more enthusiastic than pretty. In Phoenix-Scottsdale, we have a lot of festivals that celebrate everything from Dia de los Muertos to the famous Parada del Sol horse parade to the annual Native American hoop dancing competition. I often hear that the desert has no culture. I couldn't disagree more. Our culture is a multicultural appreciation of our ethnic diversity and it is fabulous.

HALLIE EPHRON: No May Day festivals here... soon, though, Strawberry festivals when Strawberries come in.

When I was in elementary school we had a May Day school-wide dance performance, each grade doing a different dance, and sixth graders got to dance around the May Pole, weaving the ribbons over and under and over and under. I loved it so much.

Fourth of July is the big deal here in Boston, and worth a special trip if you can tolerate crowds.

INGRID THOFT: One of the things that I love about “Midsomer Murders” is that there’s often a fete going on in the village that somehow ties into the mystery.  As a result, DCI Barnaby has an extremely high fete attendance rate.

One festival that I hadn’t known of before we moved to Seattle is Hempfest.  Every August, a beautiful park on the Sound is taken over for all things hemp.  The official mission is to “educate the public on the myriad benefits offered by the cannabis plant.”  That may be, but the scent of marijuana emanates from that corner of the city for the whole weekend (not that different from Seattle these days).  The festival itself doesn’t bother me, but I’m always sad that our beautiful park gets trampled, only to regrow and be trampled anew the next August.  “You kids get off my lawn!”

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  May celebrations? You know, in TV, May is the big ratings month. It's called "the book. (That has a lot of subtext in our novel-world, but it means the May Ratings Book. And nothing about that my novel is also due May 1.) Anyway. The ratings the station gets in May set the ad rates for months to come. So for the last forty years, every May, I work every minute of every day on my TV stories to make them irresistible to viewers. Is it nice weather? I have no idea. I am big on celebrating June. The festival of "the rating book is over."
But! Our tulips are life-affirmingly wonderful.

LUCY BURDETTE: Oh Jenn, we used to make those May Day baskets too, in New Jersey. I have no idea how that tradition started! If you want festivals and events, you must come to Key West. Honestly, there is something happening every single week! This week as we left, the town was celebrating Conch Republic days, to commemorate the time the town decided to secede from the US in 1982. This happened because the US Border Patrol had set up a check point in Florida City to inspect all traffic going on and off the islands. (Hmmm, this is starting to sound familiar!)

You can read more about it here: https://conchrepublic.com/our-history/our-beginning/

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: : I seem to recall those May Day baskets, but I don't know if I actually participated as a child or just heard about the tradition. My children, now, all of whom went to parochial school in their early years, have many memories of May Day, which is still a BIG thing in Catholic elementary schools. There was a parade, and a couple of kids (presumably the most well-behaved that week) took a floral wreath and crowned a large statue of Our Lady. They sang, as I recall, "Bring Flowers of the Fairest" - "O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May."

Of course, the Marian devotion is, as Debs and Rhys notes, the Christianized version of the ancient Beltane celebrations of fertility and abundance. It's a shame so many places have lost touch with these sorts of traditions that stretch back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. I suppose in a non-agricultural society, we just don't share the joy and gratitude of our ancestors at surviving the winter and returning to the season of warmth and food and light. Although here in New England we get pretty close at times...

RHYS: Oh yes, Julia. My children at Catholic kindergarten had a May procession with the best-behaved girl chosen to crown the statue of Mary. Needless to say none of my kids was ever chosen!__._,_.___

So who else remembers May Day traditions? Or other folksy festivals? And happy May Day everyone! Imagine that the Jungle Red Writers have left a cone of flowers on all your doorsteps!