JENN McKINLAY: Happy Caturday!!! I am so pleased to have the prolific and charming Diane Kelly with us today to tell us all about her latest release BATTEN DOWN THE BELFRY: A House Flipper Mystery.
 |
| BUY NOW! |
Here's Diane to tell us more about how this book came to be:
Diane: Batten Down the Belfry, the fourth book in my House Flipper series, just released on February 22nd. Admittedly, I take some license with the series name given that the rehab in book #3 involved a motel rather than a house, but it’s fun to see an old structure repurposed into something totally new. In this latest release, I’m back to rehabbing a house, though this one is a house of worship—an old, abandoned country church to be precise.
If you’ve ever been to Nashville, Tennessee, you’ve surely heard of, and likely visited, the famous Ryman Auditorium. The building was erected by steamboat captain Thomas Ryman way back in 1892. He originally built the place to serve as a church and dubbed it the Union Gospel Tabernacle. When Ryman passed away, the venue, which has near-perfect acoustics, was repurposed as an entertainment venue and renamed the Ryman Auditorium in honor of its founder. An enterprising woman named Lula Naff managed the venue to great success, and it was one of the earliest places in the city to integrate and welcome performing artists of color. The auditorium was also the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.
When I lived in Nashville from 2014 - 2016, I took everyone who came to visit me on a tour of the Ryman. I liked the building’s history, especially the fact that a woman ran it so well for so long, and I also loved the colorful light that streamed through the stained-glass windows. If you’re curious, you can find out more about the Ryman Auditorium here: https://ryman.com/
When I was mulling over options for the flip property for the book, the Ryman Auditorium came to mind. I decided that rehabbing a small church into a mini version of the Ryman would be a lot of fun for my main character, carpenter Whitney Whitaker. She (meaning me) would enjoy coming up with a clever name and design ideas for the space. The little country church with the lovely bell tower evolves throughout the book into the Joyful Noise Playhouse, a live music and theater hall. Of course, there’s a death on site, in the belfry no less, and the only witness is Whitney’s sweet, buff-colored cat Sawdust. If only he could tell her what he’d seen …
Are you a fan of home renovation shows? Have you seen a church that was repurposed into another type of establishment? What’s the most interesting or creative rehab project you’ve come across?
