How Much of Ourselves....

 RHYS BOWEN: one of the great thrills about writing the Venice Sketchbook (apart from going to Venice, strictly for research purposes of course), was that the publisher used one of my own sketches as part of the cover. There it is, inside the dust cover. I know I’ve had many books published and I still get a thrill from seeing them on a bookstore shelves, but this is a special excitement because it’s not my professional skill, but my amateur hobby.

I have always drawn and painted. In my teens I would paint dramatic landscapes with dying trees and red sunsets. As an adult I have taken life drawing and lots of watercolor classes. It’s still a medium I am trying to master.  But my greatest joy is taking my sketchbook when we travel and capturing the places we visit. When I look at those sketches I am taken back to the place where I painted them so much more vividly than a photograph would have done.

It struck me recently that my recent characters have been artists: Hugo in the Tuscan Child went to Florence to study art. Juliet and Caroline in The Venice Sketchbook are both artists. Is this me living vicariously? 

And it got me thinking about what other personal details I have given to my characters: Evan shared my Welsh heritage. I have never been an Irish immigrant or related to the royal family but my series heroines do have some things in common with me: Molly Murphy is feisty with a strong sense of justice--very much like me. Lady Georgie tends to be clumsy when stressed. Again like me. And they both wind up with a roguish Irishman with unruly dark hair. Interesting. My husband is quarter Irish, related to Irish nobility and with the striking features of the Black Irish and was very handsome with dark wavy hair when I first met him.

So how about you, Reds? Have you given your characters any of your skills, talents, hobbies? Have you given them professions you wish you had tried yourself? 

I know that food is important to Lucy and Hallie and that translates to your books. It’s funny but some of my books (The Venice Sketchbook, The Tuscan Child, Above the Bay of Angels) have a heavy focus on food and cooking and I’ve received letters asking for recipes and whether I am a cook. The honest truth is that I love to eat but I really don’t enjoy cooking much.

Julia, did you ever think of becoming an Episcopal priest?

And have you given them any of your own characteristics, strengths or weaknesses?

Confession time!

HALLIE EPHRON: In all of my books there are echoes of me-ness. Absolutely.

Professional organizer Emily in CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR is a former teacher who loved teaching but got burned out by all the testing. That’s completely me. She lives basically where I live, eats what I eat, wears what I wear, and drives what I drive. She’s married to a guy who can’t pass a yard sale without stopping. DING DING DING!

On the other hand, I can’t imagine helping other people get organized since I’ve got my hands full organizing myself.

JENN McKINLAY: What a great question, Rhys! I love that your sketch was included in your book. I do think I give my characters bits and pieces of me. A love of pastry leaps to mind in the cupcake series. Of course, a love of libraries is in the library series. And my love of travel comes out in my rom-coms and my mysteries - Ireland, France, and Italy, in Paris is Always a Good Idea, for example. That is probably the attribute that is found in most of my books that comes from my own wanderlust. Where does Jenn want to go? I wonder if I can sell a romcom set in Japan since that is my next big trip...I hope, I hope, I hope.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Never been called to the priesthood, Rhys, but I am a cradle Episcopalian, and my love for (and sometimes exasperation with) my church is definitely a strong thread in my writing. I feel I went the other way when creating Clare - I tried to make her more of my opposite. She loves coffee, while I drink only tea (but we both use too much sugar.) She’s very physically daring, and I’m not. She cooks as a hobby, while I, now that I no longer have to make meals for five every night, am scarcely touching the oven and rangetop.

When I started writing the series, I was just a few years older than Clare, and I did feel like her in many ways. At this point, I’ve shot well past Russ’s age, and so I’m starting to resemble him a lot more! Next step, I become a senior citizen activist, like his mother.

Oh, and for those who want to know about the sex-on-the-kitchen table scene… I’ll never tell. ;-)

RHYS: Julia, there have been some interesting experimental scenes conducted as research in this household over the years too. My lips are also sealed.

LUCY BURDETTE: You nailed it with the food question, Rhys. I love to eat and talk about food and write about it too. My husband will tell you that it’s Hayley Snow who’s pushed me to be a better cook, rather than the other way around. You may have noticed that there are a lot of pets on Houseboat Row--and that Hayley is devoted to her cat Evinrude. Absolutely true for me too, I have a powerful pet gene inherited from my mother. My two earlier series had a lot of me in them as well. I aspired desperately to be a great golfer, and gave that (and a lot more talent) to Cassie. And Rebecca was a clinical psychologist who attended the Congregational church. All me of course!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: When I started writing Duncan and Gemma, I had a lot of empathy with Gemma's situation. During those early writing years, I went through a divorce, as both Gemma and Duncan had, and was taking care of my daughter, as Gemma was Toby. But I very deliberately wanted Gemma to be more outspoken and confident. (Not to mention taller and thinner…) Since then I've put my characters in places I loved and have lived, like Cheshire and Scotland. I've given them dogs and cats (my animal loving gene) and an interest in food and drink. There is a lot of wish fulfilment--I've written characters who were artists and musicians and professional chefs, all things I would love to be able to do myself! Of course what I really wanted was to be English and live in London, so being able to do that vicariously has been a real gift.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ha. Ha. Nope, the reporters, who are in ALL of my books, are nothing like me. Interesting thing:  when I was writing Prime Time, early early on, main character Charlie had to drive somewhere. I thought, oh, no, she hates driving. ANd my brain said: Are you kidding me? YOU hate driving. Charlie is Charlie. She doesn't have to hate driving. Readers, it was a revelation.  So I allowed Charlie to be a really good driver, and she enjoys it, and that was truly fun. 

But I  also have to say, I consciously make my reporters NOT me.  They do what THEY would do. But being a real-life reporter, I know all the options!

In fact, a character in Her  Perfect Life is SO not me, AT ALL, but I am worried people will think she is. We shall see.

RHYS: So dear friends, who are also writers--do you put parts of yourself into your characters? And dear friends who are readers--do you like to learn from characters' hobbies? Baking recipes? 

What We're Writing? Hank's Say No More! And WHAT YOU SEE!

At the Hopkinton MA library

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Scroll down to win WHAT YOU SEE!
But first: I am SO confused! It’s the best kind of confusion, of course, and I completely embrace it. But I am in the midst of writing my new book (YAY! 50,000 words done. BOO! 50,000 words to go.) and I am even loving it. Sometimes.  So on this “What We’re Writing” week, it would seem logical to reveal a little of that book, titled SAY NO MORE.

But too soon. Toooo soooon! I am still tweaking and changing and getting the story gelled (jelled? gel is for hair, right? But it does hold things in place…) in my head. Every day before I go forward, I go back and move words around. See if I can think of stronger ones.  I ask myself: what did I mean by this? Why do I care about this?  What is this story, SAY NO MORE, really about?

Already Daniel Tarrant’s name has changed to Edward Tarrant, Madeleine Ruggerio’s name has changed to Caroline. (And that’s still not quite right.) One name that won’t change: Willow Galt.

And motivation, motivation. I am consumed with motivation. I am adoring the ever-surprising way the story unfolds, and I’m always thrilled if I can get one good idea a day. I mean, wow. One good idea a day! That would be 365 good ideas a year. Which seems like a lot, right?

I cannot write without this. 

And as Hallie brought up yesterday, the complicated braiding of timelines. My time-charts are less fancy than Hallie’s. Here’s one. Scene by scene, what day, what day in the book, what time, who is in it, how many pages it takes.

To keep track of what happened when and how old characters were, I scrawled this. I can make sense of it, so hey.

Yes, I can read it. PERFECTLY.

And then, this very high-tech timeline at the top, so I can see where I am in the story arc, from page 0 to 400. Works for me!

See? I am on page 180, so near the middle.

But the other part of my life, and why it’s confusing, is that the new and finished book, WHAT YOU SEE, is coming soon. (SO EXCITING! And amazing reviews to come, shhhhh.) 

So what I am also writing is all the other stuff that goes with the publication of a new book. For example, I have to figure out my book-talk talk (Launching October 20 in Vero Beach, Oct 21 in Atlanta, Oct 22 in Boston, for starters—please please come to the parties!)   When someone asks “What is it ABOUT?” I have to come up with a fascinating and succinct answer.

WHAT YOU SEE. You know those surveillance cameras that are everywhere? On TV, we see the results—the videos of football players punching their “girlfriends,” of actors trashing their hotel rooms, of bad guys and bank robbers and convenience store fights.  And often, the police catch their suspects as a result of all that conflict caught on camera.

But what about all that other video? The kind that never makes the news—the video of me, and you and you and you? It’s all there, somewhere. It all exists. And someone has access to it.  What if….

In WHAT YOU SEE:

 JANE RYLAND suddenly has a new job! And she’s covering a murder that’s taken place in broad daylight.  Thing is, her bride-to-be sister Melissa is in town, and in the midst of Jane’s reporting, Melissa, frantic, calls her cell. “We can’t find Gracie,” she says.  Where’s the nine-year old flower girl?

Detective JAKE BROGAN has a doozy of a case. A guy’s been stabbed to death in Curley Park, next to the tourist-magnet Quincy Market—in front of dozens of camera-toting witnesses and surveillance cameras.  Easy solve, right?

BOBBY RIAZ knows his future as a paparazzo is so bright, he oughta—change his name.   He does—and after what he sees, his future changes as well.     

TENLEY SISKEL  is only trying to envision a future at all. After her sister's death--murder?--she’s consumed with guilt. Could she have prevented it? Now her hot-shot mom’s finagled her a stupid summer job. At least it’s easy; all she has to do is monitor video feeds. But soon, what she sees will change her life forever.

CATHERINE SISKEL, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Tenley’s mom. Her life is all about damage control. Until today--when the damage she sees is too terrible to face.

Will readers love it? Will they write glowing reviews, and buzz about WHAT YOU SEE to their friends? No pressure, I reassure myself. It’s just my career.  (You can pre-order here!)

But if you’d like to win an advance copy?  Just say “I want WHAT YOU SEE!” in the comments. And tell me…do you notice the surveillance cameras?

Never Before on Jungle Red: Hockey

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  From the "never thought I'd live to see the day" file--I spent last Wednesday watching--hockey. Me. Hockey. The thing is, I have no idea of the rules, which is always detrimental when watching games of any sort. But all of Boston is enraptured by the so-far-so-good (knock on wood) success in the playoffs. (Tuuka Rask!) (If you dont know who that is, don't worry.)

Anyway, beacuse the world works in mysterious ways (don't we know it!) Wendy Gager's post for today--is about hockey! I mean--it's as if we PLANNED it. And we didn't plan it!

Talk about planning..there are certain things you cannot plan. And that's what happened in Wendy's new book!

"Hockey hits the pages of my last novel--
  but the season was on ice"


 WENDY GAGER: I must confess I’m not a huge hockey fan but I’m dragged kicking and screaming into the frenetic sport, so much so that it even graces the pages of A CASE OF VOLATILE DEEDS. This season is Stanley Cup fever as the hockey champ will earn the title any day now including a game tonight.

HANK: Well, yeah. I've been watching HOCKEY. Did I say that? Anyway.

W.S. GAGER:  I’m from Michigan and Red Wing fever takes over the state for the snowy winter months and continues. When writing about an area, an author has to include local flavor and customs. My Mitch Malone Mystery books are set in fictional Grand River, the second largest city in Michigan modeled after Grand Rapids. As I was writing one part, I needed my reporter character Mitch Malone to butter up a source. Most people would talk about the weather but small talk in Michigan can be dicey because it changes so frequently. When the weather is nasty, it is just not a good conversation gambit.

The book is set during the fall which can be 80 degrees and sunny one day and a few inches of snow the next. Many people think of football as a fall sport, and it is popular in Michigan, but hockey is huge as evidenced by Detroit being called Hockeytown because of the Red Wings. The Grand Rapids Griffins are a farm team for the Wings and in lower leagues are the Muskegon Lumberjacks, Kalamazoo K-Wings, Flint Generals and others also drawing loyal fans.

HANK: See how we bring you new stuff here at JRW? I sure hope the fabulous Bryan Gruley is reading this. He'll be so proud of us. Anyway, Wendy, you were saying.

WENDY: Including real life people and events in your story is chancy because they can change. Players get traded, hurt or just retire. I also wanted something unique. I chose Justin Abdelkader. No one would ever forget that name if they heard it. Justin also is from Muskegon and returns to his roots often to encourage younger kids at the local ice arena. When I wrote the book two years ago, Justin had just been getting a lot of ice time with the Red Wings. We had watched him play for the Griffins after he helped Michigan State University win a national championship.


The irony for me was when my book was released in what should have been hockey season, it wasn’t because of the dispute between owners and players. Hockey did reappear in a shortened season that is finishing now. Since I put Justin in A Case of Volatile Deeds, he has become a valuable member of the Red Wings team. My daughter, who is a very vocal hockey fan, has referred to him as “Abby.” The culmination of the Hockey season is upon us with the Stanley Cup playoffs. Abby and my beloved Red Wings won’t be there this year having lost to the Chicago Blackhawks.

But Abby will be a Red Wing forever in my book no matter where his career leads.

Do you like to read about local things in books? Does it stop you or throw you out of the story when something has changed?


HANK: And hurray:  You don't have to ice the puck to win--or whatever they do--one lucky commenter will win a paper copy or a kindle version of any of the four Mitch Malone books!



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A Case of Volatile Deeds

Mitch Malone finally scores a weekend dinner with a cute receptionist, but true to his reporter instincts, an explosion in a high rise office building makes him stand up his date as he runs for an exclusive.

Mitch learns that much of what he knows about his date and her work aren’t what they seem. His world continues to twist when the police captain asks for his help and a city hall informant is found floating in the river. Mitch must keep his head down or a cute dog with a knack for finding dead bodies will be sniffing out his corpse.


*************************************

W.S. Gager has lived in Michigan for most of her life except when she was interviewing race car drivers or professional woman's golfers. She enjoyed the fast-paced life of a newspaper reporter until deciding to settle down and realized babies didn't adapt well to running down story details on deadline.

Since then she honed her skills on other forms of writing before deciding to do what she always wanted and write mystery novels.

Her main character is Mitch Malone who is an edgy crime-beat reporter single-mindedly hunting for a Pulitzer Prize. A Case of Infatuation, the first in the Mitch Malone Mysteries, won the Dark Oak Contest in 2008 and nominated as a Michigan Notable Book. A Case of Accidental Intersection took first place in the 2010 Public Safety Writers Contest in the unpublished category before its release. Her third book, A CASE OF HOMETOWN BLUES, was a finalist in the 2012 Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.

 She loves to hear from readers at wsgager@yahoo.com or on her blog at http://wsgager.blogspot.com.

On Looking Writerly

JAN:What with Wimbledon on, I was reading about the latest fashions for tennis wear -- which I admit to spending way too much money on, because HEY, you have to look good on the courts. That means pleated skirt if pleats are in, no pleats when they go out, and now of course, a tennis dress instead of a tennis skirt.

But it got me to thinking. How about writing wear?? Yes, or course, most of us sit down in front of the computer in our comfortable grubbies, but we do think about what we're wearing when we speak at book stores, libraries and conferences. We

think about what looks "writerly."

For example, I'll admit that I own a sheared fur jacket. I WOULD NEVER wear it to a writing event. And not because I'm afraid by being attacked with blood by PETA, because the jacket actually looks like it could be fake. The reason I wouldn't wear it is because in my mind, even fake fur is too flashy to be "writerly."

I generally feel most comfortable looking like a reporter, in dress pants and fitted, button down shirt. But I feel compelled to wear long earrings and jewelry. Not expensive jewelry, funky, arty jewelry.

So my question is this: What do you wear for writer appearances, and what exactly makes it writerly?

HALLIE: I want whoever walks into the book event to know which one of us is "the writer." So I do try to dress "up" - up from my usual jeans-and-T-shirt. Whenever I start promoting a new book, I treat myself to one special item (for Never Tell a Lie it was a long charcoal sweater from Eileen Fischer) that's gotta be washable and packable and no wrinkle, and then I wear it to death. Yay, funky jewelry! Hold the tiaras.

ROBERTA: Yes, what I wear at home should never be translated to the outside world! My hub works from home too now, and the two of us have to be the worst-dressed people in town. We have to remind ourselves to go up a notch when we visit the supermarket or the P.O.

But on the road, I'm with Hallie. I like to dress up a little--not like I was selling Mary Kay cosmetics, but a nice pantsuit or slacks and a sweater. And never, ever forget to wear the pin I had made with my cover on it and the cutest little charms...it's the best advertising I ever bought!

RHYS: I agree with Hallie. I want the person who comes into the store to know that I am "the writer" straight away. Also people who attend a speech or book signing have come with expectations. They want the writer to look good. How the writer looks good is up to her personality. Think of Barbara Cartland and her feather boas. I'm not the feather boa or the artsy-crafty type. In my case it's fairly tailored--either pant suit or interesting jacket and black pants, plus I often use scarves to liven things up (if only I could learn to drape them like the French do).

JAN: There's a book on scarf draping. I owned it once.

HANK: Oh, please. When I'm home writing? I have a t-shirt from the gap that says tiRED. And a baseball jersey someone gave me that says PRIME TIME. My lucky shirt.

At events I try to look like "the TV reporter." So suits, heels, pearls. And yes, scarves. (My theory is, they look best if you don't worry about them.) And I'll admit, I try to wear something that will photograph well.

I think it's also about respect--the wonderful people have come to see you! And if it's a signing where you're just introducing yourself as people come in--you've got to look like you're someone they want to meet.

And I've worn high heels every day all day for years--no problem. (Though I always have flats in my bag.)

JAN: I'm over six feet with heels, so I've avoided them most of my life. I WISH I could wear high heels. But if I could wear them, I'd probably reach right for the "floozy" models instead of the writerly ones. (that's what happens when you've been deprived.)

Anyone else out there have preconceived notions about what looks "writerly," and why?