When in Rome…or Mexico…or Napa with Marla Cooper

JENN: I was lucky enough to meet Marla Cooper at a Left Coast Crime conference in Portland (it was Portland, wasn't it, Marla?) a few years ago. We met in the audience of a cozy-noir panel and bonded over our love of the traditional mystery and our own stellar abilities at cuss words. Marla is sassy and funny and a delight to chat with so when she mentioned she had a book coming out, I offered to read it for an endorsement because I figured it had to be good. I was right because the book was TERROR IN TAFFETA which was nominated for a Lefty for best debut novel! As expected, it was terrific and it kicks off her series about a destination wedding planner (genius!). So, here is Marla to talk more about destinations...

MARLA: One question I get asked a lot — second only to “Where do you get your ideas?” — is: “Do you actually visit the places you write about?”

The short answer? Absolutely! When you’re trying to evoke a sense of place, you owe it to yourself to visit in person, because there are some things you just can’t learn on the internet. And besides: vacation!

See, my heroine is a destination wedding planner, so each book is set in a different location. And instead of creating a fictional small town, like any reasonably sane person writing a series would do, I chose to write about real places that lots of people have actually visited. I know I couldn’t do justice to the settings without going there in person, and readers would totally bust me if I even tried.

I won’t lie: I don’t feel put upon that I “have” to do all that research. And invariably, I learn things that not only go in the book, but actually affect the plot. When it was time to decide where to set the second book in my series, Dying on the Vine, I picked the Napa and Sonoma wine country. And boy, did I ever take my research seriously!

It all started with a visit to Domaine Carneros, which looks like this:

I was there tasting sparkling wine with my husband and my friend Brian (my real-life Brody), and there was a wedding party celebrating on the patio. (Excuse me, terrace. A place this grand doesn’t have a mere patio.) Of course, that immediately got me thinking about my protagonist Kelsey and what would happen if she were to plan a wedding there.

However, Kelsey doesn’t usually book venues that are quite so grand, so that got me thinking about what kind of wedding planner would feel right at home there. She’d probably be a bit of a diva. Larger than life. A little pushy and grandiose herself. And thus was born Babs Norton, the Queen of Wine Country Weddings.

In the book, Babs Norton is a preferred vendor at Higgins Estate, which bears a striking resemblance to Domaine Carneros. (I’m sure they’d like me to insert a disclaimer here that there are absolutely no dangerous goings-on or sinister plots there, and that everything except for the setting is 100% a work of fiction.)

So where would Kelsey like to plan a wedding? I think she’d prefer someplace like Preston Farm & Winery, which by some stroke of coincidence just happens to be my favorite winery. Preston has a 100-year-old farmhouse, picnic tables, cats lolling about in the sun, vegetables for sale from the garden, and of course great wine.

I love Preston so much that I decided to give them an old barn that Kelsey thinks would make a great wedding venue, and thus a subplot was born. Since they don’t actually have a barn, I turned to Pinterest, and … voila! (I love what Kelsey did with the place.)       

But perhaps the most inspiring thing of all were the wine caves. I knew that some wineries had started digging caves into the hillsides for underground wine storage, and some of them even had event rooms. That sounded promising, so I found one and took a tour. The caves are dark, they’re chilly, and they lack cell reception. (Ooooooohhhh…..)

I knew I had to use it in my book. And just in case I needed a sign, well, there was this:

(I’m assuming that’s just cabernet sauvignon, but still, it got my attention.)

After seeing how inextricably my plot and my setting became intertwined, I realized that visiting the locations is about more than just getting the details right. It’s about finding my story.

Also? Pretty much anywhere I travel these days, I’ve got my eye out for the scene of the crime.

So, what about you, Reds? How do you pick your setting? And is it as integral to your story as a character in the book?

ABOUT MARLA: Marla Cooper is the author of TERROR IN TAFFETA, an Agatha and Lefty finalist for Best First Mystery Novel and book one in the Kelsey McKenna Destination Wedding Mysteries. Her second book, DYING ON THE VINE, is set in the California wine country and is now available from Minotaur Press. Originally hailing from Texas, Marla lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and her polydactyl tuxedo cat. Learn more at www.marla-cooper.com.

Marla's latest release is DYING ON THE VINE:

When wedding planner Kelsey McKenna goes to the Wine Country Wedding Faire, the last thing she expects to do is take on new clients. After all, she’s just there to help out her friend Brody and maybe score some free cupcakes. But when a young couple in a pinch asks for her help, she just can't say no.

There’s only one problem: they’d been working with Babs Norton, the self-proclaimed Queen of Wine Country Weddings—and things did not end well. Kelsey wants to make sure there are no hard feelings, but unfortunately she never gets the chance. When she goes to Babs’ office, she finds the wedding planner dead on the floor.

Babs' high-strung assistant Stefan knows exactly who killed Babs: Kelsey. At least, that's what he very publicly accuses her of at Babs' funeral. When Kelsey decides to do a little sleuthing to clear her name, she uncovers a myriad of secrets and lies. And when a second wedding planner is attacked, Kelsey begins to wonder if she might be next.

Marla Cooper: The Accidental Muse

LUCY BURDETTE: You know by now that I can't resist a debut author. I love hearing the stories about how they began a writing career, and what prompted specific books. Today, please meet our guest Marla Cooper, who will be giving away an advanced copy of her brand new, first ever mystery, TERROR IN TAFFETA. Welcome Marla!

MARLA COOPER: It’s a question writers get asked a lot: "Where do you get your ideas?"

Really, they can come from anywhere—an overheard conversation, a memory from the past, an interesting story in the news. But the idea for my series about a destination wedding planner came to me like a gift from the universe—one that came wrapped in pretty, metallic paper with an expertly tied bow on top.

Several years ago, I got a call from an editor at Chronicle Books who wondered if I'd be interested in ghostwriting a nonfiction book. It seems they'd penned a deal with a destination wedding planner named Alison who was too busy planning fabulous destination weddings to actually write said book.

Of course I said yes, and before long, I was meeting with Alison in her tastefully decorated office so that she could dump the entire contents of her brain into mine. As she told me all about her job, two thoughts occurred to me: 1) Alison might just be the luckiest person I'd ever met, and 2) her job was the perfect setup for a murder mystery.

Here she was, flying off to foreign countries with people she barely knew, and if anything went wrong, everyone looked to her to fix things. Of course, she'd mostly dealt with situations like squabbling bridesmaids or having a string trio show up when they'd hired a quartet, but of course my imagination took it a step further.

I was tempted to ask her what would happen if something really terrible happened. Like, oh, say, everyone hated one of the groomsmen and he ended up being murdered—you know, that kind of thing. But it was our first meeting and I didn't want her to think I was a terrible person.

Besides, I knew what the answer was: She would investigate, of course!

After all, she'd be the one in charge. Besides, wedding planners are typically super resourceful—not to mention really well organized—so if they couldn't get to the bottom of things, who could?

Well, okay, sure, the police. But what if they wrongly suspected one of the wedding party?

Alison and I went on to talk about more mundane matters, like site visits and tent rentals, but when I left, I had a tingly feeling way down deep in my spine. I didn't just have just one book to write. I had a whole series!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Okay, readers, I was going to ask you where you get your ideas, but I'm in the mood to talk about weddings. Have you ever been to a destination wedding? Or have you ever been to a wedding where things went really wrong? One randomly-chosen commenter will win an Advance Reading Copy of TERROR IN TAFFETA, which comes out March 22 from Minotaur Books.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MARLA COOPER was astonished when she realized people could actually get paid to write things. So she switched her major from business to advertising—much to the relief of her accounting professor—and began her career as an advertising copywriter. After moving to San Francisco, she became a freelancer so she could take advantage of perks like working in her pajamas, and it was while ghostwriting a book on destination weddings that she found inspiration for her first novel, Terror in Taffeta. Originally hailing from Texas, Marla lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and her polydactyl tuxedo cat. Visit her at www.marla-cooper.com.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

TERROR IN TAFFETA is the first book in a new series by Marla Cooper. It will be available in bookstores on March 22, but you can pre-order it now from Amazon, Barnes &Noble, and other fine retailers.

Here's the scoop:

Kelsey McKenna has planned out every detail of her client's destination wedding in San Miguel de Allende. But what she hadn't planned on was a bridesmaid dropping dead in the middle of the ceremony. When the bride's sister is arrested for murder, the mother of the bride demands that Kelsey fix the matter at once. And even though Kelsey is pretty sure investigating a murder isn't in her contract, crossing the well connected Mrs. Abernathy could be a career-killer. Before she can leave Mexico and get back to planning weddings, Kelsey will have to deal with stubborn detectives, late-night death threats—and guests who didn't even RSVP. 

What's it like when your book becomes a movie? Um, strange #DeborahDonnelly

LUCY BURDETTE: Deborah Donnelly was one of my first writing pals--and I miss her and her quirky wedding planner mysteries. So I was delighted to hear that her first-ever book has been made into a movie--and I begged her to tell us about it...


DEBORAH DONNELLY: Veiled Threats, the first title in my Wedding Planner Mysteries, is going to air on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on October 19. I’m thrilled - no surprise there. The surprise, at least to me, is what a long strange trip it was from page to screen.


Back in 2005, a cousin of mine gave Veiled Threats to a buddy of his, an independent film producer. I say that as though I know what "independent film producer" means. I don't, not exactly. But I was delighted overjoyed ecstatic to get that first phone call from the producer, and waited eagerly for the option to be negotiated and the check to arrive. 

I waited until 2007.

But was I ever happy to get that check! And happy every year thereafter, as the option was renewed again and yet again and yet again. There were nibbles from a studio here and there, there was a tug on the line every once in a while, but mostly the years just went by. Then at last came a plot twist: Hallmark was interested. Interested enough to make a movie? Well no, not yet. But willing to talk about it.

That was in 2012. Are you doing the math here?


From time to time over the next eternity, I'd get a bulletin from my agent. The talks with Hallmark were "continuing." Then they were "promising." At one heady moment the talks were even "advanced." Mostly, the talks were slowwwwww.

Then suddenly the talking stopped and, oh joy oh rapture, a screenwriter was hired. Was I consulted about the script? Do I look like J.K. Rowling? I went back to waiting.
 

 
Finally, early in 2014, filming began with Vancouver B.C. standing in for Seattle. I was not invited. But I was paid. Not quit-your-job money, but not nothing. Plus I had the exquisite experience of going online and seeing my very own character, wedding planner Carnegie Kincaid, heading up a cast list on IMDb.

Carnegie, who I invented out of my own head, right there on IMDb! And there was my smoldering attorney Holt, and my irrepressible reporter Aaron, and…

 
Whoa, wait just a darn minute. Aaron is supposed to be shorter than Carnegie, that’s part of the comedy in my romantic comedy/mystery. So how come the actor playing him (second from left) is four inches taller than Erica Durance, who’s playing her?

And what’s this guy Switchblade doing on the cast list? I never wrote a character named Switchblade. And where’s the fan favorite Boris the Mad Russian Florist? And don’t tell me they’re really going to call the movie “Wedding Planner Mystery.” I thought that was a placeholder, not the actual title!

Aha. Now the realities of TV movie-making were starting to sink in. They get to call it what they want. This is not a film OF my book, it’s a Hallmark movie based ON my book. So a photo shoot on the slopes of Mount Rainier was probably a no-go. Not to mention that underwater sequence beneath Carnegie’s houseboat. And of course they couldn't jam all the subplots into a single movie. As for my not-especially-graphic sex scenes, well, this is Hallmark, after all.

So. Let’s just say that having one’s 350-page book transformed into a lower-budget, two-hour, family-friendly movie is a lesson in patience, gratitude, and acceptance. I’ve been ever so patient. I’m exceedingly grateful. And on October 19 at 9 pm Eastern, 8 pm Central, I’m going to switch on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and settle down with a bowl of popcorn, heavily seasoned with acceptance. I hope you’ll join me.

Deborah Donnelly is the author of Veiled Threats, Died to Match, May the Best May Die, Death Takes a Honeymoon, You May Now Kill the Bride, and Bride and Doom. Read sample chapters on her website and more about the movie here.

And PS from Deborah: Good news! The Hallmark movie's in the New York Times. Not such good news! They don't look upon it any too favorably. Now I'll admit, they have a point about the chirpy perkiness and the perky chirpiness. But better that than the criticism leveled at the other movie mentioned. "Humorless gore"? Bleahh. Anyway, all publicity is good publicity, right? 

Breaking news: Kathy Reel is the lucky winner of FAIL by Rick Skwiot! Shoot me an email lucyburdette at gmail dot com and we'll arrange the drop!