Who Do You Love?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Ever fallen in love with a character in a book? We all have, I bet. King Arthur always appealed to me (much more than Lancelot), and Henry V, and my affection for Morse is well-known around the Jungle Red salon. Charles (and Caroline) Todd’s Inspector Rutledge, love him, and Roderick Alleyn, and John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy. What can I say? I do.

And I can certainly understand, as Liz Zelvin says, that Dorothy Sayers fell in love with Peter Wimsey. Who wouldn’t?

But what about our own characters’ ability to make us love them? Hmm. That’s interesting, because we created them. Didn’t we?

Long time dear friend of the Reds Elizabeth Zelvin is a psychotherapist in her other life, so I bet—she can explain it.

Falling in Love with A Secondary Character

Elizabeth Zelvin

It's widely understood that writers sometimes fall in love with their own characters. In the mystery genre, most famously, Dorothy L. Sayers is said to have fallen in love with Lord Peter Wimsey as he developed from a Bertie Wooster-like silly ass about town in the early books into a brilliant, perceptive, superbly competent, and highly attractive man--what today we might call a feminist's kind of man. I don't know if Harriet Vane would have called herself a feminist, but in my late 20th to 21st century eyes, she's one of us.

Being a feminist, I'm mildly embarrassed by the fact that I have now written two series with male protagonists: the Bruce Kohler mysteries and the Diego Mendoza and Admiral Columbus series, including the Agatha-nominated "The Green Cross" and my new novel, Voyage of Strangers.

When somebody asks a group of authors, "Who writes about a strong female character?" I instinctively raise my hand. Oops. The truth is, having been writing my whole life before getting my first novel published at age 64, I felt I was entitled to leapfrog over the young novelist's autobiographical opus and write about someone quite different from myself: in this case, recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler, a New Yorker with a smart mouth and an ill-concealed heart of gold ("ham on wry," as he says himself).

Diego, the young marrano sailor with Columbus who made his first appearance in "The Green Cross" and tells the story of Columbus's second voyage in Voyage of Strangers, is one of those characters who appear unexpectedly out of the unconscious or the ether or wherever the Muse hangs out, demanding that their voice be heard. The author is just the channel. I've always felt as if Diego is not only real, but had been waiting for five hundred years for me to tell his story. Voyage of Strangers is about what really happened when Columbus discovered America, told from the outsider perspective of a secret Jew at the moment when the Jews were driven out of Spain on pain of torture and death at the hands of the Inquisition.

Those who have read my mysteries know that I do have a significant woman character: Barbara, a world-class codependent who only wants to help and is addicted to minding everybody's business, especially Bruce's and her boyfriend Jimmy's (Bruce's best friend), whether the business at hand is sobriety or murder. I'm very fond of Barbara, but I can't say I'm in love with her. It would be too much like looking in the funhouse mirror. Barbara isn't me, but we have much in common, including being nice Jewish girls from Queens who never expected to know as much as we do about alcoholism. Unlike me, Barbara has no boundaries and no brakes. It's what makes her such fun to write. Readers have told me she is a strong female character. Some think she's "a hoot." And at least one person asked me if I'd ever felt (as she evidently did) as if I wanted to slap Barbara. I don't mind. If Barbara's that real to readers, I'm happy.

There were no women on the voyage of discovery in 1492, so of course there were no women in "The Green Cross," which took place on the Santa Maria. Nor did I develop any female characters in "Navidad," the second story in the series. (Both stories first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.) But I couldn't write a novel without women. Diego's sister Rachel was simmering in my head for more than a year before I set a word of Voyage of Strangers on virtual paper. And I'm in love with Rachel.

As it happens, the Jews were expelled from Spain on the same day Columbus and his three ships set sail into the unknown. So how come Rachel was still in Spain when Columbus and his men returned in triumph early in 1493? The Mendoza family had lived in Seville, where the Inquisition had been cheerfully burning Jews (and especially converso backsliders, whom they called heretics and swine--marranos) for years. Rachel, the youngest daughter, had been sent away to a convent school in Barcelona, where there was no tribunal and a genuine converso aunt with influence, for safety. But the aunt is being courted by a rather nasty supporter of the Inquisition, and Diego quickly realizes he has to get her out of Spain as soon as possible.

When we first meet Rachel, she's putting on a friend's brother's clothes, preparatory to sneaking out of the convent and into the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who will be greeting Columbus and his followers and getting their first look at the treasures and curiosities he's brought back, including gold, near-naked Taino captives, and some colorful but ill-behaved parrots. She's thinking, How hard can it be to be a boy?

I certainly didn't plan it, but Rachel is a darling. She's irrepressible, curious, impulsive, brave, and funny, and everyone who meets her loves her. Diego is determined to send her to Italy, where their parents and sisters have gone, before he embarks on the second expedition to Hispaniola. Rachel is equally determined to go with him, even when Admiral Columbus himself says no. (Of course she spoke up and asked him almost as soon as she met him. That's Rachel.) 

Whether she's getting the mayor's wife in a Spanish village to roast a kid (ie a baby goat) for their dinner on the road, concocting a plan to help a Moorish slave escape from slavery, outclimbing the ship's boys in the rigging of the Mariagalante on the Ocean Sea, or playing batey, pounding yuca, or making poisoned arrowheads with her Taino friends, Rachel has a gift for friendship and for adapting to any surroundings. Her favorite words to her brother are, "Diego, you worry too much."

It took a long time to get Voyage of Strangers published once I'd written it. But one of the reasons I persisted was that I wanted so much to introduce Rachel to all of you. I think you'll love her too.

HANK: Liz! The research! How did you get involved in this story?

And Reds, what character have you fallen in love with? 

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Elizabeth Zelvin is a New York psychotherapist and author of the Bruce Kohler mystery series as well as the Diego Mendoza and Admiral Columbus series. Her new novel, Voyage of Strangers, is available for Kindle and Kindle app at

http://tinyurl.com/voyage-strangers. Three of Liz's stories have been nominated for the Agatha Award and one for the Derringer Award for Best Short Story. Her author website is at http://elizabethzelvin.com.

The First Feminists? Or--maybe not...

Hank Phillippi Ryan: Okay, cutting to the chase. Isn't this a great cover? It's instant suspense, and you know there's a dilemma, a major choice, a desire, and whoever it is--is trying to find an answer through magic.

I am so happy to see this!  I critiqued Holly West's manuscript at CrimeBake ( I have no memory of what I said, specifically, but I know I liked it, a lot!) and now her debut MISTRESS OF FORTUNE is now out from Harlequin's Carina Press! Hurray!

She has an incredibly interesting take on a certain group of women--in fact, she wonders if they might be

The First Feminists? 

         by Holly West

HOLLY WEST: My debut historical mystery, Mistress of Fortune, is set in late 17^th century London and features amateur sleuth Isabel Wilde, a mistress to King Charles II who secretly makes her living as a fortuneteller. 

(HANK: Ooh. See?)

In truth, she’s a more of a charlatan.

(HANK: Ooh, even better, right?)

 In her world, women have few enough advantages and she’s more than willing to make the most of those that she has; namely, cleverness, beauty and good intuition.

I chose fortunetelling as her profession, not because of a personal belief that fortunetellers and the like possess a supernatural ability to predict the future or see the “other side,” but because I’m fascinated by the cultural traditions of soothsayers and healers, particularly “wise women.” During a time when medical science was in its infancy and only the rich could afford a physician, wise women were a valuable source of knowledge for the 17^th century housewife, especially in rural areas. 

They acted as doctors, midwives, counselors, and caregivers. They were, in many ways, feminists before their time. 

Though Isabel Wilde isn’t exactly a wise woman, she does recommend various healing herbs and concoctions to her customers and offers sincere, practical advice when she can.

If most women came to these professions with honest intentions, there were some whose motivations were not so pure. In my research, I came upon a French woman named Catherine Monvoisin (c. 1640-1680), nicknamed La Voisin. When her husband’s career as a jeweler went south, she turned to fortunetelling to support her family. While her paranormal abilities as a soothsayer might have been in question, her business acumen was not; she paid strict attention to her visitors’ requests and expanded her offerings to take advantage of their desires. 

She sold amulets filled with such mystical items as bones of toads, the dust of human remains, teeth of moles and Spanish fly. She prescribed “magic” rituals and arranged black masses so that her customers could worship the devil. She practiced medicine and midwifery, and performed abortions. Eventually, she began peddling poison.

La Voisin’s predecessor, Guilia Tofana, had perfected the science of poison twenty years earlier. She was an Italian woman who developed an odorless, tasteless poison (likely a solution of arsenic) labeled Aqua Tofana to sell to women who wanted to murder their husbands. Perhaps her conscience was eased by the fact that her customers were mainly women ensnared in abusive marriages, but when she was finally apprehended, she confessed (under torture) to killing more than six hundred men with her poison.

Both La Voisin and Tofana were immensely popular, so much so that when the papal authority called for Tofana’s arrest, a local church granted her sanctuary. La Voisin had many members of the aristocracy among her clients and became very rich as a result of her business. In the end, however, both women were executed; Tofana was put to death in the Campo di Fiori in Rome in 1659 and La Voisin was convicted of witchcraft and burnt in public at the Place de Greve in Paris on February 22, 1680.

Wicked as they may have been, these women were savvy and made their way in a society that often treated females no better than livestock. Given the circumstances, I’m not sure this is something to be celebrated, but their stories are interesting.

My heroine, Isabel Wilde, isn’t based on either La Voisin or Guilia Tofana, but the soothsayer who trained Isabel in the art of fortunetelling, Mary Bixby, is. But at heart, Isabel and Mary are both good people. It’s just that they understand their lot in life and can’t help pushing against their constraints. And, as crime fiction aficionados like us know, sometimes, that leads to murder.

HANK: And now you're hooked, right? And what're your thoughts on "women's intuition"? 

A copy of MISTRESS OF FORTUNE to one lucky commenter! (US only, please.)

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Holly West is the author of the Mistress of Fortune series (Carina Press). The first in the series, Mistress of Fortune, was published in February 2014 and the second, Mistress of Lies, will be released in Fall 2014. She’s currently writing her third book, a stand-alone crime novel set in 1948 Philadelphia. Holly lives, reads, and writes in Los Angeles with her husband, Mick, and dog, Stella. 

Mistress of Fortune Synopsis:

Isabel, Lady Wilde, a mistress to King Charles II, has a secret: she makes her living disguised as Mistress Ruby, a fortune-teller who caters to London’s elite. It’s a dangerous life among the charlatans, rogues and swindlers who lurk in the city’s dark corners, but to Isabel, the risk is worth the reward.

Until magistrate Sir Edmund Godfrey seeks Mistress Ruby’s counsel and reveals his unwitting involvement in a plot to kill the king. When Isabel’s diary containing dangerous details of his confession is stolen, she knows she must find it before anyone connects her to Mistress Ruby. Especially after Sir Edmund’s corpse is discovered a few days later…

Isabel is sure that whoever stole her diary is Sir Edmund’s killer—and could be part of a conspiracy that leads all the way to the throne. But as she delves deeper into the mystery, not even the king himself may be able to save her.

YOGA? Or NOGA?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:   You know me, right? So picturing me in Tai Chi class will not surprise you.

Teacher: Palms flat, and slowly, lift..

Hank: Am I doing it right?

Teacher:  It doesn't matter. Now, when your arms are extended, keeping your elbows soft, turn your--

Hank: Yeah, but am I doing it right? Am I like, the best tai chi student you've ever had?

Teacher: There is no best, there just is. Now, Hank, turning your palms out, slowly

Hank:  Isn't this exactly right? I'm doing it, right?

I will spare you any more of this, and this is um, somewhat exaggerated, but it has always been very difficult for me to simply--do anything. I have to solve the mystery, be first, be fastest (or slowest, whichever is better). It's all I can do to let my grandson win at Concentration. (I do, too, LET him win!)

So you can imagine when all my friends, and this is no exaggeration, ALL my friends, are telling me that I would be so happy doing yoga. 

So far, I've said: NO GA.

The wonderful Tracy Weber may be the one who finally convinces me. Not that she would "convince."  A Tracy word is--offer.

Yoga, Writing and the Power of Persevering Practice

               by Tracy Weber    

First, I’d like to say that I’m delighted (and a little intimidated) to be a guest today on Jungle Red. I started public speaking when I was fourteen, but sharing the stage with these talented ladies leaves me, well, tongue-tied. 

Now that my first book, Murder Strikes a Pose, has been published, I can actually say it out loud: I’m a writer.

I still can’t believe it.

I never planned to write a novel; I never thought I could write a novel; honestly, I never even knew I wanted to write a novel. But as soon as I typed the first words of my manuscript, seeing my series come to fruition became my life’s dream.

Many forces propelled me to sit down and type those first few sentences, but one practice kept me going long enough to finish it.

Yoga.

But probably not the yoga you are imagining.

Most people believe that practicing yoga means bending your body into pretzel-like positions or sweating off half of your body weight in a 105-degree room.  In reality, yoga is so much more.  The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali—the key philosophical text of yoga—teaches that yoga is the process of learning how to control your mind, so that the mind, with all of its neurotic tendencies, can’t control you.  Finding that state of clarity—of yoga—involves “persevering practice.”

Persevering practice is any practice done:

§  Over a long period of time

§  Without interruption

§  With dedication and enthusiasm

§  Without attachment to results

Note that the list doesn’t include Downward Dog, even though the pose is in the tagline for my series.  It doesn’t say Head Stand. It doesn’t even mention asana (yoga poses).  The sutras are deliberately vague because any practice that fits the above criteria will help you focus your mind and achieve your goals.

Writing, for me, had to become a persevering practice or I would never have been published.  Unless I write daily, I make no progress. On the days I lack dedication and enthusiasm, my words end up as crumpled pages at the bottom of my recycle bin. As for attachment to results, well, I have to let that go, or I’ll never stop checking my Amazon sales rankings long enough to finish this article, much less write my next book.

Will all of those hours spent typing late into the night be worth it?  Yes, even if my series never sells a copy.  Like any persevering practice, writing’s greatest gift has nothing to do with external results. The greatest rewards are inside of me.

Word by word, writing offers me unexpected gifts: flashes of self-understanding, moments of quiet calm, a connection to laughter and joy in this sometimes challenging life. These small gifts make all of the effort worthwhile, even if my book never encroaches on a single bestseller list.  (Though I have to admit, I still hope that it does!)

My advice to all of you reading this article: find a practice that you love, be it yoga, writing, knitting, gardening, songwriting, or raising chickens.  Do it daily, every day, with enthusiasm. Try not to care about the results.  Your path may not lead to the destination you had in mind, but your life’s journey

will have greater meaning and peace.

What are your persevering practices?  How can you practice consistently, with enthusiasm—yet without attachment?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Hank: Wonderful, huh? My persevering practice? Listmaking. Seriously. That counts.  And my writing ritual. Add the word count to my chart, do the math, write it down, look at my "imagine" rock, begin.

And a copy of  Murder Strikes a Pose to one lucky commenter! (US only, please.)

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Tracy Weber is a certified yoga teacher and the founder of Whole Life Yoga, an award-winning yoga studio in Seattle, where she current­ly lives with her husband, Marc, and German shepherd, Tasha. She loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any form possible. When she’s not writing, she spends her time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sip­ping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house. Murder Strikes a Pose is her debut novel. Connect with Tracy at her author page http://tracyweberauthor.com/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/tracywe?fref=ts

About MURDER STRIKES A POSE

Seattle Yoga instructor Kate Davidson tries to live up to yoga's Zen-like expectations, but it's not easy while struggling to keep her small business afloat or dodging her best friend's matchmaking efforts. When George, a homeless alcoholic, and his loud, horse-sized German shepherd, Bella, start hawking newspapers outside her studio, Kate attempts to convince them to leave. Instead, the three strike up an unlikely friendship. Then Kate finds George's body. The police dismiss it as a drug-related street crime, but Kate knows he was no drug dealer. Now she must solve George's murder and find someone willing to adopt his intimidating companion before Bella is sent to the big dog park in the sky. With the murderer on her trail, Kate has to work fast or her next Corpse Pose may be for real. 



Check out MURDER STRIKES A POSE, the first in the Downward Dog Yoga Mysteries. Available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Strikes-Pose-Downward-Mystery/dp/0738739685/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385096350&sr=8-1&keywords=murder+strikes+a+pose and bookstores everywhere!