Do I have to write what I know?

RHYS: I meet the most interesting people when I do book signings around the country. It was in Scottsdale last spring that I met Dianne Freeman who told me about her upcoming book. It sounded just like my cup of tea so I was sent an advance copy and really enjoyed it. And when the book came out I invited her to come to Jungle Red Writers.

And her blog really strikes a chord with me. How many of us write about what we know? Most of our own lives (except Hank's) are boring. We go to the supermarket. We cook for family. We sit at computers. So I want to escape to somewhere much more thrilling in my writing life... and so does Dianne... don't we all?

DIANE FREEMAN:

Do I Have to Write What I Know?

I’ve never liked the adage, “write what you know.” My debut novel is a fun whodunit set in London in 1899. The main character is an American heiress who married an earl, nine years earlier. When the story opens, she’s a widow struggling to live independently.

This has no relation to what I know. While I’m all about fun, I’ve never been involved with law enforcement, nor have I ever committed or solved a murder. I’ve never lived in London, certainly not in 1899. I’m neither an heiress, nor an aristocrat, nor (thankfully) a widow. So, what am I doing writing a story with this premise?

It fascinates me!

First, the mystery part. I love a good mystery. After all, I was an accountant for thirty years which is a lot like solving a puzzle or mystery. I had to collect data, piece it together, and try to determine if people were telling me the truth. They were almost never telling me the truth. (Really, that trip to the Bahamas was solely for business purposes?)  I could have written a mystery with an accountant as an amateur sleuth, but I read to learn something new, to take myself to another place. Why shouldn’t I write for the same reason?

The second element is the era. I love history in general, but something of a phenomenon happened from the mid-1870s through the early 1910s that makes this a period that really brings out the history geek in me. This was a time when nouveaux riches Americans discovered they would not be allowed to take what they considered to be their rightful place among the upper crust of New York society. Neither could they buy their way in. Imagine being stuck in junior high school forever. That’s what it was like.

It didn’t take long for these outsiders to learn they’d receive a warm welcome across the Atlantic in Europe. At least their money and their young daughters would be welcome. What started as a trickle soon became a flood of intercontinental marriages between cash-strapped European aristocrats and American heiresses.

I doubted this type of arrangement would make for a very happy marriage, but it had all the ingredients for an intriguing murder mystery. A story took shape in my head and resulted in A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder. I had much more fun researching and writing this novel than I ever would have had my sleuth been an accountant. There’s nothing wrong about writing what you know, but there’s a lot to be said for writing about something you want to know better.  

 

  

Dianne Freeman Bio:

Dianne Freeman is a life-long book lover who left the world of corporate finance to pursue her passion for writing. After co-authoring the non-fiction book, Haunted Highway, The Spirits of Route 66, she realized her true love was fiction, historical mystery in particular. She also realized she didn’t like winter very much so now she and her husband pursue the endless summer by splitting their time between Michigan and Arizona.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Etiquette-Murder-Countess-Harleigh-Mystery/dp/1496716876/

Website: https://difreeman.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/DianneFreemanAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Difreeman001

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diannefreemanwrites/

And Dianne will give away a signed copy of her new book to a lucky commenter today!

Bathroom Adventures in Europe

RHYS BOWEN: As you know, I have recently returned from Europe and this trip has only solidified my impression that Europeans just do not GET bathrooms. In America we have showers. You go into the shower, close the door, pull out the knob, turn left or right for hot or cold and water comes out. It runs away into a drain in the middle of the shower. What could be easier?

Apparently in Europe the idea is to make bathrooms hard to negotiate. Washing should never be easy. In my youth I remember those little geyser contraptions hanging over the bathtub that lit with a terrifying roar and then spewed out scalding water. I also remember the bathroom in a friend's flat in Umbria. It had a shower in the middle of the room, surrounded by a small lip to stop the water from flooding the whole flat. You could draw a curtain around you, but when the shower was turned on the curtain was sucked inward by the force of the water so that it clung to the body making it impossible to wash. It also allowed the rest of the room to end up liberally sprayed

And what about all those bathtubs that have a hose attached so that you can shower--but no shower curtain so that as you aim for your back you accidentally spray the ceiling and walls. How hard would it be to put up a shower rail?

This year was no exception. We rented a very modern apartment just outside Nice. The kitchen was equipped with everything--ceramic cooktop, touch lighting, Keurig coffee maker. But the bathroom? The shower started with two glass doors you had to open. You stood inside then closed the doors enough so that they came together. Then you turned on the shower. There was a choice of rain shower above--not good if you didn't want to wash your hair, a wand that was so fierce that if you turned it on it jerked out of its cradle, like deranged snake, and sprayed everything before you could catch it, Or lastly three jets, positioned up a bar... all three hitting in precisely inconvenient parts of the body.
AND... the water ran onto the bathroom floor, only held in by those two doors. So the shower experience ended with having to mop all the standing water into a drain in the far corner.

This doesn't win the prize for the weirdest bathroom I have known. That was in an old farmhouse we had borrowed in the middle of France. To reach the bathroom one had to go through the cellar (with a dirt floor), down a flight of steps into a cave. Mushrooms and ferns were growing from the walls. The shower was in a trough in the middle of the room. You climbed down into it, pulled on a cord and water descended from the ceiling, between the ferns and mushrooms . Oh, and did I mention the toilet was also down there... in a corner? A dark corner with lots of ferns and mushrooms? Needless to say we never went down at night!

Can anyone beat that?

If I become very rich I'll give the European union a grant to initiate bathroom sanity!

It's the Bling, Dahlings!

RHYS BOWEN:  As many of you know, I just returned home from six weeks in Europe. During that time I taught a workshop in Tuscany, did research in the South of France and was feted by my Amazon team in London. As I unpacked a small cloth bag tumbled onto the floor. It was the jewelry that I had taken with me on the trip. And I realized, to my mortification, that I HADN'T WORN IT ONCE. Not even changed my earrings. I always travel wearing a simple ring that can't get caught handling luggage, a gold chain around my neck and a tennis bracelet my mother gave me. But I hadn't touched anything else.  We had gone out for fancy dinners in Tuscany. I had dressed up to meet the Amazon crowd. We had taken my sister and brother-in-law out to dinner. Yet no jewelry!



It's not that I don't like jewelry. I love looking at it in my jewelry case, trying it on sometimes. And I like to look good. I'm sure I wore nice outfits and maybe a scarf on all those occasions. It's just that I never think of jewelry unless it's a fancy evening affair. I did buy a new necklace and bracelet for the Edgars this year! So I'm a failure in the jewelry department. I guess I'm actually an all around failure in the accessory department. My mother loved purses. She had purses to match every outfit and she changed them regularly. I change my about twice a year--a dark purse for winter, a bright purse for summer. I had an elderly friend who wore matching jewelry with every outfit--earrings, necklace, bracelet, the lot!

I tell myself it's because I'm always in a hurry, with three million things to do that I don't take time to go through my jewelry box. But it reality I have to confess that I'm just not a blingy sort of person. So I'm intrigued to know about my fellow Reds (who always look so put-together when I see them). Do you wear jewelry all the time? On special occasions? Jewelry to match your outfit? And how about purses? Do you change to match what you are wearing? Am I the only boring Red?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I am evermore not a blingy person. A combination of natural tendencies, being raised by a mom who was of the "Take one thing off before you leave the house" persuasion, and thirty years of living in Maine. Maine is not a blingy place. We won't say it where you can hear us, but if you're wearing jewelry on the beach, we make fun of you.

I am the queen of handbags, though. I have dozens and dozens, none of which I've been carrying this year as I am in mourning. But when I'm NOT shrouded in black, I love to switch up purses every day to match my outfit. Unfortunately, that doesn't fly when I travel (pun intended) so if you only ever see me at Bcon or Malice or some other conference, you won't be able to appreciate the splendour of my bag coordination.


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: One of my favorite stories. Two days after I met Jonathan, we were walking down the street in Nantucket. And he said, unbidden, "What kind of jewelry do you like?" I stopped in my tracks.
"Excuse me," I said. "I have to call my mom."
That said, I wear the same jewelry every day, essentially.  Pearls, almost every day to work. And bracelets, and rings.  I don't have pierced ears, but I wear clip ons, which I am always losing, so sometimes they don't match. But, whatever. I have other bling, very nice, but sometimes I forget, even though I love it.
Handbags. I call them purses. I have too many, but I carry the same one all the time. And every time I make myself switch them up, change, I forget to move something, and I regret it.
Let's not talk about shoes.   (RHYS: My husband John has been known to take pictures of Hank's shoes, because he is so fascinated with them. I'm trying to put my hands on one of those pictures!_

LUCY BURDETTE: Not a wink of bling here either. I have one purse, it's a Baggalini and I use it with everything. (thoough this is the bag I was carrying when my passport disappeared, eek.) I became allergic to my pierced ears some years back, so I can no longer wear my favorite earrings. I will wear a necklace for dress-up but I don't like the feel of watches or necklaces. I had to remind myself of this last week at a craft show when I was very tempted by a bracelet made out of a spoon. So Cute! I remembered at the last minute that I wouldn't wear it, so saved myself forty bucks:)

INGRID THOFT:: I’m going to buck the JRW trend!  I love jewelry and wear it every day.  I favor small, delicate necklaces, but I’m rarely without some kind of necklace in addition to my wedding and anniversary rings, and earrings.  I love hoop earrings since they go with everything, but I also have things like glass studs from Pike Place Market and a dangly pair from El Rastro street market in Madrid.  One of my favorite necklaces was a gift from my mom upon the release of LOYALTY.  She had a necklace made with some glass beads in my favorite colors and a tiny book cover engraved with LOYALTY on the front and my name on the back.  She even had matching earrings made! The only jewelry I don’t like is bracelets, not because they aren’t lovely, but they get in the way when I type!

JENN McKINLAY: I firmly believe diamonds really are a girl’s best friend. I love jewelry and have too much and wear it all the time. I have three holes in each ear just so I can wear more. It’s ridiculous.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am allergic to nickel, the alloy in gold jewelry, so my bling options have always been limited That rules out most really expensive jewelry right off the bat. My only diamonds are the little chips in my white gold wedding band, which I can wear, thank goodness. My ears have been pierced since I was fourteen, and I adore earrings. I can wear sterling silver, titanium, and some very good hypoallergenic costume things. (Chico's is the best I've ever found for hypoallergenic jewelry, if anyone else has these issues.)  I love bracelets, too, when I can find them to fit my little wrist, and a couple of years ago Rick found me a titanium watch--the first nice watch I've ever owned, because bands and buckles always made me break out!

I do not have the purse gene, or the shoe gene, as my daughter and my more fashionista friends will be happy to confirm.

RHYS: I have been going through my pictures and find that I do occasionally dress up and wear jewelry!

But more often if I have to look smart I wear a scarf. I do have an awful lot of scarves... so I guess we all have our secret vices, be it shoes, handbags, or bling!

How about you, dear readers? Who wears matching jewelry with every outfit? Who changes their purse to match their shoes? Who loves bling?