Fiction in Real Places

by Kathleen Ernst

Is it wise to set a murder mystery in a real place? 

The first book in my Chloe Ellefson series, Old World Murder, is set at a large historic site where I once worked.  I used to be a curator at Old World Wisconsin; Chloe is a curator at Old World Wisconsin.  You know what they say: write what you know.


Several writers advised me to fictionalize the setting, but I simply couldn’t do it.  I sent the manuscript to a former colleague before publication, and it made the rounds among administrative types.  Happily, they gave it a thumbs-up.

They weren’t just being kind to me.  They were being savvy.  In these difficult financial times, museums and historic sites are looking for new audiences, new ways to let people know just how much they have to offer.  In my case, I think the site staff realized that my books might bring a few new visitors to the site.  Yes, my fictional characters are involved in murder and mayhem.  But the site itself is portrayed—quite accurately—as a gem.

I’ve been delighted to hear from readers who have indeed discovered the site through Old World Murder and book 2, The Heirloom Murders.  I’ve got locations guides for each book posted on my website.  Readers can download them and take a Chloe Tour on their own, seeing each real building or place that appears in the books.

And this year, I worked with Old World Wisconsin staff to create special “History and Mystery” tours, focused on the Chloe Ellefson books.  Participants arrive before-hours for a behind-the-scenes look at locations featured in the novels. 

I take guests into the buildings they read about and discuss the choices I made when writing the books.  I’m able to share some background about the site, providing pertinent context that didn’t quite make it into the novels.  Guests also get to visit areas that are not normally open to the public. 


The curator of research, who has worked at the site since the 1970s, shares little-known stories about identifying, relocating, restoring, and researching each structure.  That’s a rare treat, and I can tell that participants would be happy to listen and ask him questions all day.


The experience ends with a private reception and—of course—a booksigning.  The combination must be appealing, because the first tours have sold out.  One lady on the first tour flew in from New York!  So far we’ve raised $2,000 for Old World Wisconsin.

So is it wise to write about a real place?  For me, the answer is definitely yes.  I think Old World Wisconsin staff would agree.  The site supports and promotes my books; I support and promote the site.

In future books, when Chloe visits other historic sites, I hope to do the same thing.  The Light Keeper’s Legacy, which comes out in October, is largely set in an old lighthouse on an island in Lake Michigan.  A special fund-raising tour there sounds like great fun to me!

For more information, visit http://kathleenernst.com

Life is a Highway

By Deborah Sharp

If all goes well, I’ll set off today to drive from Florida to North Carolina to visit my sister. In this season of summer vacations, it’s the perfect time to go. Fort Lauderdale is sweltering. My sister tells me evening temperatures in the mountains drop to the 60s. Pack the jacket! Where I’m from, we call that winter.

I’m leaving with a clear conscience, because I just finished the manuscript for my fifth mystery, MAMA GETS TRASHED. I hope my brain uses the long drive to recharge. There’s nothing like staring at a highway center line for twelve hours to jolt the creative juices. I always have a pen and notepad in my truck’s console, just in case. I might just come up with an idea for the next great American novel at the five-hundred-and-seventh monotonous mile.

Because I spend most of my life in a fog of nostalgia, packing for this trip reminded me of another journey I took, a few years ago. My mother was 90. She wanted to go back home to Illinois one last time. Before we left Florida, I heard her on the phone with the childhood friend she’d arranged to visit. The friend asked if she was nervous about traveling at her age.

“I’m not worried at all,’’ my mom said. “My daughter takes care of everything.’’

Just like my mother did for us.

I was eight the summer my father died. Mom loaded my little brother and me into our family's battered Ford Fairlane. We took a long, meandering road trip between our Florida home and Chicago, where she was born. Driving, grieving, she’d hold her tears until after dark, when she thought we were asleep in the bed she made on the back seat. Lying there, I’d watch the reflections from oncoming headlights. I was terrified those cars would smash into ours, and my mother would die just like my father did. With each rectangle of light that passed over her face, fading harmlessly into the darkness, I breathed more easily.

My father was gone, but I felt a little safer after that summer with my mother behind the wheel.

One of Mon's favorite sayings was always, “One good turn deserves another.’’ So, on her last trip home, I took the driver’s seat. I packed her clothes, and lifted the suitcases. I studied the maps and found the hotels. I was happy to be able to “take care of everything’’ for her on that trip. But most of all, I was grateful that those many summers later, she felt safe with me behind the wheel.

How about you? Does your family take road trips? Do creative ideas pop into your head on long drives? Do you feel happy -- or sad – behind the wheel?

'What If' Launches a New Series

‘What If’ Launches a New Series

By Joanna Campbell Slan

My first “love” will always be Kiki Lowenstein, the spunky single mom who inhabits my mystery series set in St. Louis. In fact, I’m busy writing Book #6 in that series. However, I wanted to write a second series, and I wanted to challenge myself. But where to look for a good idea?

I stumbled on a worthwhile premise after answering a question for a Malice Domestic panel: “What’s your favorite classic mystery?” I knew most readers might mention a work by Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayer or Rex Stout, but my choice was Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. To me, it had all the hallmarks of a great puzzle. Who was bumping around in the attic, and why did Mr. Rochester pretend it was that silly drunkard Grace Poole?

In fact, the more I thought about it, the more loose ends I noticed. Where had Adéle’s mother gone? Adéle seems to think her mother died, but Edward Rochester tells Jane that Adéle was abandoned. Which is it? What happened to Blanche Ingram after she discovered that Edward Rochester had tricked her? That he’d lied about his fortune being so small? What really happened to Jane Eyre’s uncle who died in Madiera? How did he perish? Was it true that her parents both died of natural causes or was that a lie that her evil aunt told her? Where did Bertha Mason’s brother go after she stabbed him? He must have kept tabs on Edward Rochester, otherwise, how could he have sent his solicitor to interrupt Jane and Edward’s wedding? Could Bertha have survived the fire at Thornfield Hall? What was the strange force that drove St. John Rivers to be such a martyr?

Every creative endeavor starts with a powerful question, “What if…?” But if you want to write a series, you must venture beyond those two powerful words and ask, “What happens next?”

So I set out to discover what happened to Jane Eyre at the end of Brontë’s classic. In the last chapter, Jane writes that Adéle was sent to a girls’ school in London, but the environment proved incompatible, and the girl was brought back home. What really happened? What if Adéle was bullied? What if that bully turned murderous? What if Jane was forced to protect her old student? What if Jane plays the role of amateur sleuth, and does it so well, that snooping around becomes a passion for her?

All of a sudden, I couldn’t type fast enough!

And so, Dear Reader, the Jane Eyre’s saga continues with Death of a Schoolgirl (Berkley Trade/August 7), the first book in my new series, The Jane Eyre Chronicles.

I hope you’ll check it out!

Joanna Campbell Slan is the author of the Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series. Her first book—Paper, Scissors, Death—was a finalist for the Agatha Award. Her newest series, The Jane Eyre Chronicles, starts August 7 with the release of Death of a Schoolgirl (Berkley Trade). Visit Joanna at her website.

Watching the Olympics but Thinking About Writing.

Let's be honest, I'm completely distracted by the Olympics. Luckily, my son and his buddies are camped out in front of our TV and have graciously agreed to let me ask them some questions in between swimming and gymnastics.

To set the scene, the boys are bright, recent high school grads, all weeks away from heading to their freshman year in college. There is Max, class valedictorian, who is headed to Duke, Nick is headed to Santa Clara University. Aaron and Cass are going to University of Colorado. Dylan is going to Bates College in Maine and my son, Andrew, who spent the summer training with the Indiana University dive team and enrolled at IU where he took Analytical Writing.

Since a gang of boys isn't your typical Midnight Ink demographic (and despite some coming and going while I was trying to ask questions) I figured they'd be an interesting bunch to interview.

Question One:

What is the most recent book you've read?

Max:State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.

Nick:Acts of Faith by Eboo Patel

Aaron: Hunger Games and Game of Thrones

Cass:Hunger Games and Curious George Goes to the Zoo.

Andrew: Huck Finn.

What is your all time favorite book?

Max: Pendragon Series.

Nick: Native Son and I loved Where the Red Fern Grows. It made me cry.

Aaron: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Dylan: Cat's Cradle.

Andrew: Where the Wild Things Are.

Cass: The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Why?

Max: It's the only series I can read without falling asleep. 

Nick: I liked how Native Son showed how our surroundings impact behavior.

Aaron: Hunter Thompson is a great author and I love his point of view on society. 

Cass: I like books with pictures or coloring. (It should be noted, Cass has quite a sense of humor). 

Andrew: It stimulated my imagination. 

Who is your favorite writer?

Max: Roald Dahl

Nick: Jonathon Saffron Foer.

Aaron: Cormac McCarthy

Dylan: Kurt Vonnegut

Andrew:George Orwell

Cass: Shell Silverstein.

Do you like to read?

Max: I like to read Time and Newsweek.

Nick: I like magazines--Skiing and Rolling Stone--and if I'm interested in a topic I like to read about it.

Aaron: Yes. 

Andrew: Depends on the book.

Cass: I agree with Nick. I like to read when I'm interested in a topic. 

What is your preferred genre?

Max:Non-Fiction.

Nick:Non-Fiction.

Aaron:I'll read anything I find interesting.

Andrew:Science Fiction.

Cass: Non-Fiction and The Hunger Games. I loved it.

What are you majoring in?

Max: Biomedical Engineering.

Nick: Biomedical Engineering.

Aaron: Political Science

Dylan: Business

Andrew:Biology

Cass: Business

The boys are once again distracted by the Olympics and it's impossible to coax much else out of them, but my small survey sample has been enlightening, at least to me. 6 really smart boys. 2 are avid fiction readers. The others, who have read a lot and admire good writing, prefer to read non-fiction and magazines where possible. This gang has been hanging around my house since they were little tykes so I happen to know they all gobbled up the standard boy fare--Magic Tree House, Captain Underpants, Encyclopedia Brown, Calvin and Hobbes, the Aragon Series etc. etc. They all claim to have loved reading when they were young, but stopped wanting to read when it became homework. I've always heard young men, past the YA years, were a tough group readership wise. Interesting how accurate it seems for the moment. I'll have to ask again when they've all graduated and are reading for pleasure once again.

INKSPOT NEWS - July 28, 2012

On Thursday, August 2, 2012, from 7 – 9 PM, Beth Groundwater will discuss her recent release, Wicked Eddies, with the Mystery Book Club at the Highlands Ranch Library, 9292 Ridgeline Blvd., Highlands Ranch, CO 80129. The event is open to the public, and Beth will sell and sign copies of her books afterward.

Me and Julie Andrews

by Shannon Baker

It’s been a rough week here in Colorado. Not just here, everyone in the country feels the horror of random acts of violence and the tragedy of wasted of lives. The air itself feels heavy with grief.


The Nebraska Sandhills, a few miles from here where I lived for twenty years, has turned into Crematoria. It is bursting into flames. The drought has sucked the hills so dry the incredible waves of grass are now incendiary fodder waiting for lightning strikes to send surges of fire to devour pastures, buildings and critters.


Last week not one but two of my friends had the heart-shredding experience of ending long-term relationships. Yeow. Life will go on for them, of course. But before they experience the exhilaration of freedom and the relief of getting away from a bad situation, they will live through the agony of loss.

And also, I found out I can't just cut and paste pictures willy-nilly from Google images so I'm stuck with what I can find on my computer and I got some weird virus because my sister was visiting and exposed my computer to some awful things and the IT guy who set up my new computer after my old one got stolen forgot to put virus protection on it and I am having all manner of technical difficulties just getting this blog to post and I want to tear my hair out but will probably settle for another Moscow mule...

Even for a shallow person like me, this bad news and tragedy can feel like the end of the world. I’m not nearly as wise as Solomon (wise-ass, maybe) but I feel sort of like doing what he did, throwing my hands up in the air and declaring life is all vanity. Really, what’s the point?

I’m no spring chicken (as if a pullet is something we all aspire to). I’ve seen a bit of sadness from time and time and I know that as callous as it all seems, we don’t live in that dark place forever. There’s always going to be good times and bad. As The Dude says, “Strikes and gutters, man.”

So I’m going to go all Julie Andrews on your ass and give you a list of My Favorite Things that have been helping me cope with this particularly sad week:

• Fresh Colorado peaches from the farmer’s market.
• My bike to work commute that takes me by a farm with piglets snorting in the tall weeds along the road.
• A random glimpse of the Flatirons looking over Boulder.
• Dogs at the pond at the dog park—even though they aren’t my dogs. 
• Toddlers in the pop-up fountain at the Pearl Street Mall—especially since they aren’t my toddlers.
• The movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that I watched with my sister on Saturday night.
• My sister, obviously. 
• An hour by the pool in the bright Colorado sunshine reading Defending Jacob, by William Landay.
• The cool breeze from my bedroom window in the deep night.
• A giggle or two during phone calls and emails from my daughters.

Even though it sounds trite, I’m hugging the Man With Endless Tolerance especially tight and feeling the MWET hold me even tighter. I’m sending out my best thoughts for the multitudes in sad places in their lives and I’m hoping they can just keep swimming. I don’t know much but I do know that it gets better. It always gets better.

PS. I hope you enjoyed the random picture of our old dog, Boomer, who's no longer with us. It always makes me smile and maybe it will make you smile, too.

Being in the Inside Crowd

A couple of recent happenings have made me realize that, after seven months of living in the small resort town of Breckenridge, I now feel like a local, part of the "inside crowd." And, being an author who has traditionally published multiple books, I realized I'm feeling the same way about the publishing industry.

(View of Breckenridge, looking west toward the ski area, by Neil Groundwater.)

(View of Breckenridge, looking east, by Neil Groundwater.)

Back to Breckenridge. The first happening that made me feel I belonged was when my Midnight Ink editor asked me if I wanted to add a Dedication to the trade paperback/ebook edition of To Hell in a Handbasket. The book will be re-released in November and it is set in Breckenridge. I decided to dedicate it this way: "To Breckenridge, my new home town, for welcoming my husband and me with open arms." The second happening was a typical day of errands, where I ran into a local friend at the Recreation Center, then into another at the dentist's office, and finally a third at the Post Office. (The USPS doesn't deliver mail to individual homes and businesses here, so everyone has to get a Post Office box and pick up their mail.)

Then I drove the few blocks home, snaking my way between jaywalking tourists, and it hit me. Yup, unlike them, I'm a local! I'll still be here when their summer vacations are over, and I'll still be here when the skiers' winter vacations are over. I vote here, I get my hair cut and my teeth cleaned here, I pick up my CSA organic vegetables at a nearby house each week, and I belong to a local book club, hiking group, and the Friends of the Summit County Library (and the librarians know me as the "local mystery author").

Similarly, I feel comfortable now in the publishing world. Before I was published, I felt like a tourist, peeking into bookstore windows, saying to myself that someday my own title would be on display. And now, I often find my books on bookstores and library shelves. When I go to mystery fan conventions, I feel comfortable talking to other authors as an equal. I am recognized and respected as an author by readers. When I contact or am contacted by booksellers or librarians to schedule events, I know that they can easily research me on the Internet and find out that I am an established mystery author with four books out and two in the works for 2013. I'm a "local" in the publishing industry, part of the inside crowd.

It's taken me a LOT longer to get that feeling in the publishing world, though, than it took me in Breckenridge! For many, many years as an aspiring author, I longed to become part of that inside crowd. Once I started publishing books, though, I was so busy writing, editing, and promoting, that I didn't realize that I HAD gradually become an insider. It wasn't until I had the similar experience of getting assimilated into a new home town that I realized the parallel.

For other writers, published and unpublished, what are your experiences in feeling like you are a part of the inside crowd in the publishing industry--or not? For readers, have you had similar transitions where you gradually became part of the inside crowd? What kind of crowd? What did you do to become an insider?