Ode to the Walpole Library

by Vicki Doudera

It was a Thursday night ritual.

As soon as dinner ended, my Dad and I would gather our books and then hop in the car and drive ten minutes or so to neighboring Walpole, one of those old Massachusetts towns with white colonial homes encircling a big village green dating from 1659 or so. We'd park on Common Street and climb the granite steps to the Walpole Library, where we'd both plunk our books on the portion of the desk marked "returns" and then head off into the stacks.

An hour or so later we'd meet at the main desk, our new stacks of books in hand. My father was a fan of glossy art books with beautiful covers, self-help books, and the occasional biography.  I loved mysteries, biographies, and whatever happened to strike my fancy. That's the feeling I remember most about those Thursday nights: the sense that I was free to choose any book in the building, take it home, and enter its world. Back then, I loved wandering the long rows of shelves, opening titles at random, and reading. Sometimes I became so engrossed that I'd sit right down on the floor. You want to know a secret? I still do, although now I'm up in Maine, at the Camden Public Library.

Last month, residents of Walpole dedicated a brand spanking new Library on School Street. According to the Walpole Times, it’s a "green building," with an outdoor garden, a water conservation feature and green roof on top of the first floor. The green roof has low-growing turf that requires next to no maintenance and acts as an insulator for the community room below.

There's a new "Walpole Room" for local history buffs, a children's program room, plenty of meeting space, and local art is displayed in the lobby of the School Street entrance. One of these days, I will stop in and check it out.

April 8-14 is National Library Week.Take a moment to tell us about the library that made an impact on you.

Realtor Vicki Doudera uses high-stakes real estate as the setting for a suspenseful series starring crime-solving, deal-making agent Darby Farr. Just released is DEADLY OFFER, which takes Darby to a winery where murder, mayhem, and Merlot all mingle. As in KILLER LISTING and A HOUSE TO DIE FOR, Darby discovers a dangerous truth: real estate means real trouble. Read more about the Darby Farr Mystery Series and Vicki at her website, www.vickidoudera.com

My Scary Day Job

 

Last week I was telling a woman about my murder mystery series, and she shivered and asked me how I slept at night after imagining such spooky scenarios. The truth of it is, penning fiction isn’t frightening – not like my “day” job, the profession I entered eight years ago as a way to counter the isolation imposed by writing.

I’m an agent. Not a secret agent, special agent, double agent, or FBI agent… I’m a real estate agent, and danger lurks outside my door.

Take the obvious first: safety. There don't appear to be any real solid statistics on the number of agents who fall victim to murder, rape, assault, or robbery, but practicing real estate almost by definition puts us in potentially hazardous situations. Agents often meet customers for the first time in front of a vacant house, or drive or ride with them to an appointment. It is not uncommon for an agent to be alone in the office late at night, finalizing an offer or catching up on paperwork, and some agents still go door to door looking for listings.

My current book, KILLER LISTING, begins with the murder of a real estate agent at her own open house. Sadly, this scenario isn’t wholly fictitious. The real-life murder in 2006 of Sarah Ann Walker in McKinney, Texas, was definitely in my mind while I was writing. Ms. Walker was presiding over an open house at a new housing development when she was stabbed 27 times. More recently, real estate agent Ashley Okland (pictured below)was shot to death in April while holding an open house in West Des Moines, Iowa. No arrests have been made in the case.

I usually take precautions when I meet a stranger at a property, either bringing along another agent or my husband. (I used to take my chocolate lab, but now that my canine companion is a toy spaniel, that option’s out.) I lock the office door if I’m alone at night and try not to share too much personal information on-line. My series protagonist, agent Darby Farr, is even better prepared: she carries pepper spray and knows Aikido. Like me, Darby has had some frightening experiences while on the job.

I once worked with a white-haired, elderly man who turned out to be a very capable con artist; emailed back and forth with an eager Japanese doctor revealed as a fake; and showed the sprawling oceanfront home of a man who once threw his wife in a dumpster. I’ve encountered sellers who hoard garbage and others who hoard cats. I’ve looked at a customer’s dazzling waterfront estate and then spotted his photo in the paper a month later as he’s taken to prison for scamming millions of dollars from investors in a phony insurance company.

I’ve known desperate sellers, greedy buyers, and agents who are both.

Houses themselves can be creepy. Some are soul-less shells; others so scarily organized they scream Stepford. One of my listings contained a hidden “Armageddon Room” stocked with provisions for the end of the world; another, a basement brimming with porn. Some places are stigmatized properties, where murders, suicides, or other tragedies have occurred. A few contain strange odors, dead vermin, or unidentifiable suspicious stains. I once stepped on something in a garage drain that looked like a miniature “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Somehow I managed to continue flawlessly with my spiel describing the house.

There are frightening house-eating creatures that lurk out of sight, such as poria incrassata, a mold that lives in dank cavities and makes mummified skin out of studs. There are blatant examples of greed, not only in the present but also in old deeds, a scenario I wrote about in A HOUSE TO DIE FOR. There are so-called “spite” wells that are placed near property lines to prevent someone else from building. The list goes on and on.

One of the oddest things to cross my path happened only a few months ago at a new listing our office viewed. The owner, a kindly man in his 70’s, showed us the snapping turtle he’s tended for 37 years in a plastic kiddie pool in his basement. He’s periodically provided his “pet” with other turtle playmates, but, he told us with a wink, they always end up eaten.

Despite the inherent dangers, stress, and the ever-shifting housing market, I enjoy real estate. The money I earn allows me to splurge on writing conferences; the hours give me flexibility to write; and the camaraderie keeps me sane and connected. I’ve found that I use my time more efficiently when I’m busy, and I enjoy transitioning from my public persona as Realtor to private role as author, and vice versa. Even with the oddballs, I have many, many delightful clients.

I think of it this way: real estate is my profession, while writing is my career. I feel very fortunate that the two overlap in my mystery series, and that I’m able to put the wackiest of situations (watch for that turtle…) to good use.

 

Top producing Realtor Vicki Doudera uses high-stakes, luxury real estate as the setting for a suspenseful mystery series starring crime-solving, deal-making agent Darby Farr. A broker with a busy coastal firm since 2003 and former Realtor of the Year, Vicki’s next mystery, DEADLY OFFER, takes Darby to a winery where murder, mayhem, and Merlot all mingle. As in the popular KILLER LISTING and A HOUSE TO DIE FOR, Darby discovers a dangerous truth: real estate means real trouble. Read more about the Darby Farr Mystery Series and Vicki at her website, www.vickidoudera.com.

What’s New at New England Crime Bake

Just back from the 10th annual Crime Bake, a mystery conference for writers and readers held outside of Boston and sponsored by the NE chapters of Sisters in Crime & Mystery Writers of America. Thought I’d share a little report while the whole experience is fresh in my mind.

A panel with several “top guns” emphasized the need for persistence in our profession, as well as a little luck. Guest of Honor Nancy Pickard (The Scent of Rain and Lightning) described herself as a “thirty year overnight success,” and said that although she came along in the early 80’s -- the right time for women in crime fiction (that’s the luck part) -- she realized early on that “somebody has to be published – it might as well be me.”

Barry Eisler (The Detachment), Nancy’s co-honoree, stressed hard work and our need as authors to stay on top of the entire process of publishing. He told many stories about less than stellar covers and/or titles of his books, decisions in which he was denied input and that led him to turn down a lucrative contract in favor of self-publishing. I hope he realized how lucky he was to have his books beside mine at the bookseller’s table…

Michael Palmer (A Heartbeat Away, The Last Surgeon) consistently offered down-to-earth advice that really resonated with me, such as how important it is for writers to care about the characters they create. It made me think of an early version of my first mystery, A House to Die For. I had a smarmy spinal surgeon murdered in the prologue and my agent pointed out that he was a really despicable character. “Is anyone going to care that he died?” he wondered. In later revisions, I made Emerson Phipps more dimensional, making him a volunteer for a relief organization and showing him through the eyes of his sister as a loving uncle.

Frequently these conferences provide not only suggestions “from the experts,” but hard-earned wisdom from writers such as those of us blogging here. I spoke on a panel with three other series writers about setting and how it influences characters and plot. We had a nice crowd for our discussion and fielded many excellent questions from the floor. I came away with tips from the other writers as well as imparting some of my own.

Of course, we all know that writing conferences aren’t all work, work, work…

I was thrilled to discover that Terri Bischoff, Midnight Ink’s Acquisitions Editor, was among the attendees, and she and I enjoyed catching up and talking mysteries. I met the owner of a bookstore in Vermont as well as several local readers who want me at their mystery club. I sold and signed copies of Killer Listing and made many new friends.

And then there is the ball…

This year the event featured “Sleuths, Spies, and Private Eyes,” and it was great fun. I dressed as Jill Masterson, the unfortunately gilded victim from Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger, and was delighted to discover 007 waiting when I exited the elevator. We teamed up as a last-minute entry in the “Partners in Crime” category of the costume contest and captured second place!  (Mrs. Peacock and Mr. Boddy from CLUE beat us out.) Some of you know Nikki Bonnani who hosts the Killer Coffee Club… She came as a chilling Lizbeth Salander, dragon tattoo and all, and won the whole thing.

Dancing in gold lame may be akin to being sprayed with the precious metal, and by the end of the evening, I felt poor Jill’s pain. But I also felt buoyed up by the spirit of the conference: camaraderie, optimism, and sheer love of writing. I’m now back in Maine, hard at work on my manuscript, and using the tips I gleaned from Crime Bake to try and make it better.

Wanted: Weak Female Characters by Vicki Doudera

Did anyone else read the New York Times article (July 3rd) by Carina Chocano in which she bemoaned the rise of women who are "tough, cold, terse, taciturn and prone to not saying goodbye when they hang up the phone"? In other words: strong female characters.



Cocano was speaking more about films than books, but I found her riff on the whole subject fascinating and pertinent nonetheless. She made the point that when people use the term "strong female character," they aren't really describing characters that are complex or well-written, nor are they referencing heroines who figure prominently in a story. What is really meant by "strong female character," she argues, is a female character with the gendered behavior taken out.



I've thought about this with regard to my mystery series and its heroine Darby Farr. Now Darby's not what I would call a "girly girl." She's an expert at Aikido, she's a loner, and she doesn't espouse too many qualities which we'd consider traditionally feminine (although she is a big believer in intuition.) When she acted a little impulsively at one point in the first book, A House to Die For, a reviewer gently chastised me for a "TSTL," or "too stupid to live" moment. You can bet I made sure Darby was a little more careful in Killer Listing, and she's downright precise in Deadly Offer, coming out in April. She is strong. She is invincible. She is Darby...



And yet, as Chocano argues in her article, isn't a little weakness "precisely what makes characters interesting, relatable, and funny"? If our strong female characters all act like Lisbeth Salander, aren't we contributing to the notion that for a female character to be worth identifying with, she can't be at all feminine?



On a personal level, I ask myself why it is that Darby can't make a few mistakes here and there? Might she shed a tear when she gets upset or hurt? And I'd like to see her make at least one close friend, for goodness sake, even if it's someone she meets in Aikido class.



I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy writing scenes in which Darby displays so-called "masculine" qualities. When she takes out a bad guy with an expert move, I feel nearly as proud as when my very beautiful daughter makes a killer kick in soccer. But Darby can have a softer side, too, and we may see it from time to time in future books. After all, she's evolving and growing.



Or would that be me?

Nature Girl

My fondest childhood memories are of times spent with my parents and grandparents at what we called "the farm." Located in northern Vermont on 100 acres of wooded land, the "farm" was my grandfather's hunting retreat -- a ramshackle house with a front porch, outhouse, gas lamps, and a few bedrooms, one of which had a triple-decker bunkbed. In the kitchen was an enormous black cookstove in which my greataunt could bake her mouthwatering strawberry-rhubarb pies. Little wonder that my brother and cousins and I adored the place.

For me, one of the best things about the farm was the abundance of wildlife. We'd scrutinize the way the porcupines gnawed at the screen door because they liked the salt from our hands; the beaver that made his dam down the dirt road in a small pond; and the few trout that swam lazily in the abandoned well. Bear scat would appear now and then on the small patch of lawn, and we'd see the bears themselves off in the distance crossing the power line in search of ripe berries. Living among nature I felt whole, a feeling that would disipate little by little as we drove back to our home in Massachusetts.

Flash forward to today, to Maine, the state I've happily inhabited for the past twenty-five years. Here I can be a nature girl to my heart's content. I know that not everyone enjoys spotting a coyote at the neighbor's feeder, or watching as a moose wanders out from the bog into the middle of the street, but to me these indications that we share our world with more creatures than our pets is somehow redemptive. It's not all about me, or twitter entries, or how many calories I burn on the eliptical. There is a bigger world out there, a world that expands our senses and reawakens the same awe we felt as children. Ignore it, and you're likely to suffer what experts are now calling "nature-deficit disorder."

It's not surprising that my love of nature leads me to include the natural world in my mysteries. That wasn't too difficult in the first book (A House to Die For,) which, after all, took place in Maine. But the second in the Darby Farr Mystery Series, Killer Listing, is set on the Gulf Coast

of Florida. Luckily I have spent some wonderful times watching manatees, herons, dolphins, and even 'gators in the Sunshine State, so I was able to create a rich setting that included nature for my heroine. (The photo of my kids spotting one of the state's famous reptiles is from a camping trip in the Everglades years ago.) As to the diversity of plant life in Florida, I turned to several guidebooks (and, yes, the Internet) to help me write about bristlecone pines and fan palms, and my personal favorite -- the strangler fig.

Just as I cannot imagine my life without nature, I can't imagine my mysteries without it. What about you? Do you believe in the transformative power of the natural world, and do you include it in your books?

Paying it Forward

I felt so lucky this summer. Great press for A HOUSE TO DIE FOR, including a televised interview, several engagements at book clubs, three or four library events, and the opportunity to speak to the Maine Women's Network as part of their "Amazing Women" series. Really, can there be any bigger thrill for any of us than talking about our writing?

Last week I answered my own question. What's more rewarding than discussing our books? Sharing our story with an aspiring scribe.

With me in the photo above is Nicole Glidden, an eighth grader from Cushing, Maine. We're in the library of her school where she interviewed me about being and becoming a writer.

It turns out that Nicole, who pens science fiction, is quite the Katie Couric. Her questions ranged from the basic (When did you first know that you were a writer? My answer: From the minute I could grasp a pencil) to the specific (What do you do when you get writer's block? My reply: I shift gears and work on another part of the story.) She asked me about my major in college (Comparative Literature) and my minor (French) and whether I was a New York Times Bestselling Author. (Ummm...not yet.)

We talked about the process of writing: plotting, creating characters, and writing believably gory scenes. Nicole struggles with the same things we do, and feels the same satisfaction when she gets it right. She asked me who reads my fiction first, and I told her about my husband, my agent, and my good friend Lynda. She nodded and told me about her friends' reactions to her stories. She told me that her mom is a loyal reader, despite her preference for romance.

The experience of sitting at the little table with Nicole was different than addressing book club attendees, or getting up in front of a group at the library. I was talking one on one with a writer, someone alot like me many moons ago. I urged her to keep plugging away, to persevere despite the many obstacles life would throw in her way -- the same advice we have all found one way or another.

I inscribed a copy of A HOUSE TO DIE FOR to this determined young woman, and then I wished her all the luck in the world. Because when it comes right down to it, even Katie Couric needs a little luck.