Meg Perry's Blog, page 23

Getting ahead of myself!

Since I’ve finished the first draft of Filmed to Death, I’ve begun work on the book that will come after that, called Pictured to Death. Filmed to Death takes place in April of 2016; Pictured to Death takes place in June of 2016. Obviously, those months haven’t happened yet! I can’t publish something that hasn’t happened yet. What if The Big One strikes California between now and then? That would certainly influence Pete and Jamie’s lives radically. I couldn’t ignore that.

So far, I’ve published each book around six months after the action in the book “takes place.” That seems to work well. Anything of historical importance has had time to happen and the aftermath has mostly settled out by then.

Filmed to Death is somewhat different, because there’s a longish gap between it and its predecessor, Played to Death. Nine months have passed between the books. Played to Death takes place in June and July of 2015. Those dates have come and gone, and Played to Death will be fine to publish as scheduled, around the end of this year or the beginning of January. Filmed to Death, though, will have to wait until summer of 2016 at least.

Just an interesting thing that I’ve been thinking about this week!

Setting: How to write about a place you’ve never been

Technically, I have been to Los Angeles. I changed planes at LAX once. But the inside of one airport looks pretty much like the next, and it was a redeye from Honolulu and I was somewhat less than fully alert. And this was in 2004, long before Jamie Brodie came into my life.

Once I decided that Jamie and Pete would live in Los Angeles, I knew I needed details about the city to make the books as realistic as possible. As I’ve written more books and expanded into more locations – Oceanside, Alamogordo – I’ve had to do more research. So – how do I do my location research?

The first thing I did was buy a couple of books – the Not For Tourists Guide to Los Angeles, which comes with detailed maps, locations of post offices, schools, grocery stores, etc.; and the Lonely Planet guide to Los Angeles, San Diego and Southern California. I am also highly dependent on Google Maps, of course. I use it nearly every day. The Street View is extremely helpful. It showed me what a typical front yard looked like in Lancaster, where Pete’s dad lived, and what the apartment building looked like that I chose for Kevin and Jamie to live in at the beginning. I was also able to use it to follow the same path that Pete would take on foot to work every day, so I knew a) that it truly was walkable, and b) what he’d see along the way.

I used the L.A. Metro website to map out Jamie’s bus ride to work from Santa Monica and to learn how long it would take.

I use the real estate website Trulia to find places for my characters to live. I search for a place that’s for sale that fits the requirements for the character(s), and save the pictures. That’s how I found Pete and Jamie’s townhouse/condo, Dave Brodie’s Craftsman house in Oceanside, Steve Ferguson’s house in Alamogordo, Liz and Jon’s condo, and the place that Kevin and Abby bought together. That way I can describe the characters’ movements around their houses accurately. Then I go back to Google Maps Street View and check out the address I’ve chosen. Is it in the type of neighborhood I want? What’s next door? What’s behind it? (That’s how I know an alley runs behind the boys’ townhouse, and an Indian restaurant is just around the corner.)

Santa Monica College Boardwalk: By Michael Oh [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

I use Google Images to find pictures of places; I’ve used that the most for describing locations at UCLA, but I’ve also used it for Alamogordo and the West LA police station. I also have a friend who visited Westwood a few years ago; I gave him a list of things I wanted pictures of, and he was able to get quite a few of them – Jamie’s bus stop on Hilgard Avenue, the reference desk at Jamie’s library, Wilshire Blvd. as it passes through Santa Monica. He also tells me when I have something wrong like a parking lot where there isn’t one, or that 800 Degrees Pizza doesn’t serve beer but has one of those hundred-flavor Coke machines.

That same friend, during his visit, went to the Writer’s Guild library which will appear in Filmed to Death, and described the interior in detail and the procedures for looking at a script while there.

I also read a lot about LA, both fiction and nonfiction. Jonathan Kellerman’s books are nearly all set in the West LA area; Robert Crais’s books are also great for useful descriptions and atmosphere. I’ve read about the Homicide Special unit of LAPD, which appeared in Stacked to Death, and I’ve read about the history of the LAPD.

One of these days I’m going to get to Los Angeles for a real visit, and I’m going to prowl Santa Monica and Westwood, taking notes and pictures. At this point, though, I feel like I might know the area well enough to maneuver without a map!

What I’m reading now: Wool/Shift/Dust by Hugh Howey

By Артемий Титов (Ракетные шахты) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Hugh Howey is one of the superstars of self-publishing. He’s one of the examples people use when they say that it is possible to earn a living completely through self-publishing. I don’t know about the other examples, but Mr. Howey deserves all the praise he gets.

His postapocalyptic trilogy, Wool, Shift, and Dust, has been around for a while, but I didn’t get around to reading it until last week and this. All I can say is: WOW. The books are fantastic. The story is of a society that lives underground in a silo, several hundred years after an apocalyptic event – and to say any more than that would spoil it. There is a mystery woven throughout the trilogy: What happened? Why are they underground? Why does going outside condemn them to death? And – is anyone else out there?

If you like this genre and haven’t read Wool, I highly recommend it. The books are long, but extremely well written and there aren’t many wasted words. It’s a great read.

Research!

First, a quick update:

Avenged to Death will be out in four weeks, on August 28. If you’d like to preorder, here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/Avenged-Death-Brodie-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B011VQBSQG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438364780&sr=8-1&keywords=avenged+to+death. If you have preordered, thank you!
The first draft of Played to Death is done, and I’ll be working on it with my writing group during the fall. It will be published around the first of the year.
I’m deep into writing Filmed to Death, and I estimate that I’m about halfway through. Jamie is going to tackle Hollywood in this one! Should be fun.

After Filmed to Death will come Pictured to Death. This is where the research comes in. Jamie finally searches for information about his mother’s family, and the quest leads him in directions he never imagined. I’m having to do some reading on events that I should know about, but don’t – coal miners’ unions in West Virginia, the politics of the Progressive Era, the Wall Street bombing of 1920. Did you know Wall Street was bombed in 1920? I didn’t.Terrorism came to Manhattan long before the first WTC bombing in 1993.

I love it when my day job collides with my second profession. :D

I’m going to the Citizens Police Academy!

Our local city police department is holding a citizens’ academy this fall, beginning September 1 – and I just got confirmation of my registration. We’ll learn how the police department works, how officers are trained, learn about K-9, etc. – and of course one week covers crime scene investigation. Woo hoo!

What I’m reading now: The Peter Grant Mysteries

One of my coworkers recommended these books, and I’m so glad he did. Peter Grant is a police constable with the Metropolitan Police in London. In the first book, called Midnight Riot in the US and Rivers of London in the UK, Peter is standing guard at a crime scene when he sees a ghost, who describes the killer to him. Peter’s not one to see ghosts; he believes in facts and the scientific method. So it comes as a shock to him to learn that there is a division of the Met, consisting of one man, that investigates deaths that are connected to supernatural events.

Peter is a great character. He’s fully grounded in reality and takes his orders to keep the Queen’s Peace very seriously. But he’s also a horny young guy, snarky, impatient – a fully formed character. I’ve only read the first two books – I believe there are six – but can’t wait to read the rest. They’re so British, which I love. The author is Ben Aaronovitch, who used to write for Dr. Who (bonus!). If you like a good mystery with action and laugh-out-loud moments, you’ll like these books.

Avenged to Death available for preorder!

Avenged to Death is ready for pre-order here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011VQBSQG

The publication date is August 28. Here’s the blurb:

Who is Randall Chesterson Barkley, and why has he named Jamie Brodie and his brothers in his will? The answer to that question leads Jamie to another answer: the story of what really happened to his mom. Then two murders throw Jamie, Kevin and Jeff into an investigation that uncovers more secrets from the past – and forces Jamie into a decision where there is no option for a happy ending.

The cover for Avenged to Death

Here it is! The book will be ready for preorder soon. 

  

Travel as inspiration

I think I’m finally past the jet lag from my trip to Scotland. Until last night I’d been waking up at 4:30 every morning! It’s the only unpleasant part of this particular trip.

Two years ago, when I went to Orkney, I was inspired by the archaeology and stories of bog bodies to write Stoned to Death. Last year, hiking along Hadrian’s Wall, the story of Avenged to Death started coming to me. In spite of that, I wasn’t expecting anything in particular to stir my creativity this time.

I was wrong! We were standing near a cliff at Dunnottar Castle, which hangs on a strategic point overlooking water. There were a few people getting much closer to the edge of the cliff than I was, which made me think of someone falling over the cliff – which then led me to think about pushing someone off a cliff, and making it look like an accident.

Then there were the Rabbie’s Tours buses. They’re small buses, driven by a guy in a kilt, and we saw them everywhere.

Then Mary, our tour guide/friend, was talking about a couple of obnoxious clients she’d had before us.

Then, in Brodie Castle, I asked a couple of questions that the docent couldn’t answer.

Put all those things together, and what do you have? A story called Toured to Death, where a tour guide who’s completely soured on the profession has to put up with a busload of obnoxious tourists – and the worst of the lot has an unfortunate accident. Or so it seems. Pete and Jamie are on the tour because it was given to them as a gift by Pete’s aunt, and they can’t turn it down or send someone else. A couple of the other travelers ask questions that the tour guide can’t answer, but Jamie can – so the tour guide eventually comes after Jamie.

Don’t expect to see this one any time soon – but you will see it eventually, I promise!

Best Men, part 9 (and final)

Wednesday, December 31

We spent three nights at my dad’s and got home Sunday at noon, ready to sleep in our own bed again. We spent Monday unpacking and getting the house in order. Tuesday was Aaron and Paul’s rehearsal; Pete picked up his tux on the way to Pasadena.

Aaron and Paul’s wedding day was cool but clear. The ceremony was at noon but Aaron had asked Pete to be there by 11:30. When we got there Pete disappeared into the guest room, where he and Aaron would get ready.

I stuck my head into the master bedroom to check on Paul, who was fussing with his cummerbund with the help of his best woman, his business partner Adrienne. He yanked the thing off, swearing, just as I walked in. I said, “See? This is why I’m getting married in cargo pants.”

Paul rolled his eyes. “Either help me with this thing or fuck off.”

Adrienne shook her head. “Miss Priss is in a foul mood. I apologize for him.”

I said, “Paul, you’re supposed to be in a good mood on your wedding day. And I’ve never worn a tux so I can’t help you.”

Paul paused his attack on the poor cummerbund. “You’ve never worn a tux?”

“Nope. Explains a lot, doesn’t it?”

That made him laugh. “It certainly does. Has Pete’s dad’s house sold yet?”

“Not yet. But that’s because it’s the holidays, according to Lisa.”

“Well, she should know.” Paul sighed as Adrienne finally got the cummerbund in place. “Thank God. Have the flowers come yet?”

Adrienne said, “How would I know? I’ve been trapped in here with you.”

“Well, go see.” Paul made shooing motions at the door.

Adrienne grinned as she passed me. “Bossy bitch.”

Paul yelled after her, “I’ll show you bitch!”

I said, “Certainly seems like you’ve got things under control. I’m going to mingle.”

“I don’t suppose I could convince you to bring me a bottle of champagne, could I?”

“Nope. Aaron would kill me.”

Paul sighed and fluttered his fingers at me. “Okay, fine. Go mingle. I’ll see you after.”

I went downstairs and exited into the back yard, where a small platform was set up in front of a few rows of white chairs. There were only about thirty guests at the wedding. Several were from Aaron and Pete’s department: Verlene Canaday, the department chair, and her husband; Elliott Conklin, the assistant chair, and a date whom I hadn’t met; Elaine Pareja, whom I barely knew; and a couple of other SMC people whom I didn’t know at all. Paul’s side was represented by a couple of elderly aunts and a tight knot of friends, sleekly groomed gay men who eyed me with a mix of curiosity and thinly veiled interest. I was wearing my newest suit, which Pete had said made me look hot.

Maybe it did.

I sat down beside Elliott, who introduced me to his new boyfriend, Stewart – a more age-appropriate choice than his old boyfriend Matt Bendel, I was glad to see. I hadn’t seen Elliott since Matt’s murderer had been shot and killed by Kevin. I was happy to see that he looked well.

Stewart shook my hand. “How do you know Aaron and Paul?”

“Aaron’s best man is my fiance.”

Elliott said, “I’ve told you about Pete Ferguson, right? Teaches abnormal psych? He and Jamie have been engaged – how long now?”

I said, “Six weeks. But the wedding’s not for several months.”

Stewart smiled at me. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

A murmur arose from behind us, and we turned. Pete was escorting Adrienne down the aisle formed between the rows of seats. He looked fabulous in his tux, and I had a momentary pang that he wouldn’t be wearing one at our wedding – but it passed quickly. Adrienne had changed from the little black dress she’d been wearing to a knee-length brilliant blue gown that molded to her figure. She was stunning. Too bad there were so few single straight guys here.

Adrienne and Pete parted and went to their respective sides of the platform. Pete caught my eye and winked at me; I grinned back. Then Aaron and Paul came down the aisle, holding hands.

The white tuxes suited both of them. They were wearing boutonnieres of a white lily-like flower, and they were both grinning like idiots.

I figured I’d be no different on our wedding day.

The service was short. The officiant was a lawyer friend of Paul’s, and he said the basic words without too many embellishments. Aaron and Paul exchanged rings, and they were married.

I thought I might like to have some more meaningful words said at our wedding – although I didn’t know what those words might be yet.

Aaron and Paul came back down the aisle, followed by Adrienne and Pete, then the faux minister invited us all into the house for the reception. I went in and looked for Pete, noted his location, then turned toward the buffet table. It was loaded with lots of yummy finger foods, none of which were particularly heart-healthy. I didn’t much care.

When I got to Pete’s corner, he was talking to Adrienne and a friend of Paul’s who turned out to be a real estate agent. Pete eyed my plate with interest. “Want to share?”

I handed him my plate. “No, you take this one. I’ll get another.”

I was stopped on the way back to the buffet line by Aaron and Paul, who thanked me for coming, then whirled away to meet other guests. I filled another plate and went to stand beside Pete, eating and watching the crowd. Aaron and Paul seemed to be having the time of their lives.

I hoped we could duplicate that at our wedding.

 

It was early enough when we left that Pete was able to return his tux before the rental place closed, erasing the need for another trip to Pasadena. We went home and spent some time in the kitchen; Ali and Mel were having their annual New Year’s Day party and Pete was providing a couple of dishes.

After going for a long run, eating dinner, and cleaning up the kitchen and ourselves, we were ready to call it an evening. I

By Susanne Nilsson (Flickr: Nyår 2012/2013) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

laid a fire in our fireplace while Pete inflated the trusty air mattress one more time and made a nest. We opened a bottle of champagne, got naked and crawled under the covers. Pete said, “Think we’ll make it to midnight?”

“I doubt it.” I snuggled tighter against him. “This is when I originally thought you’d propose to me.”

“This is when I’d originally planned to.” Pete wrapped his arms around me. “But then Dad had his attack and I decided not to wait.”

“Paul was nervous as a cat before the wedding. Even after all those years of living together.”

“Aaron was too.” Pete began winding strands of my hair around his fingers, making short curls. “Will you be nervous?”

“Probably. Even though I’m not sure why.”

“It’s a big step. Or so everyone says.”

“Mm hm.” I took a sip of champagne. Outside, I could hear some of the neighbors violating Santa Monica regulations by setting off fireworks. “We could have gone to the fireworks display.”

“Did you want to?”

“No. I’m right where I want to be.”

“Me too.” Pete quit fiddling with my hair and tucked his head under my chin. “We’ve had an eventful year, and we have another eventful year ahead of us.”

I sighed. “All I want is a year without a murder.”

Pete chuckled. “Yeah, I’d prefer that.” He raised up on his elbow and poured more champagne, then held his glass up for a toast. “To best men.”

I clinked glasses with him. “To Dad and Steve.”

“Mm hm.”

We drank, and Pete held up his glass again. “And to you. ‘Cause you’re the best man for me.”

Aw. “And to you, Pete Ferguson, the best man for me.”

He grinned, that wide, beautiful grin that I loved so much. “I’ll drink to that.”