Anna Celeste Burke's Blog, page 3
August 26, 2014
Mystery of the MacGuffin
“What does he do?”
“Let’s just say that he’s an importer and exporter.”
“But what does he sell?”
“Oh, just government secrets!”
[North by Northwest, (1959)]
This passage from North by Northwest is selected by none other than Mr. Hitchcock himself. He chose it, when talking with Francois Truffault in a 1962 interview, to illustrate a “MacGuffin.” What is a MacGuffin? The short answer is that it’s a plot device used to set in motion all of the action that unfolds in a movie or book. In North by Northwest, everyone is off and running in pursuit of a spy trading in government secrets. What secrets? Who knows?
One of Hitchcock’s associates, screenwriter Angus MacPhail, is actually credited with coining the phrase, "the MacGuffin." The idea of the MacGuffin had been around longer. An old Scottish story, which one imagines might have been well-known to Angus MacPhail, lays it out as an allegory of sorts. It’s based on the conversation between two men who meet on a train:
“What’s that package up there in the luggage rack?”
“Oh, that’s a MacGuffin?”
“What’s a MacGuffin?”
“Well, it’s an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.”
“But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands.”
“Well then, that’s no MacGuffin.”
Whaaat? So are they trying to tell us that a MacGuffin is nothing? Well not exactly. According to “Hitch,” in an interview about another of his most acclaimed films, The 39 Steps, the MacGuffin is: “what everybody on the screen is looking for, but the audiences don’t care.” In this case it's a secret organization known as The 39 Steps. Not that it really matters, according to Hitchcock "in a thriller the MacGuffin is usually 'the necklace'; in a spy story it is 'the papers'". But just like those government secrets in North by Northwest, the illusive 39 Steps espionage ring sets the story in motion and then is nearly forgotten by the audience.
Okay, so what do audiences care about? It’s the characters and the relationships between them that matter, as they are swept up in the story set in motion by the MacGuffin. Deborah Holdstein claims the importance of character to Hitchcock is evident in one of his favorite themes: “the innocent caught in bizarre circumstances that he or she doesn't understand. The plot and its loopholes, however, provide the forum for the hero to do his or her "stuff," to demonstrate a charm and cleverness in getting out of tight spots.” The MacGuffin, whether it’s a stolen diamond, pilfered government papers, the Crystal Skull in Indiana Jones, the black bird in the Maltese Falcon or Bilbo Baggins’ ring, all take a back seat to the journey and those on it.
That the characters loom so large in a Hitchcock film seems a little surprising. The iconic director acknowledged, in a Dick Cavet interview, that he took pleasure in scaring viewers and making them scream. He was a master at it too. He was able to manipulate mood, alter perceptions and wring every bit of tension out of a setting or situation on screen. Sometimes at a blistering pace.
Of course, Hitchcock’s certainly not alone among filmmakers and writers who want the focus of a good yarn to be as much on the characters as the action. According to novelist, Harriett Smart, a character-based approach to storytelling “takes a well-drawn individual (or group of individuals for that matter) on a journey of some sort, so that by the end of the book you feel that the character has got somewhere.” So what does that mean? Perhaps, Harriett Smart suggests, that the character has grown or changed, “emotionally, spiritually, or intellectually.”
Character-driven stories are sometimes set out in contrast to those that are action-driven. That may be a false divide. Unless we really, really like to see things blow up or love blood and guts, most of us lose interest in a book or movie if we don’t make some kind of a connection to the characters at the center of the tale. For me, there’s a great deal of satisfaction in watching a character grow while getting out of those tight spots Hitchcock and other purveyors of fiction on page or screen love to place their protagonists. While you can argue that both character and action matter, I think Hitchcock might be right about the importance of character taking center stage, so to speak, even in action-packed, suspenseful thrillers.
What does that say about the role of the MacGuffin? I’m not sure. Let’s consider my own “innocent” protagonist, Jessica Huntington. She finds herself up to her black AMEX card in bizarre circumstances she doesn’t understand involving A DEAD HUSBAND. It’s her best friend’s husband and Laura’s not exactly the model wife. Like so many amateur sleuths Jessica, has the best of intentions and wants to help her friend. In a flash, though, she's in over her head. She has to resort to both charm and cleverness, among other things, to get out of the tight spot she and her friends are in. In short order she realizes that Roger Stone had something that got him killed. What is "it" and to what lengths will they go to get "it" back?
I won’t tell you what happens, of course, because that would spoil my story. What matters, I believe, is that the MacGuffin, whatever an author or filmmaker determines it to be, is logically related to other key elements of the story. For a murder mystery, the MacGuffin has to make sense in relation to motive, means and opportunity. There ought to be a bit of an “aha” moment when “it” is revealed and we discover whodunit. So, does that suggest that the Maltese Falcon could have been as engaging if it had been the Maltese Ring, or would we have been as spellbound if the Lord of the Rings had been the Lord of the Falcons? In the hands of a master storyteller, why not?
What do you think? Do you have a favorite film or book that relies on the proverbial MacGuffin?
Stop by drop me a line at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
“Let’s just say that he’s an importer and exporter.”
“But what does he sell?”
“Oh, just government secrets!”
[North by Northwest, (1959)]
This passage from North by Northwest is selected by none other than Mr. Hitchcock himself. He chose it, when talking with Francois Truffault in a 1962 interview, to illustrate a “MacGuffin.” What is a MacGuffin? The short answer is that it’s a plot device used to set in motion all of the action that unfolds in a movie or book. In North by Northwest, everyone is off and running in pursuit of a spy trading in government secrets. What secrets? Who knows?
One of Hitchcock’s associates, screenwriter Angus MacPhail, is actually credited with coining the phrase, "the MacGuffin." The idea of the MacGuffin had been around longer. An old Scottish story, which one imagines might have been well-known to Angus MacPhail, lays it out as an allegory of sorts. It’s based on the conversation between two men who meet on a train:
“What’s that package up there in the luggage rack?”
“Oh, that’s a MacGuffin?”
“What’s a MacGuffin?”
“Well, it’s an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.”
“But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands.”
“Well then, that’s no MacGuffin.”
Whaaat? So are they trying to tell us that a MacGuffin is nothing? Well not exactly. According to “Hitch,” in an interview about another of his most acclaimed films, The 39 Steps, the MacGuffin is: “what everybody on the screen is looking for, but the audiences don’t care.” In this case it's a secret organization known as The 39 Steps. Not that it really matters, according to Hitchcock "in a thriller the MacGuffin is usually 'the necklace'; in a spy story it is 'the papers'". But just like those government secrets in North by Northwest, the illusive 39 Steps espionage ring sets the story in motion and then is nearly forgotten by the audience.
Okay, so what do audiences care about? It’s the characters and the relationships between them that matter, as they are swept up in the story set in motion by the MacGuffin. Deborah Holdstein claims the importance of character to Hitchcock is evident in one of his favorite themes: “the innocent caught in bizarre circumstances that he or she doesn't understand. The plot and its loopholes, however, provide the forum for the hero to do his or her "stuff," to demonstrate a charm and cleverness in getting out of tight spots.” The MacGuffin, whether it’s a stolen diamond, pilfered government papers, the Crystal Skull in Indiana Jones, the black bird in the Maltese Falcon or Bilbo Baggins’ ring, all take a back seat to the journey and those on it.
That the characters loom so large in a Hitchcock film seems a little surprising. The iconic director acknowledged, in a Dick Cavet interview, that he took pleasure in scaring viewers and making them scream. He was a master at it too. He was able to manipulate mood, alter perceptions and wring every bit of tension out of a setting or situation on screen. Sometimes at a blistering pace.
Of course, Hitchcock’s certainly not alone among filmmakers and writers who want the focus of a good yarn to be as much on the characters as the action. According to novelist, Harriett Smart, a character-based approach to storytelling “takes a well-drawn individual (or group of individuals for that matter) on a journey of some sort, so that by the end of the book you feel that the character has got somewhere.” So what does that mean? Perhaps, Harriett Smart suggests, that the character has grown or changed, “emotionally, spiritually, or intellectually.”
Character-driven stories are sometimes set out in contrast to those that are action-driven. That may be a false divide. Unless we really, really like to see things blow up or love blood and guts, most of us lose interest in a book or movie if we don’t make some kind of a connection to the characters at the center of the tale. For me, there’s a great deal of satisfaction in watching a character grow while getting out of those tight spots Hitchcock and other purveyors of fiction on page or screen love to place their protagonists. While you can argue that both character and action matter, I think Hitchcock might be right about the importance of character taking center stage, so to speak, even in action-packed, suspenseful thrillers.
What does that say about the role of the MacGuffin? I’m not sure. Let’s consider my own “innocent” protagonist, Jessica Huntington. She finds herself up to her black AMEX card in bizarre circumstances she doesn’t understand involving A DEAD HUSBAND. It’s her best friend’s husband and Laura’s not exactly the model wife. Like so many amateur sleuths Jessica, has the best of intentions and wants to help her friend. In a flash, though, she's in over her head. She has to resort to both charm and cleverness, among other things, to get out of the tight spot she and her friends are in. In short order she realizes that Roger Stone had something that got him killed. What is "it" and to what lengths will they go to get "it" back?
I won’t tell you what happens, of course, because that would spoil my story. What matters, I believe, is that the MacGuffin, whatever an author or filmmaker determines it to be, is logically related to other key elements of the story. For a murder mystery, the MacGuffin has to make sense in relation to motive, means and opportunity. There ought to be a bit of an “aha” moment when “it” is revealed and we discover whodunit. So, does that suggest that the Maltese Falcon could have been as engaging if it had been the Maltese Ring, or would we have been as spellbound if the Lord of the Rings had been the Lord of the Falcons? In the hands of a master storyteller, why not?
What do you think? Do you have a favorite film or book that relies on the proverbial MacGuffin?
Stop by drop me a line at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
August 3, 2014
THE BUTLER DID IT...NOT LIKELY!
I’ve read lots and lots of mystery novels—hundreds of them and I have yet to encounter one in which the butler actually did it. Perhaps I have been remiss in my reading. Now that I’m writing my own mystery series, and the protagonist is filthy rich, I wondered about the origins and significance of that phrase. My heroine, Jessica Huntington, doesn’t have a butler. She does have her beloved Bernadette, household manager and confidant. There’s a pool boy, security consultant and sundry other ‘staff’ that come and go at her family’s Rancho Mirage estate, all under the watchful eye of Bernadette. Should my protagonist be worried? I set out to do a little snooping into the role of butlers in stories about murder most foul.
The possibility that “the butler did it,” or for that matter, that the butler was even a suspect, tells us something important about the kind of victims well-known sleuths were investigating when this phrase came into vogue. The cliché belies a preoccupation with the murder of rich people where the “help” might be on the list of those “whodunit.” Does this preoccupation reveal some dark side to the upper class, lower class distinction set out in series like Upstairs/Downstairs, or more recently, Downton Abbey?
Perhaps! Clearly, there is some pilfering by staff that goes on in both series. Sometimes there’s collusion among household staff members to hide or obfuscate who’s raiding the wine cellar or larder. Still, there’s no obvious intent by anyone on the staff to slaughter their rich employers. In Downton Abbey the valet, not the butler, is accused of murder. But he’s implicated in the death of his ex-wife, not a member of his employer Lord Grantham’s family.
Okay, so back to my snooping. As it turns out, the earliest reference to a misguided butler aiming to harm his employer is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, The Musgrave Ritual. The short story was published in 1893. Mind you, like the thievery in the series I just mentioned, the butler’s ill intentions were not to murder, but to rob his employer. In the process he managed to get himself killed.
Herbert Jenkins, another British mystery author, penned The Strange Case of Mr. Challoner in 1921. One of the many short stories in his book, Malcolm Sage, Detective, the butler was indeed the culprit. But this one story hardly constitutes a rash of murderous butlers, bent on class warfare against the wealthy. To be sure, there were plenty of mysteries being written at the time that involved troubles for the landed elite and other well-off members of society. Not just the inimitable Sherlock Holmes, but Agatha Christie’s legendary sleuths, Ms. Marple and Hercule Poirot, were called upon to solve murders of wealthy estate holders or their heirs.
Typically, by the time the case was resolved, the culprit turned out to be a member of the victim’s own family or another in their circle of peers, not a servant. The murderer might have been an heir, no longer willing to standby waiting for an inheritance takes matter into his [or less likely, her] own hand. Another similar archetype is that of the heir who wants it all and sets out do away with others who stand to get a piece of the pie. An old lover, a current or former business partner, or a vanquished rival are other common motifs used in these mystery stories involving the demise of the wealthy.
My point is, most often a peer or family member was nabbed as having done the deed, rather than a servant. Rich or poor, you’re still more likely to be murdered by someone you know—including a family member. Money, sometimes a surprisingly small amount of money, is often a motive for murder. "The nephew did it,” or “the long lost unacknowledged heir did it,” surely ought to be a more well-known cliché than “the butler did it.”
Whither the butler-as-culprit meme? Apparently, The Door by Mary Roberts Rinehart published in 1930, gets credit or blame for coining the phrase “the butler did it”. In The Door the butler is, indeed, a murderous thug. In point of fact, those actual words, “the butler did it,” are not to be found anywhere in the tale even though he did it.
So, how is it that one mystery novel came to have such disproportionate influence on our notions of whodunit? It must surely have something to do with Rinehart’s celebrity. She was a phenom in her day—novelist, war correspondent, playwright, founder of a publishing house that is still standing, although now called Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Sometimes referred to as the American Agatha Christie, she actually published years before Christie. The Circular Staircase, released in 1908, is regarded as a hallmark of the “had-I-but-known” school of mystery writing, where an older-but-wiser woman narrates a tale of perfidy in which she had become an unwitting participant.
Rinehart sold 10 million books in her lifetime, but her rise to prominence occurred during what has been termed the Golden Age of Mystery Writing. This era encompassed the period in which such well-known writers as Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Raymond Chandler, Dorothy L. Sayers, G.K. Chesterton and others established themselves as prolific and proficient storytellers of murder and mayhem. Perhaps they had something to do with the way in which the notion that the “butler did it” went from meme to trope around this time.
In 1930, the same year Rinehart published The Door, many of the British mystery authors of the day formed the Detection Club. Besides meeting for dinner to discuss their work they also, apparently, set about to promulgate rules for detective novel writing. This task was undertaken with tongue planted firmly in cheek, I presume, from the tone of the “oath” members took when they joined the club.
Among the rules proposed by one of their members, SS Van Dine [an alias for Willard Huntington Wright] in his Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories was the following:
Wow, that’s a loaded statement isn’t it? Apart from the obvious class bias in this slam at butlers and other servants, there is a point to be made here. Not that it’s too easy a solution to cast the lowly servant in the role of bad guy, but that it is a major oversight to fail to consider the well-heeled gent as the miscreant. Given who “dun it” in so many of their tales of murder and mayhem, and in real life, it is clear to see how they came up with such a pronouncement. And they might well have regarded the mystery author foolish, indeed, who failed to include “a decidedly worth-while person” as the likely suspect and eventual doer of the bad deed.
In any case, it was not long after promulgation of the Twenty Rules that the “butler did it” became the object of derision and was relegated to the role of cliché. Not only the literati, but others in the public eye, like journalists and entertainers, soon dubbed it as a short cut and a hackneyed strategy for writing the finale of a whodunit. By the time P.G. Wodehouse published his own mystery novel entitled The Butler Did It, in 1957, the phrase had clearly been established as perfect fodder for this master humorist. By then, Wodehouse’s well-known character Jeeves had become something of a stereotype, if not a cliché of the butler. Actually “a personal gentleman’s gentleman,” more valet than butler, Jeeves was an archetype of the oft exasperated manservant, in the employ of a not-too-tightly wrapped, and not-too-bright, member of the upper crust.
Butlers do still exist, even though they are more likely nowadays to be called household managers, like Bernadette in my Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery series. Typically, the butler-cum-household manager is in service, but not a servant. And the post is one that is reasonably well-paid, earning around 50-60k, on average, per year. Some, like the beloved Bernadette in my mystery series, make much more—I’m talking six figures. [How much does Bernadette earn? Don’t ask her, if you want to stay on her good side, and believe me, you do!] Of course, more like the old model of household staff, she’s been at the job a long time and is more family member than staff.
Apparently, my current preoccupation with murder and mayhem in the life of the 1% is in keeping with a well-established tradition of mystery writing. Jessica Huntington’s predicaments have little to do with ill will borne by staff and she has little to worry about on that front. The scoundrels behind the evildoing that wreaks havoc in her life, including her own nefarious, philandering, ruthless money-mongering ex-husband, are well-heeled heels. So, “the butler did it?” Not likely!
What do you think? Have I missed something important here? Have you read books by Rinehart?
Drop by and visit me at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
Want to read more about topics covered in this post? Here are some links:
MORE ABOUT THE GOLDEN AGE OF MYSTERY FICTION, circa 1913-start of WWII http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/book...
http://greyfalcon.us/restored/In%20wh... to see all 20 rules for detective story writing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rob... for more about Rinehart and work
PREVIOUS POSTS ABOUT “THE BUTLER DID IT”:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/r...
http://mentalfloss.com/article/50679/...
http://www.neatorama.com/2012/09/06/W...
http://www.theguardian.com/books/book...
http://www.butlersguild.com/index.php... to read about butler as an occupation
The possibility that “the butler did it,” or for that matter, that the butler was even a suspect, tells us something important about the kind of victims well-known sleuths were investigating when this phrase came into vogue. The cliché belies a preoccupation with the murder of rich people where the “help” might be on the list of those “whodunit.” Does this preoccupation reveal some dark side to the upper class, lower class distinction set out in series like Upstairs/Downstairs, or more recently, Downton Abbey?
Perhaps! Clearly, there is some pilfering by staff that goes on in both series. Sometimes there’s collusion among household staff members to hide or obfuscate who’s raiding the wine cellar or larder. Still, there’s no obvious intent by anyone on the staff to slaughter their rich employers. In Downton Abbey the valet, not the butler, is accused of murder. But he’s implicated in the death of his ex-wife, not a member of his employer Lord Grantham’s family.
Okay, so back to my snooping. As it turns out, the earliest reference to a misguided butler aiming to harm his employer is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, The Musgrave Ritual. The short story was published in 1893. Mind you, like the thievery in the series I just mentioned, the butler’s ill intentions were not to murder, but to rob his employer. In the process he managed to get himself killed.
Herbert Jenkins, another British mystery author, penned The Strange Case of Mr. Challoner in 1921. One of the many short stories in his book, Malcolm Sage, Detective, the butler was indeed the culprit. But this one story hardly constitutes a rash of murderous butlers, bent on class warfare against the wealthy. To be sure, there were plenty of mysteries being written at the time that involved troubles for the landed elite and other well-off members of society. Not just the inimitable Sherlock Holmes, but Agatha Christie’s legendary sleuths, Ms. Marple and Hercule Poirot, were called upon to solve murders of wealthy estate holders or their heirs.
Typically, by the time the case was resolved, the culprit turned out to be a member of the victim’s own family or another in their circle of peers, not a servant. The murderer might have been an heir, no longer willing to standby waiting for an inheritance takes matter into his [or less likely, her] own hand. Another similar archetype is that of the heir who wants it all and sets out do away with others who stand to get a piece of the pie. An old lover, a current or former business partner, or a vanquished rival are other common motifs used in these mystery stories involving the demise of the wealthy.
My point is, most often a peer or family member was nabbed as having done the deed, rather than a servant. Rich or poor, you’re still more likely to be murdered by someone you know—including a family member. Money, sometimes a surprisingly small amount of money, is often a motive for murder. "The nephew did it,” or “the long lost unacknowledged heir did it,” surely ought to be a more well-known cliché than “the butler did it.”
Whither the butler-as-culprit meme? Apparently, The Door by Mary Roberts Rinehart published in 1930, gets credit or blame for coining the phrase “the butler did it”. In The Door the butler is, indeed, a murderous thug. In point of fact, those actual words, “the butler did it,” are not to be found anywhere in the tale even though he did it.
So, how is it that one mystery novel came to have such disproportionate influence on our notions of whodunit? It must surely have something to do with Rinehart’s celebrity. She was a phenom in her day—novelist, war correspondent, playwright, founder of a publishing house that is still standing, although now called Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Sometimes referred to as the American Agatha Christie, she actually published years before Christie. The Circular Staircase, released in 1908, is regarded as a hallmark of the “had-I-but-known” school of mystery writing, where an older-but-wiser woman narrates a tale of perfidy in which she had become an unwitting participant.
Rinehart sold 10 million books in her lifetime, but her rise to prominence occurred during what has been termed the Golden Age of Mystery Writing. This era encompassed the period in which such well-known writers as Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Raymond Chandler, Dorothy L. Sayers, G.K. Chesterton and others established themselves as prolific and proficient storytellers of murder and mayhem. Perhaps they had something to do with the way in which the notion that the “butler did it” went from meme to trope around this time.
In 1930, the same year Rinehart published The Door, many of the British mystery authors of the day formed the Detection Club. Besides meeting for dinner to discuss their work they also, apparently, set about to promulgate rules for detective novel writing. This task was undertaken with tongue planted firmly in cheek, I presume, from the tone of the “oath” members took when they joined the club.
Do you promise that your detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them using those wits which it may please you to bestow upon them and not placing reliance on nor making use of Divine Revelation, Feminine Intuition, Mumbo Jumbo, Jiggery-Pokery, Coincidence, or Act of God?
Among the rules proposed by one of their members, SS Van Dine [an alias for Willard Huntington Wright] in his Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories was the following:
#11. A servant must not be chosen by the author as the culprit. This is begging a noble question. It is a too easy solution. The culprit must be a decidedly worth-while person — one that wouldn't ordinarily come under suspicion.
Wow, that’s a loaded statement isn’t it? Apart from the obvious class bias in this slam at butlers and other servants, there is a point to be made here. Not that it’s too easy a solution to cast the lowly servant in the role of bad guy, but that it is a major oversight to fail to consider the well-heeled gent as the miscreant. Given who “dun it” in so many of their tales of murder and mayhem, and in real life, it is clear to see how they came up with such a pronouncement. And they might well have regarded the mystery author foolish, indeed, who failed to include “a decidedly worth-while person” as the likely suspect and eventual doer of the bad deed.
In any case, it was not long after promulgation of the Twenty Rules that the “butler did it” became the object of derision and was relegated to the role of cliché. Not only the literati, but others in the public eye, like journalists and entertainers, soon dubbed it as a short cut and a hackneyed strategy for writing the finale of a whodunit. By the time P.G. Wodehouse published his own mystery novel entitled The Butler Did It, in 1957, the phrase had clearly been established as perfect fodder for this master humorist. By then, Wodehouse’s well-known character Jeeves had become something of a stereotype, if not a cliché of the butler. Actually “a personal gentleman’s gentleman,” more valet than butler, Jeeves was an archetype of the oft exasperated manservant, in the employ of a not-too-tightly wrapped, and not-too-bright, member of the upper crust.
Butlers do still exist, even though they are more likely nowadays to be called household managers, like Bernadette in my Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery series. Typically, the butler-cum-household manager is in service, but not a servant. And the post is one that is reasonably well-paid, earning around 50-60k, on average, per year. Some, like the beloved Bernadette in my mystery series, make much more—I’m talking six figures. [How much does Bernadette earn? Don’t ask her, if you want to stay on her good side, and believe me, you do!] Of course, more like the old model of household staff, she’s been at the job a long time and is more family member than staff.
Apparently, my current preoccupation with murder and mayhem in the life of the 1% is in keeping with a well-established tradition of mystery writing. Jessica Huntington’s predicaments have little to do with ill will borne by staff and she has little to worry about on that front. The scoundrels behind the evildoing that wreaks havoc in her life, including her own nefarious, philandering, ruthless money-mongering ex-husband, are well-heeled heels. So, “the butler did it?” Not likely!
What do you think? Have I missed something important here? Have you read books by Rinehart?
Drop by and visit me at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
Want to read more about topics covered in this post? Here are some links:
MORE ABOUT THE GOLDEN AGE OF MYSTERY FICTION, circa 1913-start of WWII http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/book...
http://greyfalcon.us/restored/In%20wh... to see all 20 rules for detective story writing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rob... for more about Rinehart and work
PREVIOUS POSTS ABOUT “THE BUTLER DID IT”:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/r...
http://mentalfloss.com/article/50679/...
http://www.neatorama.com/2012/09/06/W...
http://www.theguardian.com/books/book...
http://www.butlersguild.com/index.php... to read about butler as an occupation
July 16, 2014
Growing old isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative...
Growing old isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative...
The origins of that quote are clouded, although a version of it is often attributed to the actor Maurice Chevalier, so popular in the 1950s. Living to an advanced age is like winning a bizarre lottery. Not only is a lot left to chance, but the prize is sometimes a dubious one. As Bette Davis pointed out on a number of occasions, “Old age isn’t for sissies!” Of course, with age comes wisdom, right? Yeah, well I’m still waiting for that to kick in, although I have learned a few things. Hey, and if you really take a good look around at who’s running things—it’s old folks. And some of them are really old. By that I mean older than me.
“Welcome to the ‘golden years’,” my father-in-law was fond of saying as some new trouble bedeviled him. The guy who lived to be 96 was quite a character, took care of himself and drove a car until a few months before he died. The man was one of those fortunate elders who kept his wits about him until the end. Mind you, he did absolutely none of the things they tell you to do to extend your life. A chronic worrier, given to low-level rants, he did not display the ‘robust optimism’ supposedly associated with longevity.
He did not have what you would normally think of as hobbies. We bought him books and magazine subscriptions, but never saw him reading. He did love watching sports on TV and was always up on the latest celebrity misbehavior, endlessly bemused by Charlie Sheen or Lindsey Lohan’s antics. The man smoked until he was in his 70s, then quit lighting, but still chewed the end of cigars. He never exercised, finding it uncomfortable to even walk once he got into his eighties. Never one to worry about nutrition, he preferred bottles of Yoohoo to Ensure, and ate at McDonalds and the Waffle House. After getting his driver’s license renewed at age 94, he continued to drive the short distance each day to those restaurants where they knew him well. He was “pop-pop” to those who greeted him each day, just as he was to the members of his family.
A fiercely independent man, he was stubborn and determined to do it himself even when he should have accepted more service and supports. If I had to take a stab at what accounted for his longevity I say there are several factors. Good genes, number one! His father lived into his 90s, as did a younger brother. An older sister has survived him and is closing in on the 100-year mark. I think there also may be something to say for that determination and pride he took in caring for himself and his wife who lived into her 80s. Beneath his curmudgeonly cynicism there beat a heart of gold and a wry sense of humor.
Okay so why am I bringing this up? Well I just finished reading Christoph Fischer’s book Time to Let Go and I’m thinking about the challenge of aging. Time to Let Go is a fictionalized account of a family dealing with Alzheimer’s. The disorder gets a good deal of attention nowadays even though too little is yet known about it. Alzheimer’s poses a host of challenges, large and small, not only for those who suffer with the disease, but for friends and family who must standby, and step in, as a loved one fades away. Christoph Fischer’s book personalizes all of that, featuring a creditable account of what it’s like for families dealing with the disease. You get a sense for the toll it takes to care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. ‘Compassion fatigue’ is a term used in the research and practice arenas where I spent some part of my life studying caregivers and caregiving. It aims to convey how vitiating it can be to care for another person, even when that care is undertaken willingly.
As Fischer’s story also reveals, the aging of family members, in particular when one of them is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, creates opportunity as well as challenge. The title, “Time to Let Go,” aptly captures the theme of loss and acceptance that gets played out in the book. It might just as well have been titled “Time to Take Hold” or “Carpe Diem,” e.g. “seize the day”. An equally important theme in the book has to do with learning to live more fully in the present. That also means making the most of what the present offers, even with all its limitations.
I’m not just talking about the elder couple, Walter and Biddy, at the center of the story, but their children as well. In particular, their daughter, Hanna, caught up in her own midlife crisis. The challenges she faces include a tragic event at work, loneliness and social isolation, unresolved conflicts with her aging parents, as well as her mother’s affliction with Alzheimer’s. All the disruption creates a momentary ‘unfreezing’ of her life. Not everyone can do it, but for some tragedy becomes transformative. Can Hanna heed the call to reflect and, perhaps, reorient her life? You’ll have to read Time to Let Go to find out!
It’s a recommended read if you’re in midlife or late life, pondering your own mortality or confronting the aging of those around you. Hey 60 is the new 40 so maybe those of us who have been issued our AARP cards should shake up things. Let’s make some headway on our ‘bucket list,’ go buy a little yellow sports car, or finally figure out who we want to be when we grow up. There’s a compelling lesson to be taken from this story: take on the challenges life throws at you and find transcendence in them, at any age.
Stop by and visit me at Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery by Anna Celeste Burke
The origins of that quote are clouded, although a version of it is often attributed to the actor Maurice Chevalier, so popular in the 1950s. Living to an advanced age is like winning a bizarre lottery. Not only is a lot left to chance, but the prize is sometimes a dubious one. As Bette Davis pointed out on a number of occasions, “Old age isn’t for sissies!” Of course, with age comes wisdom, right? Yeah, well I’m still waiting for that to kick in, although I have learned a few things. Hey, and if you really take a good look around at who’s running things—it’s old folks. And some of them are really old. By that I mean older than me.
“Welcome to the ‘golden years’,” my father-in-law was fond of saying as some new trouble bedeviled him. The guy who lived to be 96 was quite a character, took care of himself and drove a car until a few months before he died. The man was one of those fortunate elders who kept his wits about him until the end. Mind you, he did absolutely none of the things they tell you to do to extend your life. A chronic worrier, given to low-level rants, he did not display the ‘robust optimism’ supposedly associated with longevity.
He did not have what you would normally think of as hobbies. We bought him books and magazine subscriptions, but never saw him reading. He did love watching sports on TV and was always up on the latest celebrity misbehavior, endlessly bemused by Charlie Sheen or Lindsey Lohan’s antics. The man smoked until he was in his 70s, then quit lighting, but still chewed the end of cigars. He never exercised, finding it uncomfortable to even walk once he got into his eighties. Never one to worry about nutrition, he preferred bottles of Yoohoo to Ensure, and ate at McDonalds and the Waffle House. After getting his driver’s license renewed at age 94, he continued to drive the short distance each day to those restaurants where they knew him well. He was “pop-pop” to those who greeted him each day, just as he was to the members of his family.
A fiercely independent man, he was stubborn and determined to do it himself even when he should have accepted more service and supports. If I had to take a stab at what accounted for his longevity I say there are several factors. Good genes, number one! His father lived into his 90s, as did a younger brother. An older sister has survived him and is closing in on the 100-year mark. I think there also may be something to say for that determination and pride he took in caring for himself and his wife who lived into her 80s. Beneath his curmudgeonly cynicism there beat a heart of gold and a wry sense of humor.
Okay so why am I bringing this up? Well I just finished reading Christoph Fischer’s book Time to Let Go and I’m thinking about the challenge of aging. Time to Let Go is a fictionalized account of a family dealing with Alzheimer’s. The disorder gets a good deal of attention nowadays even though too little is yet known about it. Alzheimer’s poses a host of challenges, large and small, not only for those who suffer with the disease, but for friends and family who must standby, and step in, as a loved one fades away. Christoph Fischer’s book personalizes all of that, featuring a creditable account of what it’s like for families dealing with the disease. You get a sense for the toll it takes to care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. ‘Compassion fatigue’ is a term used in the research and practice arenas where I spent some part of my life studying caregivers and caregiving. It aims to convey how vitiating it can be to care for another person, even when that care is undertaken willingly.
As Fischer’s story also reveals, the aging of family members, in particular when one of them is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, creates opportunity as well as challenge. The title, “Time to Let Go,” aptly captures the theme of loss and acceptance that gets played out in the book. It might just as well have been titled “Time to Take Hold” or “Carpe Diem,” e.g. “seize the day”. An equally important theme in the book has to do with learning to live more fully in the present. That also means making the most of what the present offers, even with all its limitations.
I’m not just talking about the elder couple, Walter and Biddy, at the center of the story, but their children as well. In particular, their daughter, Hanna, caught up in her own midlife crisis. The challenges she faces include a tragic event at work, loneliness and social isolation, unresolved conflicts with her aging parents, as well as her mother’s affliction with Alzheimer’s. All the disruption creates a momentary ‘unfreezing’ of her life. Not everyone can do it, but for some tragedy becomes transformative. Can Hanna heed the call to reflect and, perhaps, reorient her life? You’ll have to read Time to Let Go to find out!
It’s a recommended read if you’re in midlife or late life, pondering your own mortality or confronting the aging of those around you. Hey 60 is the new 40 so maybe those of us who have been issued our AARP cards should shake up things. Let’s make some headway on our ‘bucket list,’ go buy a little yellow sports car, or finally figure out who we want to be when we grow up. There’s a compelling lesson to be taken from this story: take on the challenges life throws at you and find transcendence in them, at any age.
Stop by and visit me at Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery by Anna Celeste Burke
July 7, 2014
Life at sea--on board and overboard! Review of a Jinx Schwartz adventure story, Troubled Sea
We’ve all had them—escape fantasies where we get on a plane or a boat and just head off on a life of adventure. That’s what Hetta Coffey and “Jenks” Jenkins have done in Troubled Sea. They’ve found each other [you’ll have to read the books in the Hetta Coffey series to find out how that happened] and set out on a life of adventure, together. Leaving their workaday lives behind in the San Francisco bay area, they’re tooling around in the Sea of Cortez. Readers are treated to a lot of fascinating details about life at sea.
The setting, as Jinx Schwartz describes it, could not be more idyllic. At least, in terms of its natural beauty. Having visited the area numerous times, as a landlubber, I can attest to that. Descriptions of the setting helped me vividly recall those visits. The author talks about phosphorescent sea creatures swept along with on the waves. I recalled tracing my name in the sandy beach near San Felipe, those sea creatures causing my signature to light up, like magic! She talks about shrimp boats returning to shore and I remembered buying their fresh catch, then cooking it over an open campfire. That campsite, emblazoned by the bright sun during the day that sparkled on the azure waters Schwartz describes, was marked by gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. I could almost smell the salt air as the story unfolded. It was relaxing to share in the easy going conversations and laid back experiences Hetta and Jenks enjoyed, on and off their yacht--all told so well by the author.
Of course, reality is often so much more challenging than fantasy, isn’t it? Hetta and Jenks soon find life at sea more adventurous than either ever imagined or desired. A colorful cast of characters, including other yachties, groupies, moochers, expats, and locals, some of them cops, provide a wide array of suspects when all hell breaks loose. At the core of the action is drug running gone awry. Entirely believable, given the way in which drug trafficking has brought such great upheaval to Mexico, particularly in regions near the U.S. border.
There’s plenty of mystery and suspense as the pace picks up and the waters begin to swirl. It’s great fun trying to figure out who’s up to no good, who’s trustworthy and who’s not, and wondering how the culprits will show their hand. The story plays out in a fitting climax and a revealing epilogue.
Through it all Hetta, and her beloved Jenks, prove themselves to be a couple of savvy sailors and ingeniously elusive targets of murder and mayhem, on their aptly name yacht, "Hijenks". I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am looking forward to more books by Jinx Schwartz.
Casting off in a yacht for parts unknown, uh, not so much!
Fortunately for me, Jinx Schwartz just released book six in the Hetta Coffey series: Just Needs Killin.’
The setting, as Jinx Schwartz describes it, could not be more idyllic. At least, in terms of its natural beauty. Having visited the area numerous times, as a landlubber, I can attest to that. Descriptions of the setting helped me vividly recall those visits. The author talks about phosphorescent sea creatures swept along with on the waves. I recalled tracing my name in the sandy beach near San Felipe, those sea creatures causing my signature to light up, like magic! She talks about shrimp boats returning to shore and I remembered buying their fresh catch, then cooking it over an open campfire. That campsite, emblazoned by the bright sun during the day that sparkled on the azure waters Schwartz describes, was marked by gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. I could almost smell the salt air as the story unfolded. It was relaxing to share in the easy going conversations and laid back experiences Hetta and Jenks enjoyed, on and off their yacht--all told so well by the author.
Of course, reality is often so much more challenging than fantasy, isn’t it? Hetta and Jenks soon find life at sea more adventurous than either ever imagined or desired. A colorful cast of characters, including other yachties, groupies, moochers, expats, and locals, some of them cops, provide a wide array of suspects when all hell breaks loose. At the core of the action is drug running gone awry. Entirely believable, given the way in which drug trafficking has brought such great upheaval to Mexico, particularly in regions near the U.S. border.
There’s plenty of mystery and suspense as the pace picks up and the waters begin to swirl. It’s great fun trying to figure out who’s up to no good, who’s trustworthy and who’s not, and wondering how the culprits will show their hand. The story plays out in a fitting climax and a revealing epilogue.
Through it all Hetta, and her beloved Jenks, prove themselves to be a couple of savvy sailors and ingeniously elusive targets of murder and mayhem, on their aptly name yacht, "Hijenks". I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am looking forward to more books by Jinx Schwartz.
Casting off in a yacht for parts unknown, uh, not so much!
Fortunately for me, Jinx Schwartz just released book six in the Hetta Coffey series: Just Needs Killin.’
June 30, 2014
Trails in the Sand by P.C. Zick, intriguing tale of family secrets, personal and environmental disasters, survived!
Growing up in California, there was an allure about Florida. My grandparents retired there and so did my father-in-law. When I actually moved there, I didn’t get it.
Orange groves and palm trees, of course, were the most striking elements of the environment in Central Florida. Both were familiar sights to someone who had grown up in San Diego. There was a lot more ‘sturm und drang’ in the weather, though. It rained—a lot, and it was common to hear newscasters proclaim the area the ‘lightning capital of the world’. I can’t say I found 90 degree weather and seventy percent humidity all that alluring. Especially while cringing at nearby lightning strikes.
It’s okay, go ahead and call me a weather-wimp if you wish. I admit it. My sojourn to follow, in Ann Arbor, MI, was so much worse, weather wise. You haven’t lived until your fingers stick to the metal around the ignition while trying to start an old beater car in below zero weather!
Orlando, where my husband and I landed in 1970, was being overtaken by the simulacra of theme parks and by rampant development at the time. The area doubled in population during the years we were there. Orange groves and palm trees gave way at a startling rate to sprawling residential and business communities. It was hard to see beyond all that to envision the unique natural world at the heart of Florida.
Two books I’ve read recently have made me better appreciate the beauty of the place, and have introduced me to the Florida Fiction genre. Before reading them, the closest thing I had to the notion that there might be a connection between Florida and story-telling stemmed from a trip to Key West. Writers like Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, who were frequents visitors to the area, are widely celebrated. There’s also that wonderful classic Bogart & Bacall movie, of course, Key Largo. I’ve written previously about Swamp Ghosts by Marcia Meara, the first of the two books in the genre.
I will focus here on a book I just finished reading by Patricia Zick. Trails in the Sand is a moving, intelligently-written book that tells several stories at once. Some are ripped from the headlines, apropos since the lead character, Caroline Carlisle, is a journalist. She writes mostly about environmental matters and in the gulf region, at the time this story unfolds, there’s a lot to write about. The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is one major thread in this novel. It is told here in a more intimate way, with drama and suspense, as the full extent of the disaster is revealed.
Caroline’s personal story also unfolds, along with those of several important supporting characters. Their story is also filled with drama and suspense as the mysteries of multigenerational family dysfunction come to light—-the full extent of personal disasters, also revealed. Both the personal and environmental stories convey much about the allure and the fragility of environmental and familial ecosystems, disrupted by disasters, natural and unnatural, alike.
The setting is integral to the story and I gained a much deeper appreciation for the diversity of the huge peninsular land mass that makes up Florida. It’s part mossy south, part frothy coastline, swampy Everglades and sandy gulf-port beaches, as well as a condo-filled mecca for tourists and retirees. Florida is, at once, delicate and dense, with not one but many unique habitats for people and other creatures that make it their home. And in the end that’s what it is for the characters in Patricia Zick’s book, who find a place they can call home.
This is a great book if you enjoy family drama, have a penchant for richly detailed settings, and enjoy getting to the bottom of every day mysteries. It’s also a book that helps us understand why it’s worth the effort to sort things out and let the truth be told—so the place we call home can be shared with those we can rely on as family. A recommended read!
Stop by and sign up at my website! Until July 4th, 2014 you get a free kindle copy of book 1 in my mystery series, A DEAD HUSBAND at: http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
Orange groves and palm trees, of course, were the most striking elements of the environment in Central Florida. Both were familiar sights to someone who had grown up in San Diego. There was a lot more ‘sturm und drang’ in the weather, though. It rained—a lot, and it was common to hear newscasters proclaim the area the ‘lightning capital of the world’. I can’t say I found 90 degree weather and seventy percent humidity all that alluring. Especially while cringing at nearby lightning strikes.
It’s okay, go ahead and call me a weather-wimp if you wish. I admit it. My sojourn to follow, in Ann Arbor, MI, was so much worse, weather wise. You haven’t lived until your fingers stick to the metal around the ignition while trying to start an old beater car in below zero weather!
Orlando, where my husband and I landed in 1970, was being overtaken by the simulacra of theme parks and by rampant development at the time. The area doubled in population during the years we were there. Orange groves and palm trees gave way at a startling rate to sprawling residential and business communities. It was hard to see beyond all that to envision the unique natural world at the heart of Florida.
Two books I’ve read recently have made me better appreciate the beauty of the place, and have introduced me to the Florida Fiction genre. Before reading them, the closest thing I had to the notion that there might be a connection between Florida and story-telling stemmed from a trip to Key West. Writers like Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, who were frequents visitors to the area, are widely celebrated. There’s also that wonderful classic Bogart & Bacall movie, of course, Key Largo. I’ve written previously about Swamp Ghosts by Marcia Meara, the first of the two books in the genre.
I will focus here on a book I just finished reading by Patricia Zick. Trails in the Sand is a moving, intelligently-written book that tells several stories at once. Some are ripped from the headlines, apropos since the lead character, Caroline Carlisle, is a journalist. She writes mostly about environmental matters and in the gulf region, at the time this story unfolds, there’s a lot to write about. The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is one major thread in this novel. It is told here in a more intimate way, with drama and suspense, as the full extent of the disaster is revealed.
Caroline’s personal story also unfolds, along with those of several important supporting characters. Their story is also filled with drama and suspense as the mysteries of multigenerational family dysfunction come to light—-the full extent of personal disasters, also revealed. Both the personal and environmental stories convey much about the allure and the fragility of environmental and familial ecosystems, disrupted by disasters, natural and unnatural, alike.
The setting is integral to the story and I gained a much deeper appreciation for the diversity of the huge peninsular land mass that makes up Florida. It’s part mossy south, part frothy coastline, swampy Everglades and sandy gulf-port beaches, as well as a condo-filled mecca for tourists and retirees. Florida is, at once, delicate and dense, with not one but many unique habitats for people and other creatures that make it their home. And in the end that’s what it is for the characters in Patricia Zick’s book, who find a place they can call home.
This is a great book if you enjoy family drama, have a penchant for richly detailed settings, and enjoy getting to the bottom of every day mysteries. It’s also a book that helps us understand why it’s worth the effort to sort things out and let the truth be told—so the place we call home can be shared with those we can rely on as family. A recommended read!
Stop by and sign up at my website! Until July 4th, 2014 you get a free kindle copy of book 1 in my mystery series, A DEAD HUSBAND at: http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
June 25, 2014
Cozy Mystery and Comfort Food...what’s the deal?
Here’s a mystery for you. What is the deal about food and mysteries? When I set out to write the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery series I did not plan that food would play such a big role in the books. And yet, there it is...everywhere! I’m talking about everything from sumptuous, catered feasts, to junk food, to vegan health food specialties in book two!
My husband, who has never been much of a fan of fiction, has been reading the books as I write them. He’s the one who made me aware of the fact that food is an integral part of the storytelling. Often, by the time he finished reading a chapter he would be starving, and a sudden, specific craving would overtake him for something that had just been devoured by Jessica and her friends. About midway through the first book I figured out it was pretty important to feed the man before he started reading.
Once I realized how big a deal the food thing was I, of course, had to totally over analyze the whole issue. First, I thought “well it’s a holdover from the fact that I was trained and worked as a chef. Yeah, that’s it!” But good grief my stint as a chef, working for the ‘mouse’ at Walt Disney World, took place decades ago. I still use many of the skills I picked up in the Walt Disney World University Chef training, but in a very ‘housewifey’ way that many of the European chefs I worked with disdained.
Okay, so maybe it’s the fact that the mystery series is set here, in the desert resort cities, in and around Palm Springs. Like any resort area, dining is an important element of tourism and the getaway mentality that lets us splurge or try new things while on vacation. I also surmised, continuing in hyper-analytic mode, that there must be more foodies per square mile, here in SoCal, than just about anywhere on earth. I based that on the fact that most of the homes we looked at when we were house-hunting had three or four or five places to eat—if you include dining al fresco on a patio. And in the books I do include dining al fresco on a patio, BBQ cranking!
I knew others had picked up and run with the food theme in both books and movies. Not just in mysteries but in all sorts of well-known works of fiction. But, perhaps mysteries, more than most genres have used food to convey something about a character or tell a story. A lot of plot lines unfold over a cup of tea and a bite to eat. And, Lord knows food or drink, loaded with arsenic or some other poisonous substance is a hallmark of the genre, if not a cliché. Even hard-boiled detectives, like Philip Marlowe, are not immune from the wallop packed in a stiff drink laced with chloral hydrate by a wily adversary. So, as any mystery lover will tell you, "beware of food or drink being offered by the usual suspects!"
More recently, though, an entire subgenre has emerged in the world of cozy mysteries. The “Culinary Cozy” has taken the food-mystery combo to a whole new level. Here, on Goodreads, you can find a host of cozy mysteries, and some are tagged as culinary mysteries. Cozy Mysteries Unlimited at http://cozy-mysteries-unlimited.com includes the Culinary Cozy as a separate category and provides a great list. Cozy Mystery Book Reviews features books and even some of the recipes from the books—my character, Bernadette, just revealed her secret smoky, spicy, tequila-laced salsa recipe on that site. A secret no more if you visit: http://cozymysterybookreviews.net/unc...
So, all of this begs the question about why it is that food is so important in my writing of the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery series. It’s not a culinary cozy per se, but cozy, yes. Well okay, it’s a mostly cozy series of mysteries where a lot of eating and drinking takes place.
Food, especially comfort food, acts as a kind of counterpoint to the tension evoked by murder and mayhem at the core of any mystery. Maybe it’s the same reason that a bad day at the office or a nasty break up can send us scrambling for ice cream or a glass of wine. Food and drink are fundamental sources of comfort whenever we’re stressed out or held in suspense by events in our own lives, by those we're cooking up as writers, or devouring as voracious readers.
The consumption of food and drink can also be a remarkably social thing to do. We break bread together to celebrate, but it is also integral to family life and friendship. Even when the worst happens we will often be there to share the misery, casserole in hand, to comfort a friend or family member. A longstanding tradition that prevails even in death as folks gather at wakes.
Finding your husband dead, in your own home is a stressor, to be sure. Being asked to help your friend find out who did it so she doesn’t end up getting the blame for murdering the man—that’s a stressor, too. Bumping up against lowlifes in pantyhose, stilettos and Bruno Magli shoes takes a lot out of you! No wonder, as the murder and mayhem unfolds in A DEAD HUSBAND and A DEAD SISTER, Jessica and friends seek comfort, even in the midst of chaos, by chowing down.
Who can blame them with Bernadette around? She is a wonder woman in so many ways. As they savor Bernadette’s Divine French Toast, ah, I can smell the cinnamon and vanilla and maple syrup. Not to mention all the love, care and support thrown into the mix by Jessica's beloved "St. Bernadette"! We can't all have a woman like that in our lives, but I’ve included the recipe with this post on my website. Another of Bernadette’s secret recipes out.
So, what do you think? Why is food so much a part of fiction, especially the mystery genre? I'd love to hear from you. Drop by my site. Leave a comment. And signup so you'll be in the loop when another of those secret recipes is uncovered like Bernadette's Chipotle Roast Chicken or her devilishly rich Mexican Chocolate Cake. YUM!
http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
My husband, who has never been much of a fan of fiction, has been reading the books as I write them. He’s the one who made me aware of the fact that food is an integral part of the storytelling. Often, by the time he finished reading a chapter he would be starving, and a sudden, specific craving would overtake him for something that had just been devoured by Jessica and her friends. About midway through the first book I figured out it was pretty important to feed the man before he started reading.
Once I realized how big a deal the food thing was I, of course, had to totally over analyze the whole issue. First, I thought “well it’s a holdover from the fact that I was trained and worked as a chef. Yeah, that’s it!” But good grief my stint as a chef, working for the ‘mouse’ at Walt Disney World, took place decades ago. I still use many of the skills I picked up in the Walt Disney World University Chef training, but in a very ‘housewifey’ way that many of the European chefs I worked with disdained.
Okay, so maybe it’s the fact that the mystery series is set here, in the desert resort cities, in and around Palm Springs. Like any resort area, dining is an important element of tourism and the getaway mentality that lets us splurge or try new things while on vacation. I also surmised, continuing in hyper-analytic mode, that there must be more foodies per square mile, here in SoCal, than just about anywhere on earth. I based that on the fact that most of the homes we looked at when we were house-hunting had three or four or five places to eat—if you include dining al fresco on a patio. And in the books I do include dining al fresco on a patio, BBQ cranking!
I knew others had picked up and run with the food theme in both books and movies. Not just in mysteries but in all sorts of well-known works of fiction. But, perhaps mysteries, more than most genres have used food to convey something about a character or tell a story. A lot of plot lines unfold over a cup of tea and a bite to eat. And, Lord knows food or drink, loaded with arsenic or some other poisonous substance is a hallmark of the genre, if not a cliché. Even hard-boiled detectives, like Philip Marlowe, are not immune from the wallop packed in a stiff drink laced with chloral hydrate by a wily adversary. So, as any mystery lover will tell you, "beware of food or drink being offered by the usual suspects!"
More recently, though, an entire subgenre has emerged in the world of cozy mysteries. The “Culinary Cozy” has taken the food-mystery combo to a whole new level. Here, on Goodreads, you can find a host of cozy mysteries, and some are tagged as culinary mysteries. Cozy Mysteries Unlimited at http://cozy-mysteries-unlimited.com includes the Culinary Cozy as a separate category and provides a great list. Cozy Mystery Book Reviews features books and even some of the recipes from the books—my character, Bernadette, just revealed her secret smoky, spicy, tequila-laced salsa recipe on that site. A secret no more if you visit: http://cozymysterybookreviews.net/unc...
So, all of this begs the question about why it is that food is so important in my writing of the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery series. It’s not a culinary cozy per se, but cozy, yes. Well okay, it’s a mostly cozy series of mysteries where a lot of eating and drinking takes place.
Food, especially comfort food, acts as a kind of counterpoint to the tension evoked by murder and mayhem at the core of any mystery. Maybe it’s the same reason that a bad day at the office or a nasty break up can send us scrambling for ice cream or a glass of wine. Food and drink are fundamental sources of comfort whenever we’re stressed out or held in suspense by events in our own lives, by those we're cooking up as writers, or devouring as voracious readers.
The consumption of food and drink can also be a remarkably social thing to do. We break bread together to celebrate, but it is also integral to family life and friendship. Even when the worst happens we will often be there to share the misery, casserole in hand, to comfort a friend or family member. A longstanding tradition that prevails even in death as folks gather at wakes.
Finding your husband dead, in your own home is a stressor, to be sure. Being asked to help your friend find out who did it so she doesn’t end up getting the blame for murdering the man—that’s a stressor, too. Bumping up against lowlifes in pantyhose, stilettos and Bruno Magli shoes takes a lot out of you! No wonder, as the murder and mayhem unfolds in A DEAD HUSBAND and A DEAD SISTER, Jessica and friends seek comfort, even in the midst of chaos, by chowing down.
Who can blame them with Bernadette around? She is a wonder woman in so many ways. As they savor Bernadette’s Divine French Toast, ah, I can smell the cinnamon and vanilla and maple syrup. Not to mention all the love, care and support thrown into the mix by Jessica's beloved "St. Bernadette"! We can't all have a woman like that in our lives, but I’ve included the recipe with this post on my website. Another of Bernadette’s secret recipes out.
So, what do you think? Why is food so much a part of fiction, especially the mystery genre? I'd love to hear from you. Drop by my site. Leave a comment. And signup so you'll be in the loop when another of those secret recipes is uncovered like Bernadette's Chipotle Roast Chicken or her devilishly rich Mexican Chocolate Cake. YUM!
http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
June 17, 2014
Meet My Main Character Blog Tour: Jessica Huntington
Thanks, Marcia Meara for tagging me to join this blog tour. A fun way to learn about such different and interesting lead characters making their way onto the written & electronic page! For those of you who don’t already know Marcia Meara, she is the author of two romantic suspense novels Wake Robin Ridge and Swamp Ghosts. She also writes poetry and has a book all her own, Summer Magic, as well as having published poetry in a number of anthologies. To learn more, visit her lovely blog, Bookin' It!
http://marciameara.wordpress.com/
1. What is the name of your main character? Is she fictional or a historic person?
Okay, so welcome! MEET JESSICA HUNTINGTON, the central character in the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery Series. A fictional character, she’s rich, beautiful, well-educated, and starting all over in her mid-30s, as all hell has breaks loose in her privileged life.
2. When and where is the story set?
A DEAD HUSBAND, Book 1 in the series, finds Jessica Huntington back in Rancho Mirage where she grew up. The action unfolds in and around Palms Springs, CA in the summer of 2013. Things heat up quickly, and I’m not just talking about the weather. A DEAD SISTER picks up soon after, although Jessica Huntington ventures farther afield--to LA, Brentwood, Beverly Hills & Rodeo Drive!
3. What should we know about her?
Despite her wealth and privilege, Jessica Huntington is a woman in crisis. The not-quite-midlife crisis is courtesy of a string of unpleasant surprises that includes ruthless betrayal by her faithless, wannabe, master of the universe, husband. A bit self-absorbed and neurotic, over-reliant on ‘retail therapy’ and her black AMEX card as a source of consolation, she has to buck up and get on with it. Especially when she stumbles into the middle of a murder investigation...not just one, btw!
4. What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?
Jessica Huntington’s principle challenge is how to come to grips with real life that is nothing like she imagined it to be. Her privileged view of the world is shattered as her personal and professional life unravels. As she says in book 2, “her compass is smashed and she has lost true north.” Nobody tries harder to figure things out than Jessica Huntington. She wants to be a good friend and right the wrongs that come her way. She has a lot of ‘waking up’ to do if she’s going to put the pity-party behind her, permanently, and face life, head on.
5. What is her personal goal?
Jessica Huntington wants to move on and create a new personal and professional life out of the ashes of her old one. Even in a desert paradise, life is full of surprises like A DEAD HUSBAND, in book 1, and A DEAD SISTER, in book 2. Jessica Huntington can only start a new life if she stays alive, so survival is, at times, her most pressing goal! I'm pulling for her, as this flawed but resourceful heroine strives to solve the mysteries in her life.
6. Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?
A DEAD HUSBAND, book 1, and A DEAD SISTER, book 2, in the series are available on Amazon in Kindle ebook and paperback editions. Visit my website to read the prologue to A DEAD SISTER, posted on the FEATURED BOOK page. The “Look Inside” feature is available for both books on Amazon. That allows you to read an excerpt,FREE, online or you can download a sample and read it on your laptop, tablet or reader.
7. When can we expect the book to be published?
NOW! A DEAD HUSBAND and A DEAD SISTER are both out now.
A DEAD DAUGHTER, book 3 in the series, takes Jessica Huntington to new heights. It will be out later in 2014! The prologue to book 3 will be posted in advance of publication. Stop by my website & subscribe to my blog to learn when the new prologue appears, as well as emails about new blog posts, Bernadette's secret recipes [YUM!], sales, and giveaways!
http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com/#!...
And now it’s my turn to tag the next authors up on the tour! THE WEEK OF JUNE 23rd you will meet two wonderful women authors and their main characters.
SUSANNE LEIST is author of THE DEAD GAME.
Check out her blog post next week at:
http://thedeadgameblog.tumblr.com/pos...
EVELYN CULLET is author of three books: Romancing a Mystery; Love, Lies and Murder; Masterpiece of Murder—a new one will be out soon! She’ll reveal more, next week, if you visit her blog site
http://evelyncullet.com/blog/
http://marciameara.wordpress.com/
1. What is the name of your main character? Is she fictional or a historic person?
Okay, so welcome! MEET JESSICA HUNTINGTON, the central character in the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery Series. A fictional character, she’s rich, beautiful, well-educated, and starting all over in her mid-30s, as all hell has breaks loose in her privileged life.
2. When and where is the story set?
A DEAD HUSBAND, Book 1 in the series, finds Jessica Huntington back in Rancho Mirage where she grew up. The action unfolds in and around Palms Springs, CA in the summer of 2013. Things heat up quickly, and I’m not just talking about the weather. A DEAD SISTER picks up soon after, although Jessica Huntington ventures farther afield--to LA, Brentwood, Beverly Hills & Rodeo Drive!
3. What should we know about her?
Despite her wealth and privilege, Jessica Huntington is a woman in crisis. The not-quite-midlife crisis is courtesy of a string of unpleasant surprises that includes ruthless betrayal by her faithless, wannabe, master of the universe, husband. A bit self-absorbed and neurotic, over-reliant on ‘retail therapy’ and her black AMEX card as a source of consolation, she has to buck up and get on with it. Especially when she stumbles into the middle of a murder investigation...not just one, btw!
4. What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?
Jessica Huntington’s principle challenge is how to come to grips with real life that is nothing like she imagined it to be. Her privileged view of the world is shattered as her personal and professional life unravels. As she says in book 2, “her compass is smashed and she has lost true north.” Nobody tries harder to figure things out than Jessica Huntington. She wants to be a good friend and right the wrongs that come her way. She has a lot of ‘waking up’ to do if she’s going to put the pity-party behind her, permanently, and face life, head on.
5. What is her personal goal?
Jessica Huntington wants to move on and create a new personal and professional life out of the ashes of her old one. Even in a desert paradise, life is full of surprises like A DEAD HUSBAND, in book 1, and A DEAD SISTER, in book 2. Jessica Huntington can only start a new life if she stays alive, so survival is, at times, her most pressing goal! I'm pulling for her, as this flawed but resourceful heroine strives to solve the mysteries in her life.
6. Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?
A DEAD HUSBAND, book 1, and A DEAD SISTER, book 2, in the series are available on Amazon in Kindle ebook and paperback editions. Visit my website to read the prologue to A DEAD SISTER, posted on the FEATURED BOOK page. The “Look Inside” feature is available for both books on Amazon. That allows you to read an excerpt,FREE, online or you can download a sample and read it on your laptop, tablet or reader.
7. When can we expect the book to be published?
NOW! A DEAD HUSBAND and A DEAD SISTER are both out now.
A DEAD DAUGHTER, book 3 in the series, takes Jessica Huntington to new heights. It will be out later in 2014! The prologue to book 3 will be posted in advance of publication. Stop by my website & subscribe to my blog to learn when the new prologue appears, as well as emails about new blog posts, Bernadette's secret recipes [YUM!], sales, and giveaways!
http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com/#!...
And now it’s my turn to tag the next authors up on the tour! THE WEEK OF JUNE 23rd you will meet two wonderful women authors and their main characters.
SUSANNE LEIST is author of THE DEAD GAME.
Check out her blog post next week at:
http://thedeadgameblog.tumblr.com/pos...
EVELYN CULLET is author of three books: Romancing a Mystery; Love, Lies and Murder; Masterpiece of Murder—a new one will be out soon! She’ll reveal more, next week, if you visit her blog site
http://evelyncullet.com/blog/
June 9, 2014
It's the little things that count, as long as they don't get in the way of the big things!
My niece was married recently. We celebrated that joyous event at a reception in New York City. It had been several years since my husband and I were last in the Big Apple. We were more than a little shocked by the pace of life in the fast lane. We live little more than a hundred miles east of LA, so it’s not like we’re unfamiliar with the big city. We just don’t live at that pace anymore.
Retired in our corner of paradise, the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs, it’s a lot slower. That’s especially true when, like this week, the temps reach the triple digits. At 105 degrees you have to slow down. Take it easy. Pace yourself.
When you do that you notice things—little things, mostly. We have all sorts of old adages that give us of mixed messages about the small stuff. Don’t sweat it, for one. Fat chance, this time of the year out here you sweat everything! There’s also the notion, though, that if you pay attention and “take care of the little things, the big ones will take care of themselves.”
Now, back here in the slow lane, I can reflect on the big step my niece and her cherished partner have taken. “What about the small things when it comes to married life?” After 40+ years of marriage, I can tell you from experience that little things mean a lot. A kind word, a tender gesture, a helping hand at just the right moment, means the world when it comes to making a marriage work.
On the other hand, little things can grate in a marriage. I’m talking about the proverbial “leaving the cap off the toothpaste” problems that go with the territory when sharing your life and space with another person. We all have our idiosyncrasies. Making accommodations, in order to live happily ever after with the love of our lives, is to be expected. That means tolerating habitual differences, to some extent, but also being amenable to change. We can all stand to amend a bad habit or two or three, as the case may be.
One of the great benefits of marriage is that you have a frank and trustworthy person to give you feedback. Hopefully, that feedback comes when both of you are using your “indoor voices” and not shouting things like, “Did you buy a few things on Amazon without mentioning it or did we just get hacked by a crazed fan of murder and mayhem?” or “Why didn’t you tell me there’s no more milk left, did you think I was bringing a cow home when I went to the store this morning?” Not that we actually raise our voices in this house, or ask each other impertinent questions!
Perhaps this is all on my mind, not just because my niece took the plunge, but because the heroine in my mystery series has fled a very bad marriage. The guy is so obviously a jerk it’s hard to imagine how she could have become entangled with him in the first place. Like so many marriages, Jessica Huntington’s seemed to have been rooted in love, compatibility and shared goals. At least, from her vantage point, as a young married woman before all hell broke loose. As she tries to sort out what went wrong and when, a key issue is the small things/big things dilemma.
Small things matter, but they can also get in the way. Too much focus on minutia really can draw attention away from wider chasms that open up between intimate partners, or that were there all along, unseen. Griping about little things like who spent what, when, is a rut we can fall into. It may seem so much tougher to tackle the bigger tasks of forging strategies and tactics to manage resources as a couple. Bickering about who left dirty dishes in the sink or a wet towel on the floor can usurp our focus on the bigger challenge: how to build two careers and still take out the garbage!
Dealing with the big things often requires confrontations with our fundamental values and core beliefs about ourselves and our partner. It would be great if we had all the big stuff sorted out before getting hitched, but it just doesn’t happen that way. Not to mention the fact that people do grow and change over the course of a lifetime. It's tricky coordinating our growth spurts. Fortunately, there are a lot of skilled people out there who can help us when we get stuck. Solutions to the problems in a marriage are easier to find once the problems are clearly laid out. A neutral, third party can sure help, at critical points.
In the often overwhelming crush of life—especially for that part of it most of us spend in the fast lane—it’s easy to let the big things go untended. And the little things that chafe can spiral way out of proportion. I wish I had a scale I could hand my niece: a delicately embossed, silver-clad beauty that would help her weigh and balance all the things that can crowd love. Unfortunately, I don’t have one, silver-clad or otherwise. What I do have is heartfelt blessings for the newlyweds. Here’s to figuring out what’s important and facing it head-on. In the meantime, slow down, take a deep breath, and as Mother Theresa urges,“do small things with great love.”
Congratulations, M & J!
Join me at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com/
Another way to sort things out in your relationship--get help from a licensed professional...
Marriage and Family Therapist:
http://www.aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/
Social Worker:
http://www.helpstartshere.org/find-a-...
APA Psychologist:
http://locator.apa.org/
Retired in our corner of paradise, the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs, it’s a lot slower. That’s especially true when, like this week, the temps reach the triple digits. At 105 degrees you have to slow down. Take it easy. Pace yourself.
When you do that you notice things—little things, mostly. We have all sorts of old adages that give us of mixed messages about the small stuff. Don’t sweat it, for one. Fat chance, this time of the year out here you sweat everything! There’s also the notion, though, that if you pay attention and “take care of the little things, the big ones will take care of themselves.”
Now, back here in the slow lane, I can reflect on the big step my niece and her cherished partner have taken. “What about the small things when it comes to married life?” After 40+ years of marriage, I can tell you from experience that little things mean a lot. A kind word, a tender gesture, a helping hand at just the right moment, means the world when it comes to making a marriage work.
On the other hand, little things can grate in a marriage. I’m talking about the proverbial “leaving the cap off the toothpaste” problems that go with the territory when sharing your life and space with another person. We all have our idiosyncrasies. Making accommodations, in order to live happily ever after with the love of our lives, is to be expected. That means tolerating habitual differences, to some extent, but also being amenable to change. We can all stand to amend a bad habit or two or three, as the case may be.
One of the great benefits of marriage is that you have a frank and trustworthy person to give you feedback. Hopefully, that feedback comes when both of you are using your “indoor voices” and not shouting things like, “Did you buy a few things on Amazon without mentioning it or did we just get hacked by a crazed fan of murder and mayhem?” or “Why didn’t you tell me there’s no more milk left, did you think I was bringing a cow home when I went to the store this morning?” Not that we actually raise our voices in this house, or ask each other impertinent questions!
Perhaps this is all on my mind, not just because my niece took the plunge, but because the heroine in my mystery series has fled a very bad marriage. The guy is so obviously a jerk it’s hard to imagine how she could have become entangled with him in the first place. Like so many marriages, Jessica Huntington’s seemed to have been rooted in love, compatibility and shared goals. At least, from her vantage point, as a young married woman before all hell broke loose. As she tries to sort out what went wrong and when, a key issue is the small things/big things dilemma.
Small things matter, but they can also get in the way. Too much focus on minutia really can draw attention away from wider chasms that open up between intimate partners, or that were there all along, unseen. Griping about little things like who spent what, when, is a rut we can fall into. It may seem so much tougher to tackle the bigger tasks of forging strategies and tactics to manage resources as a couple. Bickering about who left dirty dishes in the sink or a wet towel on the floor can usurp our focus on the bigger challenge: how to build two careers and still take out the garbage!
Dealing with the big things often requires confrontations with our fundamental values and core beliefs about ourselves and our partner. It would be great if we had all the big stuff sorted out before getting hitched, but it just doesn’t happen that way. Not to mention the fact that people do grow and change over the course of a lifetime. It's tricky coordinating our growth spurts. Fortunately, there are a lot of skilled people out there who can help us when we get stuck. Solutions to the problems in a marriage are easier to find once the problems are clearly laid out. A neutral, third party can sure help, at critical points.
In the often overwhelming crush of life—especially for that part of it most of us spend in the fast lane—it’s easy to let the big things go untended. And the little things that chafe can spiral way out of proportion. I wish I had a scale I could hand my niece: a delicately embossed, silver-clad beauty that would help her weigh and balance all the things that can crowd love. Unfortunately, I don’t have one, silver-clad or otherwise. What I do have is heartfelt blessings for the newlyweds. Here’s to figuring out what’s important and facing it head-on. In the meantime, slow down, take a deep breath, and as Mother Theresa urges,“do small things with great love.”
Congratulations, M & J!
Join me at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com/
Another way to sort things out in your relationship--get help from a licensed professional...
Marriage and Family Therapist:
http://www.aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/
Social Worker:
http://www.helpstartshere.org/find-a-...
APA Psychologist:
http://locator.apa.org/
May 25, 2014
SUMMER MAGIC BECKONS! HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
It’s Memorial Day weekend, days set aside to memorialize acts of courage and service, large and small. Hard to believe, but we’re almost halfway through another year. So it seems reasonable to stop, reflect, and acknowledge those things that stand the passage of time, like heroic virtue. A call not just to remember specific acts or people, but to honor the more fundamental attributes that inspire us all to be more fully human.
Many of us will do at least some of our pausing and reflecting outdoors this weekend. The unofficial start to summer, millions will head out to parks and beaches for barbecues and picnics. I can almost hear the crack of a baseball bat, or the whiz of a well-tossed Frisbee, announcing summer’s arrival. Let the fun begin, especially after a winter that was, for many, long and harsh.
Here, in the California desert, despite the fact that temperatures are already flirting with triple digits, the sun is shining and blue skies beckon. The lingering aroma of mesquite hovers around me—in my hair and on my clothes—after our celebratory cookout. Chipotle-rubbed, corn-on-the-cob, cooked over mesquite wood. Smoky, tequila-laced salsa made from jalapeno peppers, tossed on the grill alongside spicy turkey sausage, and a mélange of other grilled veggies, guacamole and crispy chips, yum! A riot of colors, textures, and flavors set out to welcome summer, SoCal style. Papaya and other fresh fruit for dessert also signal that summer is about to burst upon us!
Summer is magic! If you want another way to experience a bit of that magic I invite you to read Marcia Meara’s recently released book of poetry, Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love. It’s a perfect read for a languid summer’s day or a long weekend like this one. Taking a breather from grilling and eating, reading the book is like dangling your toes in a cool, rippling brook. It’s not just her poems that reflect the childhood joy of plunging into cool green waters from a “Rope Swing,” or the ‘drip-drip’ of “Showers” on a rainy day that will give you that creek side, summer experience. “Summer Magic” the first poem, and the one that gives the book its title, is awash in words that conjure summer. My favorite lines from the poem:
There! A thin curve of molten red!
A far away sliver of fiery light
Breaks the horizon.
Part One of the book, “Mac at 10,” contains poems celebrating summer from the vantage point of MacKenzie Cole, lead character in Marcia Meara’s wonderful book, Wake Robin Ridge. As you can imagine, from the glimpse of her poetry provide here, setting matters. In both Wake Robin Ridge and her new book Swamp Ghosts she brings her poetic bent to bear on her story telling.
My favorite of the poems in this part of the book is “Star-Gazing.” Even though I’m still a little annoyed that my late-night effort to catch a meteor-shower this week was such a bust! The “Giraffes” meteor shower was slated to rival Perseid, the meteor shower featured in Marcia’s poem that occurs each August. Perseid has no rival, trust me. Still, star-gazing was a favorite teenage pastime and this poem evoked fond memories of times in my life when I was privileged to witness sky-borne wonders.
Part two of Summer Magic, “Poems of Life and Love,” presents more adult-themed visions of summer. Especially poignant are images of summer waning, as we are dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming into fall, and other seasons of our lives. I love the meter of the first poem in part two, “On the River,” the moody tone of “The Last Rose,” and the wanton disregard for structure in “Attitude Really is Everything.” So true, btw! Here’s to Summer Magic, in Marcia Meara’s book, or wherever we may find it. Happy Memorial Day!
Stop by for a visit at my site http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
Sign up and I'll share the recipe for the smoky, tequila-laced salsa. Like I said, yum!
Many of us will do at least some of our pausing and reflecting outdoors this weekend. The unofficial start to summer, millions will head out to parks and beaches for barbecues and picnics. I can almost hear the crack of a baseball bat, or the whiz of a well-tossed Frisbee, announcing summer’s arrival. Let the fun begin, especially after a winter that was, for many, long and harsh.
Here, in the California desert, despite the fact that temperatures are already flirting with triple digits, the sun is shining and blue skies beckon. The lingering aroma of mesquite hovers around me—in my hair and on my clothes—after our celebratory cookout. Chipotle-rubbed, corn-on-the-cob, cooked over mesquite wood. Smoky, tequila-laced salsa made from jalapeno peppers, tossed on the grill alongside spicy turkey sausage, and a mélange of other grilled veggies, guacamole and crispy chips, yum! A riot of colors, textures, and flavors set out to welcome summer, SoCal style. Papaya and other fresh fruit for dessert also signal that summer is about to burst upon us!
Summer is magic! If you want another way to experience a bit of that magic I invite you to read Marcia Meara’s recently released book of poetry, Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love. It’s a perfect read for a languid summer’s day or a long weekend like this one. Taking a breather from grilling and eating, reading the book is like dangling your toes in a cool, rippling brook. It’s not just her poems that reflect the childhood joy of plunging into cool green waters from a “Rope Swing,” or the ‘drip-drip’ of “Showers” on a rainy day that will give you that creek side, summer experience. “Summer Magic” the first poem, and the one that gives the book its title, is awash in words that conjure summer. My favorite lines from the poem:
There! A thin curve of molten red!
A far away sliver of fiery light
Breaks the horizon.
Part One of the book, “Mac at 10,” contains poems celebrating summer from the vantage point of MacKenzie Cole, lead character in Marcia Meara’s wonderful book, Wake Robin Ridge. As you can imagine, from the glimpse of her poetry provide here, setting matters. In both Wake Robin Ridge and her new book Swamp Ghosts she brings her poetic bent to bear on her story telling.
My favorite of the poems in this part of the book is “Star-Gazing.” Even though I’m still a little annoyed that my late-night effort to catch a meteor-shower this week was such a bust! The “Giraffes” meteor shower was slated to rival Perseid, the meteor shower featured in Marcia’s poem that occurs each August. Perseid has no rival, trust me. Still, star-gazing was a favorite teenage pastime and this poem evoked fond memories of times in my life when I was privileged to witness sky-borne wonders.
Part two of Summer Magic, “Poems of Life and Love,” presents more adult-themed visions of summer. Especially poignant are images of summer waning, as we are dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming into fall, and other seasons of our lives. I love the meter of the first poem in part two, “On the River,” the moody tone of “The Last Rose,” and the wanton disregard for structure in “Attitude Really is Everything.” So true, btw! Here’s to Summer Magic, in Marcia Meara’s book, or wherever we may find it. Happy Memorial Day!
Stop by for a visit at my site http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com
Sign up and I'll share the recipe for the smoky, tequila-laced salsa. Like I said, yum!
May 19, 2014
Why the Desert Setting Matters in Stories of Murder & Mayhem
Deserts have long held fascination as places of great mystery and startling contrasts. Movies like Lawrence of Arabia portray deserts as, at once, lavish and austere, transformative and dangerous. Naturalist, Ann Haymond Zwinger, in her book, Mysterious Lands, writes eloquently about the exquisite extremes and breathtaking beauty to be found in desert landscapes throughout the U.S. Southwest. Such settings often surprise and inspire awe. They are, for example, among the hottest places on earth. And yet, terrain that scorches by day may chill us to the bone by night. With their vivid blue skies, abundant sunshine, drifting sands and scorching heat, these arid places challenge us to take them seriously, or else.
Setting matters. Maybe that’s why the Sonoran Desert seems such a natural setting in which to write about murder and mayhem, Jessica Huntington style. The desert cities in and around Palm Springs provide an almost magical backdrop to the unsettling events that occur in A DEAD HUSBAND and A DEAD SISTER, books 1 & 2 in the series. The opulence of Jessica’s upscale lifestyle and splendor of the desert stand in stark contrast to the horror wrought by lowlifes bent on wreaking havoc. Terrain matters, too, in book three, A DEAD DAUGHTER. And it will matter, at least as much in The Cleansing, the first book in The Betsy Stark Desert Cities Mystery Series.
Setting engages us. The Sonoran desert is as much a character as any other in the books I write, and in many of those I read and enjoy. Details about the setting draw us into the action, not just intellectually, but sensually. We’re pulled into the thick of things by images of vivid blue skies, or swaying palms that glitter in the sunlight as they dance. Those palms swish and crackle as they sway, catching us up in the moment by sound as well as sight. The warm desert breezes, that set the palms in motion, caress us engaging our sense of touch. We may taste a bit of gritty sand carried aloft by the breeze. Or perhaps catch a whiff of creosote, desert lavender, sage or another of the ingredients baked by sun and heat into a desert potpourri.
Setting can set the tone or evoke a mood. A desert sunrise may inspire us, while a sunset conjures up resignation or respite. An enormous, shimmering desert moon might suggest a mystery about to be revealed or spur a budding romance. Whether we’re talking about swanky, high-end, hijinks, or down and dirty, ankle-biting free-for-alls, setting portends and amplifies the action. Setting can propel both story and plot, by insinuation or by hitting us right between the eyes with scenes that shock or surprise.
There are so many ways in which ‘the desert’ plays a central role in the life led by characters, real and fictional, here in the Coachella Valley. And, this is no ordinary desert. It has been cast as a kind of Shangri La by many, and was, in fact, one of the places where Lost Horizon was filmed. Manicured and massaged, gilded and augmented, architects and developers have sought to mold their dreams on the sands of the Sonoran Desert here in the Coachella Valley.
In many ways the place is a lot like a Disneyland for adults: the palms are up lit and the mountains backlit. Golf greens vie with desert scrub, diabolical sand traps and water hazards. Over time distinctive enclaves have emerged in an attempt to capture and convey “Our Araby”, mid-century modernist suburban utopia, Andalusian equestrian vistas, Spanish Haciendas and Mediterranean villas. Still, the wildness of the place sends a lot of folks scurrying for a good part of the year. How on earth could we live here and not believe that the desert setting matters?
What do you think? Does setting matter? How does it impact what you read?
Stop by for a visit at: http://www.desertcitiesmystery
Setting matters. Maybe that’s why the Sonoran Desert seems such a natural setting in which to write about murder and mayhem, Jessica Huntington style. The desert cities in and around Palm Springs provide an almost magical backdrop to the unsettling events that occur in A DEAD HUSBAND and A DEAD SISTER, books 1 & 2 in the series. The opulence of Jessica’s upscale lifestyle and splendor of the desert stand in stark contrast to the horror wrought by lowlifes bent on wreaking havoc. Terrain matters, too, in book three, A DEAD DAUGHTER. And it will matter, at least as much in The Cleansing, the first book in The Betsy Stark Desert Cities Mystery Series.
Setting engages us. The Sonoran desert is as much a character as any other in the books I write, and in many of those I read and enjoy. Details about the setting draw us into the action, not just intellectually, but sensually. We’re pulled into the thick of things by images of vivid blue skies, or swaying palms that glitter in the sunlight as they dance. Those palms swish and crackle as they sway, catching us up in the moment by sound as well as sight. The warm desert breezes, that set the palms in motion, caress us engaging our sense of touch. We may taste a bit of gritty sand carried aloft by the breeze. Or perhaps catch a whiff of creosote, desert lavender, sage or another of the ingredients baked by sun and heat into a desert potpourri.
Setting can set the tone or evoke a mood. A desert sunrise may inspire us, while a sunset conjures up resignation or respite. An enormous, shimmering desert moon might suggest a mystery about to be revealed or spur a budding romance. Whether we’re talking about swanky, high-end, hijinks, or down and dirty, ankle-biting free-for-alls, setting portends and amplifies the action. Setting can propel both story and plot, by insinuation or by hitting us right between the eyes with scenes that shock or surprise.
There are so many ways in which ‘the desert’ plays a central role in the life led by characters, real and fictional, here in the Coachella Valley. And, this is no ordinary desert. It has been cast as a kind of Shangri La by many, and was, in fact, one of the places where Lost Horizon was filmed. Manicured and massaged, gilded and augmented, architects and developers have sought to mold their dreams on the sands of the Sonoran Desert here in the Coachella Valley.
In many ways the place is a lot like a Disneyland for adults: the palms are up lit and the mountains backlit. Golf greens vie with desert scrub, diabolical sand traps and water hazards. Over time distinctive enclaves have emerged in an attempt to capture and convey “Our Araby”, mid-century modernist suburban utopia, Andalusian equestrian vistas, Spanish Haciendas and Mediterranean villas. Still, the wildness of the place sends a lot of folks scurrying for a good part of the year. How on earth could we live here and not believe that the desert setting matters?
What do you think? Does setting matter? How does it impact what you read?
Stop by for a visit at: http://www.desertcitiesmystery
