LUCY BURDETTE: Do you like a little paranormal accent in your books, or are your tastes strictly reality-based?
I thought I was a no-nonsense reality writer until my tarot card reader showed up in AN APPETITE FOR MURDER. Then Hayley Snow revealed that she’d rather have her cards read than spill her secrets to a shrink. Now she insists that I work him into all the Key West books, at least a cameo.
In the February 2014 release, MURDER WITH GANACHE, she tried to get a reading from Lorenzo, but he was too busy. So she ended up dropping in at a psychic fair fundraiser at the Bottlecap Lounge. And where she goes, I generally go first...
And it was great fun to read the Ouija board seance scenes in Rhys’s new HEIRS AND GRACES. Tension was upped, clues appeared, and it all fit nicely into the story and revealed more about the characters. What about you Red writers and readers? Do you like a dash of woo-woo in your books? A touch of magic in the writing?
And don't forget, one lucky commenter will receive an ARC for Julia Spencer-Fleming's November release, THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS!
And also don't forget, this is the last day to get a free download of Rosemary Harris's THE BITCHES OF BROOKLYN! Click here.
A little magic . . . why not? It's all in good fun . . . .
ReplyDeleteI'm in the reality based camp, which is strange considering the amount of science fiction I read. I guess I get enough altered realities there that I don't need it in my crime fiction. I remember one crime novel I read that hadn't mentioned any paranormal activity in the cover copy ending up going paranormal halfway thru. I might have read the book anyway, since I knew the writer, but being ambushed like that just soured me on the book.
ReplyDeleteMy ultimate mystery experience is for the murder or murderer to SEEM magical, but the clever protagonist uncovers the subterfuge at the climax. Hound of the Baskervilles fits perfectly. Even Holmes was confused when they found "the footprints of a gigantic hound."
ReplyDeleteSuspending disbelief is hard enough for this reader. With one exception -- E J Cooperman aka Jeff Cohen -- there are no vampires, ghosts, zombies, or magic in my TBR pile.
For me it depends on how well the author works the woo-woo into the story. If it comes out of nowhere I'll stop reading. And yes, I realize the irony of this when I have cats with magical abilities in my Sofie Kelly books.
ReplyDeleteI am fine either way, but like Larry, I like to know that I am reading a paranormal when I start.
ReplyDeleteThat said, elements like the seance in Heirs and Graces and Tarot card readers don't strike me as particularly "woo-woo". These are just beliefs held by characters that I may or may not agree with.
Now if the spirit talking to them continues on and solves the crime, it's a different story - then we are firmly in "woo-woo" territory.
And can I just mention how silly I feel typing out "woo-woo" while sitting at my desk at work.
I agree with what's been said. If I know it's woo-woo-y from the beginning (like Casey Daniels' Pepper Martin talking to ghosts as she works in a cemetery), it's fine. If it comes out of nowhere (especially just in time to drop off a big clue), I'm probably done.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a big difference between Hayley's tarot reader making a cameo appearance and a whole cast of zombies, vampires, and what have you.
I'm okay with any of it, to varying degrees, as long as I know up front. I own a tarot deck (okay, two) and a book on palmistry, through I only pick them up sporadically. I don't know that I actually BELIEVE it, but I don't NOT believe, either. Ghosts, psychic ability, shifters, fine. I'm not a big vampire fan, though.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good question. I like a little bit of magical realism in some kinds of books. But I'm not a big fan of the vampire, etc genre.
ReplyDeleteJust like in my real life, I love a little magic in my novels sometimes. Is it too crass of me to give a rather loud and proud shout out to the brilliant new novel, " Whimsey!?"
ReplyDeleteLife is so magical, why not reflect it in stories?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lucy. I did the Tarot cards, and there is a sensitive knight in shining armor in my future. I'll take it.
ReplyDeleteI have a medium in my w-i-p, and have enjoyed doing research at Cassadaga, NY (Lily Dale) and Cassadaga, FL. I have liked the people I have met, and the sessions I have attended, and the individual readings very much.
I even have my own "spirit guide" so count me in on the woo-woo.
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ReplyDeleteI rather like some woo-woo here and there. I like magic, witches, ghosts and psychics, but I'm not at all into vampires, shapeshifters, and the like. So, I'm particular about my woo-woo, I guess. :)
ReplyDelete"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
ReplyDeleteThere are times when logic alone doesn't cover what's happening, and it is worth paying attention to other wisdom.
I once backed out of an application for an apartment because I dreamed I was there and being robbed. The tenants who took the place were burgled shortly after.
In a sad mood tis week, the library delivered a long-ago-requested DVD of _Silver Lining Playbook_.
Anything works for me if it's well done. In my own writing, I like it best when something seems like supernatural and turns out to have been engineered by mere mortals.
ReplyDeleteI like a little magical realism in my novels, the way Alice Hoffman does it. I like the mood that the mystical can convey--just that hint of mystery about life itself. That we can't know everything. Life itself is magical.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is because, thus far at least, I write novels set in Ireland, and Ireland's ripe for the otherworldy...
I just realized that I've never read a novel labeled "paranormal." But I don't mind books that deal with psychic abilities--that's human brain stuff and that fascinates me...
I did the tarot cards too, my future holds re-birth and positive light. Always been fascinated by tarot cards, no idea why.
ReplyDeleteI just like a story that is intriguing and well written, if there is a ghost or some magic and it works with the storyline, I'm fine with it.
I've read a couple of series that have ghosts that pop in and out, and I love them. If I know it's supernatural, then I want to read about it, just like if it's a cooking series I want to see some cooking.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy a little spooky stuff in a story, funny or serious. It provides more opportunities for the plotline.
ReplyDeleteI like a little magic if it's in the story for fun. Kaye's use of magic is delightful in Whimsey, and I am also a fan of Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity books.
ReplyDeleteDarlene, what I think is really neat about your magical cats books (I'm on my second right now) is that the stories are pretty hard-boiled, considering the abilities of the cats! One of the things I really like is that the cats are not "cutesy".
Oh, yes, absolutely. Just saying. xoxo
ReplyDeleteWoo-woo is in the eyes of the wooed.
ReplyDeleteMy oddest woo-woo experience was with one of my sisters-in-law. She wasn't yet my sister-in-law. I was still just a hopeful family interloper dating her brother. I have just received a Ouija board for my 21st birthday and brought it with me when I went to spend the weekend at her house.
We were having a lot of fun with silly questions, when she asked the Ouija board what her middle name was as a kind of test. She hadn't used her real middle name since she was 14 when she started using her confirmation name. I didn't know that at the time.
The Ouija board quickly spelled out a name. She became upset and said that was not it. She refused to play anymore. She said it was a stupid distraction, and she was afraid her kids were spending too much time with it. She thought it—
and I—were too woo-woo.
Despite all that I interloped away and married the last available male in the family. A year ago my sister-in-law died. In addition to her confirmation name, her funeral program had her given middle name. It was just as the Ouija had said.
I'm sure that remembering such a thing does qualify me as woo-woo, so you should consider everything I say with that in mind.
Chiming in late. Mostly I do not read mysteries with "paranormal elements" but I love the Tarot card reader in Lucy's books, and I love the magical realism in Gabriel Garcia Marquez and even some Tony Hillerman, if memory serves. And I also used to read tons of sci fi. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteDarlene, I keep forgetting that you write the magical cats. Going to order one of those now. And kaye I have Whimsey in my pile...
ReplyDeleteReine, that is such a strange story...that must go in a book somewhere. You'll recognize something like that in Rhy's new book too...
Thanks Roberta. I was thinking about that as I wrote. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteHeirs and Graces is waiting for my next Audible credit to come up—really cannot wait!
Not particularly into the paranormal...
ReplyDelete