Dedicated to....

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: In all the years we’ve been together at Jungle Red–how many has that been?--there’s a topic we have all considered, and read, and thought about, and wondered about.

But I am pretty sure we’ve never talked about it here!

How wonderful that one of the most generous, talented and beloved people in  our mystery community brings up the subject today. I am so touched by this thought-provoking essay by the wonderful Art Taylor.

 

Dedication

by Art Taylor

 

The very last words I wrote for my new story collection—The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions—were the dedication. My ultimate choice seemed so appropriate I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it sooner (hold tight to find out), but the process itself proved surprisingly complex.

 

I may not be alone in wrangling over dedications, at least in terms of my very limited test sample—of one: specifically my wife, Tara Laskowski. She’s finishing the manuscript for her third novel, and she asked just this week, “Who should I dedicate this one to?”

 

“Me,” I said—of course.

 

But then we talked further, and the questions became more layered.

 

Should a dedication automatically go to a loved one? Mother, father, spouse, child, sibling? And what’s the hierarchy there?

 

Should you use the dedication to shout-out someone who’s given particular support or assistance on this specific book? Or should anything like that be reserved for the Acknowledgments? 

 

Or how about another writer who was an influence or a mentor? A teacher who proved formative? A specific reader who’s a big fan of your work? A bookstore that’s enthusiastically supported your career?

 

I dedicated my first book, On the Road with Del & Louise, to Tara and to our son Dash—“at age three, already teaching me that every day can be an adventure—as long as it includes cars.”

 

The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74 and Other Tales of Suspense was dedicated to “my parents, Gene and Jenny Taylor, a bushel and a peck.”

 

But The Adventure of Castle Thief….  

 

“Who should I dedicate this one to?” I asked Tara.

 

“Me,” she said. (Of course.)

 

The title story of The Castle Thief is set in an Irish castle—a study abroad trip for a group of American students. The students become fast friends, even with a couple of romantic relationships brewing, but when a Burberry scarf goes missing and then other treasured items start to disappear, the group’s closeness begins to fracture a bit. Is there a thief among them? Who among them would do such a thing? The professor leading the trip joins his star student in investigating those questions—playing Sherlock and Watson in a quest to save the whole trip from ruin.

 

When Tara and I honeymooned in Ireland, we stayed in Ashford Castle—a destination which lent some touches here. But the stronger inspiration for the story was a study abroad trip I led to Ireland several years later, a group of terrific students from George Mason University (where I teach) and another castle on that itinerary too: Markree Castle near Sligo. There were no thefts on that trip (goodness no!), and none of the students became models for any of the story’s characters (goodness no times two!), but the way a sense of community formed among them—the energy, the closeness, the wonder… the sense of all that does have, I hope, a very real presence in my fictional take on a study abroad group—what became a traditional, clue-driven ensemble mystery (and spoiler alert: a happy ending ahead).  

 

Another story, “Restoration,” is markedly different: noir to the core, with a hard lean toward speculative fiction. A young couple with children finds themselves in the market for a new insurance policy rooted in cutting-edge technologies: In the event of a fatal crime, the company will produce a clone of the victim—restoring a lost mother or father to the family in a short period of time. Despite the high premiums on the policy, the wife is willing, but the husband is weak—and their difference of opinion becomes trouble for everyone.

 

“Restoration” was inspired by a stray comment in one of the fiction workshops I teach at Mason. In discussing a draft by one of her peers, a student was trying to find the phrase “witness protection” but instead stumbled into “victim replacement.” It was a negligible little malaprop, a little laugh for the class, but quickly my own wheels started turning . . .

 

Beyond these specific incidents—an example of community coming together, a workshop comment that sparked ideas in fun directions—teaching college creative writing classes has proven inspiring and enriching in other ways. My students are remarkably ambitious and determined and thoughtful, and their story drafts bristle with ideas and energy and enthusiasm. Our workshops reveal them as talented readers as well—committed to their craft, encouraging one another toward their best work, offering smart perspectives, and spurring sharper revisions ahead. And they recognize the need to dig down into the work, dig deeper, work harder.

 

Many of the Jungle Reds have taught in one capacity or another, and so they might already be nodding their heads at all this, and I trust others, whether you’ve taught or not, will recognize as well the good fortune I’ve enjoyed here.

 

…all of which brings me back to the dedication to the new book.

 

It may have taken me a bit to get to the idea, but once I thought of it, I knew nothing else would work.

 

To my students

at George Mason University,

who keep me grounded and

also open the world in fresh ways

HANK: Isn't this funny and wise and perfect? Just like Art. What do you think about this, reds and readers? Authors, what do you think about dedications? Readers, do you read them? And try to decode them? (I do!)

 

 

Art Taylor is the author of two collections—The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions and The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74 and Other Tales of Suspense—and On the Road with Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories, winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. His short fiction has won three additional Agatha Awards as well as the Edgar, Anthony, Derringer, and Macavity Awards. He is an associate professor of English at George Mason University. www.arttaylorwriter.com.