Diane Bergner pens a mystery of high society

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Most of us write based on experience. Some of my books are set in suburban Boston because that's where I live; I've taken writing detours to Hollywood because that's where I grew up. Oh, and New York City where I went to college. I've been lucky with my places!

Diane Bergner is lucky in that way, too. In her dishy new novel, ROYAL COCONUT BEACH LUNCH CLUB, she's writing a place she knows, firsthand. She grew up in New York but now she's put down roots somewhere else, somewhere that makes a great setting for a crime novel. 

I'll let her tell it... 

DIANE BERGNER: There’s no place like Palm Beach. Internationally known for its exquisite mansions, famous landmarks, streets lined with stately palm trees, yachts, glistening turquoise ocean, galas, black-tie parties, and shopping on posh Worth Avenue it’s considered paradise by many.

The colorful characters – captains of industry, financial titans, mega-entrepreneurs, socialites, rich widows -- who thrive on an active social life revolving around country clubs, fine restaurants, and the charity circuit add to its glamour.

After decades of experience as a professional fundraiser in Palm Beach, I intended to write a nonfiction book about fundraising. But the idea to show fundraising through a fiction lens intrigued me. Why not marry my professional experience with a fictional town, like the stunning, glamorous Palm Beach? 

I knew fundraising. I knew what it took to navigate an exclusive social milieu. I loved writing. Swept away with inspiration, boldness, and a dose of audacity, the journey to write this novel began.

Once I started writing, I had license to imagine something wholly outside my reality was liberating. Intoxicating. Topics that intrigued me from my experiences, both professional and personal – the role money plays in relationships, marriages, ambition, strong women, romance, and feminist sensibilities – all became a commotion in my mind. I opened my eyes like never before. I became a keen observer, paid attention to details about people and places. I took notes. I wrote. 

It became an intellectual awakening. I became immensely daring and imaginative. I dreamed big. I surprised myself constantly. It was never easy, but utterly fulfilling. 

My dad was an educator and was always reading and learning. He instilled in me his passion for learning, yet my appreciation of this wasn’t fully realized until now. I was busy living my life. Writing this book woke up an intellectual side of me that had been dormant.

Creating members of the Lunch Club – two high-stakes matrimonial attorneys to the rich and powerful, a wealthy decorator, and a fundraiser created the perfect group to develop my interests: What defines a strong, successful woman? What do you want out of marriage? What role does money play in these dynamics? 

I had no idea that I had the capacity to create different voices for each, let alone weave together plots and sub-plots.

Part of the joy and surprise of fiction writing for me is being able to streamline, edit, and create a polished manuscript with a clear story arc. Thanks to my legal education (I was a lawyer years ago), I was able to distill what I wrote, making logical sense and put it all in an orderly fashion, and control the chaos.

It was just the beginning.

I was fortunate enough to have an extraordinary editor take me on. After she received the manuscript, I checked my mailbox for weeks, convinced that there’d be a torn check with a note: “I’m sorry, I’ve made a terrible mistake and cannot work with you.” Instead of that, her red pen became my new best friend. It was all a very humbling but again, I learned so much and am grateful. Here’s an example of her edits. Yikes!

HALLIE: Though I know from working with many aspiring writers, it takes a particular kind of talent and strength and resilience to be able to take suggestions and make changes. Results show. Congratulations, Diane!

And isn't it encouraging somehow that someone with as much obvious success as Diane has had can start over and blast off, from apprentice to pro?

In your life, who has made a difference and helped you clear new hurdles?