Lucy is Borrowing Bits from Life #amwriting

Lucy and John Mallory Square sunset

 LUCY BURDETTE: I am feeling my way through the 15th Key West mystery, hoping to scribble most of the story on the pages before we drive north for the summer. As always, there have been distractions. Two weeks ago, we had our kids and grandkids visiting—there wasn't much work getting done! But even when not actually writing, I’m always watching and listening, looking for interesting bits of real life to weave into my books. One night we planned to have dinner near Mallory Square at sunset, where the inciting event of the 15th book, an explosion on a boat, occurs.  I took my granddaughter Thea over to see the square while we were waiting for our food. One of the acrobat/performers was there and I introduced him to Thea. Later, he chose her to help him with his act—and that became a snippet of the background in this chapter.

In the scene below, Hayley and her mother return to Mallory Square the day after the explosion, trying to figure out what happened. It's important because not only were they on the ill-fated boat, but they’d also hoped the cruise would bring a boost to their reputations and business. Worst of all, they’ve also just learned that someone on that boat died. They visit their friend, Lorenzo, the tarot card reader, but also talk with a pair of acrobat/jugglers who had been performing that night. 

Tobin and his partner, David, wearing their trademark bright red pants, black shirts, and black shoes, were finishing up their performance. This time they’d included a little girl in pink leggings and a blue shirt with hearts—she stood in the center of the ring holding up giant knives, while the crowd around her chanted “Thea, Thea, Thea!” When he was finished, Tobin thanked her for her assistance and tucked a ten-dollar bill into her fist. Then he thanked the spectators and encouraged them to drop tips into a glass jar. He was drenched with sweat, and looked tired but wound up, too. He was much like Lorenzo in that his work took a lot of concentration and energy, though Lorenzo’s was more mental and Tobin’s physical. 

We waited to approach him until the last of his admirers—the smiling girl who was now holding her father’s hand—moved away. I introduced my mother and explained that we had been on the boat that had blown up the night before. 

The cheery smile fell from his face. “Sorry to hear that, hope you’re okay.”

“Pretty much, just a few post-calamity jitters.” We all laughed, a bit hysterically in my case. “I know it’s unlikely, because you were working hard, but I wondered if you might have seen anything unexpected in the water or on a nearby boat before the fire started and all those emergency vehicles arrived? Apparently, the police haven’t yet come to a conclusion about what caused the accident.” If it was one, I thought but did not say.

Tobin absorbed my question carefully, rasping his knuckles over the stubble on his chin. This made me wonder whether he had pre-game rituals, such as eating certain food or not shaving until after a performance, like some professional athletes did.

 “You’ve probably reviewed all of this with the authorities,” my mother added, “but might it be helpful to talk about what you noticed before the incident occurred?”

He nodded at her. “We were in the middle of one of our shows when all the shouting started and we the heard the boom. A precarious point,” he added, with a small grin, “because I remember bobbling a little on the ladder. I was upside down at that moment, balanced on my partner’s shoulders. Everything looks different from that perspective.”

“Can’t imagine,” my mother murmured, nodding with encouragement.

“Nothing out of the ordinary sticks out that I can think of. It was a pretty good crowd for this time of year. And we’d snagged the cutest kid to help with our act. That always helps with tips.” He winked. “It looked like smooth sailing on the Gulf; I saw nothing that would have caused me to predict trouble. Oh.” He stopped for a minute and rubbed his chin again.

“It’s possible someone dropped off the edge of that boat and swam to a nearby dinghy. It didn’t register at the time, and maybe I’m making the whole thing up, but it’s possible that it happened this way.”

So that’s tiniest bit of real life worked into the story—it amuses me and I hope it amuses the folks I include as well. Have you noticed real life details in the fiction you read?