First things first! We have a winner for Ellen Byron's giveaway last week and it's...ALICIA!!! Congrats, Alicia, you can reach Ellen at: ellenbyronla at outlook dot com
Jenn McKinlay: Okay, I can't really talk about what I'm writing as yet since contracts need to be signed and whatnot before the big reveal. But I can talk about my research!
The setting of my work-in-progress is the Outer Banks, North Carolina. As you can imagine, the research is a real hardship (not). I was thrilled to discover our Lucy grew up there, so I have a first person source as well as my own memories of camping trips with my family on the beaches of North Carolina and of course I have a trip planned to do boots on the ground research while revisiting an area I love.
 |
| Outer Banks, NC My first attempt at writing a setting where I did not reside was the London Hat Shop Mysteries. In my original concept, my protagonist was British. It took me all of five minutes to realize I could never pretend to think/speak like a Brit and so Scarlett became a fish out of water American. Boom. The mystery wrote itself. Since then, I've gone on to write many locations that I've visited but do not inhabit and I have discovered that when I view a place through a tourist's eyes (mine), I can lean into a place's uniqueness. For example, when I wrote about Rhode Island for one of my Good Buy Girls mysteries (written under the name Josie Belle), I mentioned coffee milk - this is a pure R.I. thing as told to me by a college friend who had grown up there. And then I had readers from Rhode Island reach out and tell me how surprised they were that I'd gotten it right. Very rewarding!  In my recent release LOVE AT FIRST BOOK, which was set on the Emerald Isle, I went to Ireland to do research (yes, more hardship - lol) but the real insight into capturing the essence of the places I visited was to sit and observe and listen, talk to waitresses, bookshop clerks, cabbies and so on and let them tell me their stories. I have about an hour of video of Irish cabbies teaching me everything from the history of Trinity College to the rules of the sport called hurling to how to drive in Ireland. "Keep the bitch in the ditch" -- IYKYK. Needless to say, I am very excited to visit the Outer Banks and talk to the locals and learn the the oddities that only the long time residents know and as soon as I can share more, you'll be the first to know. So, Reds and Readers, when you read about books set in places you know very well, are you offended when an author gets it wrong? What oddities make up the places where you live? |
I'm not at all offended if an author gets something wrong in a particular setting . . . I just figure, "Oh, that would be nice" or "Thank goodness it isn't really like that" . . . .
ReplyDeleteAs for oddities . . . like any place, there are always misconceptions and stories, but the Jersey Devil legend is the only thing that really persists throughout the Pine Barrens . . . .
My stepmother lived near the Pine Barrens Joan, and we always heard about the Jersey Devil...
DeleteJOAN: Not offended when the author changes something about a real place in the novel. After all, the novel is FICTION.
DeleteAnd now I have to go look up the Jersey Devil.
DeleteBriefly, Jenn . . . . The New Jersey Pinelands is home to miles of pine trees and sandy roads . . . and to its most infamous resident: The Jersey Devil. Designated in 1938 as the country’s only state demon, the Jersey Devil is described as a kangaroo-like creature with the face of a horse, the head of a dog, bat-like wings, horns and a tail. For more than 250 years this mysterious creature is said to prowl through the marshes of Southern New Jersey and emerge periodically to rampage through the towns and cities.
DeleteThe Outer Banks! What a lovely place for research. There's a family photograph of me standing next to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, but since I can't be more than four years old, I'm sad to say that I don't remember being there. That was my first and last visit to the Outer Banks.
ReplyDeleteMy own Polizei Bern series is dependent on my getting the Swiss city and canton of Bern right since all my main characters are Bernese. Like your compliments from Rhode Islanders, I've also had local friends--and even strangers, via my website--tell me how much they appreciate how well I've captured "our" city. Still, I've also made a few small geographic mistakes (despite having lived here thirty-six years) and gotten emails with corrections. I'm very grateful to get those, as long as the tone isn't irate, which it hasn't been so far.
I think a mistake in a mystery set in a place I know well would have to be a pretty bad one to annoy me, like an author repeating a cliché that every local knows isn't true. For example, if someone writing about Switzerland had one of their Swiss characters explain that the cuckoo clock is a Swiss invention (when it's actually from the Black Forest in Germany), I'd think they'd done a pretty shoddy research job.
That's the kind of thing that can trip up anyone, Kim - it's what I THINK I know, but isn't so, that always gets me in trouble.
DeleteFirst, I am always pretty excited to hear that you have a new writing project! Next, I love Scarlett and am so glad you made her American and Viv and all the guys British. The Brits seem very British to me, but I wouldn't necessarily recognize those mistakes.
ReplyDeleteAs for a writer getting it wrong, you don't even have to know a place well to occasionally feel that something is off. It doesn't happen very often. Most authors that I read, have gone down hundreds of research rabbit holes in order to get it right. I love it when an author explains in their notes that they have changed historical events by a month in order to make their fiction work or have adjusted a street location to make action plausible. They know there are readers who won't forgive that type of error.
Have a great time doing your research!
I loved Scarlett so much, Judy! Jenn, you've hit on the perfect way to approach a strange place--see it through the character's eyes. Then mistakes make perfect sense. Can't wait to read this one! I'm hoping for more Ireland too...
DeleteThanks, Judy and Lucy! I am very excited!!! OBX here I come!
DeleteI still think you did a great job on the Hat Shop books, Jenn!
DeleteOh, Jenn, what a time to be writing of the Outer Banks, as bit by bit they are disappearing back into the sea. There was, just yesterday, an article in the NYT about the 7th home to collapse, quite recently, and to wash away. (Sorry, I can’t find this link.) Have an interesting and exciting time researching and writing…best of luck. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteIt's horrifying to see that happen...
DeleteI may have to work that into the novel. So sad to see it disappearing.
DeleteBittersweet time, Elisabeth. How sad.
ReplyDeleteJenn, what made you decide to use the Outer Banks as a venue this time? What is unique about that particular area that makes it so interesting? This is one part of the country I have never been, so I'm curious--and eager to learn more.
Cincinnati has some quirks, for sure. Our eponymous chili, for instance, which most of the world would not call "chili", and was only called that by the Greek creators so people would at least try it. Served over spaghetti and topped with heaps of shredded cheddar cheese, or over a skinny hot dog. Chopped onions and/or beans are optional. Accompanied by oyster crackers, sometimes with a dot of hot sauce in the dimple of the cracker. Detroit has its own chili parlors, but they are completely different, with no spaghetti. I know, I'm as mystified as you are!
Karen, I didn't know the Greek origin of Cinci's chili. The cinnamon in the meat sauce makes sense now!
DeleteFlora, there are two different kinds. One has cinnamon, and the other has cocoa powder! The two major chains, Skyline and Gold Star, each use a different one, and I can never remember which is which. Two of my daughters are huge fans, and they each like a different brand.
DeleteSkyline came to Columbus when I lived there--haven't had the Gold Star brand.
DeleteCostco used to sell cans of the meat mixture, all over the country. Don't know if they still do. It sure helped my youngest feel less homesick in college.
DeleteKaren, I get it! When I left Columbus and came across Krema peanut butter in a local grocery store, I was thrilled.
DeleteI just recently learned about Cincy spaghetti and I am desperate to try it. As for the OBX, I visited as a kid and the lighthouses and wild horses have always seemed magical to me. It was just time.
DeleteI don't get offended but I did mention to the author that it takes more than 10 minutes to get from the Plaza Hotel to Wall Street.
ReplyDeleteOMG, Dru. I just snorted in my coffee cup!
DeleteThat’s so funny!
DeleteLOL!!! Okay, that's funny.
DeleteJENN: Have fun doing your research on the Outer Banks!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read Outer Banks, NC and a woman named Lucy I immediately thought of Eva Gates' long running Lighthouse Library series.
Did you choose that same name or did the publisher?
I am curious too Grace. Jenn?
DeleteGRACE: Love the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates, who is also Vicky Delany of Christmastown series. I discovered the books at my first mystery conference (Malice Domestic).
DeleteDon’t believe Lucy is the name of the protagonist.
DeleteOne more comment on “Lucy”… this is, I’m fairly sure for her comments today…Lucy “the Red” Burdette. Elisabeth
DeleteNo Lucy in my book, but I do love Vicki's lighthouse library series!
DeleteCongratulations, Jenn, and what a fabulous setting! I was there once but it was forty years ago, so my memories are hazy.
ReplyDeleteOn two of my research trips to southern Indiana, I wandered around a Walmart eavesdropping on local shoppers for speech patterns and quirky dialect. My sister, who lived in the state at the time, also fed me bits of oddities. You should have fun picking up on how locals talk in North Carolina!
Edith, that sounds like an excellent way to eavesdrop (in a not-creepy fashion) in order to get local dialect and concerns right!
DeleteIt felt borderline creepy, but I don't think anyone noticed me!
DeleteI spend an inordinate amount of time eavesdropping. :)
DeleteJenn, you always seem to set your books in fabulous places! places I wish I could go with you. I loved my brief visit to the Outer Banks and hope to make it back there someday. We camped near the Lighthouse, this was in the time before it was moved years ago, and I wanted to climb to the top. I knew it would be closing at 5 so I had almost 5 minutes. Needles to say, I was a lot younger then and I made it with just enough time to look out at the view. But, oh my goodness, for the next week or so I could barely lift my legs to go up any stairs. Definitely looking forward to your book!
ReplyDeleteI climbed it when I was five. I still remember the winding steps and then the majestic view at the top.
DeleteCongrats on your new project! I've read some major howlers about Cape Cod over the years, including rocky cliffs over pounding surf. And a literary agent speaking at a conference characterized a Cape Cod cemetery as ankle deep in mud instead of a thin layer of grass over sand.
ReplyDeleteNew England locations are the victims of a LOT of misunderstandings when it comes to settings, Margaret. Either someone visits for one week at the height of summer (not typical!) or they conflate images from TV and movies with the reality - like the grassy, treeless cliffs abutting the "Atlantic" in Murder She Wrote!
DeleteRather like old westerns that put saguaro cactus in Texas when they only grow in central-southern AZ and northern Mexico. Oy.
DeleteI have very rarely been anywhere that has been used as a setting for a novel. Even when there are books set in Boston, I wouldn't know overly much about the city itself so unless it is something sports related that the author got wrong, it's unlikely I'd know enough to raise a hue and cry about it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there was one book that was so perfectly set that not only could I complain if the author got stuff wrong, I'd quite literally been to a lot of the places described in the book. The book was Dangerous Boys by Greg F. Gifune. It is set in 1984 New Bedford, which is 20 minutes from me. But the book does take side trips to an amusement park I'd been to, a video game arcade that I spent a large number of quarters in when I could get there and the soundtrack of the hot summer the story takes place in was the music I was listening to at the time and still listen to here in the present. Hell, it even had the law school mentioned by the name it had at the time. It still exists today but under a different name as it became part of the UMass college system.
And to the best of my knowledge, he got it all right. I liked the book even though the characters were just awful punks that made me feel the need to take a shower after I finished reading the book. But I've never read another book that was so perfectly written that I could say, "Been there. Been there. Oh, been there, too."
It is so cool when an author nails it!
DeleteWhen I lived in Worthington, Ohio, there was a fabulous little neighborhood of Midcentury Modern homes tucked off a side street, wrapping around a ravine. Chances are, unless you'd walked/biked through the area, even residents of Worthington wouldn't have come across it. My point is, go ahead, as an author, and add a neighborhood, a street, a town to the real map of your world. Just make it believable and I'm in. Do your homework. I'm betting that your research of 20 years' ago for a particular place won't cut it if your WIP is set in the present.
ReplyDelete100% correct, Flora. You can get away with a lot but you have to be able to back it up.
DeleteJENN: Love your London Hat Shop mysteries. I can read anything written by you. Look forward to reading your North Carolina novel. This is going to be a long post!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read a novel that takes place in a town that I know very well, it never fails to surprise me that a novel would leave out a large percent of the population in that town / city - DEAF people. Not exactly offended, just surprised.
For example, there was a mystery series in a town in California where there is a Deaf center and many Deaf people live there. No mention of any deaf people - not as part of scenery or conversation with a random person. Some novels took place in Washington, DC where there is a University with a great population of Deaf people. I lived in Washington, DC for several years. Even when I was not visiting Gallaudet University, there were times when I would see Deaf people conversing in Sign Language. There is another mystery series with a famous Shakespeare festival that I love, though I am really surprised that there is NEVER any mention of Sign Language interpreters or Deaf people. In real life, that festival provides Sign Language interpreters and captioning support for deaf people who do not sign.
Any oddities in my town? I cannot think of anything.
That is surprising, Diana, and I can totally see why you would notice and be pulled out of the story.
DeleteLooking forward to the Outer Banks story. What a great area. Rom Com or mystery?
ReplyDeleteYes, when I'm reading details matter. In my part of northern Maine, kids start school, and a few weeks later, schools close for two weeks so the kids can help with the potato harvest. Few these days actually get down and dirty, but in the old days they did, and they were a valuable labor force.
I had no idea, Kait. That is fascinating. Absolutely the sort of detail only a resident would know.
DeleteSince I live in Boston I write about Massachusetts, mostly, it feels safer. I remember when I moved here, 30 some years ago, and it seemed like people were speaking a language I didn’t know. Not to mention that it was impossible to drive, since it was every person for themselves on the highway, and speed limits were simply suggestions. Now, I'm writing about a place I’m familiar with, I am careful to make it Bostonian and authentic . So much so that I insert places that don’t exist so I don’t got things wrong. And I put in my acknowledgments, every time, that I have altered geography, to protect the innocent. Sometimes I’m even in a real place and think oh, this is where Jane was chased by the bad guys. Then I think no – – I made that up.
ReplyDeleteWhen I write about someplace I don’t know, my main character is usually visiting, so she finds out things that she needs to know, and that really works. But I have to find out the same things via Google earth, where I stroll through the territory, and see what I can see.
Cannot wait to hear all your news, Jenn ! So exciting !
Thanks, Hank! LOL about Jane. That's hilarious.
DeleteI visited the Outer Banks for the first time earlier this year. Great place! Chincoteague Island is next on my domestic wish list. I love reading a story set in a place I know well. When the author gets it right it is wonderful. When it's wrong I have a mental blacklist they land on. One well known author had set a house on a hill and the house had cellars. Not in New Orleans, baby.
ReplyDeleteOof, that's a major boo boo. You'd think the copy editor would have noticed. Hmm.
DeleteOuch!!
DeleteI won’t go on reading when a writer gets something really wrong. An odd street name or something small is forgivable but something that tells me the writer has only briefly been there will turn me off
ReplyDeleteSame. you have to get the important stuff right.
DeleteI’m with Pat D about the mental blacklist if the author really screws up something that is commonly known about an area. I mean, c’mon, you don’t have to live in New Orleans or have visited to know there are no basements in their homes. You just have to remember Hurricane Katrina to know. So yes, big mistakes bother me, but smaller errors that only locals would catch just gives me that pride of “ownership” I guess I’d call it. And Jenn, you know that your faithful readers will read whatever you write, knowing you have done your research. — Pat S
ReplyDeletePat, it's also easier than ever for writers to get good in-depth research without ever leaving home is they're willing to put in the time. Google maps street images, local Next Door groups, city subreddits where natives and visitors trade information - there's so much available on the web!
DeleteThank you, Pat. I do try. And I'm with Julia. There's really no excuse to get things that wrong these days.
DeleteIt only bothers me if there is a major error. If they put a store or restaurant in a well known city and they don’t really exist that doesn’t affect the story because those things change all the time. If the major street disappears in a real city that would make me question the author’s familiarity with the area.
ReplyDeleteI just finished a book by an author who has written many books, is respected and has a big following of readers including me.
The problem is that the story takes place in January and the reason a resident, who had important information, didn’t go to the police immediately after the crime was because she was on an Alaskan cruise. No one takes an Alaskan cruise in January, I strongly doubt they are even available.
No one in the author’s publishing world noticed. The publisher is one of the big names in the field.
I still enjoyed the book, but I was disappointed that no one caught the mistake.
Anon, that sounds like a real clunker. I can't imagine anyone not stopping to think, "A cruise to Alaska? In January??"
DeleteLived on Kodiak Island in early 1970s and while the ferries kept running from the mainland all year, the cruises were were a summer time thing! Elisabeth
DeleteOy. That's a doozy.
DeleteWhat an absolutely beautiful painting / photo of the Outer Banks. That is on my bucket list along with other areas in NC and SC, especially to see the turtle nests!
ReplyDeleteYou were so right about the coffee milk in RI. When we were in Ireland a few years ago, we met a woman whose mom was from Central Falls, RI. She asked us to send her mom a bottle of Autocrat coffee syrup which is still produced today!
Key West is one of our favorite spots to visit and all that Lucy mentions is spot on and brings back nice memories.
An author would really have to make a huge mistake for me to get rattled. I read a ton of historical fiction and when I notice something that is just a little "strange" I will ask my husband the historian for a fact check.
Let me share one point from nonfiction. In one of Abe Lincoln's early cases as a lawyer, his client was charged with a crime where an eyewitness claimed that he had seen the defendant in the act. Abe consulted the Farmer's Almanac which cited that there was no moon that night! Not guilty was the verdict!
So, writers have quite the catalog of tools, especially mystery writers, at their disposal to keep us intrigued! Thank You!
That's a fabulous story about Lincoln. I love it. Thanks for sharing it.
DeleteJenn, that's one of the places I'd like to visit, the Outer Banks. At this point, I wouldn't know whether you got it wrong or not, but I think your trip there will take care of any misconceptions you might have. I do think that people reading about an area they live in or visited like the author to have their facts straight about the area, especially the things that everyone who lives there considers a major deal.
ReplyDeleteI want to go back a couple of posts to Debs' and Julia's. Debs, I realize I didn't even mention your back in my comments. I do think about you though and send you healing thoughts. And, Julia, I don't know how I missed reading yesterday's post, but I'm glad you've gotten your book in and can have some time to recuperate from your knee surgery and not worry about a book. Wishing you both a sooth recovery.
So true. When someone writes about AZ, I do read with a different set of expectations.
DeleteThank you, Kathy! I am doing much better!
DeleteOooh, I've always wanted to visit the Outer Banks. I'll bet it's a great place for birding. But to your question... it does bother me when an author sets a book in a real place in the present and gets it wrong. I read a book by a very well known author set in modern day Cambridge, MA... and described it with smoking factories set on the hillside going down to the river. That might have been Cambridge at the turn of the century but not now. I think we owe it to readers to get it right.
ReplyDeleteWow, how did they confuse the industrial with present day? That's a head scratcher. I will report back on the birds!
DeleteJenn, I've never been to the Outer Banks but I'm sure I'll want to go there after I read your book!
ReplyDeleteI try really hard to get my London/UK details right and to do as much feet on the ground research as possible, since I'm writing only from the perspective of British characters. But I've read several books recently American authors were writing about London and got things painfully wrong...
I love that you do such amazing research about London Debs. It really comes through in your books. Come to think of it, the JRW all do an excellent job.
DeleteI love Lucy's Key West mystery series. I've been to Key West (years ago) but even if I hadn't, it isn't so much about the geography for me as it is about the people. Lucy Burdette really brings the island people to life. People who actually live & work in Key West like real police officers, buskers, tarot card reader, many of the local restaurant owners, people involved in the tourist attractions like the Truman WH, etc. That to me is what really brings an area/location to life.
My husband reads a lot of US Navy novels that take place in the Pacific theater during WWII. There is one well know author whose book he just finished reading. He said it was excruciating to read the book because the author got so much wrong about naval history, life aboard ship, naval traditions and protocols, historical facts, etc. Really obvious and glaring mistakes that the editors should have corrected if the author wasn't able to do the research and get it right.
ReplyDelete