Monday, February 25, 2013

Adding Reality to Fiction





Today my partner in life and in crimenovels, that isLarry K. Collins is my guest. See how we create reality in our fiction.


During a conference presentation, I was asked this question: “I write fiction. What kind of research should I do? And how much?”



My answer was: “As much as you can. The more reality you put into your fiction, the more believable it becomes. As a rule of thumb, I put in a true fact, a fact, a fact, a fact, and make up a fact. If I do it well, my readers won’t be able to tell which one is made up.”

WRITING A REAL LOCATION
In our second mystery, Murder in Paradise, our protagonist, Agapé Jones, retired NYPD detective, was supposed to drive from Honolulu to Hale’iwa. While doing research on Oahu, I drove the same route, noticed the outrigger canoes parked along the Ala Wai Canal, and shopped at the Foodland in Hale’iwa. Then Agapé did the same things in the book. We know our readers will never forgive us if we mess up their town. And if our hero drives the wrong way on a one-way street, we’ll never hear the end of it.

While writing a story in a real place, I surround myself with photos, clippings, and maps of the area I intend to write about. Anything to keep me grounded in reality.

Sometimes a picture will inspire a scene. In Murder in Paradise, I had the grandmother character tell the story of growing up as a child on the North Shore and visiting the Hale’iwa Hotel, a beautiful Victorian-style inn featuring a two-story lanai and luxurious dining room. Opened in 1898, the building was torn down in 1952. As inspiration, I purchased several early photos of the old hotel from North Shore Photo Hawaii and hung them on the wall over my computer. The pictures themselves never appeared in the book, but my descriptions became more accurate because I could visualize being there. Hopefully I passed my vision on to the reader.

WRITING A FICTITIOUS LOCATION
Lorna and four friends created the fictitious town of Aspen Grove, Colorado, as the location for their anthologies, Snowflake Secrets, Seasons of Love, Directions of Love, and An Aspen Grove Christmas. This allows the authors to invent shops, restaurants, churches, B&Bs, etc. to fit the various novellas. They placed Aspen Grove in the mountains west of Denver on the road leading to the ski resorts. Even though it is fictitious, it needed to have the real look and character of the area. Aspen Grove became a composite of several real towns.

Walk down the main street of Idaho Springs and you expect to see Daisy’s Diner and the Book Nook. Wander along the lakefront in Georgetown to find Drew’s log cabin and on through town to the stone building housing the Presbyterian Church. Several readers have remarked they would love to visit Aspen Grove. So would we.

WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION
Not only do the locations need to be correct, but also the specific time period. The events, language, customs, clothing, and props must all fit the era.

In historical fiction, it is even more important to do accurate research. Our latest endeavor, The Memory Keeper, concerns life at the San Juan Capistrano Mission between 1820 and 1890 as seen through the eyes of a Juaneño Indian.

For inspiration, an original etching by Rob Shaw, published in 1890 by H L Everett, showing the mission grounds, currently hangs over my computer.

Our bibliography is running about five or six pages and growing. We have also enlisted the aid of the local San Juan historian and a Juaneño native storyteller as beta readers for historical information. We won’t be satisfied until they are satisfied with the accuracy of our details.

Now that I’ve said all that, I have to remind myself. Never let the facts get in the way of the story. Too many details can turn a good story into a boring history lesson. In the end, the research should support and enhance, but not overwhelm. We must choose carefully which facts to include, leave out, and make up. If we’ve done our job, our readers will become so involved with the plot and compelling characters, that the facts just blend in. They’ll never know how much research went into it. But we will.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Pieces of Christmas



All the decorations are packed away. The carpets have been vacuumed, and the furniture is dusted. The house should be back to 'normal’, whatever that is.

But, sure as shootin', during the next month or so, I'll run across something left over from the holidays.

It happened this morning. I looked out the back door, and there was a holiday doormat.

One year, an angel I used to hang from the entry hall light managed to stay there until the following year. I hadn't noticed it for several months, and when I finally did, I decided to just leave it. Unfortunately, a couple of years later, it broke when I took it down, and I questioned the wisdom of removing it at all.

When it comes to angels, however, you'll find them all over our house at all times. I've collected them since I was in fourth grade when my teacher gave me a small ceramic angel in the form of a bell. That one went through a fire in our attic, broke, and was glued back together. I still hang it on our tree every year, and it's the oldest ornament we have.

However, few of the rooms in my home are angel-free zones. We call one of my guest rooms the 'angel room.' Angel figurines not only occupy most of the flat spaces, but much of the wall space as well. And you'll find them in place all year long.

No matter now thoroughly I think I've checked for seasonal decorations in January, a few of them creep in during the following month. How and where they hide out, I have no idea. But they do.

I actually don't mind stumbling across these little reminders of the holidays. They make me smile as I remember happy times. Even though I then have to find a place to store them, I still enjoy coming across them.

I occasionally wonder if perhaps I subconsciously leave a few out just so I'll run across them later on in the year.
 
Am I the only one who consistently fails to pack away decorations after the holidays? Or do other people do this as well?

Friday, February 15, 2013