Adding Reality to Fiction

Today my partner in life and in crime—novels, that is—Larry 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.

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?

Celebrate Romance

Celebrate romance with me on  The Book Connection where I write about how our romance anthologies came about.

 

Cover designs by Melissa Summers

Guest Blog on Writing Mystery

This week, Larry and I are guest blogging on the Book Connection. We talk about how we got into writing mysteries and how we write them together. Drop by and leave a comment.

 

http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2013/01/guest-bloggers-larry-k-and-lorna.html

Meet Author JL Greger

Today I welcome thriller/mystery writer JL Greger to my blog. Her book is uncannily relevant with the current flu epidemic gripping the country. Here’s a chance to meet the author.

Could you please start by telling us a little about yourself?

I've been a scientist, professor, and expert consultant on science-related projects not only in the US, but also in the Marshall Islands, Beirut, the Philippines, etc. Now I'm a writer, who tries to put bits of science into her novels.

Please tell us a little about your newest release without giving away too much of the plot.

In Coming Flu (published by Oak Tree Press in July 2012) a new flu strain—the Philippine—kills more than two hundred in less than a week in a walled community near the Rio Grande. The rest face a bleak future when quarantine is imposed. One resident, Sara Almquist, a medical epidemiologist, pries into every aspect of her neighbors' lives looking for ways to stop the spread of the flu. She finds promising clues—maybe too many!

Why do you write fiction?

I enjoy being a storyteller, but I also want to make people think about big picture issues (things that bug me in my blog, www.jlgregerblogspot.blog.com). For example, I was appalled when I compared the amount of column space devoted to crime versus the amount of space allotted to science and health issues in my local paper (The Albuquerque Journal). In Coming Flu, I gave readers a chance to assess who was more dangerous: a nice neighbor infected with the Philippine flu virus or a drug dealer.

That’s kind of heavy.

Not really. Coming Flu is filled with interesting people, quirky and yet like your neighbors. Some are funny and a joy to relax with on a hot afternoon; some you’d rather see only briefly at the mailbox. There’s also lots of action.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Writing the opening chapter.

How do you come up with ideas for your novels?

As I read weekly scientific journals, like Science, I “clip” interesting articles. Before I start to write a new novel, I review my file, looking for emerging themes.

For example, about 18 months ago, I noticed many scientists were interested in how the millions, actually billions, of microorganisms in our guts influenced our ability to lose weight. I also noted the exaggerated claims of “so-called diet doctors” in the popular press and on TV. I thought maybe dieters, which include most of us at times, would enjoy a murder mystery, involving scientists studying weight loss. Oak Tree Press will publish Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight in April.

Will any of the characters in Coming Flu appear in your next novel?

Yes. I envision at least three books in this series.

Sara Almquist, an epidemiologist, is the protagonist in Coming Flu and her sister Linda, a physician, is a minor character. In Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight the roles are reversed. The personalities of the sisters set the tones of the novels. Linda is more introspective, i.e. more suited to a mystery. Sara is more of a risk-taker, i.e. suited to a thriller.

What are you working on now?

The next novel in the series. Sara, as an epidemiologist, will accept an assignment in Bolivia. And yes, I have traveled across the Altiplano from Lake Titicaca to La Paz in Bolivia.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Travel and spend time with my dog Bug. Unfortunately, Bug can’t go with me to exotic locations.

Coming Flu is available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Flu-J-L-Greger/dp/1610090985?

and Oak Tree Press http://oaktreebooks.com/Shop%20OTP.htm#ComFlu

Author’s Bio

JL Greger has been a scientist, professor, textbook writer, and university administrator and is not a writer. Coming Fu, a medical thriller, was published in July 2012. The sequel, a medical mystery called Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight will be published in April 2013. The inspiration for the Japanese Chin Bug in Coming Flu is her real dog, Bug. She and Bug live in the American Southwest.

Abide

That’s my new word: Abide. It came at me from all directions. Some of your might know that “Be Still” has haunted me for years. (Read about the beginning of the story on our website http://lornalarry.com/pdf/Be_Still.pdf.)

At first it felt like a 2x4 across the head reminding me that I wasn’t in charge and really had no control over much of what happened to me. The last onslaught of “Be Still” was when I went to visit daughter Kim in Texas for a long weekend to attend a women’s retreat. It came at me from ALL directions—spoken, through music, and through people I met there. But this time, instead of feeling like a hammer blow, it felt more like confirmation that I was actually doing it and had been for some time. It still appears on occasion as a soothing affirmation.

Now it’s “Abide.” The dictionary defines it as follows:

1. to remain; continue; stay
2. to have one's abode; dwell; reside
3. to continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship, etc.; last.

I think the message for me was to continue to be still and trust that the very best would happen, regardless of the current “reality.”

So on the first day of my unemployment in 2009, I followed that old philosophy “begin as you wish to end.” I had put off exercising and getting in better shape. I’d made lots of excuses: I was too stressed, I didn’t have time, etc.

So the first order of business was to begin a serious attempt at getting healthy. I was committed to improving not only my health but also my outlook. I’d felt sluggish which only exaggerated the mild depression I’d felt ever since the announcement of the failure of my former employer several months previously.

Next was a trip to the marina for a walk. When she lived here in California, Kim and I had done this every Saturday morning. It was our time to talk and at the same time enjoy this beautiful place we live. I’d rarely done it since she moved to Texas. That activity belonged to the two of us. But now it was time to own it for myself.

That morning was gray and overcast with just a hint of mist. Perfect walking weather. I plugged my headphones into my iPod, and strode out, listening to my favorite music. I had nearly 8000 “favorites” loaded on the iPod. (Closer to 10,000 today.) The day’s random selection included religious, classical, soft rock, a show tune, new age—just what I needed.

I started at the coffee place and headed toward the Ocean Institute. Once there, I sat on a bench and enjoyed the antics of a baby sea lion on one of the rocks. Then I started back. The “Spirit of Dana Point” was crowded with a group of school-age kids and another group was waiting to board the “Pilgrim.” I was reminded how very lucky we are to have these magnificent tall ships in our harbor.

As I passed Baby Beach, an elegant great blue heron stood in the water, head stretched high as if he were posing just for me. Then he began to walk in the shallow water, ripples moving out as he stepped, his beak occasionally bobbing for morsels under the surface. Abiding.

Throughout the morning, I repeated the mantra Kim and I always said at some point during our walks together: “People spend lots of money to enjoy this place, and we get to live here!”

I still enjoy walking at the marina. On a recent morning, Larry and I took a long walk until it began to drizzle. We enjoyed lunch at What A Dish, our favorite breakfast and lunch place. Abiding.

I found over time that I missed having company on my walks, so since I retired last year, I’ve been taking a two-mile one each weekday morning with several friends. Not only is it good discipline, but I have a chance to catch up with what’s happening with each of them. Abiding.

I did a contract last year and had no time to walk with my friends in the mornings or at the marina. Since I've gotten back to it, I feel blessed beyond measure. God’s still in charge, so I don’t have to be. Each day is truly a gift, and I treasure every one.

Today is your gift as well. So be blessed, and abide in it.