GOODWEATHER
REPORTS
April 1, 2008
“That does it!” hooted Elizabeth , flinging the wreath of dried delphiniums and tiny purple potatoes at Ben's head where it landed and hung like a lopsided halo. “That's it! The last wreath I ever make! I am so outta here.”
“But Aunt E . . .” Her handsome nephew looked aghast as she chattered on.
“No more Aunt E either. Jeez, what a dreary thing to be called! Makes me feel bloody ancient. From now on you can call me Liza. But you'll be calling me long distance.” She twirled happily on her high stool. “I've sold the farm and bought a condo in Palm Beach . Finally I'll be able to get away from all this nature and trade my jeans and flannel shirts for something decent – something, dare I say -- s tylish! ”
She regarded one manure-covered boot with disgust. “These feet were made for spike heels -- Ferragamo or Jimmy Choo, something really expensive, something sexy . You do realize, don't you, that I've been subscribing to the New Yorker all these years, not for the good writing but to keep up with the fashion scene?”
A horrified Ben watched as his aunt shook her dark, silver- threaded hair free of its usual long braid and ran her fingers through it. “First, of course, I'll go to a stylist. Get a decent haircut and some color – probably go blondish with copper and bronze highlights. Then a little work on my face – Botox here, some tightening there . . . maybe a boob job, as long as I'm at it. . . ”
At last Ben found his voice. “But Aunt- I mean, Liza – what about Phillip; what about his job here with Sheriff Blaine?”
“You know what, Ben? Now that Phillip's started attended those consciousness raising sessions in Asheville and gotten in touch with his feminine side, and especially now that he's started wearing skirts on duty, I have a feeling his job with Mackenzie may not last much longer.”
Okay, I'll stop. And by the way . . . Happy April Fool's Day!
QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM YOU ALL
(or ‘you uns,' as Miss Birdie would say)
Last month I was the on-line ‘mentor' for Julia Walker's class on Mysteries and Thrillers at Geneseo (one of the state universities of NY). The class read Old Wounds and came up with some very good questions, two of which I'm posting here.
How do authors decide on names for characters? For example, where did the name Bib come from? Also is the name “Moon” a common name in the mystery genre given this is the second mystery we have had to read for class where a character's name is “Moon”. Are names meant to symbolize the character and if so how? ~ Heather-Lyn Good
Wonderful question! (I wrote my master's thesis on C.S Lewis's use of proper names in That Hideous Strength )
Basically, for me the name just needs to be believable. It may or may not carry symbolic weight. (I'm not writing Literature - just popular fiction.) I chose my protag's name rather quickly (when I took the one and only class that got me into writing mysteries) because I have always liked Elizabeth as a woman's name because of its many permutations. My Elizabeth is also called Liz, Lizzy, Lizzie Beth, 'Lizbeth, etc, depending on who's talking to her. Goodweather was chosen partly to denote Elizabeth 's generally optimistic attitude and partly because I liked the sound of it. (I considered Merriweather but that seemed a little too sweety-sweet.) But in general I don't use names that are symbolic for fear of sounding ridiculous. Phillip Hawkins sounds strong to me (Phillip of Macedonia, Hawkins, the Elizabethan privateer come to mind) but no way would I have given him a name like Manly Armstrong or Peter Steele.
Bib -- this is funny. I was going to call the guy Big Something or other and the first time I typed it, I hit b instead of g. Liked the looks of it and that's where Bib came from. If I had to defend it as a believable choice, I could spin a tale about it being a childhood nickname and having something to do with bib overalls. There's a guy living near us who's known as Slab, I think from a nickname.
Moon -- the book grew out of my seeing the name Maythorn somewhere and immediately wanting a character named Maythorn. One could make an English-major kind of argument for the name Maythorn containing both a gentle (May ) and harsh ( thorn ) element, but this one won't; I just liked the name. The idea of pairing the lovely name Maythorn with a kind of pedestrian-sounding name like Mullins also appealed to me. Then Mr. Mullins needed a first name. You guys are undoubtedly far too young to remember this but there was once a comic strip called "Moon Mullins." It seemed reasonable to me that this fella might have picked up Moon as a nickname when he was very young. No symbolism intended.
Back to Maythorn: One of the girls in the class pointed out the Rose mary May thorn connection (rose thorn) which is a good call on her part – even though it was inadvertent on my part. Another pointed out something I did do on purpose. Maythorn's real name is Mary Thorn: hence Rose mary/ Mary Thorn which strengthens the girls' blood sister bond in that they share a name.
But many of my names, probably most of them -- Asheley, Krystalle, Jared, for example -- are just representative of what seem to be popular names at a particular time, in a particular place. I have spent time in the Records office of our county, writing down names from various time periods that caught my fancy. I also pay attention to obituaries and note down interesting names.
Many readers go into the book with preconceived notions of what life/people are like in the south. Do you feel you have to spend more time with character development to move away from these stereotypes, especially those held about Appalachia ? Or do you feel you must include characters that meet these stereotypes, such as Cletus? ~ Lauren Kalinowski
First of all, I think stereotypes exist because there really are people like that. My job as a writer is to make sure that I am faithful to the all people and places I'm depicting. I include characters like Cletus because there are people like Cletus (and people named Cletus, and Odus and Philetus and Plato and his daughter Treasure and would you believe I've known two people named Cleophas?). But in the course of my books, I'm trying to make it clear that there are all sorts of folks in Appalachia and very few meet the stereotype of the lazy, illiterate, ignorant, moonshine-stillin' mountaineer. Cletus is developmentally disabled but he's a hard worker and a genius in the woods. The young Rosemary sees him through the eyes of fear of someone different.
I do try to develop character but mainly just because I think people are interesting -- and the bigger a part the character plays in the book, the more I try to show about various sides of their personality.
Rosalie L. says: Your comments about being a “senior citizen” and the “Young Lady” bit sound as if I could have written them. I become very cranky when that happens to me. After all, I didn't suddenly lose my wits when I turned 65. (I was a professor.) I must admit I do enjoy some of the benefits of being senior . . . like having men offer to lift my luggage into the overhead bins on airplanes and offering to carry my luggage. They clamored to do it when I was young, attractive and 20, 30, and 40. Now again in 70s – so chivalry isn't dead.
Deb A. says: If you can find a copy of Susanna Kearsley's new book, Winter Sea , buy it!! It's set in Scotland and is wonderful. . . . I am reading it slowly and savoring every word. She has a lot of dialogue with the local accent and it adds so much to the story. . . . I loved the story about the weeder geese.
Sheila P writes: . . . saw your review on the back of Down by the Riverside by Jackie Lynn. I LOVED IT!! Not only do you write great mysteries, you recommend great mysteries as well. I was sorry to leave that little campground in Arkansas .
Mary B . recommends Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides – as do I. Very interesting, very well-written novel.
The Curtain Lifts and Spring Enters
Recent Reads I've Enjoyed
Sleeping Death – Agatha Christie A Miss Marple book – wonderful plotting – and I do adore Miss Marple.
Stalky and Company – Rudyard Kipling Published in 1899 , this is a collection of stories about life in an English boarding school for boys. I see a lot of echoes of this book in P.G. Wodehouse
I've embarked on my almost yearly re-reading of E.F. Benson's Lucia books ( Queen Lucia, Lucia in London, Miss Mapp, Mapp and Lucia, The Worshipful Lucia and Trouble for Lucia) The life of the wealthy leisure class in England between the World Wars -- a witty, delightful confection.
The Blue Star – Tony Earley The long awaited sequel to Earley's critically acclaimed best seller Jim the Boy. I went on about it at length here: http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/ in the March 8 post. It really is that good.
Schedule 2008
Saturday, April 5 – Vicki will be a presenter at the Isothermal Community College Writers Workshop, Spindale, NC
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April 25 -27 MALICE DOMESTIC -- (A convention for fans and authors of the ‘traditional' mystery, held yearly in Arlington , VA ) . Vicki will be on a panel entitled “Gutsy Gals – Fearless in the face of Murder” at 9 am Sunday morning. http://www.malicedomestic.org/
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Tuesday, May 20 - IN A DARK SEASON on sale in bookstores everywhere !!!!!!! whoopee!
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May 23 – 25 – WNC Woman Writers' Retreat at Lake Logan . Presenters: Lavinia Plonka, Peggy Millin, and Vicki Lane http://wnc-woman.com/events.html
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Saturday, May 31 -- Vicki will be presenting her latest Goodweather book, In a Dark Season, at the Madison County Public Library at 7 pm
Sunday, June 8 -- Vicki will be presenting her latest Goodweather book, In a Dark Season, at Malaprop's in downtown Asheville at 3 pm.
September 12-13 – Carolina Mountains Literary Festival, Burnsville , NC . Vicki will be leading a workshop. More info to come. ( This is a great local festival in a charming town. I loved being part of it last year. ) http://cmlitfest.org/
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October 9-12 BOUCHERCON, Baltimore , MD. ( The convention for fans and writers of mystery.) http://www.charmedtodeath.com/
To email me: vicki_lane@mtnarea.net
To visit my website: www.vickilanemysteries.com
To visit my Amazon blog: more or less monthly postings
http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A2MQM33N9H56R1/ref=cm_blog_dp_artist_blog
To visit my new blog: Brief (or not) and daily (so far) words and pictures http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/2007/12/something-new.html
Photo by Connie Toops
Happy Spring!