by Lynne | Apr 15, 2013 | Uncategorized
A Glimpse into the Art World
My latest book is about to come out in e-book form in the next few months (to be followed by paperback version.) Originally titled, Provenance (until a friend thought readers might confuse it with a city in Rhode Island,) Deadly Provenance is about the confiscation of art during WWII and a missing Van Gogh painting. “Still Life: Vase with Oleanders” is an actual painting by Vincent, which disappeared around 1944, and is, in fact, still missing. See link for painting: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Still_Life_Vase_with_Oleanders_1888_van_Gogh.jpg
The research on this book provided so many possible avenues to explore, it’s hard to know where to begin; thus, my plan is to write several blogs. First, there’s the Nazi confiscation of art, how it happened, who was involved, and why? Next, what happened to all that displaced art? How much was recovered and how? How much is still missing? Then there’s my world — the museum world. How have museums been involved? Have they helped or hindered the search for missing pieces of art?
An important character in the historic part of the book is Rose Valland, a woman whose heroic efforts during the war truly saved a great deal of artwork. She is portrayed as the heroine she truly was. Like Rose, another real character in history is Hans van Meegeren, art forger extraordinaire. Van Meegeren, a Dutch painter, bamboozled the art world in the 40s with a series of false Vermeers. Did he ever forge a van Gogh? In my book he did.
On another front, the book brings up a hypothetical situation where the protagonist, Maggie Thornhill, a digital photographer, must try to identify and authenticate the painting from a photograph. Can it be done? Has it ever been done? What is the science of art authentication today? How are x-rays, infrared and multi-spectral imaging used in scientific analysis? Don’t freak. I won’t get into this too deeply, I promise.
As mentioned in my last blog, I often visit the places I write about. During WWII, a great deal of art was stolen and stored in the Room of Martyrs at the Musée du Jeu de Paume in Paris. The museum is located on the west side of the Tuileries Gardens and is now a museum of Contemporary Art. Visiting was a treat, although the “Room” is no longer there. Most of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works originally housed there are now on display at the Musée d’Orsay, on the banks of the Seine, in an old converted railway station.
And last, is Vincent van Gogh, the mad genius whose painting is lost, perhaps forever. “Vase with Oleanders” is not typical of his vibrant colors, his wheat fields or his starry nights. But there’s no doubt this is Vincent’s work, even if his signature wasn’t in the lower left corner of the painting. Which it is.
I very much enjoyed the research and weaving it into a fictional mystery. I hope you’ll enjoy it too.
by Lynne | Apr 8, 2013 | Uncategorized
Know What You Write
I’m a native New Yorker, transplanted to the West Coast. In my early writing classes I was told, “write what you know.” What the heck did that mean? I couldn’t write about Alabama or Vancouver because I wasn’t from there?
When I was sixteen, I was strolling through Manhattan, minding my own business. I came across a group of tourists looking up and pointing, shooting pictures at something in the sky. What was it? I looked up and realized they were photographing a tall building. Big deal. So I walked to the building in question and saw a plaque that read Empire State Building. Aha. This was the famous Empire State Building.
I lived in NYC but didn’t even appreciate what was around me. On the other hand, when I moved to San Diego, I scouted out every attraction, neighborhood, restaurant, park and beach within the first two months. I knew San Diego better than San Diegans and often surprised them with my knowledge. My point is that growing up in or living in a place is not necessarily “knowing” a place.
In earlier blogs I talked about the importance of research. Here is a perfect place for it. You don’t need to set a story in the place you grew up in (not that there’s anything wrong with that.) You can set a story anywhere you like, but, and I repeat, but, you must visit that place to make it authentic.
An example from my upcoming book, Deadly Provenance: “They drove on the Avenue de la Grande Armée, right up to and around the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs Elyseés to the Place de la Concorde with the tall obelisk at its center. Henri then turned left into a steady stream of traffic on the Rue de Rivoli, made a dizzying series of rights and lefts and wound up on a narrow alley way called Rue des Pretres-Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, which Maggie did not even attempt to pronounce. He pulled the Peugeot onto the sidewalk in front of a tiny building with glass front: Le Relais du Louvre, their hotel.”
I’ve never lived in Paris, but I have visited a number of times. Can you tell?
If you’re writing about a fictional town, you can have fictional streets and neighborhoods, fictional bars and fictional buildings. But if you’re writing about a real city, you need to make it authentic, by visiting. Maps on the Internet can help, but places change, restaurants close, old houses are torn down and replaced by condos. You must see it first-hand. This is especially important if you want to appeal to readers who actually live there. They will call you on your mistakes.
A dilemma I encountered when writing about Washington, D.C., during the Civil War, was how did it look back then? First of all it was called Washington City, an important note that would have bollixed up everything, had I gotten it wrong. Since I couldn’t transport myself back to Washington City in 1860 (darn), I lucked out when I chanced upon a book called “A Guide to Civil War Washington.” Thank you author, Stephen M. Forman! In this little gem were maps of the different areas in the District, including street names and famous attractions like Ford’s Theatre. Without this book, I would have had to research maps of the time and spent lots of hours at the Library of Congress, if I could get special permission. Whew.
One caveat about the benefit of actually living in the place you’re writing about is that you will know the “locals” better. Their habits, peculiarities, popular night spots, and idiosyncrasies of speech. But this is a post for another time.
For now, “write what you know” is not bad advice. “Know what you write” might be better.
by Lynne | Apr 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
How Animals Inspire Writing
I love dogs. Most of my dogs have been Labs. Right now my two loves are Bruno and Rosie, chocolate and vanilla. They are twelve and ten respectively.
Every morning we go for a walk on the sidewalks of San Diego. We used to romp in the park, but now, unfortunately, they wind up lame. So a gentle walk it is . . . until three months ago, when Rosie would balk about half way up the second block. She’d start hop-skipping, panting, pulling back.
Off to the Vet we went, returning after $600 of x-rays and meds, with a “probable” diagnosis of arthritis in the back knee. Rosie started her meds the next day and the Vet told us to expect significant changes because her pain would be relieved. Two weeks later, not much difference. So we tried another pain med. Two weeks later, no difference. Hmmm.
During the last week of medication, we were off to Yosemite and left the kids with a good friend-dogsitter, Val. Val told us that when she walked Rosie and Bruno, Rosie had no problems. Rosie didn’t hop-skip or balk. She walked side by side with her pal on a double lead and was completely off pain meds at this time.
Val suggested she was conning me just to get back home to have her breakfast. Yikes. Was that possible? Was my sweet old girl pulling my leg?
To test this theory, we went for a walk the first day of our return from the National Park and, with a bit of coaxing, Rosie managed to walk about four blocks. Now I was stymied. Could my dog be manipulating me? Was she crying wolf just to get an early breakfast?
The question for writers: Are dogs con-artists, scammers, bamboozlers? Depending upon your answer and your experience with dogs (and other critters) you can create a great scene in your story. Your animal will shed a lot of light on your character(s). Think about what this little post says about me. I’m clearly a sucker for Rosie and will let her get away with anything. How will your characters react in this situation? Read my December 4th blog to see more on using animals for character development.
The moral of this little story is that Rosie was not, I repeat not, conning me this time. When we got back home this morning she was limping and leaving bloodstains on the driveway. It seems she’d torn the nail on her back paw and it was a bloody mess. Could this have been the underlying cause of her problems over the last few months? Or was this just a coincidental injury?
In any case, mea culpa, my sweet Rosie. Mea culpa.
Rosie as puppy.
by Lynne | Mar 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
Some Things Cannot Be Forgotten
Monday, March 25th, is the 102nd anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The 1911 fire was the deadliest workplace disaster in NYC before 9-11. It was significant not because 146 workers died, but because it instigated significant reform. At the time workplace safety was barely regulated and rarely thought about . . . except, perhaps, by the workers themselves. Other workplace disasters had occurred in the past and would again in the future. Just a few months ago, in fact, I sent out a story on a similar fire at a factory in Bangladesh.
When I decided to write a mystery against the backdrop of the Triangle, I had no idea what I was in for. Research took me in several directions: the forensics of fire, the consequences of “defenestration,” that is, vertical falls from high places, the difficulty in identifying bodies falling from such heights, the safety hazards for garment workers, women’s rights, workers’ rights, changes in the American workplace.
But I also researched the time and place of the disaster. 1911, Greenwich Village, New York City. A time when Ellis Island kept its arms open to immigrants from many countries — immigrants who came for a better life, but often wound up in sweatshops, or worse. A time of Tammany Hall and corruption. A time of women’s suppression. But also a time of new beginnings, hope, and freedom in a new land.
I am a New Yorker and was amazed at the fantastic bits of information I dug up. I learned, for instance, that Washington Square Park is built on what was once a potter’s field, where 100,000 people were buried for a century and a half. I walked the streets of Greenwich Village, saw the buildings my characters would have seen, drank in bars they patronized, and gazed up at the ninth story of the Asch Building (now part of NYU) to visualize the flames bursting through the windows and the workers leaping to their deaths.
The cover of my book is a photo I took of the building in 2010, with smoke and color added for dramatic effect. For those of you who write about history, or simply enjoy reading it, I know you’ll agree that real-life events in the past make a grand backdrop for a fictional story.
Murder, in particular.
by Lynne | Mar 19, 2013 | Uncategorized
Teens Can Be Funny . . . Or Not
I thought I would share this humorous look at how teenagers defined (or re-defined) words in a recent GED Exam. Here are a few of the questions and answers:
Q. What does varicose mean?
A. Nearby
Q. What are steroids?
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs
Q. What is a fibula?
A. A small lie.
Q. What is a seizure?
A. A Roman Emperor (Julius Seizure – I came, I saw, I had a fit)
Q. What does the word “benign” mean?
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight
Q. What is a turbine?
A. Something an Arab or Shreik (yes, indeed) wears on his head
How about a few scientific definitions?
Q. How is dew formed?
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire
Q. What happens to your body as you age?
A. When you age, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental
Q. How can you delay milk turning sour?
A. Keep it in the cow (Aha!)
Q. What is the most common form of birth control?
A. Yes, you know it – a condominium!
This takes me back to my days of teaching, a lifetime ago. Were kids different back then? Were they more proficient in English and Science? My guess? No. Not much has changed.
Sigh.
by Lynne | Mar 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
For Love or Money
Are you writing for yourself or writing to be published? Many of us will say we write because we love to write; we’ve always written, since we were very young, and we couldn’t stop even if we wanted to. We have a story to tell and we must put it down on paper, whether anyone else ever reads it or not. Many of us love research and the learning that comes from it, through travel, libraries, personal interviews, the Internet.
If we’re honest, we say we write for ourselves, but we’d also like others to read our work. We have something to share, for others to, hopefully, enjoy. That usually means getting published. Getting published means marketing the book. Marketing the book means targeting your audience, which brings us back to the original question: who are you writing for?
Are you writing for young adults, men, children, older women, doctors, new mothers, teachers, who? As you write, do you have an audience in mind, or does the audience develop along the way? Personally, when I write, I don’t think about who will read it until I’m done. Maybe that’s not smart. Maybe it won’t help me sell. But if I think about who might read the book, I find myself stifled. If I aimed for gray-haired ladies or young teens, I might avoid swear words or gritty murder scenes that make my books more authentic. So I don’t shoot for any particular market. I simply write . . . and hope I can find the best audience for it later, in the marketing phase.
Only after my book is done, edited, re-written, edited and re-written, do I focus on target marketing. Who would like this book? An adult audience that enjoys history, forensics, and puzzle-solving. I can also shoot for readers interested in the time and place of the story ie: New York City in the early 1900s. You might target readers who love horses, dogs, do yoga, play golf, tennis, are musicians or mathematicians.
Can you stretch those audiences to include YA readers? Possibly, but probably not unless there are YA characters in the story. I don’t think many teens want to read solely about characters of their parents’ generation. What about other genders, sexual orientation, or ethnic groups? If your characters are gay or lesbian will a straight audience be interested? Likewise, gender and ethnicity. What about political or religious affiliations? All important considerations. For marketing.
For writing, however, write because you love to write, whatever the audience turns out to be. You’d be surprised. If a book is a delight to read, you might get audiences you never dreamed of.
As mentioned in my last blog, I often visit the places I write about. During WWII, a great deal of art was stolen and stored in the Room of Martyrs at the Musée du Jeu de Paume in Paris. The museum is located on the west side of the Tuileries Gardens and is now a museum of Contemporary Art. Visiting was a treat, although the “Room” is no longer there. Most of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works originally housed there are now on display at the Musée d’Orsay, on the banks of the Seine, in an old converted railway station.
