Happy Holidays everyone. I’m on a three or four week break from writing. My first guests – one son and two cats – arrived Sunday night. More visitors to follow this weekend. I vow to plunge back into writing in early January. If our cold spell here in Calgary continues I’ll be glad to stay inside and write. I wish you all a happy and healthy 2013.
Here’s a feel-good blogging story for the Holidays.
In August, I wrote a blog post about Charlotte Bronte’s umbrella owned by my aunt in New Brunswick. Aunt Edith has been trying for years to get the umbrella to the Bronte museum in Haworth, West Yorkshire, UK. Her efforts have been stalled due to the umbrella handle being constructed of ivory, a banned substance.
A few days after the post, I was surprised to receive an e-mail from Julie Akhurst on behalf of the Bronte Parsonage Museum. My post had appeared in their Google Alert for anything remotely connected to the Brontes. Julie said the staff had read my account with fascination and remembered the case clearly. The person who was dealing with it at their end left shortly afterwards and the correspondence lapsed. They were now keen to revive it. Could I put them in contact with my aunt?
I e-mailed my aunt, who got in touch with Julie. The two are now occupied in sending correspondence and forms back and forth and the museum is dealing with government departments. It turns out that my aunt had the umbrella examined by a local expert, who determined the handle substance was bone, not ivory. This kind of bone is not a banned or restricted animal substance, which means that the parasol can be sent without a CITES license. The umbrella will, as Aunt Edith puts it, go home where it belongs.
The museum’s interest got me curious about exactly how my aunt came into possesson of the umbrella, which, it seems, is more accurately a parasol.
Here’s Aunt Edith’s explanation:
My parents were born in Oxenhope, a
village connecting to Haworth. My grandparents and aunts lived there.
Auntie Eleanor (b. 1899-d. 2001) had the Bronte parasol given to her by the Bronte housekeeper. I don’t know when that was but Eleanor was quite young. In the mid 20th century she gave it to my sister Anne who lived in R.I. U.S.A. After Anne died in 2004 I inherited it.
Monet - La Promenade
Julie Akhurst says she’ll keep me posted on the museum’s progress. She thanked me for my helpful post and added that, without it, the parasol would have been forgotten.
I expect the parasol would have made it to the museum eventually, but I’m glad to be part of the story.
Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope that you, like Charlotte Bronte’s parasol, make it home, if not literally, then in your heart.
My fellow Touchwood author, Kay Stewart, invited me to participate in this blog tag. Check out Kay’s answers to the intriguing and sometimes challenging interview questions. Here’s what I have to say about my work-in-progress.
What is your working title of your book? Ten Days in Summer
Where did the idea come from for the book? When I realized that Deadly Fall could be the start of a mystery series, I decided the next three books would take place in different Calgary seasons, not necessarily in linear order. For summer in Calgary, I instantly thought of the Calgary Stampede and had an idea that the mystery would be triggered by an incident at the Stampede parade.
What genre does your book fall under? Murder mystery, traditional whodunnit, semi-professional sleuth.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? In reality, we wouldn’t get major box office stars. Since this is a fantasy, I can see George Clooney as Sam. For Paula, my protagonist, why not reprise Clooney’s ER television series romance with Julianna Margulies? With her dark hair, she looks a little like I imagine Paula. I’m not so up on thirty-ish actors who might play Detective Mike Vincelli. Who’s today’s young Liam Neeson?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Insurance adjuster, Paula Savard, investigates the suspicous house fire death of a hoarder.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? The publisher of Deadly Fall, Touchwood Editions, is currently reading the manuscript.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? I wrote the first half of the first draft in about two months, set it aside for eight months, then returned to the beginning and wrote the new first draft in about four months. I think. It feels like so long ago, since I wrote three revisions after that before sending it to the publisher.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Gail Bowen’s sleuth, Joanne Kilbourn, is also a fifty-something non-police woman living in a Canadian prairie city. Like Paula’s stories, Joanne’s revolve around her family, friend and colleague relationships as much as they do the mystery.
Who or what inspired you to write this book? The Calgary Stampede and hoarders of varying degrees in my family.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? The mystery’s connection to a fact of Alberta history.
Starting the week of Dec 17th, visit this awesome Calgary author for her very different answers to the same questions.
Fans of Sherlock Holmes know that the fictional detective lived at 221b Baker Street, London, UK. In October, Will and I took the tube to the famous street and were greeted by a statue of the detective, erected by the Sherlock Holmes Society – our first clue that we’d got off at the right stop.
Inside, they’ve recreated the boarding house rooms as they might have looked when occupied by Holmes, his colleague Dr. Watson, and his landlady Mrs. Hudson, based on details gleaned from the Holmes’ stories. Holmes’ bedroom was at the rear, adjoining the study … Doctor Watson’s bedroom was on the second floor next to Mrs. Hudson’s room and it overlooked an open yard at the rear of the house. The sitting room overlooking Baker street was, by Watson’s account, “illuminated by two broad windows,” and there were seventeen steps from the ground floor hallway to the first floor study.
Did the Sherlock Holmes Society alter the building to faithfully match the story details? They better had, since Holmes’ legion of fans are likely to share their hero’s attention to detail and precision.
Watson in the sitting room
Unless you’re an avid Holmes fan, you’ll likely to find the museum overpriced. As much as the Holmes’ connection, I enjoyed it for the glimpse of a typical Victorian boarding house – an interesting contrast to the more commonly preserved home tours of the rich. Homes’ and Watson’s rooms were small and cramped.
The boarding house’s rooms contain memorabilia from Holmes’ and Watson’s adventuress, objects they were reported to have used and letters from readers asking for help with solving their own mysteries. You’d think living, breathing Holmes and Watson had lived here. Throughout the house, wax figures portray scenes from the stories.
Which one is real?
Outside, on the front fence, hang deerstalker and bowler hats so you can be Holmes and Watson standing in front of the famous address. If you’re lucky, a constable will appear to complete the picture.
