Writing about real places

 

 I've always love Robert B. Parker's Spenser including the TV series and the ongoing work by Ace Atkins after Parker's death. As a writer, I appreciate the characters he's created and the maintenance of the writing style. Both men were true to the genre.

One time, when I lived on the Riverway in Boston, I had walked by the Museum of Fine Arts and then around the pond across the street with my dogs Albert and Amadeus. Settling in at home with a cup of tea at home, I picked up the Spenser book and read about those places I had just walked by.

Now I live in Switzerland and France and have traveled extensively around Europe. So often, I read about the Marais in Paris, an alley in Edinburgh or many other places that I never thought I'd see and think, I've been there not just read about them.

Last night I was reading Spenser novel and Atkins had Spenser devour eggs benedict at Dempsey's in Medford.

That restaurant is around the corner from my daughter's. It has become a tradition to eat breakfast there several times whenever we visit her in Boston. I used Dempsey's for a scene in Lexington: Anatomy of a Novel. My husband even has a Dempsey's t-shirt,

Putting out the light last night, I snuggled under the mink (thick Korean blanket). Rain pattered on the skylight.

In the dark, I pictured the 1950s decor of Dempsey's. I imagined eggs benedict. I imagined their waffles, their French toast. 

I've no idea when we'll be in Boston again. I do know, even if Dempsey's isn't a world famous restaurant, our first morning at my daughter's we'll wander down the street, around the corner and slip into a chair for eggs benedict or maybe waffles or...

Note: Tomorrow, I will publish the next two chapters of Lexington: Anatomy of a Novel. Chapter 6 reveals more about Jame's character and life as a baker in Ely, England in the 1700s. It lays the groundwork on why he will join the army.  Chapter 7 includes writer's notes.