Researching Novel Details

 

 As a writer, I need to research details to make sure my work is believable. Sometimes the information is easily available. Other times it can involve travel or delving into archives. The internet has been a huge help.

Here's some examples.

Murder in Paris

The historical part was from Heretics and Lovers, the first novel I wrote. It won an award for an unpublished novel. The idea came from Montaillou by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie. I found myself in a tiny village in the French Pyrenees. I stayed too long soaking up the atmosphere for the real characters who lived in the 1300s. After dark I was afraid to drive down the twisty mountain road. I slept in my car after discovering the fields had too many sheep droppings. 

I used the section in Heretics about Jacques Fournier (Pope Benedict XII) when he was a student in Paris for my historical section.

The skeleton, a soldier who lived 700+ years ago. shown on the bottom of the cover, was from an excavation of a Corsier CH church. 

Murder in Caleb's Landing

 

 

 

It was luck. When visiting my beloved stepmom in Florida I found a used book by an English actress who married a U.S. southern plantation slave owner. I learned, instead of mattresses, slaves on some plantations slept on moss. It was a surprise to me that I ended up with two stories about underground railroads: runaway slaves (historic) and runaway abused wives (modern). I'm not a writer that plots out everything before I start to write. This book held many surprises for me, including characters that suddenly arrived in my laptop and insisted on a major role. 

 

Murder on Insel Poel

The plot came to me when my friend and I went to Insel Poel to retrieve a painting. The museum had a model of a ship, Cap Arcona, which was sunk by a British plane with concentration prisoners on board. The model was an accurate description of the ship. There was my historical part.

My friend, whose German was fluent unlike my shopping German, was a God send. 

Spending almost a day listening to recordings from the Neuengamme concentration camp survivors who survived the sinking of the Cap Arcona was gut wrenchingly painful as was seeing where so many suffered and died. 

A positive memory was sitting with museum staff members making paper Christmas Decorations for the museum and drinking coffee.

Family Value

 

Having to write a scene where an unwed mother had to give up her baby for adoption might be easy to imagine, but my scene was lacking something. Then I talked to a Salvation Army Officer who headed a home for unwed mothers. Her description of the turnover left me crying when I rewrote the scene.

My main male character needed a vasectomy, something I could never experience obviously. Asking male friends "Have you had a vasectomy?" was a bit embarrassing but what the hell, anything for my art. Right? After I wrote the scene with their details, I gave them the scene to read. I was pleased they found it accurate.

These are just a few examples of wanting knowledge that I don't have. I've made mistakes because I thought I knew something and didn't know that I didn't know. I had TWA flying out of Miami in Chickpea Lover: Not a Cookbook. TWA never flew out of Miami. 

That's why in the acknowledgement of many books the author says any mistakes are theirs and not the people who helped.

 

Walking in Ancient Times

 

It was time to go to Ebla, my host Syrian family said.

I had already experienced so much.

• Drank maté through a silver straw with women, who graciously spoke English to me
• I'd heard the language Jesus was said to have spoken.
• I saw the French bullet holes in the souk ceiling where I bought a scarf. 
• I had a private tour of the National Museum. 
• Sat in courtyards of a centuries old homes in the old city. 
• Eaten combinations of food that I couldn't identify but found wonderful. Often I was fed several lunches or dinners as we stopped at houses of friends. Out of politeness I ate and ate.
• Recovered from Saladin's revenge.
• Slept in a monastery.
• Seen a 13th century mental hospital that was more humane than many today
• Participated in a woman's group that had their body hair removed by a woman who used an application of sugar and water.
• Watched a craftsman inlay mother of pearl on a mahogany table. 

I  was visiting Syria before the war, early in this century. The trip to the ancient northern city from Damascus was through parched land.

Ebla was one of the ancient cities going back to the third millennium B.C. It dominated the region. Discovery began in 1964 by Italian archeologists. 

Tourists were not allowed to walk among the ruins for fear of damage, but our guide made an exception. He also invited me home to lunch in his nearby stone house, much to the surprise of his wife. She quickly supplied a meal and conversation flowed with translations and hand signals as children ran in and out of the house.

Some 17,000 cuneiform tablets had been found, either complete or fragments. Ebla had a well organized library. The tablets had been translated by a Roman professor. The guide gave me his contact.

Several months later when I was covering a conference in Rome for my newsletter, I contacted him. I explained that I wrote a series of mysteries, Murder in (different cities). Half of the stories were historical. I wanted to do Murder in Damascus with the historical part set in Ebla. I was hoping he could tell me what daily life was like so long ago. 

He invited me into his book-filled apartment on a tree-lined street, and over the next three hours graciously told me about what he discovered about life on the tablets and fragments.

Ebla's library contained the world's first bi-lingual dictionary in Eblaite and Sumerian, women had many rights, there was a royal palace. Much of what was on the tablets were accounts and formal correspondence.

Although I told him that I would send him a copy of the book after I wrote it, I never finished it. In 2011 war broke out. Not only did the dig stop with much of Ebla occupied and/or damaged even more than time had done. 

 

Free Write - Muddy Boots

 

We are getting closer to when the Free Writers will be in Geneva in the same café. Despite the separation we still managed to share the prompt and our ten minutes work thanks to the internet. Sometimes the writing gets done at a different time on Tuesdays, but that is unimportant. What is important is that there are people writing together in their heads and sharing. 

D-L's Free Write 

Frank carried his muddy boots in his left hand. In his right was his cane, an improvement over his crutches and a definite improvements over his wheelchair and sling over his hospital bed holding his broken leg.

The boots had been with him since high school, through uni and two jobs. They had hiked in the mountains and along river paths.

He has almost thought of them as buddies until that rainy day when he'd slipped and rolled down that steep hill. He was found the next day unconscious.

All he wanted to do now with the boots was to get rid of them. 

"Why not give them to someone?" his sister asked.

He was going to give them to the dumpster behind the supermarket. Placing them on the top he turned his back without a goodbye,

Less than a half hour later, a homeless man spied them. "Just my size," he mumbled. He knew just where to wash them.

Rick's Free Write

It had been a long, exceedingly hot day working in the ditches in the village, laying new fiber optic cable so people could have faster internet and brighter television images. Irony – he didn’t have a computer or a TV.

He’d taken off the muddy boots and changed into sneakers, then he and Jake and Bluto had walked to a nearby bar for a couple of cold brews that tasted really good.

Jake had given him a ride home, and dropped him off to his eager retriever, Digger.

It wasn’t until he was cleaning up and climbing out of his filthy overalls that he realized he’d left his boots behind. He could picture them sitting on the stone in front of the iron fence. But it was much too far to walk. If he was lucky, the boots would still be there in the morning.

He sat down to another solitary supper. Some cereal. Half of a leftover banana. Tap water. Digger got kibble, and was glad of it. It had been a long time since either had had meat.

He started to read a Reacher novel, and had almost fallen asleep in the ragged recliner when he heard a truck drive up.

Jake walked through the door without knocking and set the boots, cleaned, next to the chair. “Found these in town. Thought you might need them. See you at 7.”

 Julia's Free Write 

 "These boots are made for walking, and that's what they're gonna do". Shades of my teenage years. And the more famous song probably by, hmm Nancy Sinatra, I believe. I can't remember though who wrote this.

That was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the prompt for today.
Then I thought no get serious.

They were worn, they were used: they looked like just recently, although the mud had had time to dry.

There had been no rain for days. So, when it first finally did rain, one had to take advantage of it by all means possible.

He had always loved working outside and in the garden, but as he aged, it became more and more a necessity.

 Recently, the advent of grandchildren in his life had made him rethink gardening, and all of its’ fun.

His grandsons could literally dig in a patch of dirt for hours on end. Sometimes they made hillocks, sometimes they just strew the dust and the dirt, and it landed where it would. Other times they thought about building something with the dust, but they had yet to learn that one must mix it with water.

So somehow what was very satisfying to be able to put on his boots again. Go out and make a new patch for those beloved grandsons. As the old patch would soon be holding a huge sun umbrella to protect the winter garden. 

Rick Adams is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices.com, a weekly newsletter reporting the airline industry  top stories . He is the author of The Robot in the Simulator. AI in Aviation Training.  

Visit D-L.'s website  https://dlnelsonwriter.com, She is the author of 15 fiction and three non fiction books. Her 300 Unsung Women, bios of women who battled gender limitations, can be purchased  at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/300-unsung-women-d-l-nelson/1147305797?ean=9798990385504 

Visit Julia's blog. She has written and taken photos and loves syncing up with friends.  Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/ 

 

The Dog Box

 

 

In our French village people walk with their dogs. We meet in cafés, restaurants, sit on benches and chat in French, Catalan, and other languages. They walk with their dogs of all breeds and all mixtures who greet each other with different levels of fondness or restraint.

Rick and I have biscuits with us to share with most of them, much to our dog Sherlocks's discontent even though he gets the same treats. The dogs know us, especially French Bull Dog Nelson who thinks nothing of jumping in our laps to wait for his due.

However, Marie and her dog Chloe are special. She lived in San Francisco so is bilingual, although Chloe, her dachshund  speaks two languages neither English:

• French

• Buttons

Marie has buttons for certain words such as walk, food, play that the dog presses depending what she wants. Sometimes they even argue. Marie say no it's not time to eat, Chloe say yes it is and over and over, until one gives in. There are other subjects they find themselves debating.

I know Sherlock has different barks for what he wants. We wonder about adding buttons so he can ask for food, ice cream, walk, play, toy, pillow. For the moment he needs to rely on barks. When we don't respond fast enough enough his tone becomes  annoyed.

Meanwhile Chloe always greets us in any cafe, on the street or at the green grocer where she finds us with her imploring eyes that tell us of her hopes for the doggie biscuits in our bag without any buttons needed. Sherlock speaks fluent begging eye too.

 

 

Coat Hangers-The Making of Leona's Sister

 

The Making of Leona’s Sister Gerri

In talking about what threatens legalized abortion today, Jane Gillooly went beyond the pro-life movement into the cost of abortion and health care. Like many women who know or remember about life before Roe v. Wade, she is surprised the same fight continues 44 years later

 

 Each time I watched the DVD, Leona’s Sister Gerri, I cried at the waste.

Gerri wasn’t the only one suffering waste caused by not having safe abortion services available. Her daughters, brothers, sisters, parents and friend were also deprived of Gerri’s warmth and love.

I wondered not just about the woman who had the abortion but about the woman, Jane Gillooly, who made a film about this particular abortion. What motivated her to tell the story of this unnecessary death?

As a journalist, I know it is possible to slant any story by selecting the facts to be printed. The same with documentaries. An ethical journalist, an ethical documentary maker, will be sure to tell the in-depth story without inserting their own prejudice.

Another filmmaker might have taken the point of view that Gerri was wrong to marry a man she barely knew, wrong to stay with him, wrong to have an affair.

Very few people go through life without making bad choices. Gillooly does not gloss over or overly dramatize Gerri’s bad choices. She made mistakes—a fact. She needed to correct her mistakes.

Gerri believed her pregnancy carried a greater risk of death from her abusive husband, from whom she was separated, than death by abortion.

Death is a high price for a mistake. She would not be the first or last woman to seek happiness and believe the promises of a lover for a better life, only to have it evaporate.

On one viewing, I tried watching the film, not only from the perspective of the information, but from how the story was told.

Finding the Filmmaker

Happy endings cannot be created when an early and unnecessary death is the story.  wondered aboutthefilmmakerJane

•      What made her select this as a subject?
•      How did she make some of the editing decisions?
•      What were her personal feelings about abortion?

Since the film had been made in 1995, I wasn’t sure I could locate her. Thanks to social media, it was easier than I imagined.

Her website contained more information, including other films she has made and international recognition of her work in Canada, Mexico and Russia as well as playing in prestigious places such as the Lincoln Center, the Sundance Film Festival and on Public Broadcasting System (PBS) television. She teaches at the Museum of Fine Arts School, Tufts University, Boston/Medford, Massachusetts.

I emailed Gillooly. She responded that she would be happy to do an interview. Between our travel schedules it took a couple of weeks to arrange.

She was an easy interviewee.

I was amazed to learn that Leona’s Sister Gerri was her first film because it appeared to be so professional. Prior to filming she’d been an artist working with images and text.

She had seen the photo of Gerri’s corpse in the motel room, she said, in Our Bodies Ourselves, a feminist classic book about women’s health and sexuality researched and written by a non-profit group in Boston. Used by women all over the world, the book is translated into 29 languages and has sold more than four million copies. It is considered one of the best texts on feminine health care for the non-medical world. The latest edition was issued in 2011. www.ourbodiesourselves.org but their website contains everything the book does and more.

She used the word “horrific” to describe the photo. I don’t see how anyone can look at the photo and not get the same reaction. As awful as the photo was, the details of the person who died were unknown.

She was “stunned” to learn that the mother of her friend, Toni Elka, was Gerri’s sister,

Leona.

Gillooly wanted Gerri’s story told. She approached Leona, but the woman wasn’t ready to talk 

talk publicly. Rather than pressure her, Gillooly said if she changed her mind, please call her. A couple of years later she received the call she was sure would never come.

Jane had never made a film, but she also knew you don’t delay when an opportunity comes up. Although she didn’t have a camera, she bought one, which cost around $2,000, a lot of money for her.

Later she would get a National Endowments for the Art (NEA) grant and financial help from PBS to help defray editing costs.

“Gerri didn’t die of an abortion. I mean technically she did, but she died because she was pregnant by a married man, she was afraid of her estranged husband, she was ashamed and couldn’t speak to anyone about it. She wasn’t intending on having an abortion; it was illegal, birth control was still illegal, and the moral code that everyone was living under forced her to silence,” Gillooly said.

It was not enough to just have Leona speaking. One of Gerri’s brothers, John Twedy, agreed to talk on camera. One of the police detectives, now a lawyer, was willing, another was not, but the detective willing to talk gave the needed depth.

The chambermaid was willing to tell how she found Gerri’s body, but didn’t want her name used, although she was happy to be visible on camera. Jane agreed to not identify her.

The film has been distributed in classrooms and libraries. It was premiered on PBS 1 June 1995. It is available through the Internet (http://abortionfilms.org/en/show/3468/leonas-schwester-gerri/).

In talking about what threatens legalized abortion today, Gillooly went beyond the pro-life movement into the cost of abortion and health care. Like many women who know or remember about life before Roe v. Wade, she is surprised the same fight continues 44 years later.

“Every single woman in the film with one exception—everyone had an abortion, and everyone wanted to tell me about it,” Gillooly said. That included Gerri’s daughter, Judy, who was 15 when she had an abortion. Judy is pro-life and feels she may have to answer for her own abortion, but she does not want to make the decision whether to abort or not for anyone else.

Gillooly also denies that abortion is only a woman’s issue. She says it is a man’s issue too.

And in the film, it is obvious the effect the film has had on all of Gerri’s family and friends.

She has made other films since Leona’s Sister Gerri, all of which she thinks show the human condition, she hopes with a sense of authenticity. Her other work includes:

        Audience of Love and Shame (2015) 70 mins. An unattended camera observes an audience watching her film, Suitcase of Love and Shame.

        Suitcase of Love and Shame (2013) 70 min. This 1960s Midwestern love story is reconstructed from 60 hours of audiotape discovered in a suitcase purchased on eBay.

        Today the Hawk Takes One Chick (2008) 72 mins. In the Lubombo region of Swaziland, three grandmothers become instrumental in defining a new world order dictated by HIV/AIDS.

        Splendor (2005) 2 mins. It illuminates the richness of friendship, the importance of self-determination, and the capacity for growth, even as dementia and death approach.

        Dragonfiles: The Baby Cries (2000) 10 mins. Verging in tone from the coy to the sinister.

        Theme: Murder (1998) 56 mins. In 1968, Boston art dealer Hyman Swetzoff was beaten and left to die in his Bay Village home. The murder remains unsolved.

 

In an interview, Gilooly said, “I can feel the similarity in my films more than I can describe it. I do try to balance a commitment to emotional authenticity against a censorial style of editing driven by evocative images, atmospheres, and sounds. The experience I strive for while making films has sometimes been described as a musical approach to editing—articulating a composition between the poignantly lyrical and the brutally direct. I have not made many films and when I do it is because I feel a real compassion for and deep understanding of the complexities of the human emotion that I try to translate (https://saint-lucy.com/conversations/jane-gillooly/).

As for Leona’s Sister Gerri, she said, “I wasn’t making a film about abortion, I was making a film about shame.