Tombstones Tell A Story by Eileen O'Finlan

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My mom will be 93 in October. Feeling her abilities diminishing, she decided she wanted one last trip to her hometown of Bennington, Vermont. So in August we made the three hour drive north for a long weekend. There were several places Mom especially wanted to visit – places that had meaning to her from her youth – the town library, her old high school, the clock in the town center, the former Hotel Putnam that, among other things, once housed her uncle’s pharmacy, and the Old First Church. She also wanted to visit the graves of her parents, brothers, and other relatives.

I’ve always had a fascination for cemeteries so the burying grounds are of particular interest to me. Depending on their age and condition, they may be creepy, haunting, peaceful, or beautiful. In any case, they draw me in. The tombstones themselves are a special source of beguilement. I love studying about the correlation between the change in tombstone engravings and the layout of cemeteries and the changes in societal views of death and the afterlife between the 17^th and 19^th centuries. These are most fully on display when a cemetery spans centuries as does the one at the Old First Church.

There is much more to read in a tombstone than just the inscription. The shape, size, and substance of the stone and the images engraved on them give powerful hints as to their age and the outlook of those buried beneath them.

In our Bennington travels we visited two final resting places. One was the burying ground owned by and adjacent to the Old First Church. The Church’s congregation was first organized in 1762 and the current church was built in 1805. Its extensive burial grounds are the interment site of soldiers from the American Revolutionary War, both American and British, as well as Bennington’s earliest mayors, Vermont’s early governors, and other prominent citizens.

In one section, the four sides of a stone pillar tell the stories of the burying ground’s Revolutionary era inhabitants.

One side of pillar honoring Revolutionary soldiers buried here

American Soldiers believed buried in Old First Church burying grounds

Hessian (Brunswick) Soldiers believed buried in Old First Church Burying Ground

David Redding - Executed Loyalist

Details regarding Redding's Execution

It is also the final resting place of the great poet, Robert Frost and many of his family members. Fittingly, an elegant birch tree stands watch by his grave. Visitors are invited to reflect on our attitudes about death through the medium his poem, “In A Disused Graveyard”.

Grave site of Robert Frost and Family Members

Mom and my cousin, Patty, reflect near the birch tree at Robert Frost's Grave

Frost's Poem "In A Disused Graveyard"

Closer to our own time period, was our stop at Park Lawn Cemetery where my grandparents, uncles, and other relatives are buried. Compared with older tombstones, I find the more modern ones a bit boring – no disrespect to the dead intended. It’s just that most contain a name, dates of birth and death, and not much else. Unless one expends an enormous amount of money, it’s likely the only viable option, so I quite understand. It’s just that it feels cold and uninteresting to me. However, I did see one grave marker in this cemetery that told a compelling story. It is pictured below.

Grave Marker of William Halford Maguire

The inscription reads:

William Halford Maguire

1911 – 1945

Lt. Col. U.S. Army

West Point ‘32

Chief of Staff, Davao, Mindanao, P.I. when Japan attacked, 1941

Japanese prisoner of War 2 ½ years.

Survivor of three shipwrecks

Subjected to extreme brutality of Japanese captors.

Died Feb. 9, 1945 in Tokyo, Japan, weighing less than 59 pounds

Among awards: Silver Star and Legion of Merit

1933 – Married Ruth Felder, San Antonio, TX.

Children: Mollie Maguire Qvale

William Halford Maguire, Jr.

Imagine all the inspiration for a story to be gleaned from this one grave marker!

As it happens, I am able to add a bit to this story as the above marks the grave of my mother’s cousin. Hal, as she knew him, was captured and forced to walk the torturous Bataan Death March. The fact that he had dwindled to 59 pounds is astonishing in any case, but even more so when one learns that he was well over six feet tall.

Mom remembers Hal as a good-natured fellow whose company she enjoyed. Beyond the grave marker and the little my mom has been able to add, I know nothing about Hal or his life and death. Though it would have to be highly fictionalized, his story is certainly one worth telling.

As writers, we never know when inspiration will strike. Often it comes from the most unexpected places. But if you let the tombstones talk to you, you may come away with the bones of great story. All the better, perhaps, if the story is that of a person who resides in your heart and memory or that of a loved one.

What to do if there is a hole in your story.

So, you have a hole in your story.

 

Use genre expectation and questions to find the hole.

 State the problem (or what you think is the problem.)

I was writing Book 4 in my mystery series. Doing well until I reached 18,000 words. I did have solid characters and action. BUT (how I hate that word) there was no danger, no suspense, no tension. I knew it could be anything from events (or lack of them) to word choice.

Ruminate (think deeply about something.) One of the most useful writers’ tools. (Lie on the sofa and tell people you are working.)

For two nights, I watched British Mystery TV and crocheted hats, my go-to for keeping front-mind busy so underneath can brainstorm. No real progress on the story. (I did make 2 hats.)

Time to step back and look at the big picture of the story.

Go back to the key ingredients in your genre. The mystery scenes I use, by the way, are the ingredients that Agatha Christie used in her notebooks. They are also noted in Author, Robert Ray’s book, The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery.

A murder

A victim

A killer

The discovery of the murder

The reporting of it

A sleuth,

Clues

Revelation & solution

Sure enough, I did have the ingredients. However, there was no zip, no tension. I asked, ‘what increases tension? Was it plot short-falls? Language choice? Character deficits?’

Maybe I needed a ‘ticking clock’ where time is running out and the sleuth is failing or in danger. Ah danger, lots of danger. That’s usually a good one. But what will give me more danger for my characters?

List the key events your characters need.

For me it is a sleuth who:

1) arrives to view the murder scene

2) investigates & interviews witnesses & suspects

3) learn secrets,

4) figures out the critical secret that points at the killer

5) finds herself in mortal danger because the killer knows she knows

6) escapes or is rescued or a bit of both

7) reveals the clues and catches the killer

8) gets reward

Steps 4 and 5 were the two missing pieces in my story—this time.

Dissecting the various elements required in a mystery, I easily saw what was missing. I needed to make things worse for my sleuth to increase tension, and to put her in mortal danger to ramp up suspense. Easy, eh? Actually, in retrospect following a process did make it easy. I finished the book and published it in October 2017.

Stories have building blocks. Genres have expectations.

In looking at the expectations for a mystery, I found my missing blocks. You can do the same in your genre.

 

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Brighton A Royal Bathroom and Bath House by Rosemary Morris

To find out more about Rosemary's work please click on the cover above.

History inspires, fascinates and triggers my imagination, so it is a pleasure to share a fraction of my research for my new novel Saturday’s Child, Heroines Born on Different Days of the Week, Book Seven.

During the summer months, when London was usually hot and malodourous many people considered it detrimental to their health. After Parliament rose in June, they retired either to their estates in the country or a seaside resort. A popular choice was Brighton, only fifty miles from London. There the Prince of Wales, subsequently the Prince Regent, entertained on a grand scale at his Pavilion, which resembled an oriental palace. Members of the bon ton followed the pleasure-loving prince to Brighton where he enjoyed gambling, riding on the downs, shooting, the theatre and other pastimes. Another attraction was the belief that bathing in sea water and drinking brine could cure anything from – for example – corns to serious diseases.

I assume the Prince Regent, who succeeded as George 1V in 1820, believed sea water was beneficial. His bathroom at the Royal Pavilion was supplied with fresh and sea water, contained a vapour bath, a warm bath, a shower bath, a douche bath and a large plunge pool. Sea water was pumped into a tank in the garden and heated by a boiler for the king to have therapeutic baths.

Few could afford a bathroom as luxurious as the king’s, but bath houses existed either for people too elderly, infirm or shy to bathe in the sea or when there were storms. The first bath house commissioned in Brighton by Dr John Awister was built at the south end of the Steyne. In 1803 the rectangular building with a Neo-Classical façade contained two cold baths, four hot baths and a shower bath which were supplied with sea water.

In 1823 Gilburd’s Baths attached to The New Steyne Hotel is listed by William Scott. At every high tide sea water was pumped by a steam engine through a chalk tunnel. Clients could have hot or cold plunging baths, vapour baths etc. Scott also listed the luxurious oriental Mohamed’s Baths.

Undoubtedly, the patrons at many seaside resorts enjoyed the facilities but, unfortunately, the water was not purified so they were at risk of infection; and it is not known how effective bathing in the sea, in baths and drinking salt-water was.

Classical Historical Fiction by Rosemary Morris

Early 18th Century novels: Tangled Love, Far Beyond Rubies, The Captain and The Countess

Regency Novels False Pretences.

Heroines Born on Different Days of the Week Books One to Six, Sunday’s Child, Monday’s Child, Tuesday’s Child, Wednesday’s Child, Thursday’s Child and Friday’s Child.

(The novels in the series are not dependent on each other, although events in previous novels are referred to and characters reappear.)

Mediaeval Novel Yvonne Lady of Cassio. The Lovages of Cassio Book One

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

http://bookswelove.net/authors/morris-rosemary

Religion by Katherine Pym

Buy Here

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Fanciful rendition, Babylon Ziggurat

Religion has been extremely important to mankind since what seems the onset of our species. Spiritual markings abound in caves, on megaliths or stone circles with no markings, but we surmise them as ritualistic. Ziggurats, or step pyramids are scattered around the world. Symbols and worshipful edifices continue to this day. They are evidence of mankind’s need for religion.

Gobekli Tepe dig purposefully buried

Another look at Gobekli Tepe dig

One of the oldest places of worship is Gobekli Tepe (circa 11,000-13,000 BCE depending on the source), located in what is now Turkey, predates the Egyptian pyramids by several thousand years. New data says it even predates farming. One expert feels it was built as a religious monument, which brought farming & civilization. This is opposite from earlier thought of hunter gatherers to farming. No writing exists on the site, so no one knows for sure.

Curiously constructed, then strangely buried, a smaller version was built on top of it, and so it went over the centuries. The footprint became smaller until people put icons of the bull in their homes, which kept a constant reminder of their beliefs. By this time, the entire site of Gobekli Tepe had been purposefully buried.

Then Sumer (oldest part of Mesopotamia) came along approx. 5000 BCE, which is quite a span of time between the two. Based between the Tigris & Euphrates rivers, it is considered by many to be the cradle of civilization. Also known as Sumeria, they suspect these people came from the Indus Valley (Pakistan and NW India). They were a devout group who developed writing, the wheel. Some say they developed hydraulics. They perfected irrigation, planted during the inundation, which was the winter melt originating in Turkey.

Tigris Euphrates

Artist rendition of ancient Sumer

The Sumerians were an advanced species who worshiped a denizen of gods, many of which were at one time kings or queens. They believed in many things we recognize. They have a battle between the gods in the heavens, a Moses, a flood, and sacrifice. They developed law codes that were in part similar to the 10 Commandments. They built ziggurats for high priests and the elite to worship which were the forerunner of the pyramids, but not for burial purposes. 

Mayan Step Pyramid so much like Sumer's Ziggurats

 In many ways our modern world meets old civilizations in thought and beliefs. Man has always worshiped a god, several or one. We are connected by these beliefs attached to early man. The concept is fascinating. 

Act 1, Scene 1 - Living in the Setting by Diane Bator

    

Settings are a huge part of any novel, no matter what genre. As a writer, I’m always on the lookout for a good place for my stories to play out that can sometimes give them both the tools and challenges to help drive the plot along.

I’ve been lucky to find ideal locations in the small town I currently live in. I’ve used a local coffee shop, Mochaberry, and turned it into Java Jo’s in my Wild Blue Mystery series as well as a local bookstore, BookLore, which transformed into Tales and Retales for Katie Mullins to manage in the same series. Using a coffee shop and a bookstore for backdrops for novels has been done many times before, and so has one other setting.

I’m blessed to work in a great old building I plan to use in a book one day. Many mysteries have been set in theatres and have encompassed community theatre right up to professional theatre. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham, Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, and The Jumbee by Pamela Keyes (a modern take on Phantom) are but a few in a long list. Television series are ripe with episodes that take place in theatres as well. Murder She Wrote had several. Even Riverdale focused on a murder in a theatre in once season.

In working with actors, musicians, administrators, staff and crew behind the scenes, I keep thinking one day I’ll write a play or a mystery set in our theatre. What’s so great about our theatre?

The original portions of our building were erected in 1875 and had multiple purposes. Out back were military buildings where ammunitions were stored. The main building housed a slaughter house, stables, town hall, and a community room used for meetings of all sorts and for local theatre. The chairs were foldable so the “stage” could be relocated from one end of the room to the other and the room could suit any purpose. As the years passed, big business decided the old building was of little use so they would demolish it to build a grocery store. That was nearly 30 years ago.  I’m happy to report the townsfolk fought back.

Our theatre is in its 26^th season. The once frowned upon building has been restored and town offices added in back. The theatre has been through a couple renovations to add a large, built in stage, seats bolted into place, and a sound/tech booth. We have gone from being a community summer theatre to an incredible professional theatre that offers shows all year round. We also have put on shows like A Midsummer Night’s Dream that included both equity and non-equity performers, our summer students, and members of the community who are challenged in various ways.

In the middle of all of that progress and innovation, there is a ghost. Our ghost has been the subject of ghost hunters yet, as many times as I’ve been in the building alone, I’ve never seen her, which is probably a good thing.

That ghost is what has prompted my fascination with writing about a murder in our theatre. While I create the novel, I'll be looking for more evidence and stories about out ghost. Well, that and unruly patrons or performers…

One of the things that makes a theatre so attractive to mystery writers is that there are so many ways for a murder to happen. A “fight scene” gone wrong, props that turn out to be real weapons, costume malfunctions, falling lights, trap doors with faulty latches, poisoned “alcohol” in a bottle on stage, characters who are stand-ins who were once slighted in awful ways by the lead actor…

All it takes is a little creativity and anything can lead to murder in a theatre. 

Diane Bator

 Author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries, Glitter Bay Mysteries

Show, Don't Tell Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Session 2 -  Actions Speak Louder than Words

Body language and facial expressions play a large part in our conversation, they are natural reactions to what we speak and hear. Our characters should react the same way. If we forget these important elements, our dialogue will appear flat, boring, and our characters dull. Even setting plays a part in every day conversation. 

 Did you ever avoid someone’s eyes – focus on a picture or a lamp - maybe even lowered your eyes or stared at the ceiling? We tend to focus on things other than the person speaking to us if we are uncomfortable with either the situation or the person.

We wave our hand, cross our arms, tap our foot, or raise our eyebrows to show impatience. Maybe we wrinkle our brow, scrunch up our nose, and let out a deep sigh when we're doubtful. We cross our leg, wiggle our foot, or tap our fingers when we're nervous.  All of these actions show something about our moods, our reactions to conversation and even about us. We react differently when we're nervous, upset, irritated, happy, sad, or doubtful. These actions show what dialogue, alone, cannot. Our characters need to do the same.

Teamed up with dialogue these expressive actions say more about our character, their setting, and their dialogue then the typical he said, she said and their counterparts -replied, asked, responded. These are unnecessary words. Also, other than said, they put the author into the story – something we never want. Said, on the other hand, disappears into the story and most readers don’t notice it. Although, overusing said puts the author in the story, too. Most times we can avoid using it.

 Think of a strong dialogue scene as having three elements:  words, visuals, and thoughts.” Let’s see how it works.

How often have we created dialogue like this?

“I can’t believe you said that,” he said.

“Why not, it’s true,” she replied.

     “But, you didn’t have to say it,” he answered.

“No, I guess I didn’t,” she said.

We tag the dialogue with he said, she said so our readers do not get confused about who is speaking. We vary said with replied, answered, snapped or other like words. The dialogue is boring. We know nothing about the characters. We can change the he/she to Tom and Laura, but it won’t change the dialogue. All we have are words. We can add adverbs to the tag lines to tell us what they’re feeling as in the following example.

“I can’t believe you said that,” he said angrily.

Now we know he is angry, but you, the author, told us that, not the character and we still have he said. Our characters are not showing us anything. And we already learned about the misuse of adverbs in lesson one. We know that doesn’t work. It’s telling, not showing.

 Next step adding visuals. We add visuals by setting a scene - Tom and Laura sat in a restaurant. Sure, we can do that, but then the author’s voice is back in the story. Remember, we want to stay out of the story as much as possible. We want our characters to show us the scene.

Think about a conversation with your spouses or good friends. While they were speaking, you formed your answers in your mind. And you watched their face, noticed their body language at the same time. Maybe their body tensed, their jaw set, their brow furrowed or they frowned. Through their body language you knew they were upset or angry, happy, or sad. Other thoughts flowed through your mind. Maybe you were angry too or thought they were wrong. The interchange included words, body language and your thoughts. Many things happened during that conversation.

Now, let’s add some visuals and body language to our earlier conversation and see how it plays out.

“I can’t believe you said that.” Tom stared at her.

Laura looked at the waiter, avoiding the hurt look on Tom’s face. “Why not, it’s true.” She watched him out of the corner of her eye.

Tom’s jaw tightened. He picked up his cup, took a sip. “But you didn’t have to say it.”

“No, I guess I didn’t.”

Notice how we eliminated the he said, she said completely. Yet, we still know who is speaking. We can see and hear their emotion. Examine what the above exchange shows us, based on the criteria. We had the conversation in the first dialogue session but it showed us nothing but the speakers. In the example above, we added a visual and a scene, the restaurant.

We know this because she stared at a waiter and he picked up the cup.  We've added tension with body language - His jaw tightened. We know she is our POV, because she sees the hurt. We see the scene and hear the words through her. We see her visually ignoring him, yet watching his reaction. We vary the length and pace of the sentences to keep the reader’s attention. Sometimes, as in the case of his last comment, it is more powerful not to add a visual or tag line. If we add visuals or tag lines to all dialogue, it becomes monotonous and boring and can even disrupt our story.

We now have two elements, words and visuals. Let’s add the third, thoughts.

“I can’t believe you said that.” Tom stared at her.

Laura looked at the waiter, avoiding the hurt look on his face. “Why not, it’s true.” She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He’s angry.

His jaw tightened. He played with his cup. “But you didn’t have to say it.”

“No, I guess I didn’t.” She stood up. She had enough. Glaring at him, she pulled some change from her purse and threw it on the table. It’s always about him. Time to leave before she said something she'd regret.

We have completed the elements. We hear the characters voices and see their emotions. They have showed us the scene and their reaction to the words and we have her thoughts, paraphrased - we don't have to say she thought, we know she's thinking. Our characters have brought the scene to life, and you, the author did not tell us anything.

Next time: The Senses

BWL Publishing New Release and Free Read for October 2019

October New Releases
Click cover for Purchase Information
A Park Service backpacking trip turns deadly when hikers are caught in a steep canyon during a flash flood. Three hikers are swept away, but a rescue team recovers four bodies. Park Service Investigator Doug Fletcher teams up with rangers Jill Rickowski and Liz Carpenter, and Navajo Nation Policeman Jamie Ballard. They hike river bottoms and arroyos searching for the origin of the fourth body, leaning on each other to overcome their fears, cultural differences, and emotional baggage. In the process they forge bonds that will last past the end of the investigation.
“A grueling wilderness manhunt, relentless suspense, and a deadly climax. Washed Away delivers.” Brian Lutterman award-winning author of the Penn Wilkinson mysteries
 “Washed Away combines the excitement of wilderness adventure with the suspense and action of a crime thriller.” James O’Neal author of The Devils Came in from the Country and the Riley series of historical novels

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 Daisy’s War is a historical romance set on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent during World War One. Daisy is too young to join the WAAFs like her glamorous sister Sylvia and opts instead to work in the NAAFI which serves the sailors and soldiers stationed in the dockyard and garrison with snacks, cigarettes and toiletries. She has vowed to stay true to Bob, her childhood sweetheart. But Bob is serving overseas and she fears he will not return. Enter tall handsome soldier Christopher, known to his friends as Lofty.

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Seventeen-year-old Will and his four friends escaped from a tropical island fortress then fought for freedom on a monstrous prison ship.  Now they reach the mainland and dock their small cruiser in the harbour of a large city, hoping at last to find answers to their origins.
At first the city is deserted, but soon drones attack them from above.  At night, sicko adults, diseased, angry and hungry, hunt them down relentlessly.  Will, Quentin, Fiona, Rose and Kevin are on the run again, knowing that capture can’t be long from coming.
When it does – what awaits the teens behind the high walls and barbed wire of the sinister research hospital, in which robots prowl the wards and sicko humans are processed like cattle?  And what lies deep inside the mysterious mountain known as the Citadel?
 Reviews
‘A thrilling and satisfying end to a terrific trilogy’ – Bruce McBay
  ‘One of the most exciting YA thrillers I’ve ever read’ – Susan Trapp
  ‘Post-apocalypse suspense done right’ – Joanne Lindau

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Protecting his hometown was easy, but Sheriff Brad Davidson had learned the hard way the price of personal involvement. Risking his life, no problem, risking his heart, that was another issue. Love was a complication he had no desire to take again…ever. Until he came across a woman unconscious in a back alley. Without warning his life got complicated.

Dana Barrett, a young widow with four young children, looks for a fresh start in a small town. Malicious gossip ruined her life once and she swears to never let it happen again. While Dana struggles to keep a professional relationship with the attentive sheriff who’s stealing her heart, her painful past raises an unswayable wall between them.

The entire town is convinced Sheriff Davidson is the answer to Dana’s family and the town’s future.  But can they convince her that not all gossip is meant to be destructive? Sometimes you need to risk it all.

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October Free Read from BWL Publishing Inc.is a historical mystery from
Diane Scott Lewis.  Click the cover to visit Diane's page and download your PDF copy.

Who murdered Lady Pentreath? The year is 1781, and the war with the American colonies rages across the sea. In Truro, England Branek Pentreath, a local squire, has suffered for years in a miserable marriage. Now his wife has been poisoned with arsenic. Is this unhappy husband responsible? Or was it out of revenge? Branek owns the apothecary shop where Jenna Rosedew, two years a widow, delights in serving her clients. Branek might sell her building to absolve his debts caused by the war—and put her out on the street. Jenna prepared the tinctures for Lady Pentreath, which were later found to contain arsenic. The town’s corrupt constable has a grudge against Branek and Jenna. He threatens to send them both to the gallows.

Can this feisty widow and brooding squire come together, believe in each other’s innocence— fight the attraction that grows between them—as they struggle to solve the crime before it’s too late?

Five Star Review from Historical Novels Reviews
Set in 18th century Cornwall, all Jenna Rosedew’s husband left her was an adolescent apprentice and a struggling apothecary shop. When Lady Pentreath’s death is deemed murder, Jenna is the first person to come under suspicion as she prepared all the dead woman’s medicine. But why would Jenna poison someone at the risk of her own livelihood? When Branek Pentreath has reason to call on Jenna, he informs her is he is putting up the rent of her shop, or does he too think she killed his wife? Jenna finds herself attracted to the man, but any connection between them could be construed as motive for murder.

Ms Scott Lewis’ portrayal of a couple trying to come to terms with conflicting emotions in an unsympathetic setting is thoroughly enjoyable. Jenna is no simpering female with no clue as to where to turn, she has her own methods of protecting her livelihood, and being accused of killing one of her clients isn’t something she is going to accept without a fight.

Branek Pentreath is also gravely misunderstood. He is not simply a heartless, ruthless mine owner, but a man of principal struggling with a failing business, suspicion from his neighbours and a growing attraction to a woman he shouldn’t even have noticed.

Ms Scott brings all the threads of this heart-warming story together into a satisfactory ending. I hope to hear more about Branek and Jenna.
HNR