Getting Closer to Elvis

by Doyne Phillips, Marketing Editor

I was once checking through customs in Rome and the young lady, seeing I was flying into Memphis TN, asked me if Elvis was still alive. I answered, “Some think so”. She said, “Before I die I am coming to Memphis to see Elvis”.  

Have you ever been to Graceland? Millions have gone there to get closer to their idol; “to see Elvis.”  

The Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, a seaside home in Salem, Massachusetts, was built for Captain John Turner in 1668. Having visited the home I can easily see the attraction. But the draw is Captain John Turner’s cousin Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne wrote a book about the home and due to the popularity of the book the home is better known by the title of the book, The House of the Seven Gables. Seeing the home with its secret staircases and notable architecture makes the book come alive. 

In Oxford MS, not far from the Greek revival home known as Rowan Oak, you can find seated on a bench in front of City Hall a life size bronze statue of Rowan Oaks' former owner William Faulkner. Faulkner’s writing about the area in which he lived went so far as to have a detailed map of the fictitious county of Yoknapatawpha. From this many locations were spoken of in his books As I Lay Dying, Sound and the Fury, Absalom, Absalom!, and TheUnvanquished. It was believed to have a strong connection to the county of Lafayette, the county in which he grew up. Tours of the home, the city and surrounding areas are available.   

The question is, like the chicken or the egg, which came first? Were people drawn by the book, the author, or the location?  I think the answer is not which one came first but how wonderful the connection is. It is like Graceland and Elvis!

Let’s take that concept one step further. What if you wrote a book about a specific area that was a popular tourist area and also used the location to market the book? In April 2011 Andrew Andrews published The Noticer, which made the New York Times Best-Seller List. It is about a mysterious man suddenly appearing to certain citizens of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, AL and assisting them with their problems by using common sense. This was based on a true encounter Andy Andrews had years ago in that same location. Orange Beach is now Andy’s home town. It is also the Gulf Coast destination of hundreds of thousands of beach goers each year, my family included. 

 

On a recent trip to Orange Beach I discovered in a gift shop Andy’s book The Noticer displayed alongside a Points of Interest brochure. The brochure compiled points of interest in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores AL "that have special meaning for New York Times best-selling author Andy Andrews.” How brilliant! The connection with the book and the author are much stronger when you can see where the story took place.  

If you have written a book and have used a well-known destination a brochure like this may be of help. If you are considering writing a story and have yet to decide on the location, again this may help. Help your readers to make the connection. You can’t leave Graceland without feeling a little closer to Elvis.  

F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s Airbnb

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

I wrote about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Great Disappointment” here on SWM's Suite T.  

Although he died with fame and fortune, he had yet to receive critical acclaim. This came after The Great Gatsby, which had over 14,000 pages, was totally reworked and the title changed from Trimalchio of West Egg. Fitzgerald is a great figure in American Literature and now I understand you can experience his and his wife Zelda’s life and works firsthand at the home they spent time in writing.

In 1986 this beautiful home, built in 1909 in the Montgomery, Alabama’s Old Cloverdale neighborhood, became The Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum. It was the home of the couple from 1931 to 1932 where he wrote Tender is the Night and she the semi-autobiographical Save Me the Waltz.”

The homes upstairs had been divided into 4 apartments and in April 2018 one of those was opened as an Airbnb. Anyone in the public can spend the night. It is the only stop on the Southern Literary Trail you can overnight. You can check out the museums at https://www.thefitzgeraldmuseum.org/about-the-fitz. I think is has a spot on my bucket list.

Authors homes and homes featured in their stories have long been destinations of their readers. Visiting such places may bring their works to life. I wrote about several landmarks I have visited including The Turner-Ingersoll Mansion aka House of the Seven Gables, William Faulkner’s home Rowan Oak, and Andy Andrew’s Gulf Shore community featured in The Noticer.  You may want to check these out and make them part of your bucket list. 

We are fortunate to have these homes preserved and still available to us. I do enjoy them and hope to take further advantage of visiting others. If you have a favorite author’s home or place of interest in one of their stories please let me know. I too may want to add it to my list.