By Shelly Frome
During the hiatus before
the next project, I keep asking myself, what are you waiting for? I realize
there are those who’ve made lists of bright ideas and simply devise an outline
for the most promising notion. But that approach doesn’t excite my imagination
or seem brimming with life. .
And so, after sending
off the corrected galley proofs for Murder Crosses the Pond, I’m
trying to come to terms with the necessary ingredients. In the case of this
last mystery, I began with Oliver, a young golden retriever, smashing through
the doggie gate of a B&B, scampering up the trail to the high meadow, drawn
by the squawks of wild turkeys and the curses of a stranger. I did so because
I’m well acquainted with goldens and that spontaneous image seemed so full of
promise. Soon enough, Emily, a tour guide emerged in my imagination finalizing
her plans to shepherd three eccentric siblings to the far off moors of England.
Then a few what-ifs? came to me. What if the fellow shouting was a front man
for a rapacious development corporation out to turn the meadow into an upscale
condo complex? What if the B&B was owned by Emily’s mom and the
construction activity would ruin her way of life? And what if Emily’s mentor
was head of the local Planning Commission who stands in the way of site
approval and, as Emily overhears chasing after Oliver, has to be “taken care
of”?
It’s as if elements
stored away in my subconscious were waiting to be released by something lively.
I care about open space and once had a run-in with a large corporation
threatening to turn a pristine preserve next door into a gated community. My
late wife and I were taken on a private tour of Dartmoor and the west of
England. And, most of all, Oliver’s spunky curiosity, like my own dogs, was
bound to dig something up, some vital evidence perhaps, knock somebody down at
the last minute, etc. This catalyst made the possibilities of provocative
settings, folk tales, and the impossibility of Emily being in two places at
once, colorful people I might meet along the way and all the rest of it begin
to percolate.
As Oliver’s imaginary
antics set things in motion this time, a real life encounter on the streets of
New York caused a previous effort to catch fire. It started while I was
recalling James Dean’s haunts (the farm boy from Indiana before he got his big
movie break). Here I was, walking the same mean streets, remembering my own
days as a starving New York actor when I ran into a swarthy character in a
sloppy sweatshirt who said, “I’m Johnny Diamonds and this is my territory.” Out
of nowhere, a pre-teen popped up and said, “And I’m Johnny’s go-fer.”
It wasn’t long before I
gave her the name Angie, Johnny became a racketeer, and I couldn’t help
wondering what a troubled Indiana farm boy named Jed, who looked a lot like
James Dean, was doing here and what he was desperately seeking. In no time, I
began doing research about organized crime in the Big Apple and a scenario for Murder Run began to unfold.
What led me on, besides
the fact that the provocative setting became a character and influenced
everything, were the things I learned about Angie as long as I left her alone.
And how, though she was at least twenty years younger than Jed, she had to look
out for this fish-out- of- water and keep him from harm’s way.
Perhaps those times I
was a starving actor and taught improv at the University has a lot to do with
the way I work. I intuitively know if I try to second guess any of the
characters they’ll freeze up on me. When I let them be, they prompt me in the
most wonderful ways.
It appears that all I
have to do is trust my muse. In the famous words of Dickens’ Mister Micawber,
“Something will turn up.” Or, taking a cue from West Side Story,
“Something’s comin’. Around the corner or whistlin’ down the river.” And it
will surely be worth the wait.
______________________________________________________________________
Shelly Frome is a member
of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the
University of Connecticut, a former professional actor, a writer of crime
novels and books on theater and film. He is also the film columnist for Southern
Writers Magazine and a features writer for Gannett Media. His
fiction includes Sun Dance for Andy Horn, Lilac Moon, Twilight of the Drifter, Tinseltown
Riff and Murder Run. His transatlantic mystery Murder
Crosses the Pond will be released this fall. Among his works of
non-fiction are The Actors Studio and texts on the art and
craft of screenwriting and writing for the stage. He lives in Black Mountain,
North Carolina. www.shellyfrome.com
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