Local Flavor

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine


Yesterday I found myself in the famous Schwab's Drug Store in Memphis, where you can buy anything from forgotten brands of candy to good luck mojo bags.  The latter promise success in a variety of forms, via bags labeled "Health", "Love", "Travel" and the like.  I looked for one labeled "Coming Up with Ideas to Write About", but they must have been sold out of that one.

In any event, what did catch my writer's eye in a different section of the store was a book called Santa is Coming to Tennessee.  After asking myself what month this was, I settled into the fact that holiday books for sale in March were no more out of place in this eclectic store than their Fortune Telling Fish.

Picking up this children's title, I acknowledged what a clever idea it was to narrow down Santa's journey into a more personalized one just for children in Tennessee.  I considered that if they were really smart, they'd do similar books for every state in the union.

With that in mind, I looked inside to see how specific or generic the book was in terms of its adaptability.  When I saw that most of the text was universal, and how few times a Tennessee landmark had to be mentioned to give it the proper Volunteer State feel, I realized that Steve Smallman and Robert Dunn had indeed crafted a book where only minor customization would be needed to publish Santa is Coming to Florida, Santa is Coming to Hawaii, etc. An online search on my smartphone confirmed that they indeed did just that.

From an early age, we value a book that speaks to us personally.  What child wouldn't be drawn to a story set right where they live, as if it were written just for them?

A few minutes later, while driving past the monorail leading to Mud Island, I was reminded of its significant appearance in The Firm, and how big a role the South plays in every John Grisham story. If there were any more Memphis flavor in The Firm, it would need BBQ sauce.

No matter what our age, readers have extra appreciation for a book whose setting fits the story. C. Hope Clark's Murder on Edisto and Sandra Balzo's Main Street Mysteries are solid examples of strong locales that complement and enhance the plot.

Whether you choose a real-life location for your story or you create an original backdrop of your own, let the setting be more than a mere afterthought.  Giving your characters a memorable place to be and a good reason to be there improves your chances of bringing it on home.

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.  

You Are Here

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director


If you’ve ever gone into an unfamiliar shopping mall trying to find a particular store, you know the feeling.  An endless maze of shops and kiosks clamor for your attention and you hardly know where to begin.  But before you can say “Where am I?” you spot the friendly sight of the mall directory and search for the reassuring red arrow that tells you “You are here.”

It’s only common sense that the directory is always parked near the entrance door, so shoppers have an opportunity to get their bearing right away.

By the same token, consider the opening shot in any film you’ve seen.  From the very beginning, the first thing you see tells you where you are.  It can be as obvious as an airport terminal or as subtle as a closeup on a bathroom faucet.  Before you learn anything about “who,” “what,” or “when”, the first thing your mind goes searching for is “where”.  Once we know where we are, we’re no longer geographically disoriented.

Reading a book, we have no such visual cue to establish our whereabouts.  Thoughtfully, the classics of literature provide readers with that information very early on.  Consider these opening lines from famous novels:

“Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice…”

—Mario Puzo, The Godfather

“Renowned curator Jacque Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery.”

                                                —Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“At the beginning of July, during a spell of exceptionally hot weather, towards evening, a certain young man came down on the street from the little room he rented…”

                                                —Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

“He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream…”

                                                —Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal…”

                                                —J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

“Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he stayed up all night, was seated at the breakfast table.”

                                                —Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles

(Sir Arthur liked getting who, what, when and where out of the way very quickly.)

This is not to suggest that the first sentence always has to declare “where”.  “Call me Ishmael” (Moby Dick) and “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” (A Tale of Two Cities) had other business to get out of the way. But within moments you do discover your whereabouts.

When we’re coming up with our own scenarios, we are intimately attuned to our characters, their actions and their dialogue. We have vivid images of all that. The location, however, can often seem merely incidental to us; almost a nuisance to have to include. But the reader needs that comforting sense of place very early on, and of course anytime the scene changes. All those establishing shots in movies answer what would otherwise be a continually nagging question. We never have to even think about where we are. But we sure would if we hadn’t been shown already.

Admittedly, coming up with something interesting to write acknowledging each changing scene isn’t nearly as fun as describing the characters’ personalities or penning their clever patter. But your readers will appreciate that nod of consideration. They will be right there in the scene with you if you give them the mile markers that say “You are here”.

In the words of George Burns, “It’s good to be here. At my age it’s good to be anywhere.”