Guest Post: Deputy Tempe Crabtree and the Food She Eats

I want to warmly welcome Marilyn Meredith back to Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time with another interesting post and with an announcement of her latest book. Marilyn is prolific and professional and personable. I am glad to count her among my friends. Enjoy!

 

Deputy Tempe Crabtree and the Food She Eats

Someone told me that Tempe and Hutch sure ate a lot in Not as It Seems. They’ve gone to Los Osos for their son’s wedding—and yes, there’s a lot about food. There are many great restaurants in the area and they had to eat somewhere. They also eat Ethiopian food at their soon-to-be in-laws’ home, and of course at the wedding reception.

I think one of the reasons I write about what my characters eat in so many of mysteries could be because in so many books I read, the main characters don’t seem to eat at all. I find that so strange—how do they keep up their strength for all the amazing physical feats?

Deputy Crabtree doesn’t do much cooking, but her husband does and though it’s usually simple fare I do write about it in many books.

In Seldom Traveled there is a lack of food because of the dilemma Tempe finds herself in.

In my latest in the series, A Cold Death, they are stranded in a summer camp during a winter storm with the owners of the camp and their guests as well as the caretakers, a husband and wife. The wife is a great cook. Yes, I wrote about all the meals, because if I were in that same situation, I’d be looking forward to what I was going to eat next.

Some of the menus I wrote in about in A Cold Death were what I’ve eaten at different camps I’ve attended as an adult, others are what I would have cooked had I been responsible for the meals. And yes, sometimes when I’m writing I make myself very hungry.

Marilyn

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Facebook:Marilyn Meredith wonders how book characters survive since they never seem to eat! Not in her books! Check out the foods and the mystery in A COLD DEATH at 

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Blurb for A Cold Death:

Deputy Tempe Crabtree and her husband answer the call for help with unruly guests visiting a closed summer camp during a huge snow storm and are trapped there along with the others. One is a murderer.

Anyone who orders any of my books from the publisher‘s website: http://mundania.com

can get 10% off by entering MP20 coupon code in the shopping cart. This is good all the time for all my books, E-books and print books.

On Kindle: A COLD DEATH

Marilyn Meredith’s published book count is nearing 40. She is one of the founding members of the San Joaquin chapter of Sister in Crime. She taught writing for Writers Digest Schools for 10 years, and was an instructor at the prestigious Maui Writers Retreat, and has taught at many writers’ conferences. Marilyn is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She lives in the foothills of the Sierra, a place with many similarities to Tempe Crabtree’s patrol area. Webpage:  http://fictionforyou.com Blog:  http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/ and you can follow her on Facebook.

Contest: Once again I’m going to use the name of the person who comments on the most blogs on my tour for the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery—which may be the last in the series.

  

Tomorrow I’ll be here:  September 28

http://www.lindathorne.com/blog/

How Sisters in Crime has Helped Me with My Writing Career

Liars and How to Write Them

Next week’s blog post will be a bit delayed to fit in our guest, mystery writer Marilyn Meredith. Please join her on September 27^th as she talks about the food her character, Deputy Tempe Crabtree, enjoys.

In our mysteries and thrillers, we always have at least one person lying. Sometimes to protect themselves. Sometimes to protect another. How is your amateur or professional detective supposed to know who is telling the truth?

Unsurprisingly, there’s been a lot of research in the area of truth-telling. Bering, in his article, said that Macchiavelli’s book, The Art of War, instead should have been called

The Art of Lying since so much of his book focused on deception and deceptive practices.

Bering goes on to describe traits of effective liars which I found repeated in other articles. To synthesize, this post lists traits of effective liars and some ways to unmask them. You’ll have to decide how to use the info with your detective, amateur or professional.

Lying is a very common behavior, even among the law-abiding. Sometimes we lie to protect people’s feelings (“No, that dress doesn’t make you look fat.”), impress others (“I was at the top of my law school class.”), avoid trouble (“No, I didn’t take the last cookie.”), or get what we want (“If you do this for me, I’ll make sure you don’t regret the favor.”)

I have my culinary mystery protagonist, Alli, cross her fingers when she tells a fib or lie in order to obviate the consequences. The reader knows she’s lying and she knows she’s lying, but for her own “good reason” thinks it’s justified in a particular situation.

It makes sense that the more you have observed a person in normal circumstances, the more likely you are to spot the discrepancies that signal a lie. In your story, your liar could be someone the detective knows well, or it could be that the detective spends a lot of time with the liar in order to have more observations to compare.

By the same token, liars are on a continuum. Sociopathic liars, those without a conscience, are skillful and may not even believe they are lying since what they tell you is what is in their own best interest and therefore it is true for them. They go through their lives telling lies regularly. Whereas, the little old lady next door may be so truthful that even a white lie is easy to pick up on.

Minda Zetlin gives five ways to spot a liar: observe normal behavior for comparison, listen carefully (e.g., they should use words “yes” or “no”), look for “hot spots” (use body language giveaways), ask follow-up questions, and ask if they’re telling the truth.

Sara Murphy adds to the list with, liars are likely to: gesture with both hands, scowl and grimace, make eye contact, use filler language (like “um” and trip over words), and avoid first person.

Rick Newman says that liars: talk more than others, swear more often, and tend to speak in third person.

If you want to portray a liar, you would likely describe a babbler who makes faces and moves around/fidgets. Heesh doesn’t tend to use “you” or “me” in speech. Your liar looks you in the eye and tells the untruths thinking that you’ll be less suspicious of a someone who appears direct. Your liar will circumnavigate questions like “Did you steal from your company?” by saying, “I wouldn’t do something like that,” rather than giving a yes or no.

There are lots more articles and books out there, so keep digging to find the traits you want your liar to demonstrate. And make sure your detective knows how to observe those traits to unmask the deception.

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Preparing for Disasters in Your Novel

Recent events have made me consider anew disaster preparedness. The west is ablaze, the east is awash. There are also ecological disasters and local disasters like a home break-in. Each kind of disaster requires its own preparedness, but what all have in common is a mindset to consider the impossible/unlikely happening and to have a plan, even if sketchy.

 

Being an author, I can see scenes of characters fleeing a forest fire or climbing into the attic to escape flood waters or rushing to the homes safe room in a home invasion or crowding into a closet during a tornado or isolating the family during an infection.

In your thriller novel, you can amp up the tension by creating a disaster, natural or man-made. When lives are at risk you have set up the greatest possible stakes. People can be at their finest and their worst when disasters strike. Fear and impending death bring out different aspects in your characters.

In order to describe the scenarios of the prepared and the unprepared, read articles on preparing for different types of disasters. FEMA’s general guidelines are: get informed, make a plan, assemble your kit, and maintain your kit and plan (meaning revise as necessary).

As an example, for real we have a list of must-grab-and-take essentials (maps, sleeping bags, non-perishable food, medications, soap, bleach, flashlight, extra clothes) and treasures (computer, important documents, paintings, etc.) at our cabin (forest fire fear). We also have an assembled emergency kit in the closet. We have bottled water and energy bars boxed and ready to grab. We know that if the two roads out of our mountain community are closed, we can take the SUV cross-country until we hit a highway. That’s our sketchy plan. Yeah, you’re right. We need to get even more specific.

How about, in your novel, if forest fire is threatening a family’s cabin? What if the only way out is blocked by fire? Does the cell phone work in this remote area? What is the terrain like in the opposite direction of the fire? What are the challenges/supports in the terrain? Is there an underground cellar to ride out the fire? How would the cellar get oxygen? Keep cool? Is there a river or lake nearby that could be used to shelter in? What if the fire were started by someone who wants the family to die so that person hunts them even as they try to escape the flames?

Can you describe how the family tries different escape scenarios? Maybe, but the more you know about the threats of a particular disaster and how to prepare for it, the better able you are to write the dramatic scenes of the forest fire and the escape attempts.

The exact same thing holds true for tornados, hurricanes, flooding, and other disasters. What scenarios require a substantial food and water supply? What if those aren’t adequate? Which scenarios require alternate travel options?

Research disasters and surviving them, then plan for your characters’ survival. The more you know the more you can write credible scenes. While not meaning to make light of others travails or exploit them, your accurate descriptions of disaster preparedness could help someone facing similar difficulties. Watch YouTube videos for disasters filmed by others and take notes so you can write accurately about your disaster.

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Food and Your Characters

Don’t you love all the quizzes on-line to determine what your favorite color reveals about you, or what animal you are most like. How about this one? “What Food Matches Your Personality?”  Who makes up this stuff??? Anyway, when I took the quiz (because I’m a quiz sucker), here’s what it said:

You got: Sushi    You're sushi. Being raw fish never felt so good. You're smart, sophisticated, and fancy. But slap anyone who tries to dip you in soy sauce.

Huh? I mean, I like some kinds of sushi, but . . . seriously?

I took another quiz, the “Food Personality Quiz", and came out Gourmet. DH laughed. A lot! Sure, I like good food, but this farm girl is pretty simple when it comes to cooking. The description fit well, but I wouldn’t call it defining gourmet, would you?

Whether you are eating out or cooking at home, good food is important to you. As a gourmet personality you are likely to have a discriminating palate and be knowledgeable about food. You enjoy spending time cooking and preparing recipes that are high quality and are willing to make new recipes. You have enough experience cooking that you are comfortable changing a recipe to adapt it to your preferences. If you do not like parsley you can easily exchange it for cilantro. You understand that a recipe calling for a specific meat or vegetable can easily be substituted based on your preferences. You prefer recipes that are more elaborate than routine everyday recipes and could also include somewhat unusual ingredients.

Another one was fun, based on Myers-Briggs categories. After taking that quiz, "What’s Your Food Personality?”, I was rated ISFJ: The Apple Pie (Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging)

Your personality is ISFJ! You are traditional, like the Apple Pie; you never go out of style with a timeless reliability that sets a warm and fuzzy mood for everyone you come across. You have an old enough soul in which you've accumulated past and present experiences, developing a world of wisdom and knowledge that you enjoy sharing with other people. You like to remain practical and are easily sensitive to the needs of others, making you the go-to delicious dish that that never steers us wrong!

So how much credence can you put into these things? Not much, I’d say. On the other hand, there are folks who study such enigmatic topics as what your food preferences reveal about you. I recently posted “What Coffee Drinking Reveals about Your Characters.”

For example, Dr. Alan Hirsch has tests to check out your food choices and match them up with factors such as partner compatibility, depression, and personality types. He believes there is a link between food choices and behaviors. For example, he found a link between a tendency toward perfectionism and tortilla chip eating. Also, there was a correlation between introverted personalities and cream crackers. You might want to use his data to help shape some of your novel’s characters.

A food behavioral expert, Juliet A. Boghossian, weighs in on our eating habits as revelatory of personality. For example, slow eaters live in the moment and fast eaters put others before themselves. People who organize their food on the plate need to loosen up and be more flexible. Those who cut up all their food before eating are preparers and one step ahead of others. Read the article to find out about the nine ways we eat food and what that says about us.

For those of us who write culinary mysteries, anything about food interests us. We mine these for ways to shape characters. These foodie articles are just some of the fruit to be picked off the personality analysis tree.

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