Those Elusive Ideas by Lucy Burdette

Ideas for books and stories are everywhere out in the world--it's putting my finger on them that's not so easy. But here's an example of how a story evolved--the pieces were all there; I simply had to put them together.

Every year Mystery Writers of America publishes an anthology of short stories centered on a theme that is chosen by a big name guest editor. Two years ago, the editor was Nelson DeMille and he called for stories based on the very rich.  I very much wanted to be included, so I racked my brain for ideas. At the time, I was staying in Key West and my sister and her husband had come to visit for a couple of days. We wandered down to Mallory Square, where the sunset celebration takes place every night. The big cruise ships dock there too, though almost always they are required to set off before sunset so they don't block the tourists' view.

On this particular night, one of the ships seemed to be delayed. And then we spotted a man carrying his luggage off the boat, by all indications arguing with the crew. He steamed off into the crowd and the ship left the dock. Now that got us all thinking...and finally we came up with these ideas: What if his girlfriend had not returned to the boat in time to depart the port? And what if a detective from out of town happened to be watching, and had seen the same man squabbling with a woman on Duval Street earlier that day? And what if her picture turned up as a missing person in the crime report of the Key West Citizen the next day? And what if the cat man of Key West had seen something that turned into a clue?

All I had to do was to figure out what happened to her....

And where the detective had come from and why he was there...

And why he preferred to spend his vacation in Key West helping the local cops solve a crime...

The last part was the easiest. I borrowed Detective Meigs from my advice column mysteries and gave him an unwanted, nonrefundable vacation from his sister. And had him greeted at the airport by a taxi driver with a parrot on his shoulder.

And out of all that emerged my short story "The Itinerary" (by my alter-ego Roberta Isleib), now published in THE RICH AND THE DEAD, edited by Nelson DeMille. And even better, nominated for an Agatha Award at the Malice Domestic convention!

Here's how it begins: 

"Detective Jack Meigs knew he’d hate Key West the moment he was greeted off the plane by a taxi driver with a parrot on his shoulder. He hadn’t wanted to take a vacation at all, and he certainly hadn’t wanted to come to Florida, which he associated with elderly people pretending they weren’t declining. But his boss insisted, and then his sister surprised him with a nonrefundable ticket: He was screwed." Read the rest of the story here.

Lucy Burdette aka Roberta Isleib is the author of nine mysteries including the first Key West food critic mystery, AN APPETITE FOR MURDER. Please follow her on twitter or facebook.

Only in Key West by Lucy Burdette

Happy new year to all the Girlfriends and to our valued and adored readers too!  We'd be nothing without you!

I'm lucky enough to be starting off 2012 with a new book: AN APPETITE FOR MURDER, the first in the Key West food critic mystery series.

So many people have asked me "why Key West?" that I thought it would be fun to have a pop quiz about the island. This should give you a good idea about why this island is the perfect setting for a quirky mystery! I will list the answers at the bottom, but no cheating--don't look until you've answered! And then tell us how many you got right--all comments will be entered into a random drawing for a copy of APPETITE. Good luck!

1.  The local residents on Key West are called:

a. Islanders b. Parrotheads  c. Corals  D.  Conchs

2. What's the name of the major east-west thoroughfare, known for its shops and bars?

a.  Duval St.

b.  Whitehead St.

c.  Simonton St.

d.  Hemingway Blvd.

3. How many miles from Cuba is Key West?

a.  500

b.  30

c.  90

d.  200

4. Name a famous current or former writer who calls/called Key West home:

a. Ernest Hemingway

b. Judy Blume

c. Meg Cabot

d.  Annie Dillard

e. Tennessee Williams

f.  all of the above

5.  What's the biggest holiday celebration on the island?

a.  New Year's Eve when a red high heeled shoe drops from the top of Bourbon Street Pub and a conch shell slides down the top of Sloppy Joe's bar

b. Fantasyfest, a nine-day adult Halloween celebration culminating in coronation of a king and queen at the Royal Coronation Ball

c. The Conch Republic Independence Celebration commemorating the city's attempt to secede from the United Staes on April 23, 1982  in response to US Border Patrol roadblocks

d. the nightly Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square

6. A dog up for adoption at the pound in Key West might be assessed for:

a. his reaction to iguanas

b.  his relationship to roosters

c. a fondness for polydactyl cats

d. willingness to wear a costume in the Fantasy Fest parade

e.  all of the above

7.  If you were going to poison someone in a murder mystery set in Key West, you might use this as a vehicle:

a.  conch chowder

b.  key lime pie

c.  margarita

d. conch fritters


You can buy the book at any bookstore or here: http://lucyburdette.com/buy-the-books/  And please follow Lucy on Twitter or join her on Facebook. And she blogs weekly with the fabulous crime fiction writers at Jungle Red Writers.

Answers:  1. d--Conchs!  2.  a--Duval Street of course!  3. c--90 miles to Cuba!  4. f--all of the above--the island is crawling with artists and writers! 5. trick question--how could you possibly choose? 6.  e--only in Key West! 7. I could tell you, but it would spoil the story in AN APPETITE FOR MURDER!

"What fun! Lucy Burdette writes evocatively about Key West and food -- a winning combination. I can't wait for the next entry in this charming series." Diane Mott Davidson

On Beginnings

My mother's not around to ask, but I suspect that my entry into this world wasn't an easy one. I'm the kind of person who's more comfortable in the middle of something: I like to know where I'm going and how it's going to turn out. Beginnings are tough.

In one big way, I was lucky at the start: I was born only eleven months after my sister Sue. So she forded the way in front of me during most of my growing up. We shared a room until high school, wore a lot of the same clothes, attended tap and ballet classes together, swapped books, teased our younger siblings, talked about boys. (That's me on the ground, Sue standing up.)

Our family moved quite a few times when I was a kid--and all those beginnings were hard. I can still remember starting sixth grade in a new town in Michigan. My mother took me to buy shoes and we picked out black and white (or were they brown?) saddle shoes. I realized quickly that these weren't the style in my new town when the kids nicknamed me "the cow." But I always had my friend, my sister, at home.

Sue became a writer well before I did, but she didn't seem to mind sharing the profession with me when I came to it late. In fact, she's one of my biggest fans. Instead of boys and clothes, we talk about word counts, and writing with heart, and promotion. She supported my first rather pathetic attempts at writing a novel and has encouraged me every step along the way since then. (Picture below is Sue (R) and me with the cat man of Key West, who's part of the scenery in the first Key West food critic mystery, A TASTE FOR MURDER.)

Publishing, of course, is changing like crazy right now--and we writers are invited to adjust to the latest trends, or move on. This year, I've acquired a new protagonist, Hayley Snow, a new mystery series, a new publisher, a new editor, and even a new name. A lot of beginnings for a woman who's most comfortable in the middle.

So here it is, the Equinox, the first day of spring, and I'm ready to assume my new name on this blog: Lucy Burdette. Since everything's so new, and beginnings aren't easy, I will be grateful if you'll come visit! Meanwhile, the phone lines between my home and Sue's will be humming…

With gratitude, Lucy (formerly known as Roberta Isleib:)

http://www.lucyburdette.com
http://www.twitter.com/lucyburdette
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lucy-Burdette-Author/152300604823040