I’ve known Author Terry Odell for years now, and I’ve never been jealous of her until now. She took a trip with her spouse that my husband and I, and our friends, had planned to take (you guessed it in 2020). So I’m living vicariously through her. Hope you will, too. Please welcome Terry Odell. ~ Donnell
Last year, the Hubster and I took a trip to the British Isles for our 50th anniversary. Our daughter pointed out that she’d been living in Northern Ireland for over 12 years and we had never visited. (guilt trip!) We contacted a travel agent to set up a tour that included London, Ireland, and Scotland, and we added on a few days at the beginning to visit our daughter.
Fish & Chips
I also had a chance to meet one of my critique partners who lives in London. We met (of course) in a pub and I had fish and chips. And yes, I set a scene in the book there.
Of course, I knew I’d want to incorporate the travel into a book, but since I’m not a plotter, I had nothing in mind when we toured. I enjoyed the sights, took lots of pictures, and figured something would bubble to the surface when I got home. Writing Heather’s Chase turned out to be a wonderful revisiting of the trip, but not without some pitfalls. My first thought was two people meeting on a tour, but after a few chapters, I knew there had to be some kind of mystery involved. I also knew it was going to be a challenge by sending my characters on a tour, because I’d be juggling a larger cast of characters than usual. On the plus side, it gave me an obvious group of suspects for my mystery threads.
My normal genres are either mystery or romantic suspense, but there’s really no way my two American characters would have any authority to investigate anything across the pond, not to mention our travel agent hadn’t set up tours of police stations! (But I did grab a shot of a police vehicle in Dublin, because … you never know.)
Garda, Dublin Police Vehicle
One important thing I learned about writing about a country you’ve only visited for a short time:
Less is more. I wasn’t writing a travelogue (and I cut a HUGE amount of description on my editing pass). What I wanted is for my readers to get the flavor of the British Isles, not a blow-by-blow accounting of everything we did, saw, and ate (although it was tempting!)
Because I’m writing from the viewpoints of my characters, I can show the differences between cultures and sights as they experience them. To help avoid info dumping, I included a character who was fascinated by the locations, and would read from her guidebook.
Highland Cows or “coos”
“Look. Highland cows—or as they say—coos.” Joan extended her walking stick and hurried over for a closer look. “Aren’t they cute? They have bangs.”
Two shaggy brown cows lay under a tree, chewing their cud, paying no attention to the people snapping pictures.
Abby had her guidebook out—of course—and was reciting Highland cow trivia. Oldest registered breed, double coat, used their horns to dig through the snow for food in the winter.
Although my characters didn’t visit Northern Ireland, I did include a character from the same town we’d visited when we stayed with my daughter. I made sure she vetted all his dialogue. For example, people in Northern Ireland use the word “wee” as a meaningless adjective. I was asked for my wee credit card, given a wee receipt, offered a wee bag for my purchases. However, I needed to make sure it wasn’t as annoying to readers as it was to us when we visited, so I needed to make sure they understood the usage. Hence, during a conversation, the character explains how he uses the word:
“Your schools and ours have wee differences in structure,” Peyton said. “… In my opinion, we spend far too much time getting the kids ready for the test. It’s hard to keep them eager to learn. I’ve taken a wee break for a year to recharge, you might say.”
“A year sounds like a lot longer than a wee break,” Chase said.
Peyton laughed. “Sorry. Wee is an adjective, tossed in at random. Has nothing to do with size.”
On a sightseeing trip to castle ruins, rather than stop to describe what the character saw:
“Quite a difference from Windsor and Edinburgh,” Heather said. “Hard to imagine people living here, even looking at the graphics showing what it looked like when it was inhabited.”
“Could be because it was destroyed in the seventeenth century.”
She smiled. “You’ve been listening to Abby?” They stood in a patch of muddy ground, and Heather snapped pictures.
“May I see?” Chase asked, not sure why a bunch of broken-down stone walls was enticing.
She set her camera into view mode and angled it toward him. “It’ll need work to correct for exposure, and it needs cropping.”
What Chase had seen as a pile of rocks, she’d turned into a picture. Stone walls bordering a square window looking over the mist-covered mountains across the lake.
One person’s rocks are . . .
All in all, I had a great time revisiting my trip to the British Isles while I was writing the book, and being able to incorporate my experiences into Heather’s Chase.
About the Author: Although she had no aspirations of becoming a writer until well after receiving her AARP card, Terry Odell is now the author of over thirty novels, novellas, and short stories. She writes both mysteries and romantic suspense, but calls them all “Mysteries With Relationships.” Her books include the Mapleton Mystery series, the Blackthorne, Inc. Covert Ops series, the Pine Hills Police series, and the Triple-D Ranch series. Terry’s books have won awards including the Silver Falchion, the International Digital Awards, and the HOLT Medallion. A Los Angeles native, she graduated from UCLA and taught in the LA County school system. She moved to Florida where she spent thirty years in the heat and humidity, and is now enjoying life with her husband and rescue dog in the cooler and dryer climate of the Colorado Rockies, where she can watch the wildlife from her windows. Find her at her website, Twitter, Facebook and you can sign up for her newsletter for sneak peeks, special giveaways, and more.
About Heather’s Chase:
Two businesses at stake. Will they trust each other enough to save both?
She’s harboring secrets.
Caregiver Heather Donnegal reluctantly accepts a tour of the British Isles to honor a patient’s dying wish. She made a second promise to her patient, one she’s keeping secret. When she learns her client’s son has been planting lies about her business, she wonders if she should abandon her pledge and return home to keep her company from ruin.
He’s telling lies.
Private Investigator Chase Nolan has been hired to find and bring back a woman his wealthy client has accused of stealing from him. The client is convinced his father’s caregiver seduced him into leaving her valuable jewelry, and perhaps a lot more. Chase accepts the job, which takes him to the British Isles. He finds the woman he’s been sent to retrieve, but has doubts about her guilt. He’s tempted to tell the client there’s been a mistake, but he desperately needs the money to keep his business afloat. Will investigating the man who hired him jeopardize Chase’s job?
When Chase discovers Heather’s secret, she wonders if she can trust him to help. Is he the fling her roommate insisted she find? When Chase almost dies on a tour event, Heather’s quick action saves him. Was it an accident, or was someone deliberately trying to harm him? Who? How? And Why? Could it be connected to the man trying to hurt her company?
Buy Heather’s Chase at most digital stores here.
Prefer print? Get it here.
Thanks so much for inviting me to your blog, and giving me an excuse to revisit the British Isles.
Terry, this is sensational. I’ve been watching a lot of British television lately, Foyles War, Midsomer Murders, Loch Ness. So fun reading your interpretation of that world. Thanks for joining me today and best wishes on Heather’s Chase!
What a lovely wee blog! Enjoyed the vicarious visit. 🙂
There’s a British TV show called Loch Ness?? I must look for it. I visited Loch Ness (and Urquhart Castle) several years ago and would love to see it again, if only via TV.
Barbara, YES. Loch Ness, you can find it on PRIME and Acorn. Loved loved loved it! xoxo
Glad you enjoyed this vicarious visit. Didn’t Terry do a nice job?
Wonderful guest post. It’s interesting to hear how she put pieces of her travel in the story without info-dumping. I’ve read Heather’s Chase, good book!
Priscilla, thanks for dropping by. Terry is a pro. Must be the teacher in her.
Hi, Terry and Donnell! Count Handsome and I in your group, Donnell. We were to tour the British Isles in May. 🙁 Now we’ve scheduled it for next September. Waiting to hear about Australia and New Zealand in February (but doesn’t look promising). I write a journal every day on vacation. I bought a bluetooth keyboard to connect with my iphone and in Notes, open a doc.
Oh, Vicki, I hope you get to go next year! So many plans . . . Congrats on your new release. I must download! xo
I wasn’t aware of Loch Ness as a television show. Then again, we don’t watch much television. I’ll have to look for it on Prime.
Vicki – good luck with your trip. We had our trip to Antarctica cancelled/postponed until 2022, and I’m still not sure what’s going to happen with a photo safari to Croatia. April 2020 didn’t work, and it’s rescheduled for 2021 … but who knows.
Priscilla – thanks for stopping by, and so glad you enjoyed Heather’s Chase.
Barbara – glad you enjoyed the wee visit. We had a gloomy boat ride across the Loch, but the sun peeked out at Urquhart Castle (not much, as you can see from the picture.)
Heather’s Chase sounds like fun. I’ll give it a try. I’ve enjoyed all my trips to the British Isles, as well as visits to any number of castles, including Edinburgh. Actually stayed in a couple of them. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
It is my good fortune to have some of my takes on art and art forgery in Donnell’s upcoming blog.
Don – thanks. We toured Windsor and Edinburgh castles, plus others, including a lot of ruins. We stayed in hotels, though, never in a castle. That would have been fun.