Travel Sparks Inspiration In Story Telling

MJ: Today's guest is a best selling author of romance, and she mixes in mystery, and her new novel has an historical setting that I particularly enjoy. Based on a true story, Wild Rose Pass is a romantic journey into yesteryear. 

Katherine: Yes, what a storyteller. Karen Hulene Bartell, welcome!

Karen: Thank you for inviting me to your blog! It’s a pleasure to chat with you and Purrada!

Katherine: My dear pet Purrada has gone from stray cat to pampered cat. She has such a purrsonality, and I do enjoy her. I understand as an author that you have your own mews for muse - three rescued cats and a rescued "Cat"ahoula Leopard dog. Can you tell us a little about your critters, and have any appeared in your books?

Karen: I jokingly call our three rescued cats and rescued *CAT*ahoula Leopard dog my “mews.” The cats either lounge on my desk or my lap while I write, and the dog sleeps beside my chair on his bed, so I’m surrounded by my “muse.” I wouldn’t say they inspire me, but they’re very empathetic and are the models for critters in my book.

For instance, Marmalade, our orange tabby stretched out on the desk, purrs as I write. He was the stimulus for Earnestine, the six-toed descendant of the Hemingway cat in The Keys: Voice of the Turtle, that “communicated” with the heroine.

Our *CAT*ahoula Leopard dog, Tory—short for Toreador because of his brindle coloring—looks like he’s wearing Toreador pants and a matching vest. He modeled for the puppy in Wild Rose Pass.

MJ: In your newest release, Wild Rose Pass, oh what a rocky romance when two people of such different backgrounds are drawn to each other. This exciting book is set in the wild west of 1880's Texas. The setting is so vivid. How did you research this time period, and bring it to life?

Karen: Sixteen years ago, my husband and I spent Christmas week hiking and horseback riding in Big Bend National Park. You’ve seen the area on maps—the southernmost tip of Texas that borders the Rio Grande and dips into Mexico. Spanning more than 800,000 acres of Chihuahuan desert, mountains, and rivers, Big Bend is larger than the state of Rhode Island—and wild with lions and bobcats and bears. Oh, my!

Driving home early that New Year’s morning, we missed the turnoff in Alpine and followed TX-118 north. Snow-covered and glinting against the frosty blue January sky, a remote jumble of mountain peaks and ranges beckoned as they rose above the desert floor. I was enchanted. Gazing at the sky island for the first time, wide-eyed, I wondered whether those rocky pinnacles were mirages or optical delusions.

But as the craggy peaks loomed larger (a mile high, I later learned), I realized they were no hallucination or Fata Morgana. A hasty glance at the map told us these were the Davis Mountains. As we approached, vertical basalt columns rose like thousands of giant fingers reaching for the sky. The palisades, buttes, and bluffs towered above both sides of Wild Rose Pass with a raw, majestic beauty, and I breathed a contented sigh, sensing a homecoming.

That missed turn took us only a half hour out of our way, but as we drove through Fort Davis and the Davis Mountains, it changed my life. From that day to this, it’s held my heart and imagination, and I’ve learned everything I can of its colorful history. Named after Jefferson Davis, Fort Davis has seen Buffalo soldiers, Indian Wars, Quanah Parker, cattle drives, Pancho Villa, and cinnabar mining.

When I learned a friend’s great-great-grandfather had not only worked for Fort Davis’ cavalry as an Indian scout in the 1870s and 1880s but had been captured as a child and raised by Comanches, an idea took root. The outcome of that budding thought bloomed into my latest historical novel: Wild Rose Pass, Book I of the Trans-Pecos Series.

Katherine: As a best-selling author, you write multicultural, offbeat love stories steeped in the supernatural that lift the spirit. Your wonderful book The Keys: Voice of the Turtle has a fabulous blend of romance mixed into a murder mystery and includes two intriguing apparitions. Can you tell us a little about crafting this mystery plot?

Karen: The Keys: Voice of the Turtle is about something familiar to us all—moving forward, getting over disappointments, even moving on. I started with a premise and the characters’ missions. From that perspective, I expanded the scope, dramatizing the story with ghosts passing over, widows remarrying, and PTSD victims starting over.

A probate battle over Keya’s turtle-nesting beach is the premise. Land-hungry relatives want it bulldozed and developed, but she wants it preserved as a turtle sanctuary. From there, a murder mystery evolves with a calculating killer and a vengeful ghost. A second apparition brings a 400-year-old mystery, along with buried treasure also connected to the land.

For me, travel sparks inspiration—and a visit to Key West and the keys triggered this novel. Whenever I visit provocative places, encounter new experiences, sample different ethnic foods, and chance upon stimulating people, I’m inspired. Ideas flow. (I should’ve been a travel correspondent.) There’s something about traveling that takes me out of my rut and propels me into new realms of possibility.

I’ve written some of my best concepts sitting in airports or hotel bathrooms at midnight (so I don’t wake my husband with the light). Being out of my element and in new environments stimulates my imagination. Traveling inspires me.

Each of my novels takes place in a different setting because as I visit those destinations, I’m infused with innovative ideas. I envision scene after scene, like vignettes flowing into the next and the next.

So what inspires me to write The Keys: Voice of the Turtle? Traveling to the unique keys with its distinctive ambiance. The atmosphere set the tone. Then the characters emerged, and finally the story unfolded.

Katherine: How important setting is in wonderful stories. Our mystery is set in Bayside, Washington. That's a completely fictional town near Seattle. The story and so many of the mystery's clues are greatly influenced by the sights in that part of the Pacific Northwest, Seattle's surprising history, and even the mystique of the area's weather including the secret that it doesn't always rain there. Bayside is such a contrast from Beverly Hills where my Katherine Watson's Designs company began and grew.  

MJ: Karen, you lived an interesting childhood, and wrote your first book at nine years old. How did your childhood influence your interest in writing, or the books that you write?

Karen: I’ve always had a creative imagination. (My childhood dolls were never baby dolls—always lady dolls, who went on exciting adventures.) But how did my childhood influence my interest in writing? In a word, reading. In second grade, my mother took me to the library and helped me choose books. By third grade, I had my own library card, walked to the library alone, and chose my own books. All during my childhood, my mother let me stay up as late as I wanted—if I read. As a result, I became a voracious reader, and in my case, writing was simply a natural progression from reading.

Born to rolling-stone parents who moved annually, I found my earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became my portable pals. Ghost stories kept me up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was my passion.

Wanderlust inherent, I enjoyed traveling, although loathed changing schools. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, I began writing my first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating my HEAs.

However, I think everything we’ve ever read, seen, heard, and thought mingles and merges in our brains as we sleep or meditate. When inspired ideas crop up, I believe our minds recollect (re-collect) that information and reassemble it into the prose we write.

Katherine: Do you have any sentimental, or otherwise favorite handbag or other kind of bag? We'd love to hear about it.

Karen: Sorry, but I really don’t. I use the same black purse until it wears out, and then I replace it with another almost exactly like it. I was once given a citrus-green, alligator computer bag. I liked it, despite the fact I was a vegetarian at the time, and nothing I owned matched it, but it was, without a doubt, the most haute couture bag I’ve ever owned.

Katherine: As an author, I can see how having a great bag for your laptop is a must. Your favorite bag reflects your passion. We're encouraging everyone to find out more about you, Karen and your wonderful books on your website karenhulenebartell.com. And who knows what your next trip will inspire!

That's meow for now, Purrada

Mystery Kat Out of the Bag Video

Click on the link to see the video about Kat Out of the Bag mystery novel at the Edmonds Bookshop -



https://drive.google.com/file/d/12vmWnS87g7Sk9823sE4mQWje-JsFaAX8/view?usp=sharing

Books & Music Hit A High Note

MJ: Love is a friendship set to music. That's a Joseph Campbell quote.

Katherine: That's sweet MJ. 

MJ: 
Calling out around the world
Are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and the time is right
For dancing in the street . . . .
All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere . . .

Do you recognize - David Bowie, Mick Jagger

Katherine: You're in a musical mood and today we're so fortunate to be joined by a beautiful musician. Erica Miner has been a violinist with the Metropolitan Opera in New York for 21 years. After such legendary artistry, she retuned and turned her talents to writing, and to mystery as an author. Welcome Erica!

You know Erica, I still remember that feeling when I held my first Katherine Watson Designs Purse in my hands. What was your feeling as you began your very first performance with the Metropolitan Opera? Do you remember what you played? 

Erica: OMG, so exciting! And how could I forget what I played on my first day on the job? It was a rehearsal of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, a gorgeous opera that I didn’t know at all. I was terribly nervous, especially when I saw the Music Director, James Levine, on the podium. What a way to start my very first day, playing for the Boss—trial by fire. But the singers were Jon Vickers and Martina Arroyo, two of the greatest opera stars of the time. When I saw them onstage and they started singing, I was in heaven. Imagine that, being serenaded by them! My first performance was Mozart’s Don Giovanni, fortunately an opera I knew inside out, so although it was exciting it wasn’t nearly as nerve wracking as that first rehearsal. Plus the great Kiri Te Kanawa was singing. What’s not to love about that?

Katherine: Your music passion and talent are celebrated. Along with that comes a commitment to study and also practice. How active was your family in supporting your musical aspirations?

Erica: I was so lucky. My parents were both Russian emigrés and they brought with them from the old country a deep love for classical music. So, there was music playing in our house 24/7 when I was growing up. My father was my first violin teacher. And my mother was a total opera aficionado. She listened to the Met Opera radio broadcasts every Saturday afternoon. I wasn’t heavily into opera as a kid, but I’m sure all of that music from the Met must have filtered in somehow! I didn’t like to practice violin all that much. I was a quick study and was able to ‘sight-read’ most music and learn it quickly, which meant I often got away with as little practice as possible. My dad was not happy about that, for sure.

Katherine: They must have been so proud hearing you play for the Met. Do you have any advice for today's young musicians, and their families?

Erica: Because of the health crisis we are experiencing today, the music world is also in crisis. Performing in a group situation with lots of people in close proximity for an audience is virtually impossible in a socially distancing mode. Musicians are aching to perform, and have been doing as much as possible online, but of course it’s just not the same. All I can say to young musicians is to keep practicing and honing your craft as best you can under the circumstances, until such time as we all can experience music in a true performance situation. Meanwhile, all that families of young musicians can do is support their young aspiring musicians, encourage them to practice, and show interest in listening to them play. We will get through this.

Katherine: The Met Opera is so glamorous, the building, the sets the costumes, the dresses, the purses. On my trips to New York, I have indulged in tickets. I don't suppose you ever get to borrow any of the props? How close do you get to the backstage delights?

Erica: I used to hang out backstage all the time, watching the goings on in the wings and onstage as people prepared to perform. It was fascinating. I watched stagehands moving sets and props around, singers warming up; it was an absolute beehive of activity. I never borrowed props, but I did borrow costumes several times. The wardrobe mistress at the time was very liberal about lending us costumes for any events we might need them for. My husband and I used to go to gatherings of his French friends (in New Jersey, where we lived) and the Met wardrobe mistress took me into the vast sea of costumes and let me choose whichever ones I wanted to borrow (assuming they fit, of course). You cannot imagine the quantity of costumes—as far as the eye could see! I remember borrowing costumes from such operas as Don Giovanni, Salome and The Ghosts of Versailles (I still have pictures of those). What fun it was to dress up in costumes that had been worn on the Met stage.

Katherine: Kate Spade once said that playing dress-up begins at age five and never really ends.

MJ: The first female conductor was Nadia Boulanger with the London Philharmonic in 1936. You've played music with some celebrated conductors, Erich Leinsdorf, Leonard Bernstein, James Levine. Can you tell us a little about playing opera with them, and is it difficult to adapt to a new conductor's style?

Erica: I always found it difficult in some ways to keep switching from one conductor to another, but overall it’s in an orchestra player’s DNA to adjust to many conductors. Leinsdorf was a truly great conductor of the old school. Very authoritarian, but in a way that served the music. He actually chewed me out in the middle of a rehearsal for not having my bow coordinated with the rest of the first violin section. I was appalled. But I did get a lot of sympathy from my colleagues. I think they were glad it wasn’t them being singled out! Bernstein was heaven. He was so brilliant in every way, yet he was so emotionally tuned in to the music and to us musicians. Just a joy. Levine was the Music Director, so we had the closest relationship with him, day in and day out. He also was brilliant; not as demonstrative as Bernstein but he really loved music and had a way of communicating that. Each conductor is different; some we love, some we don’t. but that’s what makes a musician’s life so interesting.


Katherine: When someone asks me to pick a favorite purse I've designed, I really have such trouble choosing just one. Each means something different to me. But, do you have a musical piece that is your favorite to play? And if so, what makes it a favorite?

Erica: Katherine, I also have difficulty choosing a favorite opera. I have one, Manon Lescaut, that I just love to death in every way. But as far as a favorite to play, that is quite different. Some of the music I adore is not always such fun to play. But if I had to pick one, that would be Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. Not only is the music gorgeous, but it’s written for the violin in a way that exploits all the possibilities of the instrument: challenging but totally playable. Plus I love the story and the singing. It’s such fun to accompany all the wonderful singing and stage antics going on up there!


MJ: Oh yes, that's another smooth way to tell a story. Katherine sees personality traits in what bags people carry. For me astrological signs are revealing. You're an Aries, aren't you? You show passion and motivation. Also confidence as a leader building community with a cheerful disposition and relentless determination. You've built a new life in the Pacific Northwest. What do you like best here?

Erica: Oh yes, I am so totally an Aries! And I am relentlessly determined—just ask my husband! ;-) What I like best about living here, aside from having my daughter and her family living so close by, is the beauty of Nature that surrounds us. Very different from southern California, which was my most recent home base, but so lush and green. I can look out my office window and, depending on the season, see evergreens, roses, and flowering trees and bushes in every direction. But most of all, I am in awe of all the wonderful people that form the writing community here in the PNW. In just four years since I moved here I’ve met and formed relationships with so many fantastic writers, both in the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, who are all so very supportive of what I’m doing with my writing. I feel truly blessed to be a part of this community. I know I can depend on them to help me promote my work, and in turn they can depend on me. The people here are truly unique in that regard.

Katherine: You've got mystery in your repertoire as well. You know I love a mystery, with the Kat Out of the Bag novel about my own mystery around the Bayside Mayor's murder at my Gala party. It's the first of the In Purse-Suit mysteries. You've authored a mystery series about murder at the opera, each at different opera houses. It all started with Murder in the Pit. They're fun to read. Are your mysteries fun to research and write?

Erica: OMG, so much fun to research! I do a lot of research for my opera lectures, and for my books, and they both infuse each other with fascinating information about the opera world that I’ve learned in the process. Admittedly I didn’t have to do that much research for Murder in the Pit, since it takes place at the Met and I worked there for so many years. And as I mentioned above, I spent lots of time hanging out backstage and also exploring the back stairways, hallways and even dark corners. So I had the atmosphere pretty much nailed. For Death by Opera, I’d never been to Santa Fe Opera but luckily I had a close friend from the Met who provided me with the entrée to meet people in various departments and interview them, take tours of the opera house and campus and in general absorb the setting and environment. I also had an absolute blast researching the amazing history of Santa Fe—ghosts and all!

Katherine: Your protagonist Julia Kogan partners with an NYPD detective Larry Somers, a very interesting contrast of personalities. Do you think Larry would get along well with my friend Jason Holmes, our local Bayside officer with his K-9 Hobbs? 

Erica: As you will see in the upcoming sequel, Larry tends to get along well with all of his professional colleagues in the business of investigating crime. It might be fun, in fact, to have him and your characters meet someday—fictionally of course. The only person he doesn’t always get along with is Julia. They are indeed very contrasting personalities, and they don’t always see eye to eye. But they have a deep fondness for each other. that’s what makes their story together so interesting: lots of fun banter between them, and a lot of conflict which, as we know, is an important element in writing a good story.

Katherine: Yes, I'm familiar with not seeing things eye to eye, and then we end up toe to toe.

MJ: Erica, tell us about your next mystery that will be available soon. Can you tell us which opera house is the setting?

Erica: For the next sequel, which takes place at San Francisco Opera’s War Memorial Opera House (title under wraps for now), I again knew people who introduced me to the movers and shakers of the company. They are such a wonderful bunch. I got tours of the opera house from top to bottom, access to the company archives and more. I had an absolute blast: researching the history of the city and of the company, and touring the many locations for the book’s setting. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but suffice it to say there are a number of twists having to do with a brand-new character and Julia and Larry’s resulting conflict over that character. Plus: San Francisco! What’s not exciting about that city. The manuscript is finished, and I’ve gotten to see some proofs of the cover art. My publisher has set a ‘tentative’ date for publication of Nov. 15 this year. One never knows what’s going to happen in the current situation, but it certainly is interesting publishing a book during a pandemic. I’m really psyched to see the final product once it comes out. Stay tuned!

MJ: I'm tuned in. Your new book sounds so good. I'm flashing on memories of my own groovy times in San Francisco. Do you have some favorite mystery authors?

Erica: Some of my favorites are Carolyn Keene, Agatha Christie, and Janet Evanovich.

MJ: I've heard you've been called the Agatha Christie of Opera. I agree!

Katherine: I love all those authors. I mention in my mystery the exciting impact growing up reading the Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew books. I'm such a fan! That publisher, Edward Stratemeyer published children's books including Hardy Boys and Bobbsey Twins. As the 1920's ended he had the idea for a girl detective. He hired the first ghost writer for the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. She was Mildred Augustine who wrote The Secret of the Old Clock, published in 1930. She was paid $125. She went on to write 23 of the 30 books under this pseudonym. 
In this case the protagonist was much like the author. Mildred was a tomboy who loved to read and had many education and professional accomplishments. Later she wrote her own series too, Penny Parker Mystery Stories in her married name of Mildred Wirt Benson. She was an adventurer, in addition to writing she obtained a commercial and private pilot license and traveled throughout the world. She was well known in the Midwest as a journalist.

Thank you so much for joining us Erica. I'm excited to read the next in your series. For now, it's time for curtain call. Everyone can find more information on your website ericaminer.com. 

Erica: Thank you, guys!! You ask great questions, and it’s been a pleasure connecting with you. Arrividerci, au revoir, and Aufwiedersehen!

240 Women Started It, In July

MJ: This November it will be 100 years, the centennial celebration of women's right to vote in the United States. It was a long time coming. The Suffragette movement in the US started in July, 1848 with 240 women in Seneca Falls, New York. Included in the group were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.

Katherine: It's a super example of the power of everyday women's unity, and courage. Many suffered terribly and were jailed in tragic conditions, some gave their lives. They were kept away from their families, their children. In our Purse Museum of Women's History, and in our mystery novel Kat Out of the Bag, we highlight amazing times of women's history, like this. The incredible courage of everyday women.

MJ: Women's fight for the vote has happened worldwide at different times in history. The most recent where women have won the right to vote is Saudi Arabia, in 2015. Now is a great time to talk about this meaningful victory in the US that all began more than a century ago in another July. The actions of the original 240 women were delayed by the sorrows of the Civil War and Reconstruction. But, in 1869 the National Woman Suffrage Association led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was established and then there was no looking back. Their efforts were also joined by men who agreed with their cause.

Katherine: It's so important to vote. Not only as a citizen's responsibility, but also because so many gave so much before us, so we can vote.

MJ: In 1890 Wyoming became the first state where women gained the right to vote. 

In 1919, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution - "the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex," passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. Eight days later, the 19th Amendment took effect.

Katherine: Cally Blackman is a lecturer at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts, London). A Portrait of Fashion, is a National Portrait Gallery book by Cally Blackman and Aileen Ribeiro. Cally writes about the British Suffragettes and says "Fashion, feminism and politics has always been heated territory, and the suffragettes knew this. Instead of deploying a strategy of resistance by refusal, they chose resistance through reversal. They sought to effect change not by challenging contemporary fashion and ideals of femininity, but by conforming to them. Haunted by the stereotypical image of the “strong-minded woman” in masculine clothes, pebble-thick glasses and galoshes created by cartoonists, they chose instead to present a fashionable, feminine image."

MJ: In England The suffragettes’ came up with a color scheme, a sort of code through fashion branding. Suffragettes wore purple for loyalty and dignity, white for purity, and green for hope. Members were encouraged to wear the colors including tricolor-striped ribbon for hats, belts, rosettes and badges, as well as colored garments, shoes, and yes handbags. 

Katherine: Handbags, of course!