Ginger Myrick

Hello, and welcome to the Summer Banquet Hop! Thank you for your time and interest. I will be giving away one Kindle or Nook copy (winner’s choice) of Ginger Myrick books. See full descriptions and reviews here. To enter, simply leave a comment at the end of the post. Now on to my contribution.

TRADITIONAL DISHES AND THE MIGRATION OF THE POTATO

An historical novelist must wear many hats. One of the things that I did not expect was the amount of research and fact-checking that goes into crafting a period piece. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think it would be a walk in the park, but you’re writing fiction, for heaven’s sake! Can’t you just make stuff up? Well, it’s fiction NOT fantasy, so no. And of course, due to my meticulous nature, I want my books to be as authentic as possible. I do my best to represent the clothing, furnishings, methods of construction, breeds of livestock, etc. as accurately as possible for a given time frame. I try to do the same with the food.

For my most recent effort, Work of Art: Love & Murder in 19^th Century New York, it was relatively easy. The story takes place in 1874, and the excesses of the time are fairly well documented. Aside from the fact that Work of Art is a suspense novel and not typical historical fiction wherein a reader expects a more detailed account, it takes place just 139 years in the past. I only briefly described two representative meals, and believe it or not, one of my richest resources was Edith Wharton’s classic, The Age of Innocence. She went on and on about the lavish dinner parties of New York’s upper class. The affairs typically required hired chefs, gilt-edged menu cards, the proper table settings for multiple courses of soups, meats, and seafood. And they always included a Roman Punch, which “made all the difference”.

But the further back in time one goes, the trickier the task becomes. It can be even more difficult when dealing with settings that are out of the ordinary, as is my wont. Oftentimes there is less information than in a better known era. When this is the case, I try to stick to with foods that are considered traditional.

The Welsh Healer takes place in the 15^th Century. Aside from the fact that the story is set 600 years in the past, the history and customs of Wales have been passed down largely through oral tradition. Resources are scarce, and my knowledge is sketchy. I found that my safest bet was to use a little commonsense and incorporate ingredients that were native to the setting. Oatcakes are a food prevalent in Britain throughout the ages. Of course being a bit of a foodie, I could not let it go at that, so I described them as “sweetened with honey and dried berries” with “a mixture of soft cheese and herbs to spread on the fragrant flat rounds”. In another scene I applied the same principle to a special birthday meal:

“There was an herb-roasted chicken topped with the beautiful green gooseberry sauce of which Richard was so fond. There were hard-boiled eggs halved and stuffed with an unctuous, creamy filling made from the rich, yellow yolks mixed with butter, wild onion, and pickled beets. There was a fluffy loaf of bread, a round of pale yellow farmers cheese, and a mouth-watering apple tart with a flaky golden crust.”

But even employing this method, a girl can run into a little snag here and there along the way. Fruits and vegetables we take for granted at the grocery store these days were often not readily available on the worldwide market a few hundred years ago. The potato is one such item, and I stumbled upon this dilemma during the writing of my debut novel, El Rey. Here is an excerpt:

“A short time later, all made their way to the table where a sumptuous meal was laid out. The dishes had been prepared to demonstrate the prosperity of the fazenda, and they featured the bounty yielded by the hard work that had gone into the establishment of this successful enterprise. This time the soup was a caldo verde made with kale and spicy homemade chouriço. The meat was a shank of beef marinated in red wine with carrots and onions then roasted to a dark juicy perfection. There were bolinhos de bacalhau, cod mixed with herbs and potatoes, formed into little balls then fried to a crisp golden brown. A salad made from fresh garden vegetables rounded out the selection, and courtesy of the dairy cows there was a sweet creamy butter to slather onto the chewy white bread.”

The above meal occurs in Terceira, a territory of Portugal, where caldo verde is considered the national dish, and bolinhos de bacalhau are also high on the list of common foods. After a cursory perusal, it might sound perfectly fine to someone reading a book set in the 16^th century. But upon closer examination, the dates are a bit iffy. Just after finishing the first draft of El Rey, I had the privilege of meeting an Azorean resident, John Court, who took a copy of the book back to Portugal to pass around among his friends. Overall, the feedback was favorable, but there was one little point of contention from a reader named Elena Gomez, a professor from the University of the Azores.

John Court: Elena finished the manuscript and was overwhelmed by the story and, just as particularly, the absolute precision and scope of your research. The only thing she picked up on was the fact (she thinks) that the potato didn’t arrive in the Açores until after the 16th century and therefore Calde Verde wasn’t part of the cuisine till later.

Me: Yes, I knew that I was playing with the timeline of the migration of the potato, but as South America was discovered in 1500, and Angra was a major hub and likely to have access to commodities not readily available to the rest of Portugal, I invoked a little artistic license.

John Court: Nelinha had researched the potato and concluded that you were correct again for exactly the reason you explained … and the artistic license is a legitimate second cover … it would be difficult to prove calde verde wasn’t a possibility in the mid 16th century in Terceira.

These people live on the island of São Miguel, a neighboring island of the exact geographical location I wrote about, and they all have degrees of higher education. Far be it from me—an ordinary housewife who became a mom and never went back to complete my A.A. degree—to argue the point. Regardless, my logical explanation won the day. Furthermore, claiming artistic license can cover a multitude of sins, as long as one’s theory is plausible. And isn’t that the gist of it anyway? That “it would be difficult to prove calde verde wasn’t a possibility.” We are fiction writers, after all, and can always fall back on that. If a reader is picky enough to balk over the marginal erroneousness of the inclusion of one item in a 500+ page book, shouldn’t the burden of proof lie with her? I’m going to stick with that!

As ever, thank you for your time and interest. Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a free ebook, and be sure to visit these other fabulous blogs.

1. Random Bits of Fascination (Maria Grace)
2. Pillings Writing Corner (David Pilling)
3. Anna Belfrage
4. Debra Brown
5. Lauren Gilbert
6. Gillian Bagwell
7. Julie K. Rose
8. Donna Russo Morin
9. Regina Jeffers
10. Shauna Roberts
11. Tinney S. Heath
12. Grace Elliot
13. Diane Scott Lewis
14. Ginger Myrick
15. Helen Hollick
16. Heather Domin
17. Margaret Skea
18. Yves Fey
19. JL Oakley
20. Shannon Winslow
21. Evangeline Holland
22. Cora Lee
23. Laura Purcell
24. P. O. Dixon
25. E.M. Powell
26. Sharon Lathan
27. Sally Smith O’Rourke
28. Allison Bruning
29. Violet Bedford
30. Sue Millard
31. Kim Rendfeld

In my Heroes and Villains post, I gave a short preview of my third novel, Work of Art: Love & Murder in 19th Century New York. The writing is complete, the editing has begun, and everything is on schedule for a late May release of the ebook with paperbacks available in June. I will probably have an official blurb for you to peruse in the next week or so, but in the meantime, I am ‘it’ in a game of WIP tag. Thanks to my fellow writer and dog lover, Stephanie M. Neighbour, I now have another opportunity to talk a little more about Work of Art.

1. What is the title or working title of your WIP?

Work of Art: Love & Murder in 19th Century New York.

If I had answered the question a month ago, you would have gotten a slightly different response. Work of Art has been the title since the book’s conception, but the subtitle actually took a little more thought. Even now it seems a little long to me, but I wanted the title to be a sort of mini-synopsis. The way books are searched online these days, I think it’s a wise move.

2. What genre does your novel fall under?

Well, my first two novels are historical fiction with a love story at the core, but I researched the genre on this one mostly because I was having trouble defining it. Turns out it’s closest to historical romantic suspense, but that still doesn’t pin it down. My books are not what a reader would typically consider romances, although this one is MORE about the love story than the history.

3. What actors (Dream Cast) would you choose to play the characters in a film version?

The main character is Delphinia Ryan, a tall and slender, plain looking girl with magnificent eyes. During the course of the book, she’s transformed into a stunner. While I was writing, I pictured a taller version of Jessica Chastain.

In my Heroes and Villains post, I used a picture of Brad Pitt for Cillian Arthur. He’s the main love interest, a society man who looks like a golden Greek god.

I also used Eric Bana to represent Jimmy Sheehan, the tall, dark, hot-tempered rival. I’ll go ahead and stick with that.

4. What is the main outline for your book?

Delphinia is an Irish immigrant working as a lady’s maid for a society matron in New York. She is an accomplished artist with a touch of clairvoyance. Cillian Arthur develops a fascination with her, and transforms her into a fine lady ala Eliza Doolittle. Jimmy is jealous and tries to win her for himself. While all of this is going on, there is a serial strangler on the loose. Del witnesses the murders through her visions, but never sees the killer until the very end. 

5. Will your book be Indie published/self-published or represented by an agency and sold to a traditional publisher?

Ha ha! What do you think?

6. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

This is a trade secret and something that I hope never becomes public knowledge.

7. What other books in the genre would you compare your book to?

I suppose the closest approximation would be Mary Higgins Clark in an historical setting but with a stronger romantic element. Maybe Victoria Holt but less gothic. 

8. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My brain is still a mystery to me. I suppose Work of Art is a combination of my unsettling fascination with serial killers, and the macabre in general, combined with my penchant for a good love story. I hope it jives.

9. What else about the book might pique readers’ attention?

Well, it think the story is solid. There are a lot of intriguing plot elements. For the ladies there are two hunky guys–one refined and one a little rough around the edges–vying for the affection of the heroine, lots of fancy clothing and carriage rides through 1874 New York, and the plain-looking heroine’s transformation into a beauty. And for those craving something a little more visceral, there IS a serial killer. If that weren’t enough, there’s some awesome bare-knuckle boxing, and my adorable cat, Mr. Stinkerpuss, is in it!

Question 10 was about tagging other authors, but I am terrible at these things, and this is where chains come to die! Sorry. Next week I should have a cover for you to look at and a progress report. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will again!

Hello and welcome to GingerMyrick.com!

It seems I have said this fairly often since the beginning of the year, but I suppose it is a good thing. To any of you who are newbies, I happily greet  you for the first time and hope you will become a regular visitor. To those of you who are familiar with the website, welcome back, and thank you for your support.

I will be giving away an ebook version (Kindle or Epub) of the winner’s choice of Ginger Myrick books. For full descriptions click here. Or you can wait for the soon to be released Work of Art: Love and Murder in 19^th Century New York. Comment to enter.

This time around the theme of the blog hop is Heroes and Villains, and my contribution is:

MY HUSBAND: HERO OR VILLAIN? YOU DECIDE!

For anyone who has visited my blog before, there is the high likelihood that you have heard me rambling on about writing what you know. Here are my thoughts summed up from a previous post: “I am an unremarkable person, so I write about ordinary characters. My protagonists are not gods and goddesses nor paragons of virtue, and my antagonists are not evil scheming demons without a shred of decency. They are all utterly human with human strengths and failings. I believe this is what makes them real and believable.”

There is also a very good chance you have caught me in the middle of a rant or rave about my wonderful but childlike husband. Well, hubby is quite possibly my most familiar subject (He should be after nearly two decades together!) and no matter how I try, he seems to find his way into my writing time and time again.

In the dedication section of The Welsh Healer, I write, “… and as ever, the basis for each one of my male protagonists is my husband, Terry. While the physical description may change with each new telling, the heart of the hero remains constant and is the one that beats in you.” I know, aww … right? But the fact of the matter is that it can be quite frustrating. I’m sure my readers, no matter how loyal, get tired of reading about a tall, dark, angry guy, who seems to hold some sort of unexplainable and irresistible charm for an otherwise intelligent and discerning woman. In El Rey there was no real villain, just a very human guy making stupid mistakes that provided enough plot twists and turns to keep the book from being too ordinary. In The Welsh Healer, the ordinary guy turned into a not so ordinary guy with a slightly more prominent dark side but still mostly a normal human being.  Are you getting the idea here?

Usually my stories come as a whole, the plot predetermined and the characters with distinct, fully-formed personalities. This time, however, it seems that my muse had different ideas. My soon to be released third novel is titled Work of Art: Love and Murder in 19^th Century New York. It is the story of Del Ryan, an Irish immigrant with a touch of clairvoyance working as a lady’s maid for a wealthy society matron in upper-class … well … 19^th century New York. In this book I wanted to give a very different look to the love interest, and I thought I could fool my brain for certain. Of course, I intended this man to be a far cry from my loving husband, and he very well should have been. Things certainly started out that way. The man is a well-mannered, silver-tongued charmer who looks like a golden Greek god. Meet Cillian Arthur:

He was dressed in a natural-colored wool suit complete with waistcoat and contrasting ascot. The light brown shade set off his warm skin tone to its best advantage and made his sky-blue eyes blaze the brighter. His face, with its angular planes and chiseled features, could have provided the model for the works of art she had seen in the new museum, man’s concept of perfection. The wavy hair that framed his handsome face was a touch darker than the straw boater, which sat atop it, practically the shade of ripened wheat. Everything about him suggested a golden, celestial light. He was the most peerless being she had ever seen, and to Del he looked like an angel.

Not to be unduly harsh on hubby, but this guy could very well be his polar opposite in every way, and it was purposefully done. But, slowly and surely, he started to exhibit similar characteristics to those of my wonderful, supportive spouse. There is also a tall, dark, angry guy, who seems to hold some sort of unexplainable and irresistible charm for an otherwise intelligent and discerning woman. He started out with a bit role and eventually bloomed into a full-fledged character with a substantial influence on the story. Please allow me to introduce Jimmy Sheehan:

Del was taller than any other woman she had ever encountered, but Jimmy towered over her by a full head, the crown of hers only reaching as high as his chin. He was powerfully built from all the physical labor he performed, broad-shouldered and rock hard without an ounce of excess flesh on his lean frame. His whole rugged person looked as if it had been carved from stone. He was brutally handsome, with devilish good looks. He had jet black hair and brown eyes with russet highlights, and as a child he had been called ‘Satan’s Spawn’, because he was hot-tempered as Old Scratch himself.

But which one is the villain and which is the hero?

I suppose it is a fine line, and circumstances usually determine onto which side of virtue a character stumbles. But really, can two such disparate personalities inhabit the same body? Well, they can, but which one is the hero and which is the villain? I leave that for you to decide. If I have done my job well, this time the reader won’t be able to sort them out until the final chapters. To tell the truth, I really wasn’t sure who was who until I got a good way into the writing.

I will say that the REAL hero is a little silver cat who looks suspiciously like the picture at the right. Yes, Mr. Stinkerpuss saves the day! (which will actually be the title of a children’s book someday!) And fortunately for you readers, there are many facets to hubby’s personality. I hope you will not become bored anytime soon.

Anyway, thank you for stopping by. I hope you will check back from time to time. Make sure to visit the participating blogs listed below, and don’t forget to comment to enter the drawing.

1. Nyki Blatchley   9. Joanne Hall     19. Sue Millard

2. Martin Bolton  10. Jolea M Harrison  2o. Rhiannon Douglas

3. Adrian Chamberlin  11. Tinney Sue Heath  21.GingerMyrick

4. Mike Cooley    12. Eleni Konstanine   22. David Pilling

5. Karin Cox        13. K. Scott Lewis

6. Joanna Fay      14. Paula Lofting    24. Kim Rendfeld

7. Ron Fritsch     15. Liz Long    25. Terry L Smith

8. Mai Griffin     16. Peter Lukes    26. Tara West

17. Mark McClelland   27. Keith Yatsuhashi

18. M.Edward McNally