tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52789914748106645422024-03-12T19:39:29.803-07:00E.D. MacDavey - AuthorThis is about adventures in writing a novel—how it was conceived, researched with exciting trips, and written with much gnashing of teeth by E.D. MacDavey, who is really two people. (See below.) The novel is a mystery/thriller/comedy that takes place in Zion National Park. Considering that the central characters are a couple of retired folks in a trailer, we had our work cut out for us when it came to the thrilling parts, but the comedy was natural.Elizabeth McBride and David Thompson, writing togetherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861668778311352217noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278991474810664542.post-15584342259692736692009-11-12T19:52:00.003-08:002012-08-25T02:07:07.957-07:00Against all odds...<div><span style="color:#fff2cc;">.</span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdF5pqnz-YR9iABhi8BMYsxxptpTCZBSqbCqE8dJqZXE13yZmBQoAxRHYWU4D6uqKZsew4hfec80SQ66P4IG88tkpkF69bUDZsO9xW4sJOYVvqeujK38kowqvEBcUjFCIzaT3ygIJ/s400/3986479852_52e8b73d0b_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5780534056181120162" /><div><br /></div><div>David writing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<em><span style="color:#3333ff;"> Liz Responding</span></em><br /><br />The first thing a reader might ask is: Isn’t trying to write a novel kind of … cheeky? Well, yes. And kind of daffy … hopeful … and misguided. Maybe not so much for Liz, because she already has two novels to her credit: one published by Avalon and another packed away in her dresser drawer. She has a master’s degree in journalism, and was staff writer for a local newspaper and book editor for a regional publishing company. Plus her nonfiction work has won numerous awards. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s a bit more of a stretch for David, but he was a newsletter editor once and he did well in 9th-grade English. Oh, and he wrote audiovisual scripts that won some obscure awards. Now he’s a professional photographer. And we both can type pretty fast, which is important.<br /><br />Despite the keen odds--or as Liz says, because of them--we have been resolved to have fun in the process. We’ve had a ball traveling around, learning interesting things about national parks, reading articles in the paper about slimy characters, and trying not to strangle each other.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />You see, the few authors who have tried collaborating with significant others say it’s a bad idea, even suicidal. But here we are, still sitting, fingers curled over the keyboard. And where else but in a blog can you read about the heroic process of writing a novel with the person you sleep next to—a novel that hasn’t even been published. For, dear bleeder—that is, reader of a blog—blogs are the fields of dreams, dreams that someday someone will stumble across your scratchings, drifting about in the ether like so many scraps of paper thrown to the wind.<br /><br /><strong>How the Novel Came to Be</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong>About twenty years ago, David was in the neighborhood library browsing the shelves. He came across a book on Mormon polygamy and on impulse took it home. In those days, David had a lot more testosterone pulsing through his veins so he was fascinated with the idea of polygamy. And it was historically interesting as well. The U.S. nearly fought a civil war over polygamy. So he read the book back to front and front to back and then forgot about it.<br /><br />Later Liz and David were thinking about writing some novels together and thought it would be nice to set them in national parks ….<br /><br /><em><span style="color:#3333ff;">Liz: Now, wait a minute! What I remember is that two of our friends had a little trailer that we fell in love with. Before we bought one ourselves, I requested that we rent a VW camper-van for a trip to Zion to see if we could survive a trip if we were restricted to a space the size of a business envelope. Despite the fact that the fridge wasn’t working and half the camper’s interior was devoted to an oversize cooler that doubled as an easy chair, we both came back alive and decided to buy a 17-foot fiberglass trailer called a Casita. I had the brilliant idea on the last day of the trip that we could write novels about a retired couple traveling to exotic locations. I distinctly remember this because I had just done what reporters most dread: I had spent a week on location and hadn’t taken any notes.</span></em><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFJ0cU5zo4di_m8HXD4w6b3dzuhqi55xXCUGcUt-pvfg2e2JCw1-IguSOqGMmfYSS1qZwxHwhcryCnu3ZLq1kLEhKq9h1qxRd89TwfdswsosNuXsxxudYILqN_H5bg90IMEqiH5od/s1600-h/Hidden+Canyon+lowres.jpg"></a><br /><strong>Hidden Canyon <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhyphenhyphenfp0VXld_bvE3w0TOPMS_vIitw5PXGX2TdIJsS1lbUhGveJBVgs0WLgdNmZtyD49SFBQx1TQGnUDlHz0tzslg97imnVIfpNVIeajYiK8oJu_bkE9eAebksloZ3fnlLJpDI_3GIx/s1600-h/Hidden+Canyon+lowres.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403438511443248962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhyphenhyphenfp0VXld_bvE3w0TOPMS_vIitw5PXGX2TdIJsS1lbUhGveJBVgs0WLgdNmZtyD49SFBQx1TQGnUDlHz0tzslg97imnVIfpNVIeajYiK8oJu_bkE9eAebksloZ3fnlLJpDI_3GIx/s400/Hidden+Canyon+lowres.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 400px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 300px;" /></a></strong><br /><br />So we returned to Zion, this time in our brand-new Casita. We hiked to the wonderful Hidden Canyon and imagined finding a body there.<br /><br />Zion is a raven’s flight from the fundamentalist Mormon communities on the Arizona border so David quickly recalled that book on polygamy. After that, we were deluged with ideas, buried under them<br /><br />But you can’t write a mystery like a blog, running at the mouth, saying whatever pops into your head. No, dear bleeder, you find photos of your characters and pin them up on a bulletin board. You sketch their personalities and backgrounds. You make up time lines and chart plot points, and do an outline of how the whole thing fits together. This was Liz’s job because she is more careful and organized. That’s why she has a real job.<br /><br />Meanwhile the story grew and grew like a bloated champion pumpkin lying out in a hot field, getting bigger by the day. David worked on the overall plot and high concept, along with the chase scenes. He came up with a great villain based satisfyingly on a former boss crossed with Mitt Romney. Liz worked on the interactions between the characters and their growth throughout the book.<br /><br />It was a good division of labor, but Liz groaned every time David dumped a new scene on her desk, threatening to disrupt her interlocking storylines. Little sticky notes with steps in the various plot lines adorned every corner of her office. She moved them around daily, like furniture in a doll house.<br /><br />David was like a bull in the doll house.Finally she crossed her arms, drew a line in the rug, and said, “Stop it! You send me one more exploding camper scene, and I’m getting a divorce!”<br /><br />“But we’re not married,” David reminded her.<br /><br />“Yeah,” she said. “And that’s why!”<br /><br />Liz became the Boss Writer. She said she “had more experience,” which was true. David jumped-to when research was needed or when the detailed plot revealed a chink that needed to be stuffed with words. He had fun e-mailing strangers and was amazed that he got prompt responses from experts in mummies, dendrochronology, and forensics. Only the Mormons didn’t write back.<br /><br />Meanwhile, he kept churning out scenes, though at a reduced rate. Instead of showing them to Liz right away, he dropped clever hints until she asked to see one. Now and then, Liz even asked him to do some writing, usually an action scene or one of the evil villain’s loony delusions. David was good at the delusion thing—a natural talent. And it was fun for David to blow up villains through creative stratagems. It made him feel puffed up, like a courting toad. A good antidote for falling testosterone.<br /><br /><strong>Picking Up the New Trailer </strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij30g3a7jJvmDOSEudSfJfvfkSDY4Oid_aYwrrWCtsf7W7OzGkvoOX1xI_1xu8RmUY-T7-d8bj3EEenowgEf0MsUIo_rFPVvW7FdBMgaYfzpOpX2Y1Nv8HJHkENX0MSmt_yGphsCCc/s1600-h/Casita+in+desert+low+res.jpg"></a><br /><strong><br /></strong>When our trailer was ready, we sold David’s compact car and bought a van that was hefty <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R5n9Y4zRbxY8ymaDSTyUV8D80fttxU6TZMtJVZnYnEVhfLf6LM5me8l8jugqi-JZvDUioYTcMWlT5z0H9Yt0lWo9TWHaamH9SZdbTsYZo1ph0d43ZE0Gyo2LbM1xUAxOjdc7Avea/s1600-h/Casita+in+desert+low+res.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403439751698483538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R5n9Y4zRbxY8ymaDSTyUV8D80fttxU6TZMtJVZnYnEVhfLf6LM5me8l8jugqi-JZvDUioYTcMWlT5z0H9Yt0lWo9TWHaamH9SZdbTsYZo1ph0d43ZE0Gyo2LbM1xUAxOjdc7Avea/s320/Casita+in+desert+low+res.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 133px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a>enough to pull 3,000 pounds. Then David scheduled an appointment to pick the trailer up at the Casita factory in Rice, Texas. A three-hour briefing on how to operate it was required.<br /><br />“Whoa,” David thought. “A pilot’s license for a trailer?”<br /><br />Since David has a problem packing for big trips, he didn’t depart for Texas until the last minute. It was a 20-hour drive. Despite barreling along at 80 mph, he only got in an hour’s sleep. He did arrive on time, however, albeit a little stressed out. He even spent a few moments in the waiting room looking at photos of staff Christmas parties attended by women with big hair.<br /><br />When the briefing began David was showered with details: tire pressure, winterizing, safety, how to hitch the trailer with 49 cables, chains, wires, and locks. “And don’t operate the fridge on DC current while driving,” the Casita rep warned. David took copious notes, which slowed down the briefing and annoyed the instructor who would have been a high-school teacher if he had had any less aptitude for teaching.<br /><br />When it was all done, David proudly took possession of our Casita Freedom Deluxe and headed west to Zion. Changing lanes while driving through Dallas during rush hour was rather intimidating, but no one got crunched, and once beyond the city he began to relax. Towing a trailer wasn’t so bad. It just followed the van wherever it went, with power to spare. That evening he pulled into a roadside rest area and went to sleep.<br /><br />The next morning, David arose refreshed, but the van’s battery was dead. Oops! He had left the fridge running on DC current, and it drained not only the trailer’s battery but the van’s as well. And the rest area was deserted. There was no one to help.<br /><br />Eventually, a maintenance man came by to empty the trash and gave David a jump. But this was the first of many lessons, all fodder for the book.</div>Elizabeth McBride and David Thompson, writing togetherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861668778311352217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278991474810664542.post-72042511848857287062009-11-12T19:43:00.001-08:002012-08-24T23:42:10.027-07:00Where can I see a polygamist?<div align="center">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYSYQbQ_vZd2eMg3oVsBTsgBKuXaoMNVbhWGuXzBPx4vwAcrN02gkmVTrIAkQfsEkzb1rl32yr7iPJeR9hUSZLo7JKYJIqBOwvCARgIliKNa9jQyLsNp1uIkbe9P59ZJlQlR201_u/s1600-h/Z844+CBRSh.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403443914634871682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYSYQbQ_vZd2eMg3oVsBTsgBKuXaoMNVbhWGuXzBPx4vwAcrN02gkmVTrIAkQfsEkzb1rl32yr7iPJeR9hUSZLo7JKYJIqBOwvCARgIliKNa9jQyLsNp1uIkbe9P59ZJlQlR201_u/s400/Z844+CBRSh.jpg" style="display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><em>The twin towns of Colorado City & Hilldale</em></div>
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You’ll find polygamist communities in Texas, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Canada, and Mexico (where <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,254362,00.html" target="_blank">Mitt Romney's ancestors</a> practiced polygamy). The most accessible spots are the twin towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hilldale, Utah. Visiting them is a sobering experience. I visited Moscow just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. These places have the same feel: shabbiness, disorder, oppression.</div>
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<a name='more'></a>At the cooperative market, women wear long dresses with high-buttoned collars. Lace caps sit atop pompadoured hairdos. You don’t see many men. I spotted exactly one leaving the market, climbing into a car filled with girls. Take a look at our companion blog—Polygamy Country—to see photos.<br />
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Closer to Zion, you can spot women from “plural marriages” buying groceries at the supermarket in Hurricane. If there is a husband around, you probably won’t identify him. Men live less restrictive lives and may be employed outside the community. Except for wearing long-sleeved shirts on boiling hot days, they look mainstream.<br />
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As you drive on the Interstate near St. George, crane your neck at the huge houses up on the bluffs—upscale versions of the shabbier ones in Colorado City and Hilldale.<br />
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And what about those large families having well-organized suppers in the Zion campgrounds—are they of the polygamous persuasion? Maybe. It’s not like you can just ask.<br />
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Am I treating polygamists with due respect? Perhaps you’d argue that they are a religious minority, free to pursue their beliefs without interference. Think again....<br />
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First, polygamy is illegal, and when people live outside the law they cannot rely on the law to resolve their disputes. Hence, disputes lead to abusive or violent behavior.<br />
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Second, polygamy affects children. Rates of incest, molestation, and underage marriages are high. Education and activities outside the home are limited. Excess boys are ejected from the community and left to fend for themselves.<br />
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Third, many polygamists use welfare to support their lifestyle. If I’m paying for their lifestyle, this is my business.<br />
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Maybe you’re thinking that polygamous arrangements between consenting adults should not be censored. I say that many if not most of the women in plural marriages cannot be considered consenting adults. They have grown up in the system and see no alternative to an early arranged marriage to a righteous geezer, especially when the all the people around them say their salvation depends on it. Once they bear children they are bound to the system. And they have nowhere else to go.<br />
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<a href="http://www.polygamyprimer.blogspot.com/">More about polygamy</a></div>
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Elizabeth McBride and David Thompson, writing togetherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861668778311352217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278991474810664542.post-39340581914132481532009-11-12T19:42:00.006-08:002012-08-24T20:07:30.309-07:00Characters--Jesse Cage<div align="left">
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Once we had settled on the subject of polygamy and the location of Zion, an early challenge was to begin to flesh out our villain and his digs.<br />
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It seemed obvious that our villian, Jesse Cage, needed to have some kind of isolated ranch, similar to one we had read about in a news story about an abused young woman with the Klingman Clan. The job fell to David, who seemed to have more affinity for evil.<br />
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The first problem was that, with the exception of a summer at dude ranch in Montana as a teenager, I didn't have experience with isolated ranches. <br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403691972666532114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1KU0RM-5D6Qs42Ha-4cWSabKZO29APALxKQ3Gy9iBYU7Vjhh4paTi5sDT8DzQsqqz-IedEzZBt1rQJOA3-1TK6r9Dwn8s-7HNJTzBijtd9dNfHf7abd6NN4ajQUOU_TmZcF4zPCM/s400/ZionMansionGate.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 133px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></div>
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I had seen some large ranches in the back country, but I couldn't imagine myself driving up to the front gate of some opulent ranch and saying into the intercom: "Hi--I'm a writer researching the lairs of an evil villain. Would you mind showing me around your ranch? " </div>
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Still, I wanted to base our novel on something real, with substantial detail. For a while I was stumped. But as I drove around the west on several trips--one to Yellowstone in the winter--I began to find and photograph some isolated desert mansions. I didn't have to hop over any fences of razor wire, or run from attack dogs--I just photographed them from the road with my telephoto lens. Here's a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35544042@N06/sets/72157622795753228/show/">slide show</a> of the more interesting finds.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403641043689125298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFc218tbbo22om8QbecYJ2hVcpqmVU5dYZ3Pvn4AZJlDwB6HaZeosKVVHz6QYUOzV0PbGGysVdz5N2ZgnCoNfv1E3-jE8DeimzrvRYGd44FNgzI1xONFpi5PpQP2By03cco2A5TESr/s400/Reno+Mansion.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 200px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><em>Magnificent isolation--mansion dominating a dusty town near Reno.</em><br />
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It seems there's some serious money sloshing around this country, and it's not all being spent on campaigns to eradicate malaria from the third world. Indeed, some of it's going to support impossible luxury in the most barren of places.<br />
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In the Zion area, I found a modern style for rural mansions that seems insired by ski lodges--log construction with colored metal roofs. Indeed, there are whole developments in this style not far beyond Zion. </div>
But there are also some mansions in the style of the old Mormon houses one sees in the town of Escalante. This was what I wanted. I finally selected this house, located SE of Zion, as the model for Jesse Cage's house.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403646600352809970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQk8FlzkBMNd4SSBX4w3fKRVh0Zwxs4Ygk_CjIVqvUaqwbOgcYMZ5SsD0uqpnDs0O8WQnIXyKET18bgwHYgnX5tlb5l5mFs3R_pn57-tp1F-Ze038r2w1Z26b7HYqkaY2DOI9x6YhV/s400/Mormon+Style+2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 286px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /> <em>Mansion in the old Mormon style. The image is wavy in the heat.</em><br />
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Next, I needed a location for Jesse's mansion. It needed to be relatively close to Zion, and in an impregnable location. As I hiked and drove around Zion, the perfect spot gradually suggested itself.<br />
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When you hike onto the mesa tops overlooking Zion--such as Observation Point--you can see higher mesas off in the distance. When I checked a map, the closest one turned out to be Clear Creek Mountain. I drove out that way on the North Fork Road, a dirt road that traverses the western edge of the Zion basin. Since I hadn't selected Clear Creek Mt. for sure, I didn't take the time to explore it in detail--and besides, it looked like the road up to the top would require four wheel drive.</div>
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403649886465600674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtYOgu3pslQTSPN89B5U9OrwuGLtbiK-q82EYTdNX0cXdBqutsPuQlFMclfIASVXXzfqtRQ-_a1PvWlOO0JQFlBI6gdDTi_KWom9fnH54lJRQxJ9tzrz_ksDfbM1h0s_BS1n8VsXr/s400/Clear+Creek+Mt.--Location+for+Condor+Ranch.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><em style="text-align: center;"><em>Clear Creek Mountain--location of the Cage's Condor </em></em><em style="text-align: center;"><em>Ranch.</em></em><br />
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So, back at home in Wisconsin, I explored the location in using Google Maps. What a pleasure this turned out to be! The Google aerial photos for this area are in exquisite detail! I was able to actually sit (vitrually, of course) on the top of the mesa and look out over Zion, just as Jesse Cage would, surverying his domain. I was able to fly over Zion like one of Jesse's Predator drones. I could even fly down into the canyons, hunting for victims.<br />
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What as tool this turned out to be! I spent hours and hours, getting totally familiar with the countryside. In the end, I discovered that Jesse's lair, the polygamist communities of Colorado City, and the campgrounds at Zion, are all quite close. It's just the tortuous canyons and buttes that make them all seem so isolated from one another.<br />
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But I was still bothered by the ranch idea. I didn't know much about modern ranching, and I wanted our details to be realistic. I was talking to a friend about one of my former jobs, when the idea hit. I had worked at the International Crane Foundation, a place in a rural setting that raised endangered cranes (the birds) for reintroduction back into the wild. Most of the bird handlers at the Crane Foundation were women.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403652339273974786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fscGJj7plNVW97GLgzCP0r6Gid4wAfDq_Ydr8hB3FRv_BEjzqBz8ACHkUrWQ4V0KtbQ9RXpfQeYTOnp5c6yc4EjMFx4LY2yaT8ArSnFvAO1RMVFmTjdAM3qn1u50kHWTA86iKRjT/s400/JimHarrisWhoopers.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 261px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><em style="text-align: center;"><em>Rasing engangered cranes at the International Crane Foundation. Photo by Jim Harris</em></em></div>
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It turns out that there is a rural location in Idaho that is raising condor chicks for reintroduction into the Grand Canyon area. So--that would be what Jesse's gig--raising condor chicks. And what a great cover, for a guy with sinister activities he wants to hide. The condor chicks can't see people, or they will become tame. People have to stay out. From that point on, it was only a question of describing what I knew in intimate detail--an endangered species recovery program. <br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403694022758105826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrgaBUI_KDfgA319TVykkAdwgFMFm_58rDfyvSelBAZAZYYb5CmTIDJVuhAHVcRBf6kolf3gMdCA1StHxgWhm3Zh9hN4UeKb-xfpoOU2KA7ABrDHxe7RpER7waSE_hve-lpB3Fa-Sz/s400/StGeorgeMansion.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 133px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><em style="text-align: center;"><em>It turns out there are mesatop mansions in Utah, with lots of security. Humm...</em></em><br />
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As we fleshed out the details of Jesse's personality, we turned to Mitt Romney for inspiration. We noted Romney's rise toward nomination as the presidential candidate. Romney's bland personality--with so much unsaid about his Mormon background--seemed a perfect model for Jesse Cage. Like Cage, Romney's squeaky clean, rich and powerful, plus influential in the Mormon Church. Romney has polygamists in his background. It's interesting to speculate-- What would Romney do, if he had a few extra wives to hide? Find out by reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prey-Travel-Mystery-Isabel-ebook/dp/B0078WD3AW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345863486&sr=8-1&keywords=prey+for+zion">Prey for Zion</a>.<br />
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Click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35544042@N06/sets/72157622795753228/show/">here</a> for a slide show of desert mansions. You can see the show full-screen by moving your cursor off the screen.</div>
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Click <a href="http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=527470&idx=1">here</a> to see how the bankers live in the desert.</div>
Elizabeth McBride and David Thompson, writing togetherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861668778311352217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278991474810664542.post-42348246332063975342009-11-12T19:42:00.005-08:002012-08-24T23:32:18.285-07:00Liz describes the writing experience--interview by author Gail Baugniet<span style="color: #fff2cc;">.</span><br />
<i>This is the same story that appeared--as an interview--on </i><i style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/">Gail M Baugniet's blog</a>. If you've already read that, click <a href="http://www.edmacdavey.blogspot.com/">here</a> to return to the beginning of the MacDavey blog.</i><br />
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Our protagonists are a retired couple who have just bought a small fiberglass trailer with the intention of visiting the country’s most spectacular national parks.<br />
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Max Berkeley is an ex-ornithologist with ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). He's a natural explorer--curious, restless, and eager for adventure. However, his more cautious wife Isabel, a former schoolteacher, thinks traveling in their new trailer is like stuffing two whales in a sardine can, one of whom is constantly wiggling.<br />
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Their first destination is Zion National Park. On Max's first hike, he discovers a, let's say, unusual item on the trail. One thing leads to another, and soon they join an alliance of misfits intent on stopping the election of a powerful Mormon candidate with a secret life in an isolated desert compound. His goal: to spread his own brand of evil throughout Utah and the nation. </div>
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Polygamy, condors, drones, provocative Mormon tales, and one of the most beautiful parks in the country--we poured all that into 90,000 words! We bought our own trailer for the first-hand experience, took two extended trips to Utah, huddled over reference books, wore our eyes out on the Internet, and discovered a few unusual blogs, including one called Feminist Mormon Housewives. We even corresponded with an expert on mummies.<br />
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Every inch of ground mentioned in the book we saw, and we turned all of our trailer mishaps into plot devices. The explosions and dead bodies are, thankfully, imaginary. </div>
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As retirees, Max and Isabel are not supposed to have a job. But retiring doesn’t mean you’re giving up your smarts, your social conscience, or your ability to hike 10 miles on a rocky trail. As Max and Isabel shed light on a century-old mystery, rescue women from the clutches of polygamy, and claw themselves out of a few jams, they discover that having a sense of purpose gives meaning to life. </div>
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<b>Unsolved historical mysteries</b></div>
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Our novel, though fiction, has an unusual grounding in both history and current events. There are two historical mysteries--never solved—that would be sensational if they saw the light of day in 21st-century America. One of these involves the first draft of the Book of Mormon, which was stolen before it could be published. The second is the story of the greatest foe of Mormon polygamy--Ann Eliza Young. She was the 19th (some say the 27th) wife of Brigham Young, the leader who oversaw the vast migration of Mormons to Utah in 1846. Ann Eliza divorced Young, wrote an autobiography, and lectured to huge crowds around the country. In fact, she was one of the biggest box-office stars of her time, and her crusade is credited with bringing polygamy down. But she disappeared. Nobody knows when or how she died. No record. No grave. </div>
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<b>What if Mitt Romney had several wives?</b></div>
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Now that we’ve mentioned Mormonism, the connection to current events is obvious. One of the main characters, Jesse Cage, is a rich Mormon businessman, running for high political office. When Max finds one of Cage’s female employees naked and dead in a canyon, Cage struggles to shield from the public what’s going on in his desert compound. As his desperation grows, he realizes that the answer to what happened to the Book of Mormon--and Ann Eliza--will provide what he needs to prevail. (We saw Mitt Romney’s candidacy on the horizon when we began this project a few years ago. But, as we keep telling the Secret Service, any resemblance to the circumstances in our book is completely accidental!) </div>
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<b>Writing together without mayhem</b></div>
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Another unusual aspect of Prey for Zion is that two people (Elizabeth McBride and David Thompson) wrote it. A few famous authors have said that collaborating with a significant other is a bad idea, even suicidal. But despite the keen odds, we had a great time traveling around, learning interesting things about national parks, reading articles in the paper about slimy characters, and trying not to strangle each other. And here we are, still together, fingers curled over the keyboard. </div>
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<b>Attention deficit isn't all bad</b></div>
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Max has ADHD because coauthor David has ADHD. David has a nose for trouble and the daring to get out of it, which we figured were fine attributes for a character in a mystery novel. Since Max is constantly roaming and sleuthing, it’s not surprising that he stumbles upon dead bodies--one of which is a hundred years old. Think Miss Marples on amphetamines.<br />
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Isabel is his foil--steady, deliberate, and thoughtful. She's also a former schoolteacher, which gives her a wealth of knowledge to draw upon, the smarts to figure out puzzles, and the people skills to develop relationships and pry clues out of suspects. </div>
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<b>Prey for Zion--first in a series</b></div>
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Prey for Zion was conceived as part of a series. As Max and Isabel drive around the country with their little trailer visiting the iconic parks, Max’s restlessness draws them into one scrape after another. Isabel brings him down to earth, dusts him off, and cringes at the prospect of still another misadventure. We’ve sketched out plots for about five books. In book two, when Max and Isabel set up the trailer in Isabel’s hometown—Jersey City, N.J.—so she can attend a high school reunion, they uncover her family connections to the Mob and a plot to set off a radioactive bomb next door to New York City. </div>
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<b>Exploring locations</b></div>
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We love to spend our time doing research and writing in exotic locations—including anywhere in the U.S we can bring our trailer. For us, writing a novel is the perfect way to explore a place.<br />
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You examine all of its quirks--the things no one else notices. While taking our trips to Zion National Park, we looked not only into the park’s history and geology, but also the dusty ghost towns, polygamous villages, and eclectic countercultural hangouts tucked away in the backcountry. We go everywhere we can and some places where we shouldn’t. Liz completed her first hike in a dry suit, wading up the Virgin River in thigh-high waters where it cuts through a thousand-foot slot canyon. David nearly got arrested by a nervous ranger while too closely examining the graveyard of deceased picnic tables.</div>
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We both do background research onsite and take notes on our experiences. Liz specializes in character development, plot details, and the overall writing. David comes up with the premise and drafts the action scenes and the chapters that are told from the perspective of Max or one of the various male villains. He also exhaustively explores the locations (including picnic tables) and documents everything with photos.<br />
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Bringing different talents to the project makes it a fruitful collaboration. But that doesn’t make it easy. David always wants to add one more twist to the plot, way past the deadline of “no more details” set by Liz. He also provides the rollicking unpredictability that gives Prey for Zion its humor, while Liz brings the insight that infuses the plot with universal emotion and the craftsmanship that gets the project done.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>See the full interview <a href="http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/">here</a> on Gail M Baugniet's website. She's a fellow mystery writer, and a member of Sisters in Crime.</i></span></span></div>
Elizabeth McBride and David Thompson, writing togetherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861668778311352217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278991474810664542.post-54023418720873616462009-11-07T00:12:00.000-08:002012-08-25T00:18:47.399-07:00The dark side of Zion<span style="color: #fff2cc;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">The desert was a hard place, and the settlers were hard people. The Mormons had a communal ethic that helped them work together and survive locusts, Indian attack, and isolation.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">There was a time of fear when the Mormons of Utah nearly went to war with the rest of the US to keep their plural wives. Later, when polygamy was abandoned, pockets of polygamist holdouts hunkered down in the desert, where they remain.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">Zion National Park is an upbeat place where retired admirals in crisp white baseball hats climb on the shuttlebus to see the Hanging Gardens. Mainstream Mormons in Springdale present a cheery facade, while their dark cousins scratch out a living in the outback. Back in the slot canyons where the sun seldom shines, secrets from the past--best forgotten--lie hidden.</span><br />
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<strong style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">Thirteen ways to die in Zion</strong><br />
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<li>Automobile mishap--off the switchbacks on the way to the tunnel</li>
<li>Struck by lightning on Angels Landing</li>
<li>Fall from trail on your way to Angels Landing</li>
<li>Heart attack on the trail to Angels Landing</li>
<li>Lost without water</li>
<li>Flash flood, trapped in the narrows</li>
<li>Wildfire traps you on mesatop at Observation Point--it's jump or burn</li>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">Domestic violence in a trailer too small</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">Depression and suicide after reading this blog</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">Snakebite or bee sting, scorpion or tarantula--your choice</span></li>
<li><em style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">E. coli</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;"> in your burger</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">Cougar chews on your le</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">g while a California condor eats your liver</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">A m<span style="line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">otorcycle </span>mishap...</span></span></li>
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<em>...after a quick smoke--then a fast ride through Zion.</em></div>
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<em><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35544042@N06/sets/72157622617401031/show/" target="_blank">Slide show on the dark side of Zion</a></em></div>
Elizabeth McBride and David Thompson, writing togetherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861668778311352217noreply@blogger.com0