Site of inspiration on La Grand Jatte
Well-known Arizona author Susan Cummins Miller (Chasm 2015) shook her finger at me at the last Tucson Sisters-in-Crime meeting. “Your Facebook posts make me jealous! You’ve been traveling all summer!”
Guilty as charged. But I wasn’t ready to give in.
“Susan, you have six published novels with critical acclaim! You’ve got me beat by a mile!”
Susan said, no, not by that far, because with all my travels, I’m “filling the well” with adventures that can be used for future books.
She’s right. Last summer the strangest thing happened…. It was a perfectly beautiful day. I’d chosen to visit the Île de la Grande Jatte because it was the site of Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte,” and it was accessible by metro. I circled the whole island. Helpful placards showed where some of the Impressionists (Seurat, Monet, Van Gogh, Sisley, Gleizes) had done specific paintings. But when I got to the far western end, which is where Monet had set “The Banks of the Seine,” something happened. I was walking along the skillfully planned garden beds. I was admiring the flowers and silently thanking the shade of the tall trees.
Then the light bulb flicked itself on. I thought to myself, “This is a perfect place------- for a murder!!!” It was isolated. It was quiet. It was close to town yet far enough away to be dangerous. And instead of enjoying the simple beauty, something far more sinister came to my mind: Who should I kill off at this very spot?
Guilty as charged. But I wasn’t ready to give in.
“Susan, you have six published novels with critical acclaim! You’ve got me beat by a mile!”
Susan said, no, not by that far, because with all my travels, I’m “filling the well” with adventures that can be used for future books.
She’s right. Last summer the strangest thing happened…. It was a perfectly beautiful day. I’d chosen to visit the Île de la Grande Jatte because it was the site of Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte,” and it was accessible by metro. I circled the whole island. Helpful placards showed where some of the Impressionists (Seurat, Monet, Van Gogh, Sisley, Gleizes) had done specific paintings. But when I got to the far western end, which is where Monet had set “The Banks of the Seine,” something happened. I was walking along the skillfully planned garden beds. I was admiring the flowers and silently thanking the shade of the tall trees.
Then the light bulb flicked itself on. I thought to myself, “This is a perfect place------- for a murder!!!” It was isolated. It was quiet. It was close to town yet far enough away to be dangerous. And instead of enjoying the simple beauty, something far more sinister came to my mind: Who should I kill off at this very spot?
At the western tip of La Grand Jatte
I wasn’t looking for a setting. The mystery I was editing at the time takes place in Mexico. My next mystery is set in Tucson. Nonetheless, despite the Monet-like beauty, I was single-minded. I thought, I’ve got to use this setting. It’s just right. Not many people know about it. People live on houseboats along the sides of the island, and residents live at its center. Joggers continuously run its circumference. The space is public enough that anyone might visit it. The space is secluded enough that . . . anything might happen.
Several more times last summer, I had the sensation that a perfectly delightful spot I’d just discovered would be the optimal site for a murder. In the next weeks’ blogs, I’ll review some of them. I won’t talk about how I might use them, which series they might be for or which book they might turn up in. For that, you’ll have to do your own reading.
Or maybe buy a plane ticket.
Where would you most like to set your (next) murder story? What would be some advantages and disadvantages?
Several more times last summer, I had the sensation that a perfectly delightful spot I’d just discovered would be the optimal site for a murder. In the next weeks’ blogs, I’ll review some of them. I won’t talk about how I might use them, which series they might be for or which book they might turn up in. For that, you’ll have to do your own reading.
Or maybe buy a plane ticket.
Where would you most like to set your (next) murder story? What would be some advantages and disadvantages?
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