18 January 2022

My American Project – Where does the story take place?


Dutch author Anne van Doorn first joined us back in August. He is a regular reader and commentator here at SleuthSayers. He's also a friend of mine. I'm pleased to share his guest column with you today.
— Barb Goffman

My American Project – Where does the story take place?

 by Anne van Doorn

When I challenged myself to write a mystery novel in American English, I confronted myself with an important question: where will my story take place? Most writers would recommend staying on familiar ground. Write about what you know. I’ve followed that advice for over twenty years. Many of my stories are set in the area where I live, in the Netherlands.

However, I discovered that few people outside this area are interested in stories taking place here. At least, bookstore owners elsewhere don’t sell my books. National newspapers don’t pay attention to them—and my country is roughly the size of New Jersey. I honestly don’t think anyone would be interested in a mystery novel set in my area, written in American English. That’s just too…outlandish.

However, write about what you know is solid advice. That's why I’ve decided to set my story in the only part of the United States I’ve ever visited: Manhattan, a borough of New York City. Even though it has been ten years ago now, in April 2011, I still have vivid memories of my time there. I have many photos and some video footage to refresh my memory. I stayed near the UN Headquarters, in a small apartment in the New York Tower on East 39th Street, just off First Avenue. I walked the streets, traveled on the subway, rode the avenues and streets, and saw many places, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New Amsterdam Theatre to see Mary Poppins the Musical. Central Park was like a magnet to me.

The advantages

My choice for Manhattan offers, in addition to my experiences, some advantages. First and foremost, everyone around the world knows New York, whether they have visited the city or not. It’s easy for a reader to imagine the place. We’ve all seen pictures of the high-rises, the avenues, the bridges spanning the East River and the Hudson. I don’t choose New York to gain a readership there, but for everybody’s familiarity with it. The readers who love the kind of story I want to write—the whodunit—will recognize the city in their mind’s eye.

A second advantage is that New York City is a town of immigrants and ex-pats. For me, as a Dutchman, it would be difficult to write convincingly about Americans in the rural parts of the country. New York City, however, is a melting pot of nationalities and cultures. Perhaps portraying the main character with European roots—a first- or second-generation American—is easier. If he behaves in a non-American way, it’s easy to understand why. Besides, didn’t Agatha Christie have huge success with her novels about a Belgian refugee living in England? And what about our very own Josh Pachter? Didn’t he write stories about Mahboob Chaudri, a Pakistani working as police officer in Bahrain? I think he did that convincingly—an inspiring example!

A third advantage: there are tons of information on the internet: photos, videos, and firsthand experiences, including about a place I once stayed. Visiting Google Maps allows me to read dozens of reviews written by people living there. Did you know there are dead cockroaches in the laundry room? And the elevators are consistently out of order. That’s what the reviews say, at least. Oh, the internet is a voyeuristic delight!

And last but not least, wasn’t Manhattan once a colony of the Netherlands? I think it’s appropriate to firmly plant a Dutch flag on New York soil, again!

 Discovering the city

I haven’t decided yet what part of Manhattan I'll use as a base for my American Project. But what I could already do is study how other writers portray the city and its police force. I don’t think I will fool the New Yorker into believing I’m one of them, but I want to get as close as possible.

Since I started working on the American Project, I’ve read and learned from the Rex Stout and Ellery Queen books. What strikes me is that their descriptions of the city are scarce. But with only a few of them, they conjure up recognizable images. I think that’s the way to go, as I want to write a plot-oriented story—definitely not a travel guide!

On my TBR-pile are books about New York that will help me discover interesting places. In this regard, my friends, I can do with recommendations. Which book should I buy to get to know New York? What websites are worth checking out? Do you know a YouTube channel that shows Manhattan as it is: the good, the bad, the ugly?

21 comments:

  1. Hi Anne,

    It appears you're doing a great job. I like your comparison of Poirot in Britain. Your character could easily be a new New Amsterdammer. Yea, Nederlands!

    For touring odd, historical corners of New York, it's hard to beat the Lincoln Rhyme stories by Jeffery Deaver. I consider it an example of how to combine factions with fiction.

    There are a lot of rumors around the city such as a legend an entire steam train is forever trapped in tunnels in Brooklyn or Manhattan, which I've always been curious whether it's true or not. But you might find a different kind of YouTube tour guide in urban explorers who gain illicit entry into such places as closed subway stations still with their lights on.

    A useful tool is Google StreetView, which let's you 'drive' the streets of New York. I've used it to refamiliarize myself with lower Manhattan. What is the Broadway address of the bears and bulls sculpture? What is the building that has a red cube tilted on one corner? What is the name of the church at the west end of Wall Street?

    Google's aerial view is useful too. I worked at 77 Water Street, which people believe has an old airplane on top of the building. I used to eat lunch on the roof, so I can vouch it's not a real airplane but a full-size metal model– essentially a sculpture. After seeing a flash of it in a movie, I used Google to confirm it's still there.

    Useful tools include transportation maps– the subway system, bus maps, and ferry information for Governor's Island and especially Staten Island. Due to accident concerns, the city goes through policy changes concerning helicopter flights over the city, particularly overflights and rooftop helipads. I've used the Wall Street Heliport, which I believe is still operating.

    I'm most familiar with Greenwich Village, which has winding streets and curious places. A number of off-Broadway plays start there. If I could choose a place to live, it would probably be Gramercy Park. And my very favorite place is the Cloisters tucked away at the northern tip of Manhattan.

    Good luck, Anne. By the way, I not only happily read stories set in other lands. but I have one coming up in AHMM with an unlikely hero(ine) set in Africa. You would probably recognize a few words most English speakers wouldn't.

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    1. Leigh, thanks for taking the time to write down some of your experiences and ideas. I've made notes and visited Youtube and discovered cool videos. I will use your suggestions for further exploration.

      By the way, in what part of Africa is your story set? I guess it's South Africa where the Afrikan language is spoken that is based on Dutch. Dis baie interessant!

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  2. Anne, you have a superb guide in Barb, but if you need further encouragement of allochtonen (buitenlanders?) writing in English, remember the brilliant Joseph Conrad and Baroness Emma Orczy.

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    1. I'm indeed fortunate, Leigh. Few readers realize how important the people behind the scenes are. They think that writers master language and every facet of a story down to the last detail. Reality is different.

      Professionals know how to polish a story to make it shine. My name is on the cover, but many more are involved in accomplishing the feat.

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    2. That is very kind of you, Anne, thinking of your team, which sometimes includes me. After a story or a book comes out that I played a role in behind the scenes, I always feel like a cheerleader, rooting from the sidelines.

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    3. I remember my debut novel. In an afterword I thanked everyone involved. Only a few writers in the Netherlands did that at the time (2004). I've always liked that personal touch, the look behind the scenes. Give credit where credit is due.

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  3. Anne, I love your reasoning (and reasons) for setting your story in New York. You will do very well, I think. Good luck! I lived in the East Village back in the Seventies. My neighbors across the street (East Third) were the Hell's Angels. Lovely neighborhood, lovely neighbors.

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    1. Thank you, David. Your old neighborhood must be an excellent source of inspiration.

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  4. Great post, Anne--good to have you here! And best of luck with the project.

    I live 1000 miles from NYC but have visited it so many times I feel pretty comfortable there. Readers will love your book!

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    1. Thank you, John. Sport teams are encouraged by cheerleaders, mystery writers have SleuthSayers. I prefer the latter. There's always a lot to learn here!

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  5. Anne, you might want to check out the following crime series, both set in NYC: the Ellie Hatcher series by Alafair Burke and the Melanie Vargas series by Michele Martinez. Granted, I think both series are fifteen, maybe twenty years old by now, but maybe they'd be helpful. They're the series that stick in my mind when I think of ones I liked set in NYC. (And once I hit enter I'm sure I'll think of others, more obvious, more current ones, but still ...)

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    1. Thanks for your recommendations, Barb. I added both writers to my TBR-pile. The Melanie Vargas books came out between 2005-2008, according to: https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/michele-martinez/

      The Ellie Hatchers series was published between 2007-2014, according to Wikipedia.

      What I forgot to mention in my article, is that I read two books by Lou Manfredo too. Those books give a realistic impression of a precinct's detective squad--at least, I think so.

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  6. Anne:

    Great article. I can relate to your experiences in many ways. I admire your courage writing about New York. I'm from a little town in Nevada and would not have the courage I think to do so for any lengthy work as I'd be paranoid about getting some deail off that my New Yorker friends (and readers) would notice.

    I think it is smart to make your POV character (or at least one of them) a foreigner. This has two advantages. 1. It now allows you to use your own perspective and impressions with that character, rather than trying to approximate a NY native. 2. Any mistakes can be attributed to the character rather than the author. I did this in my first book LENIN'S HAREM which is a war story and family drama set in Latvia from 1905 to 1941. I knew I could never get all the details about Latvia and Latvian perspective right (despite moving to Riga to write the book), so I made my POV a foreigner, a Baltic-German thrust into the world of the Latvian majority It gave me the "safety" of an outsider's perspective. I was surprised how well it worked. The Latvian language edition was a Top 10 seller and I was invited to meet the Latvian ambassador, who held a book launch for me at the embassy. Aynway, this digression is meant to show you that people CAN accept a foreigner writing about their homeland/home city whatever your scope may be. So, I'm sure you'll succeed and sounds like you're doing everything perfectly! Look forward to reading it! Best, Bill

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    1. Bill, thank you for your contribution--worth far more than two cents. Your example shows it can be done. Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate it. Still--it's a challenge. But that makes writing a worthwhile endeavor.

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  7. Replies
    1. ¡There's a winning suggestion!

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    2. Thank you, Elizabeth. An excellent source of off-the-beaten-track information.

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  8. I think William Burton McCormick has a great idea - make him/her a foreigner, so they get things wrong all the time. A couple of interesting memoirs are Richard Goodman's "A New York Memoir" which covers 1975 down to the almost present. Vivian Gornick's "The Odd Woman and the City" about her encounters just walking around NYC. And while it just covers the 1960s/70s, Patti Smith's "Just Kids" is to die for.

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    1. I probably get things wrong all the time, Eve. That could turn out to be hilarious--unintended. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into them.

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