Travel

HOW OUR AMERICAN ODYSSEY LED TO ‘BLACK TUPELO’

All writers of fiction depend on their imaginations. The more vivid the imagination, the better the writing. But there’s no replacement for experience, and that’s why Karen and I set off to follow the itinerary of my character Campbell Young as he pursued a scam artist named Wendell Honey through the American midwest. The route I designed for Young and his fellow traveller, Priam Harvey, took them (and us) to 20 states and 13 racetracks. Karen and I faithfully followed the route I designed, but we did stray from it on a few occasions when opporunity knocked.

One such occasion occured in Dodge City, Kansas, when we visited a racetrack called Dodge City Downs. Everyone at the track was  Mexican; very few of them spoke English. My high school Spanish (”Dos cervezas, por favor”) was horribly inadequate, but we were taken under wing by Andres Lima, an owner and trainer of quarter horses, who told us that if we returned one week later, we could enjoy a full day of racing at the track and see several of his horses run.

So that’s what we did. We headed west to Denver, drove up into the Rockies, camped on the Arkansas River at Poncho Springs, camped at Mesa Verde (site of the ancient and spectacular Anasazi ruins), camped at Desert View in Grand Canyon National Park, hung out at Crazy Bill’s Saloon in Flagstaff, explored several hundred miles of Route 66 (and many of its landmarks: the Museum Club, the Twin Arrows, the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, the Wigwam Motel, the Cadillac Ranch), turned back north at Amarillo, hung out at the Thirsty Dawg Saloon in Holcomb, Kansas (which led to a drive-past of one of the most infamous murder sites in American history: the Clutter family farmhouse), and were back in Dodge in time for the vaunted day of racing, reconnoitred with Andres Lima, met his wife and daughter and granddaughter, watched two of his horses win their races, and had an all-round amazing time, all of which resulted in me writing a scene for my new book, Black Tupelo, a scene made all the more vivid because I saw how the Mexican men dressed (white stetsons and colour-coordinated — lime or salmon or powder blue — shirts, belts and ostrich skin boots), I smelled the aromas of the food that was for sale (tortillas con carne, elotes con paprika), and I heard the music played by the 14-piece salsa band imported from Mexico for the occasion.

Imagination is great, but nothing beats experience; it adds authenticity to one’s writing. Unexpected developments during our trip led to unexpected experiences which resulted in unexpected scenes. One took place in the flood-damaged Ninth Ward of New Orleans; another took place in tornado-flattened Greensburg, Kansas; and so it went. And that’s why it’s important, in my opinion, to augment your imagination with experience.

Next Installment: What I’m going to work on next.

Tags: American Odyssey, Black Tupelo, canada, crime, horse racing, J.D. Carpenter, mystery, Twelve Trees

About the author

J.D. Carpenter's Campbell Young novels have been nominated for the Arthur Ellis Award, appeared on national bestseller lists (The Globe & Mail), and received critical acclaim (The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star, The Edmonton Journal, Maclean's, Quill & Quire).