by Peg Cochran
You know that expression “changing horses in mid-stream”? I guess you can say that’s what I did when I went from writing contemporary cozies to writing an historical cozy series.
My historical series debuted with Murder, She Reported (Murder, She Uncovered coming May 2019), which is set in New York City in 1938 and revolves around murder at a debutante ball being held at the famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
I didn’t have any particular rationale for trying my hand at an historical, except that an idea came to me, and it wouldn’t let me go. And I felt this situation needed to be set in the 1930s instead of the present time.
Writing an historical requires a lot of research, but then so does writing a contemporary cozy—I’ve researched cranberry growing, farm life, bees, vintage lingerie, Southern living, and many other things. The challenge with historical research is that some things are almost impossible to find out—what building stood on such-and-such a street in New York City in 1938 before the block was razed to make way for newer construction? It’s not something you can go to Google maps for.
I’m working on the third book in the series now, and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find out what the interior of the DuPont Pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair looked like. I found one photograph of the interior, but I still wanted to know where the ladies room was, were their offices in the building, and so forth. Some things you do have to make up—it is fiction, after all.
Another thing I’ve been researching since I started the Murder, She Reported series is language, slang, and colloquial expressions. One expression I wanted my character to use—I forget which one now—but when I looked it up, I discovered it wasn’t introduced until the 1960s, so unless my character was clairvoyant, it wasn’t going to work.
Some of the research I found great fun and not something I’d get to do if I wrote a contemporary series. I’ve looked up old advertisements for makeup, perfume, clothing (especially hats!), and even paint colors to find out what they use at the time. My characters dab Tabu behind their ears, wear Coty’s Votre rouge lipstick and paint their powder rooms in Belvedere Cream by Sherwin Williams.
In order to get myself in the mood (a great song made popular by Glen Miller, a popular band leader of the era), I sometimes watch movies from the 1930s. Research is hard work, you know! I also play big band music while I’m working. There’s something about the rhythm that helps make the dialogue snappier.
I love writing this historical series, but I’m not abandoning contemporary cozies. I have a new series that will debut in the fall of 2020, and I will be continuing my Cranberry Cove series and my Lucille series.
A former Jersey girl, Peg Cochran now resides in Michigan with her husband and West Highland white terrier, Reg. She is the author of the Gourmet De-Lite series, the Lucille series, the Cranberry Cove series, the Farmer’s Daughter series, the Murder, She Reported series and the Sweet Nothings Lingerie series (written as Meg London).
When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading, cooking, spoiling her granddaughter, and checking her books’ stats on Amazon.
Peg,
Reading this reminded me that my mother wore Evening in Paris when I was a little girl. I remeember the dark purple bottle. And women often wore hats.
Peg,
Reading this brought back memories—my mother used to wear Evening in Paris. I remember the dark purple bottle the perfume came in. And women often wore hats with veils.
Peg, your new historical cozies sound charming! I’m looking forward to reading them–with a little Glen Miller music playing in the background. Congratulations on your new series! (I don’t know how you find time to do anything but write with so many series characters solving crimes. I’m impressed and amazed.)