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| Ellie James, author of the Midnight Dragonfly Series |
Researchin’ The Big Easy
Research is one of those words
that can strike fear into someone’s heart. Research makes you think of long
hours in front of the computer or pouring over cumbersome books with small
print, watching documentaries or searching through libraries (do people really
do that anymore?). Research makes you think of trying to figure things out, of
piecing together disparate sources of information. Of work. Of time. And yeah,
probably some frustration, too.
Rarely does research make you
think of this:
But for my series of paranormal
Young Adult thrillers, the Midnight Dragonfly Books, that’s exactly what my
research involved. Beignets. In New Orleans.
Yeah, sometimes life can be
really cruel.
The books tell the story of a
teenage psychic in New Orleans, so being a dedicated writer person, I realized
I had to make a trip or two (or three or four) down to the Big Easy, a city
where the dead outnumber the living 10:1. I wanted details. Authenticity. I
wanted to walk the streets Trinity walks, to breathe the air she breathes, to
slip inside the centuries-old buildings where spirits linger. I wanted to feel
the heat and the humidity, to hear the music pulsing through the French Quarter,
to taste the cuisine, and yeah, even smell the smells (not all pleasant!)
Along the way I found so much
more.
The city of New Orleans is a
world unto itself. Someone once asked me
for the three best words to describe the city. Being kind of a word-aholic, I
came up with seven: Beautiful. Mysterious. Decadent. Haunting. Exciting.
Unforgettable. Addictive.
Here are a few reasons why:
The Garden District
This is where the first book in
the series, Shattered Dreams, begins, as a group of teenagers sneaks into one
of the beautiful old abandoned mansions. Dating back to the 1800s, the streets
of the Garden District are among the most beautiful and historic not only in
New Orleans, but in all the United States. In addition to all the mansions,
you’ve got fantastically old sprawling oak trees, all drenched with Spanish
moss. (Sadly, Hurricane Katrina did a real number on the live oaks and cypress,
but many remain.) Wide lawns. Cracked sidewalks. Quiet streets.
The Garden District is where
Anne Rice and her vampire Lestat lived, and where Peyton and Eli Manning grew
up. There’s this amazing vibe there, like a long cool sip of mint tea on a hot
summer day. You can feel the history when you walk the street. You can feel the
memories. It’s amazing.
The Cemeteries
They call them Cities of the
Dead, and the second you see your first one up close and personal, you
understand why. These aren’t the sterile plots where Aunt Ethyl rests, with a
little urn of yellow plastic flowers. Far from it.
In New Orleans, cemeteries much
more resemble museums with elaborate works of statuary—and tour-guides. Yes,
you can tour the cemeteries, and since Trinity visits more than one cemetery
during the series, you better believe I did, too. You can visit by day or
night, though it’s highly advisable not to visit after dark if you’re alone.
You can walk among the hauntingly beautiful tombs. You can visit the crypt of
renowned voodoo queen Marie Leveau, and leave an offering of dried flowers or
candles. (Lots of people do.) You can even see the freaky pyramid that sits
waiting for actor Nichols Cage. You never quite know what you’ll see….
The French Quarter
Also known as the Vieux Carre, this is the oldest
neighborhood in New Orleans and the heart of the city’s tourism. This is where
you have Jackson Square and St. Louis cathedral:
Bourbon Street and the famed
Café du Monde, where jazz music and local performers fill the streets.
Fantastic food and fun shops, shops you’ll never see anywhere else, with
merchandise you never even imagined…
This is also where the psychics
gather, a key piece of research for me. I spent hours walking among the palm
and tarot card readers, watching them interact with tourists and customers—and
getting a few readings of my own. Yes, you really can. They’re sitting right
there, along the old wrought iron fence, gifted mystics ready to look into your
future, or your past. And most of them don’t charge. Instead, they’ll accept
“whatever you see fit.”
Jackson Square is also where
you’ll find fantastically talented artists, some ready to paint (or sketch)
your portraits, others busy painting scenes of everyday life, including the
horse-drawn carriages clomping along the streets. Just beyond the railroad
tracks is the levee. Just beyond that is the muddy Mississippi, ambling on.
Charity Hospital
Before the storm, Big Charity,
as locals call it, was a large, always-crowded medical center serving many of
the city’s underprivileged. During the storm, the hospital sustained
significant enough flooding to warrant evacuation. After the storm, Big
Charity, once a teaching hospital run by Louisiana State university, sits
empty.
An entire hospital. In downtown
New Orleans. Sitting in abandon. How could I resist the allure? The
possibility? I mean, hospitals have morgues, and I have it on very good source
that while the hospital is abandoned,
it’s not empty… It’s like everyone just
left one day and never came back. Which they did.
Which brings me to the absolute
highlight of my research:
Amusement Park
All these years after Hurricane
Katrina, and so much of New Orleans continues to sit waiting for life to
resume. I never realized this, but apparently I have a real thing for abandoned
places, which is probably why Trinity does, too. But seriously, for a teenage
psychic who sees things before they happen and picks up memories from objects,
what could be more tempting than places long forgotten?
Once, the Six Flags park on the
outskirts of New Orleans was a thriving local attraction. When the storm came,
the park shut down.
It was supposed to be temporary.
The stores were still stocks, food still in the restaurants, even the shift
schedule still on the white board. But Katrina hit far harder than anyone
anticipated, and no one ever returned to the park. Instead it sits amid
ever-encroaching swamp waiting-and rotting. It’s all still there, behind police
lines, the rides and the shops, many with merchandise still strewn about and
graffiti sprayed on the walls, huge broken urns and overgrown shrubs—and all
sorts of new kinds of inhabitants.
Yeah.
How’s an author-girl supposed to
resist something like that?
Research. There really is no
substitute.
About Ellie James
Most people who know Ellie think she’s your nice, average wife and mom
of two little kids. They see someone who does all that normal stuff, like
grocery shopping, going to soccer games, and somehow always forgetting to get
the house cleaned and laundry done.
What they don't know is that more often than not, this LSU J-School
alum is somewhere far, far away, deeply embroiled in solving a riddle or puzzle
or crime, testing the limits of possibility, exploring the unexplained, and
holding her breath while two people fall in love.
Regardless of which world Ellie’s in, she loves rain and wind and
thunder and lightning; the first warm kiss of spring and the first cool whisper
of fall; family, friends, and animals; dreams and happy endings; Lost and
Fringe; Arcade Fire and Dave Matthews, and last but not least…warm gooey
chocolate chip cookies.
You can follow Ellie
on Facebook.
FRAGILE DARKNESS, is available from Griffin
Teen November 27, 2012.
About the Midnight Dragonfly Series
Glimpses. That’s all they are. Shadowy premonitions
flickering through sixteen year old psychic Trinity Monsour’s dreams. Some
terrify: a girl screaming, a knife lifting, a body in the grass. But
others--the dark, tortured eyes and the shattering kiss, the promise of
forever--whisper to her soul. They come without warning. They come without
detail.
But they always mean the same thing: The clock is ticking,
and only Trinity can stop it.
Find out how in Shattered Dreams, Broken Illusions, and
Fragile Darkness, available from Griffin Teen!
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