Lunch with a Character

By Kelly Bridgewater

Two weeks ago, my blog post discussed having lunch with a deceased character.

Last week, I shared which living author I would love to have lunch with.

This week, I want to share my thoughts on two different literary characters I would love to have lunch with.

Since I adore both of these characters, it was hard for me to pick one, so you get to read two.

First, I would love to hang out with Sherlock Holmes. 

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Yes, Holmes.  Not Benedict Cumberbatch. But Doyle's character Holmes.

 I would love to sit down with him while he is in the middle of a troubling case. It would be nice to see how his mind works and maybe offer some suggestions on how to solve the case. When reading novels, I have a pretty good idea of where the author is going and how they should solve the case. I usually can figure out the bad guy too. I might not be as good as Holmes, but I handle myself pretty well. Maybe even go on a case with him. Watch how he observes the scenes and can solve the cases using clues that most people don't notice.

Second, I would love to hang out with Harry Potter. 

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Harry Potter as a young kid. The one that has to fight Voldermort. I would love to see how he dealt with all that stress while growing up. Being a teenager is hard enough, but to have some ultimate evil wanting to kill you since before you were born. That is pretty hard to swallow. But he had the guts to stand up against him and not allow him to hurt him or his friends. I don't know if I would have the guts to do that. I love his ability to use magic. What a wonderful world to live in. I don't know how the conversation would go, but I would just allow the ideas to flow.

What literary characters would you love to have lunch with?

Write What You Read

By K. L. Bridgewater

I have heard this told to me a lot of times by a number of different published and unpublished writers. It is good sound advice. If you had read a lot in that genre, then you probably understand how the genre works the best. You have subconsciously woven in your brain where the inciting incident occurs, how many bad things have to happen to make your character squirm, and how satisfying the ending has to be.

As a young girl, I enjoyed reading The Baby-sitters Club and Sweet Valley series, but I gravitated toward their mystery series, which is why I probably spent one summer reading all fifty something Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene.  Yes, in one summer. I couldn't wait to return to the library and check out another one. Even if the library was a two hour bike ride, one way, from my childhood home. It was worth it.


One of my favorite books is The Count of Monte Cristo. I was assigned to read that book during my freshman year. I signed up for a senior level creative writing class, where I couldn't wait to write stories and get graded for it. The teacher passed out a copy of the book to everyone in the class. We would have weekly quizzes on certain chapters, but we were suppose to have the book done by the end of the semester. That night, I went home and after all my other homework was done, I pulled out Alexandre Dumas' masterpiece and started reading. I finished the 1000+ page book in one week. I truly enjoyed it. Revenge. Escape from prison. Sword fights. Buried treasure. Betrayal. Romance. It was great. Today, I return to the hollow pages of that book every winter.

Recently, I found Sherlock Holmes. Great books. I love how Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the books over one hundred and twenty-five years ago, but you would never know that by his verbal skills. It flows like a modern day novel. Mystery. Action. On the hunt following clues. I always try to find out who did the mystery before Sherlock Holmes does.

Trust me, I took a class in graduate school on the beginning of the novel from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, and I hated the way some of those authors wrote. Way too much description and interior monologue. I really don't care what the characters are wearing. Maybe that is why I can't stand Jane Austen. Too boring! Don't throw stones at me. The girls I went to graduate school already gave me the riot act because I won't read Jane Austen. 

Another one of my favorite authors is J.K. Rowling, C. S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien. I don't read a lot of fantasy. I have tried, but I get bored. But these three authors have created entire worlds with their writing, that I love getting lost in. I love walking through the halls of Hogwarts, rummaging through the wardrobe to Narnia, or traveling the countryside to Mortar or the Misty Mountain. Also, books I like to read in the winter.

Because of these great authors, I try to write suspense that will be lasting and stick with the writer for the rest of their lives. I would love, in the future, someone told me they would pick up my book and read it every winter because they enjoyed my writing.

What authors influences your writing? What book do you keep returning to every year, wanting to learn more and experience that rush of happiness?

Remembrance of Sherlock Holmes

By K. L. Bridgewater

During my last semester as an undergraduate at Indiana State University, one of my college professors had the class writing six different essays from six different literary theories. Feminist. New Criticism. Biographical. Historical. And a couple more I don’t remember. But the one thing I do remember is having to analyze The Great Gatsby six different ways. Boy, do I hate that book. Still today, I won’t watch the movie or glance at the book, sitting on my shelf next to To Kill a Mockingbird, which I absolutely adore.

To break the time from reading that horrible book written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, my professor mentioned she was currently reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Being someone who had never read any of the Sherlock Holmes’ stories, I always wanted to read them. So I went to the local library and borrowed them. I quickly devoured the tales by Arthur Conan Doyle written over a hundred years ago. Now, I watch anything to do with Sherlock Holmes, especially the latest BBC version. Soooo great.

After receiving a complimentary copy of Murder at the Mikado, I tore through the book in one evening. Enjoying the first two books, Rules of Murder and Death by the Book, I was really excited when Bethany House offered a free copy of me to review and talk about.

If you are a fan of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, then I suggest you pick up this book. It is a good mystery with believable characters. Even though Drew Farthering has money, he helps a little boy whose mother has been fingered as the suspect. The story features Drew, a young sleuth, with his two side-kicks, Madeline Parker, his fiancée, and Nick, his boyhood friend. Madeline and Drew’s wedding is in three weeks and in walks Fleur Landis, Drew’s old flame, asking him for help to free her.

To make matters worse, Drew believes Fleur and Mr. Landis’s son, Peter, does not look like Mr. Landis, but the man, Mr. Ravenswood, who was supposedly murdered by Fleur.

The story uses old clever knowledge and examination of the crime scenes to hunt for evidence. Drew and Madeline question the members of the theater troupe to discover the inter-tangle of relationships, causing in jealousy and revenge exploding all over the backstage at the Tivoli Theater. 

The plot even features an actual police officer, Chief Inspector Birdsong, who reminds me a lot of Inspector Lestrade, Cunning, yet totally dependent on Drew Farthering to notice the overlook clues by the local police.

Not going to spoil the plot and tell the ending. You have to read the book for yourself to find out who killed Mr. Ravenswood. But it’s good.

Murder at the Mikado features a heart racing mystery with a hint of romance populated with real life characters all playing a part in Julianna Deering’s mind. The story gave me the great sense of accomplishment I received after finishing Arthur Conan Doyle’s masterpieces. I just hope readers still enjoy Julianna Deering’s creations a hundred years from now. I know I sure did.

If you’ve read the book, did it remind you of Sherlock Holmes? If you never drew the connection before, what did I mention that made you think of that?  Feel free to leave a comment below, stating your feeling of the book or of my analysis. 

I received a complimentary copy of Murder at Mikado from Bethany House in exchange for my honest opinion. All the statements above are mine.