Tag Archive for: #AMurderofPrincipal

It’s No Secret by Saralyn Richard

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It’s no secret that I worked in urban high schools as a teacher, administrator, and consultant before becoming an author of fiction. So, when I wrote A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL, all of my close friends and colleagues couldn’t wait to see whether they would make an appearance in the book as a character.

The problem was, I had worked in lots of schools, so which one had I chosen for the setting of Lincoln High School? Which principal was the inspiration for R.J. Stoker? More intriguingly, who was the killer?

When people asked me, I gave my most enigmatic smile and said, “The book is purely fictional. Any resemblance to people, living or dead, is pure coincidence.”

Truthfully, when the story was just a glimmer in my mind’s eye, I called one of the principals I had worked with. I told him about the book’s premise. “People who know us may think that the principal is based on you. Are you okay with that?”

He said he’d be honored to be thought of as a character in my novel, even if said character were to be killed. I dedicated the book to him as a thank-you for being such a good sport.

Of course, the dedication fueled rumors that the book was not, after all, fiction, but a memoir of my time at that particular high school. When asked if character A was real-live teacher X, and character B was real-live administrator Y, I smiled enigmatically and said, “The book is purely fictional….”

And it is. Yes, there are scenarios in the book that occur in high schools, issues related to scheduling, discipline, curriculum, and instruction. That life is hard-wired into my brain after so many years.

Something amazing happened, however, when A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL was published. Readers began commenting that Lincoln High School was exactly like the school where they went, taught, worked. They could name real people for each of the characters in the book. And these readers hailed from all over the United States.

That spoke volumes about the universality of experience in high schools, something I had taken for granted and hadn’t considered.

Susan Van Kirk, another former English teacher and the author of Death in a Ghostly Hue, had this to say about the book:

“Ms. Richard was a school administrator in a large urban high school, so her story rings true at every turn. When Lincoln High School gets a new principal named RJ Stoker, it                                 also gets a new agenda designed to shake things up a bit. He creates a student/parent-oriented plan to change the atmosphere of the school and chooses Sally Pearce as his                                         assistant principal. Sally is like so many teachers I’ve known who are dedicated to the welfare of “their kids” and try to help them with far more than their English homework.

A fire in the school and the murder of Stoker starts this story off with multiple subjects of gangs, racial tensions, community grievances, and teacher-union politics. The kids are                               caught in the middle, especially the quarterback of the football team who’s resisting gang pressure and trying to protect his girlfriend. A second murder occurs, throwing Sally                                   Pearce into the uncomfortable position of next in line…as administrator and possible murder victim.

Ms. Richard has masterfully created a gritty urban school atmosphere with pressures in every direction. The assistant principal’s intentions are clear, the stakes are high, and her                             fears are real. The school community is also a huge part of the conflict. By the time a few murders occur, you suspect everyone. Beautifully written and filled with realistic                                           portrayals of urban school life.”

What book have you read that seemed more like true narratives than fiction? Did the parallels with real life increase your enjoyment of the novel?

Fences
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by Saralyn Richard

 

Do good fences make good neighbors? In the past few months, I’ve gained new neighbors on either side of my house. There’s a brand-spanking-new fence between my yard and that of the neighbor to the north. There’s no fence between my yard and that of the neighbor to the south. I love both sets of neighbors. We’ve shared lots of visits in our front yards, several barbecues and parties, baked goods, pets, children, home improvement advice, and more. They may be pine, and I, apple orchard, but I enjoy spending time with them and being part of their community.

Robert Frost’s MENDING WALL is one of my favorite poems. His last line is the source for my opening question. I find a lot of wisdom in this poem:

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

The work of hunters is another thing:

I have come after them and made repair

Where they have left not one stone on a stone,

But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,

To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,

No one has seen them made or heard them made,

But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;

And on a day we meet to walk the line

And set the wall between us once again.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance:

‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.

Oh, just another kind of out-door game,

One on a side. It comes to little more:

There where it is we do not need the wall:

He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’

The same analogy applies to my relationships with fellow authors in The Stiletto Gang. I may be police procedural and they cozy writers, but we have much in common, and we can help each other every time we meet to walk the line and re-build the wall (which might just be the website). I’m grateful for my neighbors, my Stiletto Gang colleagues, and everyone who reads this post. May all your walls be mended, and may all your neighbors be good.

Galveston Author Saralyn Richard

Award-winning author and educator, Saralyn Richard writes about people in settings as diverse as elite country manor houses and disadvantaged urban high schools. She loves beaches, reading, sheepdogs, the arts, libraries, parties, nature, cooking, and connecting with readers.

Visit Saralyn and subscribe to her monthly newsletter here, or on her Amazon page here.

 

Back to School Again

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Write What You Know

by Saralyn Richard

Back in the day, there were certain rules a writer had
to observe. Show, don’t tell. Always use complete sentences. Write what you
know.

The logic behind these rules was impeccable, and, all
innovation to the contrary, most writers still observe them today, at least
most of the time.

When my Detective Parrott Mystery series, including
MURDER IN THE ONE PERCENT, and A PALETTE FOR LOVE AND MURDER, was published,
readers assumed I was a part of the country’s top one percent. Otherwise, how
did I know so many of the details surrounding how the rich and powerful
dressed, ate, drank, and partied?

Truthfully, I did attend an elegant party in Brandywine
Valley, and that inspired the party in MURDER IN THE ONE PERCENT, but all of
the details about the one percent came from research. (Sorry to disappoint,
but, no, I do not have fifty pairs of Christian Louboutin heels in my closet.)


Image by <a href=”https://pixabay.com/users/clker-free-vector-images-3736/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=295093″>Clker-Free-Vector-Images</a> from <a href=”https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=295093″>Pixabay</a>


How did I portray all of the books’ characters and
home interiors so authentically? I observed, I asked questions, and I shopped
online at all of the most exclusive stores (without spending a dime).

I’ve been asked many times how I was able to depict
Detective Oliver Parrott so genuinely, since I am neither young, male, nor
African-American. That must have been a real departure from writing what you
know, right? Wrong.

As an urban high school educator, I’ve known hundreds,
maybe thousands, of young African-American males, many of them as intelligent,
ambitious, hard-working, and down-to-earth as Detective Parrott. I’ve known
their struggles, their families, and their dreams. I’ve celebrated their joys
and grieved their sorrows. I’ve listened to them speak and watched them perform.



Detective Parrott is an amalgamation of many fine
young men who have taken their places in society and who strive to make a
difference with their lives. He is definitely an example of writing what I
know.

Similarly, I drew from my experiences as a teacher,
administrator, and school improvement consultant in urban high schools to write
the upcoming release, A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL. Although the story is fictional,
it pulls back the curtain on the joys and challenges within a large school
community, and the issues of gangs, grievances, sexual harassment, and race are
ever-so relevant today.

Whether I’m writing about billionaire playboys or disadvantaged
football players, whether I researched or remembered, I’m writing what I know. And
I hope my characters will resonate with you, too.

What
books have you read that transported you out of your own experience?

 

Award-winning mystery and children’s book author, Saralyn Richard has
drawn from her experiences as an urban high school educator to write A Murder of Principal. Her previous
books, Naughty Nana, Murder in the One Percent, and A Palette for Love and Murder, have
delighted children and adults, alike. An active member of International
Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, Saralyn teaches creative
writing at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and continues to write
mysteries. Reviews, media, and tour schedule may be found at http://saralynrichard.com.



A maverick principal comes to Lincoln High School with a student-centered agenda. Trouble ensues, and killing the principal is just the beginning. A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL is available for pre-order at https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Principal-Saralyn-Richard-ebook/dp/B08KWLZ9JP/ref=