GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE

by Deborah Elliott-Upton

Weather temperatures have dive-bombed beyond reasonably chilly and catapulted past a postcard prettiness and onto the bitter part of winter—and this is only the beginning of the season. I type slower when my fingers are freezing. Yet when the brain starts churning out ideas, my fingers flies across the keyboard and forget the cold. Maybe it’s the mini-workout my hands receive when the Muse comes to play that warms my soul.

Whisked away to another place, time, and point of view, my mind allows an opportunity to soak up a milder climate somewhere else. Right about now, somewhere else sounds good to me.

I long for a tropical location with waves crashing across the beach. Palm trees are swaying to an island tune—perhaps something by Jimmy Buffet and accompanied by the taste of a margarita and an itchy reminder of a new tattoo.

These are the times when I re-read Travis McGee mystery adventures. In his yacht berthed in Ft. Lauderdale, I ride out the winter with warm days and nights and scents of the ocean air drifting into my consciousness amid the talented and (in my mind) quite the good-looking “consultant” who recovers others’ treasures.

In Mary Willis Walker’s 1995 Edgar Award winning novel, The Red Scream, I am transferred to the hot, sticky days in Austin, Texas, awaiting execution of a serial killer aka The Texas Scalper. This one gives me chills, but while reading it, I feel anything but cold.

I reach for tales of the Caribbean or perhaps one of those who dream of a pirate’s life like our friend, Travis Erwin’s Plundered Booty, which is both funny and poignant at the same time—and yes, there’s a mystery involved. Thanks, Travis, for sharing this manuscript with me. Some fortunate editor is bound to grab this one soon.

To my surprise, I discover a book by Agatha Christie that is new to me. Death Comes as the End is set in Egypt—a decidedly warmer climate than my present locale. I must add this mystery onto the To Be Read Soon list. Though some books are better than others, I have never been disappointed by Christie.

By mid-July, I will most likely search for stories set in an Aspen snowstorm, Finland, or the Antarctic. But for now, I am happy to settle in with a quilt, a ready carafe of coffee, and a delightful mystery taking place in a desert. I can almost hear the camels braying. When you can read, life is good. What fun for a wintry day.