The best inspiration comes from the weirdness of life. Learn how a run away wild turkey inspired a murder mystery!
A Fowl Problem
by Darlene Dzombia
People always want to know where the ideas for plot lines come from. For me, the answer varies, but my next release, Assault & Gobblery, had a distinct spark of inspiration.
I read a small article in a local paper about a wild turkey that took up residence on one block of a nearby town. The neighbors fell into two different camps: one to have the turkey relocated to a farm, the other to have the turkey euthanized. The turkey was picked up by animal control before a rescue organization could be arranged to trap it. After reading the article, my second thought was, “I could build an entire mystery plot around this.”. My first thought was, “Darn it, they killed the poor turkey.”
Truthfully, turkeys are not to be trifled with. I learned a lot about them in crafting Assault & Gobblery.
The protagonist of my series, Lily Dreyfus, is the adoption coordinator at a no-kill animal shelter. Her day is typically filled with dogs and cats, but I thought it would be great fun for readers to give Lily a fowl problem to solve.
To help Lily figure out what to do, I researched wild turkeys. I began with the New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife. Writers refer to going down the rabbit hole when doing research. This organization’s site kept my interest for hours. I had to remind myself that I was researching turkeys despite how interesting foxes, bears, raccoons, etc, were.
I learned a lot of interesting facts about turkeys, but not the best means for catching one.
Then one night, I woke up at 2:00 AM and could not get back to sleep. I tossed and turned. I had a drink of water. I went to the bathroom and even took a few Tylenol. Nothing helped me get back to sleep. So, I turned on the computer and googled “trapping a wild turkey.”
There are hundreds of YouTube videos on trapping wild turkeys. Some of those were adrenaline junkies who wanted to show off for their friends. With patience, I found videos on safely capturing a turkey. I don’t want to admit to how many I watched, but I will tell you that I watched until I had to be awake to go to work. I needed a lot of caffeine that day, but I knew how to write an authentic scene about capturing the wild turkey of my book.
I was relaying this story to the Director of my local library. His face lit up, and he told me about a friend with a crossbow. This friend sits outside in his hot tub and shoots at any wild animal that chooses to get too close.
I don’t condone this behavior. But after that story, a crossbow had to be part of my plot.
Assault & Gobblery was coming together. I had multiple potential villains. I was weaving daily life at an animal shelter through the plot, sprinkling in facts about wild turkeys as I wrote.
Then inspiration came to me again from a local news story about a farm in Hamilton Township, NJ, that rescues farm animals. This place had a legal business name that people would think I made up to add humor to the book. Yet, I could prove it existed, The Funny Farm Animal Rescue.
The turkey in my book was not going to end up being served with a side of dressing. He would reside at The Funny Farm Animal Rescue.
I thought my turkey research and work was complete. Until I gave my completed WIP to my coach. She was outraged that the turkey’s story ended with his successful capture. She wanted details about his life on the farm. We discussed whether readers would want to know these facts or if they thought I was stretching the story to reach a specific word count.
I hope readers enjoy those few pages because once I committed to writing them, I realized they added an element to the story.
Ideas rarely come from one place. The plot of Assault & Gobblery evolved over many months from many sources.
Assault & Gobblery
Vet tech Mitchell Morales seeks Lily’s help for a fowl problem. A wild turkey has taken up residence near a community garden. Tensions flare between the folks who see the turkey as a cool mascot, and those who find him a nuisance.
When Mitchell doesn’t show up for work the staff at Forever Friends Animal Shelter fear he had an accident while riding his bicycle. No one expects him to be unearthed from a pile of compost at the Robinberg Community Garden with a hori hori knife in his chest.
The knife belongs to Lily’s friend Kelly Collins. In an effort to clear her friend’s name, Lily digs into the lives of the gardeners, and their friends, unearthing secrets that make everyone a suspect.
From the renowned university professor to the ruggedly handsome Wyatt everyone has something to hide.
As Lily digs deeper, she discovers a tangled web of jealousy, betrayal, and greed. Can she catch a killer and relocate the troublesome turkey before the community garden’s reputation is ruined for good? One thing’s for sure—this small-town garden has secrets buried in every bed.
Assault & Gobblery will be released on Feb. 28. Preorder HERE!
Meet Darlene Dzombia
Darlene combines her passion for the written word and animals into the Lily Dreyfus series. The books are written based on her experience as a volunteer at the Animal Welfare Association, a no-kill animal shelter in Voorhees, New Jersey. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Membership Chair for SinC Grand Canyon Writers, and served as a mentor in the Sisters in Crime Mentorship program. Darlene lives in New Jersey with her four-legged best friend, Billie.
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