New Kopp Sisters Discoveries, the Bling Layer, and Spoiler Wars

New Kopp Sisters Discoveries!

It's rare for me to discover anything new about the Kopp sisters' real lives anymore. I've been through all the newspapers, I've scoured courthouses for records, I've interviewed family members. I'm still waiting for someone to find a box of Kopp family letters and photographs in their attic, but that hasn't happened yet.

But then...something new turned up! Last week, I heard from a local historian in Bergen County who I'd met several years ago on a research trip. Turns out he's been working with the local library to digitize the Bergen Record. 

I've looked through the Record on microfilm in the basement of the Hackensack library, but if you've ever read microfilm, you know how hard it would be to read every dark, blurry page of every day's newspaper, over a 15-year span. I knew I would miss something.

Now, with the paper fully searchable online, I've found some new clippings!

The story on the left appeared on February 17, 1917. This is not the first reference I've found to Constance working as a store detective. Do you remember that scene at the end of Girl Waits with Gun, when Constance applied for a job at a New York department store? I wrote that as a nod to the historical record.

I've already written the novel that takes place in spring of 1917 (as-yet-untitled Book 5, due out next September), and I don't have her working as a store detective! Until now, I didn't know what she was doing in 1917. I'm not going to rewrite the book now, but you never know...maybe I'll find a use for it in a future book.

The second clipping ran on November 12, 1917. This one's interesting because it suggests that Francis, who had been working for a basket importer, decided to go out on his own, with his sisters as business partners. Remember that the United States had, by then, joined World War I. Baskets aren't exactly military equipment, but it could be that the Kopps were all in need of work during uncertain times and decided on this as a viable income source.

I might weave this in (get it? Weaving? Baskets?) as a kind of background story in a future novel, but in real life, I believe this was a short-lived enterprise, because the Kopp sisters went on to do far more interesting things with their lives involving crime-fighting and detective work.

So you probably won't see an entire novel about basket-weaving, but if you do see a mention of this business in a future book, you'll know where I found it! 

I'm Adding the Bling Layer to Book 5

I'm finishing the edits on the fifth Kopp Sisters novel now. (It'll be out in September 2019.)  Right before I turn in a book, I do a particular type of edit that I call the bling layer. 

This is a trick I learned from painting--painters add a "bling layer" right at the end of a painting. The bling refers to the tiny, bright details that make a painting sing--little highlights, bright spots of colors, sharp dark shadows. 

Watch a video of a painter adding the bling, and read about how I add a bling layer to my novels, on my blog.

How Seriously Do You Take Spoilers?

Are you pretty sensitive about spoilers? Do you avoid reading book reviews? Do you stay off Twitter the night the final episode of your favorite show airs?

What if you were stuck in a research station in Antarctica with nothing but a small library to keep you entertained, and your colleague kept telling you the endings of the books you were reading?

Would you stab him? This guy did.

This Thanksgiving, How About a Punch?

Is it your job to bring drinks to Thanksgiving dinner? That's always the assignment I'm given, and usually I buy a few good bottles of wine and call it done.

But really, a punch is the way to go at Thanskgiving, which is all about shared dishes. When I was in Portugal this summer I drank some delightful vinho verde. It's light, bright, and affordable. (I see it all the time at Trader Joe's.) 

This punch from Food & Wine looks delicious, and if that doesn't appeal, they have a whole list of Thanksgiving punches to choose from.

I'm Still on the Road..for a minute

I'm almost finished with this year's crazy travel schedule...and I'm already scheduling 2019! If you're part of a literary series, a library event, or some other bookish gathering, please feel free to reach out to publicity@amystewart.com to see about setting up an event.

Wellesley, MA: Nov 7 Authors on Stage 
Portland, OR: Nov 10 Portland Book Festival
Bainbridge Island, WA: Feb 28 Eagle Harbor Book Co

More tour dates can always be found on my website. Please confirm details with the venue before you head out.

Enter to Win all Four Kopp Novels

Hey, there's another contest running! The funny and feisty women of Jungle Red Writers invited me to write about how I used Ancestry.com to write the Kopp novels.  There's a giveaway at the bottom of the post. Head over there to enter.

What Are You Reading?

I adored Patrick DeWitt's novel The Sisters Brothers. (I've avoided the new movie based on the book because I can't imagine it would live up to the novel)

His new novel is wildly different but equally brilliant. French Exit is a wicked little comedy of manners: light, lovely, and darkly weird. It's a Wes Anderson film in novel form.

What are you reading? Find me on Goodreads or Litsy and let me know.