Today I am so pleased to welcome J.L. Merrow to Joyfully Jay. She has come to talk to us about her latest release, Blow Down (Plumber’s Mate Mysteries #4). J.L. has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
When Characters Are Wrong
Hi, I’m JL Merrow and I’m delighted to be here as part of the Blow Down blog tour.
*sigh* Some characters just don’t seem to get it, do they?
Take Tom Paretski, and the debate over which is better: rugby or football (for US readers, by “football” I mean the game played with a round ball that you will know as “soccer”.)
For a long time, in Britain, the question of whether you follow rugby or football was determined by social class. The working classes played (and supported) football; the upper classes, rugby:
Rugby is a game for barbarians played by gentlemen. Football is a game for gentlemen played by barbarians. – Oscar Wilde
Old Oscar wasn’t far wrong, at least when he wrote that. Rugby is a punishing, physical, contact sport, based on the idea of preventing your opponent scoring by, basically, flattening him. Injuries are common and can be serious. Football, on the other hand, you’re supposed to be able to play without getting hurt. It’s all in the footwork, not the brute strength. Apparently. I’d have to confess that while I find the raw athleticism of rugby enthralling, all the to-ing and fro-ing on the football field leaves me cold.
Public schools, such as Eton and Harrow, played rugby as the school sport. Indeed, rugby itself was, according to legend, born at a public school—Rugby, in Warwickshire—in 1823 when William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it during a match. (Quite why he didn’t just get sent off has always been beyond me, but apparently handling the ball was already permitted; just not running with it. The upper classes: making their own rules since 1066.)
Football was what boys (and only boys) played at state schools. And for some working class lads, making it big in football was their only realistic shot at a way out of poverty.
In these days of increased social mobility and higher education for all (or at least, all who either come from money or can face going into crippling debt), the class distinction has blurred—and blow me if they’re not letting women play, too! #sarcasm Increasingly you’ll find young people enjoying both rugby and football.
Tom Paretski, narrator of my Plumber’s Mate Mysteries, on the other hand, is a die-hard football fan who basically just watches rugby for the eye candy. Philistine. (My personal idea of hell would involve a never-ending football match. At which they only serve tea.)
Which left me, as author, in a challenging position: writing a first person narrative from the point of view directly opposed to my own. Did I succeed? Judge for yourself:
See, the thing about football—proper football, I mean, played with a round ball like God intended—is, it’s like an art form. The clever footwork, with eleven men playing as a team, dodging and, all right, sometimes diving. Tactics. They call it the beautiful game for a reason, don’t they? It’s, well, it’s elegant. Poetic, even. The players are athletic, yeah, but it’s all about the skill too. Not just the brute force. Rugby, now… Well, it’s just a bunch of big bastards getting up close and personal with each other, innit?- Tom Paretski, Blow Down
*sigh* He likes cooking, too. Where did I go wrong? 😉
Question: Readers, what’s your sport of choice, either playing or watching? Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! 😉
Blurb
Death is what happens when you’re making other plans.
The last thing newly engaged plumber Tom Paretski needs is to stumble over another dead body. He’s got enough on his mind already as the reality of his impending marriage sinks in. Not only is his family situation complicated, his heroism at a pub fire made him a local celebrity. Now everyone and their uncle wants a piece of his psychic talents. Hired to find a missing necklace, Tom and his fiance, private investigator Phil Morrison, wind up trying to unmask a killer – and there’s no shortage of suspects, up to and including the local bishop himself. As Tom and Phil try to uncover the truth, they find themselves pulled in all different directions by the conflicting pressures of their families and their own desires. But the murderer they’re up against is a ruthless schemer who won’t hesitate to kill again. If Tom and Phil aren’t careful, their love – and all their plans for the future – could be blown down like a house of straw.
Warning: Contains a bishop of questionable Christian charity, a necklace of questionable taste, and a plumber of questionable nationality who may be running out of time.
Bio
JL Merrow is that rare beast, and English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.
She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy and her novella Muscling Through and novel Relief Valve were both EPIC Awards Finalists.
JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers’ Circle and the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team. Find JL Merrow online at www.jlmerrow.com, on Twitter as @jlmerrow, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jl.merrow
Giveaway
J.L. has brought great tourwide giveaway. Just follow the Rafflecopter link below to enter.
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LOL! Great post. I must recognise I’m as much of a philistine as Tom. I love rugby, but not because of the sport itself. I just cannot resist all that testosterone…
Congratulations on the new release. I’m patiently waiting for my paperback to arrive ( I ordered it the first day it was available) to devour it…
Thank you! And yes, rugby can be quite aesthetically pleasing, can’t it? ;P
Hope your book arrives soon – enjoy! 😀
Another fun post as always, JL. And I’m for one with Tom Paretski on this – I’m a Football fan (with favourite club and all) though I really don’t mind watching Rugby for the same reason Tom did!! XD
TBH, I love watching aaany sports broadcast on TV (what, watching from the side of the field and got sun-burned?? Not for me! XP). I don’t mind watching the athletes got sweaty or wet though.. Yum yum view!! X-))
LOL – a true sports fan! I actually prefer to watch rugby live – for me, nothing beats the immediacy and excitement of a live game viewed from the sidelines.
I must admit, though, on a day as hot as today my resolve would be tested! 🙂
“The upper classes: making their own rules since 1066” … this made me chuckle!
Thanks for an entertaining post, Ms. Merrow. As to your question: my favorite sport is reading; my second favorite is eating chocolate.
Oh, I am very good at both of those!
Thank you! And great choice of sports! I have no idea why those have been so shamefully neglected by the Olympics Committee. Although my personal choice of event would be the wine-drinking marathon. 😉
I live in a city with a major league baseball stadium and also a stadium for an NFL team so you’d think I’d be into sports, but not really. I guess I enjoy baseball the most because it’s easier to follow and it’s more affordable.
I finished Blow Down over the weekend and now I’m “patiently” waiting for the next installment, please?
Heh, just because it’s there doesn’t mean you have to buy into it!
And oh! If only I could write as quickly as people read…. There will be another instalment of the Plumber’s Mate Mysteries. But I’m afraid you’ll have to exercise your patience for a while longer. 🙂
Yay! That’s all I really wanted to know. I don’t mind waiting. 🙂
I’m half way through this latest installment of Plumber’s mate; I just love Tom’s voice, and yes I think he was quite convincing for his love of the game – I believed him at least. As for myself and sports, I am the happiest when I can avoid it altogether. If I must pick a sport to watch it’ll be hockey; the game is fast, there’s likely to be several goals and players acting rough against each other, and even with just a minute or two left of a game you know it isn’t over until the clock says so. Anything can happen, too bad for the heavy clothed sportsmen though. ;-P Football (like God intended with a round ball) on the other hand – I can’t be bothered. You risk spending hours on watching something and ending up not even getting a single goal in the end – the field is just too huge and it takes the players for ever to cross from one side to the other.
Yay! Thank you. 🙂
And I can see where you’re coming from re hockey. Like rugby, it’s a very physical game with lots happening, sometimes very quickly – and real risks for the players. I’d have to confess even goal-filled football games leave me cold, but gawd, yes, I have no patience for the endless minutes of them just kicking the ball to one another and running up and down the field. 🙂
Now out of football and rugby to watch, give me rugby any day – though I did drag out my Welsh grandfather connection for a real link in the Euro’s recently!
Playing wise, Netball for me.
Heh, people bring out far more tenuous connections when it comes to rooting for a side!
I played a lot of netball at school, but with zero hand-eye coordination and terrible binocular vision I was sadly a bit of a liability!
I adore watching hockey, though I never understand people who claim to enjoy it for the fights and aggression. If you watch long enough to get attached to a team (hi, Sharks! Stanley Cup next year, okay?), the dynamics among the players on the bench are so much fun to see. In interviews, hockey players tend to slash themselves with teammates within a few seconds, and the camaraderie is adorable and funny. (This is why I hate trades and free agency, because I hate seeing buddies get separated.) I take the seasonal ups and downs unexpectedly hard, but it’s always a hell of a ride. I’m pretty klutzy myself, though watching can be a workout if the game’s going particularly well/badly…
LOL! I’m now picturing you bouncing up and down in your seat at a particularly exciting game! ;D
You make me want to find and read some hockey mm!
I forgot to mention the other thing I love about it…there’s basically a body type for everybody’s tastes. Small but speedy (twinky) forwards! Big rugged enforcers! Tall, strong and steady defensemen! Flexible goaltenders! And then most guys start growing beards during the playoffs, which can be unexpectedly amusing (two of the guys from my team looked like mountain men by the time this year’s was over, and there’s always a normally fresh-faced rookie who looks like he’s turning into a Muppet as the rounds go on)…
I am not fond of rugby or football. I do enjoy Basketball though. I am a watcher
I haven’t watched a lot of basketball, but I can see the attraction! 😀
I’m not into sports, but if I have to pick one it’d be hockey. But only if I can watch it live. I can’t deal with it on TV, because it’s too hard to follow the puck that way. And there’s nothing like the dynamics of fights in person! Although I did like the answers of reading, eating chocolate, & wine-tasting!
Yeah, there’s nothing worse than watching a sport and being unable to follow the puck/ball/whatever.
I imagine there’s a great atmosphere at hockey games, too. 🙂
I’m 100% with Tom: football is a thrilling sport to watch. Although I’m not a footie fan per se, I do get a bit of the ~fever~ whenever the World Cup comes around, LOL!
Thanks for this post, JL. I’ve often wondered how authors can write characters that are so different from themselves.
I often wonder if it’s similar to actors preparing to play a character different from themselves. Method actors, perhaps? You’re really trying to think yourself into the mindset.
And you’re welcome! 😀
Athletic sports: American Football and college basketball (I watch NBA games when they’re on, but I just don’t enjoy it as much as college). and swimming, though I don’t often get to watch it outside of the Olympics.
Esports: Starcraft II & League of Legends. I can’t play either game for shit, but I love to watch the professionals.
Oh, that’s interesting! I’m not a gamer myself, and I’d never really thought of them as spectator sports, but I guess it’s just like any other display of skill with a competitive element. Fascinating. 🙂
Eek, I’m not much of a “sports” person myself… either as a player or spectator. But if I had to sit through a game, I’d probably go for soccer. At least I understand most of the rules!
I’m actually a big fan of ice hockey. I don’t have a team, and I don’t really follow it at all, but I will never turn down the chance to go to a live game. But that’s true of a few sports, actually. I don’t follow and don’t have a team, but I have no problem going out for a baseball game or, like, a local high school American football game.