Featured today is C.C. Edge (aka Carol Edge, HeartlandLiberal’s wife) Let’s give her a warm welcome.
I haven’t read her book, Blood Terminal, which was just released on Amazon, but the description made me think of one of my favorite books – Animal Dreams – because if you asked me what Animal Dreams was about I could describe it in five different ways, and all of them would be true.
I understand that HeartlandLiberal designed the book cover, so he gets a shoutout, too!
If you would like your talents featured in the Artists in Our Midst series – or your work as an author featured in our Authors in Our Midst series – please send me an email message.
Blood Terminal: Murder in the Magic City
by Carol EdgeAnimals and social justice, beloved by the jackals of Balloon Juice: heady company in which to talk about my new mystery novel. My book is a novel and it’s a mystery, but it’s mostly about social injustice, and there are no animals anywhere. Unless someone sneaked one on the train.
Blood Terminal takes place when Jim Crow, Prohibition, and the Great Depression ruled the lives of everyday people. For those who could afford it, the 1930s were a glorious time for passenger trains. My novel brings together the ordinary people who serve on trains and those who ride them.
The train is the Hummingbird Express; the ordinary people a railroad bull, a Pullman porter, and a maid; the less ordinary are the family the maid works for, the railroad officialdom, and the Birmingham police force. As disparate as these social elements are, it’s all about race. Even when sexism and classism appear, it still about racism. But it’s also about murder and finding the right murderer.
What can I tell you other than what the story’s about? After all, it’s a mystery. I can’t tell you whodunit or how the solution unfolds, right? For the sake of that universal arc, I will say that there is some social justice in the end. But, remember the setting, all sorrows aren’t tied up in ribbon. Our society is still waiting for that solution.
Birmingham, Alabama, has been called ground zero for the civil rights movement of that period. Deservedly so. It’s also my hometown and thus first choice as a setting for Blood Terminal. There’s not a single character, place, or event in the book that I haven’t witnessed or had some connection to, through time and space, first-, second-, or third-hand. I’m not Black, cannot speak for any Black person’s experience, but I can speak to what I’ve observed and learned. My intention was never to disrespect Birmingham or its police force, but rather to illustrate how some aspects of Jim Crow culture played out in that very typical setting.
I also wanted to show a friendship that crossed the barbed racial wires fencing people apart from each other. There must have been a number of such instances of Black/White human interaction, but those don’t make the history books so often. My father was in part a model for the character of Earl; some of their life experiences run parallel, including having a close Black friend in the early and middle twentieth century. My father “stood up for Bessemer at his wedding” and was a pall bearer at his funeral.
My mother and the mothers of friends paid a pittance to Black women to clean and cook in their homes. Emma reflected the duality those women had to live day after day. But her spirit comes from one particular woman who worked for my mother. Mattie, I believe, saw me as a real person, not just a White kid, and I think I saw her.
The Pullman porters are true American originals. Their history, way of life, accomplishments are legendary and in great part generally unknown. The character of T.J. is a composite, mostly extrapolated from the biographies and true stories of Pullman porters recorded by social historians.
The history of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters is as fascinating as any in this nation’s amazing panoply of origin stories. I wholly agree with those who say that today’s Black middle class was founded on porters and postal workers. Domestic workers certainly played an active role in that as well. That is, in fact, what Blood Terminal is about: the struggle of a family wanting security and respect while living a gentle and righteous life. Murder is a metaphor for the killer struggles African Americans have endured here.
Yet it’s anything but an academic novel. Blood Terminal is a murder mystery. I hope readers enjoy it as such. I also hope that the themes, characters, and setting will resonate for them as they do for me.
If you read the book, please leave a review or comment somewhere. Additional information can be found on my website.
Especially during these hard times, it’s important to celebrate when we can, and to find joy where we can. It’s how we find the strength for the fights ahead.
Thanks, C.C. for sharing your joy with us today.
C.C.E.
Thank you, WaterGirl!
As you know, this is my first published novel, so I’m quite new at this. I really appreciate Balloon Juice’s hosting me.
WaterGirl
@C.C.E.: Welcome to Balloon Juice! And thanks for trusting us. :-)
edit: sometimes these get off to a slow start, but it will pick up. So don’t take it personally!
Yutsano
Aww poop! This popped up right as I need to get going!
C.C.E.
@WaterGirl: Not at all. Can I play minesweeper while wait? :)
SiubhanDuinne
@C.C.E.:
Oh, this sounds wonderful on all sorts of levels!
I love trains. I love murder mysteries. And I love good writing. Am really looking forward to reading Blood Terminal.
ETA: Ordered and downloaded
C.C.E.
@SiubhanDuinne: Wow, thanks! I hope the book lives up to your loves.
I love all those things too.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Sounds great! I love historical fiction
ETA: I just downloaded it to my kindle. Only $4.99, people!
Kalakal
I’m looking forward to reading this. I’m a sucker for murders on trains and the time and setting is one of which I could do with knowing more. Thanks for posting here
C.C.E.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: When I began writing Blood Terminal, I didn’t think of it as history, strangely. It seemed a time period so close to the time when I grew up in Birmingham — and was within the living memory of relatives — that it was only afterwards that I fully realized that 90 years ago is history.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@C.C.E.: I’ve seen books about the 60s called historical fiction, which really makes me feel old!
C.C.E.
@Kalakal: It’s a fascinating, if tragic, period in this country and the world in many ways and I tried to bring that flavor into the story. If there’s one bit of history then that I’d really like to underline, it’s the Pullman porters. Maybe the story will spark your interest in that direction.
Kalakal
@C.C.E.: History is funny that way, it knocks me sideways every so often when I realise many events in my lifetime might as well have been concurrent with the Spanish Armada to a lot of people in their 20s.
C.C.E.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I hear that! Although I admit that someday I’d like to write about the ’60s. Coming of age in Birmingham circa 1963 — whew. A daunting subject to tackle though.
West of the Rockies
Your novel sounds quite engaging! I will purchase later today!
C.C.E.
@Kalakal: Exactly! In truth though, we are sometimes closer to a seemingly distant past than we think we are. My father was mid-40s when I was born and his father was close to 50 when he was born. The upshot is that my grandfather was a boy during the Civil War. He told me, when I was 5, how he hid under the fig tree when the Yankee soldiers rode up to their yard. He was 93.
C.C.E.
@West of the Rockies: Thank you! I’d love to have feedback from anyone who reads it. The subject is important to me and I’m pretty fond of the characters.
WendyBinFL
Blood Terminal has just been downloaded to my Kindle! Can hardly wait to dive in!
MomSense
I really want to read this book.
C.C.E.
@WendyBinFL: Thank you! Not to be redundant, but I do appreciate your interest.
C.C.E.
@MomSense: Thanks! BTW, HeartlandLiberal says he reads your comments often. :)
MomSense
@C.C.E.:
The time period reminds me of the stories my family members told me and my maternal grandmother worked as a domestic for wealthy tire company owners in Akron. She was born in 1898.
MisterDancer
Fascinating. As a Mystery Fan, I will tuck this away for my next To Read purchases!
WaterGirl
I think we have a lot of mystery fans on Balloon Juice.
SiubhanDuinne
Well, I’m a couple of chapters in, the body has been discovered, and there’s another mystery emerging (one, I suspect, which will prove to be closely connected to the murder). Ooh, I’m enjoying this!
C.C.E.
@MomSense: Wow. I bet you have some interesting tales to share. It’s important to pass these stories on to the family and historians if possible. It enriches the family of humanity. (My father was born in 1898 too.)
C.C.E.
@MisterDancer: Thank you too!
C.C.E.
@SiubhanDuinne: Wow! We have Readers in Our Midst!
C.C.E.
@WaterGirl: I’ve heard that readers of mysteries are seeking the restoration of justice in the world. Could that be true??
SiubhanDuinne
@C.C.E.:
Hah! Well played.
Yes, lots of readers here. I’m going to stop myself from commenting because I’d hate to drop inadvertent spoilers, but I’m already feeling pretty involved with the characters.
C.C.E.
@SiubhanDuinne: Still, your comments mean a lot — thank you.
WaterGirl
@C.C.E.: I have heard not exactly that, but something similar. That people who like mysteries tend to have a strong sense of right and wrong, and are drawn to mysteries because they are looking for justice and fairness in the outcomes. I have always felt that to be true.
C.C.E.
@WaterGirl: Sounds right to me too. I wonder if, also, those readers are pitting their wits against the detective in certain types of mysteries, for instance the classics like Agatha Christie.
SiubhanDuinne
@C.C.E.:
This is actually a theme in the OLLI class I’m preparing to teach. It focuses on the detective fiction of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, but more broadly deals with social issues in 20th-century England and how mystery stories reflect those issues. And it seems undeniable that, especially in times of great turmoil and peril, people want to spend time in a world, however fictional, in which justice prevails and moral balance is restored.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m reading The Christie Affair for my book club. It’s fiction about those 10 days when Christie disappeared.
C.C.E.
@SiubhanDuinne: Cool! Best wishes with the class. Christie and Sayers are still tops in plots. Isn’t the best fiction always related to our lives, either with contemporary themes or universal ones? To me, mystery (not just detective) fiction is the perfect canvas for asking and answering some of the questions that never go away.
WaterGirl
@C.C.E.: Mystery readers are apparently also smarter than average and like to figure things out.
C.C.E.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: That’s on my to-read list too!
JAFD
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Well, having lived thru the Sixties, I tell the young’uns that the best books about that time are two novels, James Carroll’s Prince of Peace and George RR Martin’s The Armageddon Rag (good luck finding ocpies of original version of the latter, had song verses as chapter epigraphs, music rights owners wanted fortune for reprint)
Anyway, there is the ’18xx’ series of games on 19th century railroad building and finance, one on Alabama, I’m in middle of game at
https://18xx.games/game/75682
Will pass along book news to my train buff friends
schrodingers_cat
@SiubhanDuinne:Your class sounds interesting. I have read all of Agatha Christie’s mysteries. I really don’t like most of the adaptations trying to modernize her books
I do try to solve the puzzle along with the detective and can guess who the murderer is 9/10. She actually gives you enough clues to figure it out.
C.C.E.
@WaterGirl: And that’s why mystery writers have to follow the rule of giving the reader all the information the protagonist has to solve the crime. No rabbits in hats and no deux ex machina.
stinger
This sounds fascinating! I’ve purchased/downloaded a copy!
C.C.E.
@JAFD: Good to know! I plan to check out that game. (RPGs = my secret life.)
C.C.E.
@stinger: Thank you, Stinger!
SiubhanDuinne
@C.C.E.:
That’s beautifully put, and I fully intend to quote it in the class, verbatim :-)
With proper attribution, of course. “One of today’s most compelling mystery writers, C. C. Edge, mentioned in a private conversation…. “
Kalakal
@SiubhanDuinne: I think there’s a lot in this. Christie, Marsh, Sayers et al had their heyday in the 30s and very much is not only justice done but society and stability is preserved. They’re all very aware of the after effects of WW1, eg many of Christies characters are involuntary spinsters, too many men of their generation being dead. In their Victorian and Edwardian predecessors such as Doyle and Freeman justice is done but stability is usually assumed. A really interesting contrast is Hammett and Chandler’s world weary cynicism
C.C.E.
@SiubhanDuinne: That is more than generous of you! :)
C.C.E.
@Kalakal: You’ve had this discussion before! Excellent choices to compare and contrast. The second two introduce a new level of action too, with violence and fear taking a new turn. As much as I admire each of those mystery writers, Raymond Chandler is the one whose writing always amazes me.
Kalakal
@C.C.E.: Ronald Knox of the detection Club set down 10 rules for detective stories in 1929. eg
Josef Skvorecky wrote a nice parody collection called “Sins for Father Knox” where he had fun breaking a rule per story
KSinMA
I’m looking forward to reading the book. That’s a terrific photograph on the cover, too!
SiubhanDuinne
@Kalakal:
Absolutely. The rapidly-changing role of women is a major theme in my course. It’s present again and again in both Christie and Sayers, generally as a kind of background noise but front and center in, for instance, Gaudy Night. And, of course, the entire persona of Miss Marple — sweet little old lady, reminiscing about her girlhood, knitting away, and gently gossiping; no reason in the world a murderer would fear her.
:-)
J R in WV
@SiubhanDuinne:
Come on, Subaru Diane, when did we get to be “private conversation” on this top 10,000 blog???
More seriously, I’ll be buying and downloading this, I love trains and historical murder. Dorothy Sayers more so than Agatha Christie.
C.C.E.
@Kalakal: That’s right! I’ve heard of those rules. I think the culprit had to appear in the first five pages. That kind of thing is just a sitting duck for parody. Skvorecky sounds like fun.
But I do think it’s only fair to make all clues available to the reader, and the reader must allow the writer to disguise some of those clues. Or what’s a sleuth for?
Kalakal
@C.C.E.: I love them all but Chandler’s writing is top class. In complete contrast, as pure puzzles John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson is incredible, but his writing, sadly, is pretty bad.
I read a collected set of Hammett’s Continental Op stories arranged in order of publication and what surprised me was how the early ones have very little violence. They’re puzzles about Insurance scams with nary a gun in sight.
Kalakal
@SiubhanDuinne: Your course sounds really interesting. I always liked the way Christie made her sleuths harmless, a little old lady and an absurd, pompous little man
C.C.E.
@KSinMA: Thank you! That photo captured my attention the moment I saw it. There’s something in both sets of eyes that speaks to their respective stations in life and a lot of history informing their roles. The splash of blood hitting the porter harder than the passenger is metaphorical.
HeartlandLiberal is the guiding tech light behind the cover. The back cover has an old postcard picture of the actual terminal.
SiubhanDuinne
@J R in WV:
By “private conversation” I meant that I didn’t have to go to a reference book and look up CCE’s quote. She handed it to me/all of us in real time.
For some reason, every time I see “top 10,000 blog,” my brain weirdly turns that into “This top blog has 10,000 readers.” I know that’s not right, and I’ve told it to stop, but it keeps on thinking that.
C.C.E.
@Kalakal: Yeah, come to think of it. Interesting.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kalakal: Little old ladies can be dangerous AF. Especially with jars of pickled things close to hand. One can only imagine the havoc they could wreak with their knitting needles.
SiubhanDuinne
@Kalakal:
Yup! And don’t forget Lord Peter’s “Cattery,” which provided any number of intelligent single women (superfluous women, according to society) with decent incomes and challenging work, often to advance a detective inquiry. I love Miss Kitty Climpson!
C.C.E.
Speaking of HeartlandLiberal, he tells the little hand on the clock has reached the big hand and I have to sign off now. I’ll check back in the morning for any dangling comments. Many thanks to everyone for participating, and for your kind remarks about Blood Terminal!
narya
@SiubhanDuinne: we contain more multitudes than you realize.
WaterGirl
@C.C.E.: Thanks so much for joining us!
WaterGirl
If any other BJ peeps would like your talents featured in the Artists in Our Midst series – or your work as an author featured in our Authors in Our Midst series – please send me an email message.
Fine print: John says BJ peeps and their spouses and partners are eligible.
debbie
This sounds really very compelling. Onto my booklist!
Middlelee
Downloaded onto my Kindle. Looking forward to the read.
Raven
@WaterGirl: My wife had a piece in a show and it was the only one that sold. She went to say goodbye to it this afternoon.
Steeplejack
@Raven:
Congratulations to the wife!
Raven
@Steeplejack: She bought linen sheets with the proceeds!
Auntie Anne
Just bought it and can’t wait to start it!
stinger
@C.C.E.: I’m a couple of chapters in, and am hooked!
Suburban Mom
I just ordered my copy. It sounds terrific. I’ve spent time in Birmingham and look forward to learning more about the history.
WaterGirl
@Raven: Wow!
I could never be an artist. (even if I had talent)
If a piece was really good I would not be able to part with it. If it wasn’t good, I wouldn’t want anyone else to have it.
I keep telling you that we should feature your bride in one of these. The door is totally open, she just has to walk through it. :-)
Wolvesvalley
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yes, and Miss Climpson appeared in print three years before Miss Marple did.
Renie
Love historical fiction. Just ordered book. Thanks for sharing this.
SiubhanDuinne
@Wolvesvalley:
Indeed, a point I will make!
Wolvesvalley
I’m sorry to have missed this discussion until so late. I have ordered and downloaded the book and look forward to reading it. With so many Sayers devotees here, I have to put in a plug for her essay “Aristotle on Detective Fiction,” which was collected in Unpopular Opinions. An introductory quote:
Sayers has Aristotle walk us through the principles of detective fiction as laid out in the Poetics, including, most importantly, “the right way of telling lies” — that is, giving the reader all the clues while obscuring their value and meaning.
Ben Cisco
I will have to add this to my “to read” list. Intriguing that it is set in the city I call home (and just returned to from assignment).
Welcome CCE, and thank you.
Kayla Rudbek
@C.C.E.: yes, mystery novels are fantasies about justice (I think that Lois McMaster Bujold said or quoted that). Romances are fantasies about love, and SF is fantasies about power.
C.C.E.
@debbie: I hope you find it so — thank you!
And good morning to everyone!
C.C.E.
@Middlelee: Really appreciated — thanks!
C.C.E.
@Raven: Yes, congratulations! We bought linen sheets a few months ago and really love them. The more washings, the better.
C.C.E.
@Auntie Anne: Thanks, Auntie!
C.C.E.
@stinger: Oh, I’m so glad!
C.C.E.
@Renie: Thank you! If you like it, please share with others.
C.C.E.
@SiubhanDuinne: Don’t know if it would fit your curriculum, but there’s also the dear but aloof Miss Silver.
C.C.E.
@Wolvesvalley: That’s great to know about. Thanks for the tip.
C.C.E.
@Ben Cisco: Hello, fellow traveler! I’d love to know what you think of this little segment of Magic City history. Thank you.
C.C.E.
@Ben Cisco: Oops — I should say fictional history! Only the setting is real; the events are not.
Terminal Station was a revered landmark in Birmingham but taken for granted. Then, pow, it was up for demolition. Awareness of the situation came too late and the Magic City lost some of pixie dust.
C.C.E.
@Kayla Rudbek: That’s intriguing. I’d like to follow up on that. Thanks.