Bestseller Bette Lee Crosby writes novels about Southern families. Today she’s launched her latest novel,  Previously Loved Treasures, and Bette stopped by for a  guest post on how she brings her settings to life.

SOUTHERN SPEAK

by Bette Lee Crosby

I’m a Jersey girl. Yes, I was born into a family of Southerners, but the minute I say coffee (cough-ee) everyone knows I’m a Jersey girl. This is the one tiny quirk Jersey folk have…we say cough-ee and mean coffee. That’s it. One quirk.

But Southerners, especially fictitious ones, are loaded with quirks. That’s what makes them such fun.

Once I began writing fiction it was destined to happen—my mama and daddy were from the South, which right away gives you a clue. People from New Jersey don’t say mama and daddy. They say mom and pop. They don’t say y’all either; they say you guys. ‘You guys’ is both masculine and feminine, singular and plural.  The same is true for y’all.  It’s like ice cream—it’s still ice cream whether you say vanilla or chocolate.

When I lived in New Jersey, I spoke like all of my friends; but when I entered that secret place where it was only me, my computer and my characters, my thoughts veered off in a southern direction.  Eventually I gave in and pursued my guilty pleasure. We moved as far south as we could go, I gave up drinking coffee, and started sipping sweet tea. I opened my heart to these quirky characters and let them move right in. In time they became me, just as I’d become them. Yep, there’s a little piece of me in almost every one of them—even the bad guys. Most days, I’m not much of the bad guy. Most days, I’m like Ida in Previously Loved Treasures—a little strange, always in need of a friend and trying to make my way through life. Only one thing stands between my destiny and me, and last week it reared it’s ugly head.

I went to breakfast with a friend and the restaurant didn’t have sweet tea. So caught in a bind, I ordered coffee. The waitress in a sweet southern drawl said, “Why Sugar, you sound like you’re from New Jersey.”

Aaaarrrgh.

THREE TAKEAWAY TIPS FOR REGIONAL WRITING

1. You’ve heard it a million times before, but it’s advice worth repeating…write what you know. This is particularly true for those writing regional fiction. It’s almost impossible to capture the true sound of a Southern drawl or Irish brogue if it’s not something you know.
2. Don’t use contrived contractions in character speech. If the word is cumbersome or not easily understood it takes the reader away from the story.
3. Read the dialogue aloud and listen carefully. If it doesn’t sound authentic to your ear, it definitely won’t sound authentic to the reader.

FROM A USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR comes a heartwarming mystery that is rich with imagination and magic. In Previously Loved Treasures, Book Two of The Serendipity Series, recently widowed Ida Sweetwater finds the granddaughter she never knew she had and turns a group of haphazard strangers into family.

Struggling to make ends meet, Ida turns her home into a boarding house and goes in search of used furniture. This quest leads to the Previously Loved Treasures shop and Peter Pennington, a delightfully strange proprietor who anticipates people’s needs. In addition to bargains, Peter hands out sage advice. When a pocket watch belonging to one of the residents goes missing for a second time he warns of danger—but will Ida’s granddaughter listen and will she heed his advice?