I
have this odd talent: I can mimic sounds. Not bird calls or random noises, but
everything from accents to singing voices. I guess whatever I hear has to be in
English, not English Sparrow. In some way, it feels related to my time-space
synesthesia, because when I repeat what I hear, it always carries exactly the
same rhythm as when I first heard it. The entire sound reaches my brain as one
complex pattern, and I memorize it as a whole.
It was my obsession
with accents that prompted me to create a character with an accent in my
mystery novels. Australia has been a fascination of mine ever since a young
Aussie couple on their honeymoon took a day trip around Oahu with my
grandparents and fourteen-year-old me, and the groom laughingly tried to throw
me into the waves on the North Beach. I fell in love with him and with
Australia in the same moment. I still remember how he tossed some money onto
the front seat, all stealthy-like, as he was exiting back at their hotel, so my
grandfather wouldn’t have time to object to the words, “Here, for the petrol.”
Petrol. Swoon.
Alas, I’m
not Australian (no one’s perfect), so I rely on a combination of research,
practice, and local Aussie guidance to make my character sound natural. Every
character has their own personality, and Bindi is no different. Her vocabulary
is organic—she has her favorite Aussie sayings (“No worries, mate. She’ll be
right.”) and those she doesn’t use (the f-bomb, because her day job involves
American preschoolers), and they reflect her personality, as any character’s
dialogue does. Each subsequent book in the series gives her more Americanisms
on top of her Aussie slang as she adapts a little more to Oregonian culture.
And as her mood changes, so do the words she’s willing to use. Or overuse—if
she uses “bloody” more than twice in the same sentence, just pray it isn’t you
she’s yelling at.
I think of
Bindi by her personality traits first and her country of origin second. That’s
helped me keep her consistent, true to herself, as I expand her Aussie
vocabulary through the series. Accents are awesome, and I love the linguistic
awareness they bring to stories that include them. But accented dialogue has to
arrive in the reader’s brain as one complex pattern—clarity, character, and
information rolled into one. I don’t want to sacrifice any of those elements for
linguistic show-don’t-tell overkill. Above all, I want my writing to be
transparent. Or at the very most, bearing a slight tint of color. A nice
translucent sea green, perhaps. Reminds me of Bindi reading a book at the
beach. No worries!
Nine Feet Under, Morgan's latest book in the Caching Out series featuring Margarita and her Aussie roommate Bindi is now available.
Get your copy from Amazon US (ebook or paper), Amazon UK (ebook or paper), or Barnes & Noble.
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