Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
Cold Wind to Valhalla - Naked Actors and a Minstrel in the Gallery
11/16/2025 6:47:45 AM
The title,“Cold Wind to Valhalla,” was chosen before the book had a plot. Or, in a way, characters. I was making preliminary notes for a second novel in the P.L. McGinnis Mystery series, and wanted to go with another Jethro Tull song for inspiration, when the publisher of “Serenade to a Cuckoo” decided to completely shift their focus to Westerns. Mysteries no longer fit the list. Oh-kay. I didn’t want to write another P.L. and try for a different publisher. But I didn’t want to waste that great title from Tull’s album “Minstrel in the Gallery.”
While contemplating my next move after losing the publisher (which also meant losing a great editor) I spent an evening looking through old memorabilia from my days in NYC right after college. I found a small notice for a musical which was performed in Greenwich at a club (that probably should remain nameless…along with the show.) I think the producers were trying to recreate the glory of “Oh, Calcutta!” and basically decided to throw together some songs and get dancers and singers on stage…bare. Yep. Naked.
The only reason I saw it was that I was dating a guy (wonderful singer) who was subbing for about a week as the stage manager. Heck...it’s theater. You take the jobs you can even if it means going backstage to announce “Five Minutes!” to unclothed actors. Anyway, he and I were going out after the show and he got me in to see it for free.
It was an unbelievably terrible show. The only good song was sung by the only good singer (who was the only one who never shed a stitch and was the only one who should have…he was very cute.) Fast forward many years…I was looking at this old notice and remembering how it was simultaneously embarrassing and funny to see these naked actors lined up at the end of the show to greet the patrons (most of whom were clad in Armani and Vera Wang). Which is when it hit…what a fun way to start a book.
So I had a title and an off-beat opening. Since P.L. McGinnis was no longer an option for the heroine, I decided this could be the right time to bring Abby Fouchet back. But what to do for the plot? I was determined to use Cold Wind to Valhalla as the title. But Ian Anderson’s lyrics were more suitable to a medieval romance so I shifted focus and went searching for a different Valhalla. Specifically, the town in upstate New York that is home to the Kensico Cemetery. Oddly, I remembered this thanks to writing “Haunting Melody.” During the course of my research about Florenz Ziegfeld and Billie Burke, I discovered that Billie was buried in Kensico, along with many artists of the vaudeville and silent film era.
Silent film era. There had to be a ghost or two who might be willing to sing to Abby while she shot a series of episodes for the soap opera Endless Time that mirrored a silent film. Add some cryptic words spoken by a dying (but clothed!) actress. Add some scenes just outside of Fort Lee, New Jersey, which was home to many silent films before Hollywood took control. Naked actors, the spirit of a silent film star or two, a puzzle to sort out, and an historic cemetery…oh yeah, a final touch…one loveable child who, unknowingly, helps solve the mystery.
Cold Wind to Valhalla bit.ly/47UxmIx
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