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mary rosenblum
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Hello all!
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mary rosenblum
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Welcome to our Tuesday Forum.
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you all had a great
weekend...
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mary rosenblum
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and can you believe that it's
nearly mid July?
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mary rosenblum
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I saw a scary sign on the wall
when I took my mom in to a doctor's appointment yesterday...
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mary rosenblum
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only 172 days until Christmas.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about writing mystery today. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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mary rosenblum
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We were talking about plotting
in our casual chat yesterday, and a couple of people said they couldn't
plot mysteries...
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mary rosenblum
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so I thought it was a good
time to bring it up as a Forum.
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mary rosenblum
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It's really not difficult to
write mystery and is rather fun...
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mary rosenblum
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since it tends to be a plot
driven genre where you can use your creativity to find new and fun ways to
mislead your readers.
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mary rosenblum
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Mystery is simply a character
trying to find out who did what to whom.
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mary rosenblum
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And the idea is that the
character figures it out before the readers do.
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mary rosenblum
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And it's a race. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Mystery readers do expect you
to play fair, though, and leave hidden clues for them to find after they
reach the end.
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mary rosenblum
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Generally, if you hide clues
and have your sleuth figure out the 'whodunnit' without giving readers a
fair chance to compete, you'll annoy your readers immensely.
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redhead68
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Is a Mystery better told in
first or third person?
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mary rosenblum
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Depends on what you are doing,
red.
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mary rosenblum
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Detective fiction is often
told in first person, especially in the 'noir' subgenre...think Dashiel
Hammet and Raymond Chandler.
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mary rosenblum
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But it doesn't have to be done
that way.
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mary rosenblum
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A lot of 'amateur sleuth'
mystery, which tends to depend on action and setting, is written in third
person, but quite a bit is done in first, too.
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redhead68
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a discovery of ones past
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mary rosenblum
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What, redhead? As a mystery
you mean?
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mary rosenblum
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YOu can do that. It's a very
flexible genre.
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mary rosenblum
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Josephine Tey wrote one where
her PI was laid up in the hospital after a bad ending to a previous book...
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mary rosenblum
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and solved the mystery of
Richard the Third and the murder of his two nephews in the Tower of London.
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mary rosenblum
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Talk about a book seriously
lacking in action and violence!
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mary rosenblum
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But it worked just fine.
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redhead68
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sorry, yes. The mystery is main
character's past and
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redhead68
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and a cold case she is
indirectly involved in.
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mary rosenblum
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That should work veyr nicely
red.
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mary rosenblum
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The really strong mysteries
are ones that include a powerful story as well as the obvious murder
mystery.
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mary rosenblum
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For example, Snow Falling on
Cedars...
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mary rosenblum
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is a murder mystery, but the
more powerful element is its examination of the prejudice and practices of
a small Washington town...
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mary rosenblum
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during the Japanese
Internement and the repercussions afterward.
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janecj333
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Don't you think that most
fiction has some element of misleading the reader, to create suspense?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure. If you want to look at
most fiction stories, they are mysteries in some way...
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mary rosenblum
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Even in murder is not
involved.
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mary rosenblum
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Most of my SF involve some
kind of mystery.
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mary rosenblum
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Maybe not murder, but
something must be discovered.
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janecj333
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Not to mention
unpredictability...a story that the reader can figure out early on is
doomed.
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mary rosenblum
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That's certainly true of any
fiction, Jane, I agree.
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mary rosenblum
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If I think I can see the end
come on page 100 and I"m right, I'm done.
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jeannieml
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What is the difference between
mystery and intrigue?
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mary rosenblum
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These are all marketing terms,
jean, and what one publisher might call 'intrigue' another might call
'mystery'...
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mary rosenblum
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but generally, I think the
'intrigue' tends to heavily involve a romantic element of not an erotic
one...
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mary rosenblum
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while any romantic subplots in
mystery tend to be very secondary to the main plot.
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redhead68
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Cool, thanks. I'm reading a Mary
H. Clark book done in first
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mary rosenblum
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I think you see more first
person in mystery than some of the other genres, but that's just a rough
feeling, not statistically sound at all...
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mary rosenblum
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but the early 'classical'
mysteries did tend to be done in first person and that influenced the
genre, I think.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about writing mystery today. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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mummsy
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I like your 'garden mysteries'
Mary, some of them are actually in our libraries in Ontario
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mary rosenblum
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Thanks mummsy, that's cool.
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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A lot of libraries don't stock
paperbacks.
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writermom
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I'm working on a
mystery/historical fiction and I am having trouble deciding how much to
reveal and when is the best time to reveal it
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mary rosenblum
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That's always the key to
mystery...keeping the 'whodunnit' secret until the end but giving the
reader a 'fair chance' to figure it out.
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mary rosenblum
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Of course you really work to
keep them from finding it out. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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There are a couple of tried
and true ways to hide clues in plain sight.
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mary rosenblum
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But your best option is to
find someone who is an avid mystery reader, not necessarily a writer, and
give them them a good second draft of your manuscript.
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mary rosenblum
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Ask that person to honestly
tell you when/where he/she figured out the end.
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redhead68
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Garden Mysteries?
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mary rosenblum
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I had a series of garden
mysteries set in the Columbia Gorge, red.
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mary rosenblum
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One effective way to distract
the reader from 'real' clues is to cast suspicion on at least one other
character.
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mary rosenblum
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Give that person involvement
with the crime.
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mary rosenblum
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That person has no alibi,
he/she had reason to want the victim dead, he/she was actually at the crime
scene...
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mary rosenblum
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so that readers pay more
attention to that person.
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mary rosenblum
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The other way to hide clues is
to put them into a scene where something more interesting and seeminly
important happens.
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mary rosenblum
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So the reader focuses on that
event, action, or thing, and misses the real clue.
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mary rosenblum
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It's like a card trick where
the magician gets your attention with one hand while the other hand slips
the card from his sleeve.
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redhead68
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What is your favorite, tried and
true way to hide clues in plain sight, Mary?
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redhead68
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Misdirection?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, misdirection.
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mary rosenblum
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When I decide where to place a
clue, I make sure that something happens in that scene to focus reader
attention.
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mary rosenblum
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And I often add my clues after
I finish the first draft.
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mary rosenblum
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Some I'll think of as I write
that first draft...but others I'll figure out and add later.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember that you're dealing
with the characters and action in the first draft, so just getting from the
initial discovery of the crime...
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mary rosenblum
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through the subplots and to
the revelation is plenty to keep juggling. Add any clues that come to
you...
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mary rosenblum
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but don't worry about it too
much.
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mary rosenblum
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When you get done, you may
want to sprinkle two or three more into the mix.
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jeannieml
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Some mysteries end up as a
series of books. Is this author driven or character driven?
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mary rosenblum
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Mystery is one of those genres
where having a series in mind helps you sell.
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mary rosenblum
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Mystery readers LOVE series,
they are very loyal, and publishers tend to prefer series to stand alone
books.
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mary rosenblum
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It is not unusual to actually
sign a contract for three books even if you're a new writer, as long as the
first one is complete.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm talking NY houses here.
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mary rosenblum
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Small press publishers are
equally interested in series...although they may sign the books one by one.
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redhead68
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Thanks, Mary, I was having
problems with trying to do all of the clues while writing 1st draft:)
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mary rosenblum
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I suspec that is what
convinces most novice writers that they can't do mystery.
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mary rosenblum
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You can get so tangled up in
your own story, trying to keep all the clues straight.
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mary rosenblum
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It's much easier to do that
when you can read the draft as a whole and get a sense for where you might
want to add clues.
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jeannieml
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So, your main character needs to
be well developed, then?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes...mystery more than any
other genre requires very solid and complex characters.
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mary rosenblum
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Mystery readers tend to be
sophisticated about character and they get to know your character during a
series.
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mary rosenblum
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You need to have enough depth
in your character that you can main the 'freshness' of that character over
the course of five or nine or twelve books.
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redhead68
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Mary, is there a special kind of
editing software specifically made for mysteries, or will any do?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't know anything about
editing software, red. I would tend to be very very skeptical of any
software program applied to a fiction story.
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mary rosenblum
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Spell check is about all I
would use.
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mary rosenblum
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Grammar check will drive you
nuts if you use dialogue, since dialogue is very rarely grammatically
correct.
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mary rosenblum
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Any other kind of editing
program or 'story software' may well give you something that is very stiff
and formulaic.
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geezer
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Do the publishers have an ideal
length for a mystery novel?
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mary rosenblum
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Most publishers will list
their preferred lengths.
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mary rosenblum
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You can go longer, but costs
are a reality.
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mary rosenblum
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If you go over 100,000 words,
your book is going to cost more and readers might avoid paying more for an
unknown writer.
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mary rosenblum
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If your story is really good
and it just IS 125,000 words, maybe that will be fine.
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mary rosenblum
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But I would say that most
adult mysteries run between 70,000 and 100,000 words as a general rule.
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mary rosenblum
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You'll find exceptions though.
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aelle
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How do you punctuate people's
thoughts? Italics?
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mary rosenblum
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My personal preference is no
special punctuation at all, aelle. It should be clear from the context of
the scene when your character is thinking.
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mary rosenblum
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The lack of quotes means
he/she is not speaking aloud, after all.
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mary rosenblum
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But some publishers insist on
casting direct thoughts into italic.
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mary rosenblum
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That's why I paraphrase
thought most of the time.
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mary rosenblum
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Direct thought is kind of
klunky and annoying in quantity.
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mary rosenblum
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I wouldn't use it a lotl.
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redhead68
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Oh, I have seen some software
they say is for fiction writing and it will check all sorts of things and
even act like a ghost reviewer. Just wondering on your take of these.
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mary rosenblum
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I would avoid them like the
plague, red!
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mary rosenblum
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do you WANT your book to sound
just like every other book in the slush pile?
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mary rosenblum
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They depend on a formula.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember...the computer cannot
think. So it's depending on how many words, how many scenes, things like
that.
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mary rosenblum
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Not a good idea at all, in my
opinion.
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mary rosenblum
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Write a lot, work at getting
better.
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mary rosenblum
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That beats an outside editor,
even a flesh and blood one, any day.
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tarsus
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Are publishers as interested in
mystery short stories as they are novels, or are novels preferred for this
genre?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, the short story market
has been very slow for a long time, although it does seem to be making a
revival...
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mary rosenblum
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in the form of anthologies and
who knows...perhaps ipod downloads in the near future.
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mary rosenblum
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But it is a strong novel
genre, as is romance.
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mary rosenblum
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You have Ellery Queen and
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine as the main mystery paper markets...
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mary rosenblum
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and a lot of electronic
markets.
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mary rosenblum
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Publishers do anthologies but
most of these are invitation only, from what I've seen.
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dwkav
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I'm curious about the difference
between Mystery and Suspense. They seem fairly similar to me.
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mary rosenblum
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Again, one publishers
'suspense' is another publishers 'mystery'.
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mary rosenblum
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Generally, something with more
characters and more focus on action and violence will go for suspense.
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mary rosenblum
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Often in suspense or thriller,
you're not trying to solve a crime that has happened...
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mary rosenblum
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you're trying to prevent a
crime from occuring.
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mary rosenblum
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Or a disaster.
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redhead68
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Have you been in Ellery Queen
and/or Alfred Hitchcock Magazines, Mary? If so how did you query?
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mary rosenblum
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I have a story in the Ellery
Queen August issue, red. Back Track. You don't query.
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mary rosenblum
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You send the entire story to
the editor with a cover letter.
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mary rosenblum
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You'll find the submission
guidelines on the websites and in any market index.
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jeannieml
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Are there sub-genres within the
mystery genre?
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mary rosenblum
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You'll find many, jean.
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mary rosenblum
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And it does help to understand
the differences.
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mary rosenblum
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Generally, you've got
'procedural' where the MC is an official law enforcement person.
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mary rosenblum
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You have the 'hardboiled PI'
which is the hard-bitten PI and usually done in first person.
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mary rosenblum
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You have 'amateur sleuth'
where the MC is not a cop or official, but might be a retired DA, a jockey,
a gardener, or what have you...
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mary rosenblum
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and gets involved in crimes
through his/her job.
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mary rosenblum
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Nevada Barr's MC is a park
ranger.
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mary rosenblum
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These tend to include a fairly
high level of action and violence and an unusual setting and MC career help
a lot.
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mary rosenblum
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The 'cozy' is more like Miss
Marple/Hercule Poirot or 'Murder She Wrote'.
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mary rosenblum
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They take place in the MC's
local turf, no outside villains are involved, they come from within the
community.
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mary rosenblum
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The violence and/or sex take
place offstage.
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mary rosenblum
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And are pretty subdued
compared to the amateur sleuth mysteries for the most part.
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mary rosenblum
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Recently, I've seen a rise in
'paranormal' mysteries, where spirits or ghosts are involved.
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mary rosenblum
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Berkeley Prime Crime wouldn't
touch them, ten years ago, and now they feature them.
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mary rosenblum
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(That's one of the big NY
houses).
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mummsy
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is there an issue with copyright
if you use a character or settting from a movie in your story?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes of course, mumm.
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mary rosenblum
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Every character in every book
or movie or DVD or comic book is copyrighted and belongs to the author...
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mary rosenblum
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or whomever owns the rights.
You may NOT use that character without written permission from the rights
holder.
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mary rosenblum
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Make up your own. :-) That's
better anyway.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about writing mystery today. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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dwkav
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Ahhh, thank you, that makes
sense. Which authors do you recommend? I'm interested in Mystery, but
unfortunately picked up a couple of real stinkers awhile back.
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mary rosenblum
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What kind of mystery do you
like to read, dwk?
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gail
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(I've arrived late; sorry if
this question is a repeat.) How important is it to create a series when
writing mystery? Personally, I'd rather read a new story with new
characters, so am more inclined to write those rather than serial works.
Should I focus on another genre?
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mary rosenblum
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You can do it either way,
gail.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a bit harder to sell a
stand alone to a NY house, but if the story is compelling and powerful,
they'll take it.
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mary rosenblum
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They count on building a
readership over the first few books of a series. Once you have a loyal
readership, they keep reading.
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tarsus
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Regarding the writing software
question for editing mystery, I think Ken Rand's book The 10% Solution will
do a better job and is simple to use. I just got a copy, it's amazing!
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, I can't promote Ken's
book enough.
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mary rosenblum
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It's available from fairwood
press, costs about 7 and as I recall, it's free shipping...unless that has
changed.
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mary rosenblum
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It has taken several of my
students from not publishable to publishable.
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dwkav
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I'd be very interested in
Paranormal mysteries, since I have one simmering in my laptop right now,
other wise I think "cozy's" would be good for me. I don't like
the sex and violence thing.
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mary rosenblum
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Elizabeth George's early books
are good examples of very rich and complex cozies, dwk.
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mary rosenblum
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Think of Agatha Christi's Miss
Marple or Hercule Poirot stories but moderninzed a bit.
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mummsy
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for a writer in her eighties,
P.D. James is going strong.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh yes, she's a classic.
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mary rosenblum
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Dick Frances is a prime
example of amateur sleuth mysteries...he has had a jockey MC for years who
has evolved nicely.
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mary rosenblum
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Tony Hillerman is a nice
example of a unique setting that carries the series.
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mummsy
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but what happens to sue grafton
when she gets to Z
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mary rosenblum
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I think she's about ready to
move on, actually, mumm. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But do keep that in mind when
you start a series.
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mary rosenblum
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If you use 'related' names,
you need to have quite a few in mind.
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dwkav
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FYI - Just checked the Ellery
Queen website, and there you are! An excerpt of Back Track by Mary Freeman,
aka Mary Rosenblum.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh cool!
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jeannieml
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One of my favorite MCs is Travis
McGee from John D. McDonald's classic series
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mary rosenblum
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He's worth reading for craft. John
D. McDonald is a very strong writer and his myteries are very very good.
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mummsy
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Stephen King has a new short
story out in a magazine called TinCup, do you know of the publication?
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mary rosenblum
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Never heard of it.
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mary rosenblum
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It might be a new publication
started by a friend of King's and he did a short story for him to help get
the mag off the ground.
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mary rosenblum
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People in all aspects of the
publishing world do help each other out. :-)
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writermom
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I just checked the Fairwood
Press site and the Ken Rand book is 9.99
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mary rosenblum
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Ah, it's gone up then. Thanks
writer. Believe me, it's worth it.
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mary rosenblum
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I think this is a new edition.
Ken said he had done some revision for it, last time I talked to him.
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mummsy
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sorry mary, it's tin house not
tin cup
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mary rosenblum
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Nope. Still haven't heard of
it. It's probably new.
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mary rosenblum
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One thing to remember in
mystery.
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mary rosenblum
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You need real and well
developed characters.
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mary rosenblum
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And your readers are very
sophisticated about things like police procedure, guns, and the law.
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mary rosenblum
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You can't just 'fake it'.
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mary rosenblum
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You really do need to get your
facts right.
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mummsy
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FYI
http://www.tinhouse.com/mag_current_home.htm
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mary rosenblum
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Thanks, mumm.
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mary rosenblum
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Writers Digest books offers a
nice selection of research books for mystery writers...
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mary rosenblum
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that detail the steps of an
arrest, a trial, a forensics exam of a crime scene, an autopsy and the
like.
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mary rosenblum
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You can also find references
on hand guns and rifles, or visit your local gun shop and ask the owner to
let you handle some models.
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mary rosenblum
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Most gun shop owners can tell
you what law enforcement folks tend to use, what the individual idiosyncracies
of a particular model are...
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mary rosenblum
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and facts such as how many
rounds a clip will hold.
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sewsteph
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I am on fictionwise.com and the
Ken Rand ebook is 1.59
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mary rosenblum
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That's the download, not the
paper book, I bet.
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janecj333
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Speaking of sex and violence, I
worry that I wouldn't want my kids reading the intense scenes I have
written.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, every writer has to face
that. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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That's why writers who do porn
often ...most of the time, actually...use a pen name.
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libertybell
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would it be considered porn or
erotica; is there a difference
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mary rosenblum
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Sure there's a difference,
liberty.
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mary rosenblum
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Porn is just sex to get off
on...graphic details who cares about characters or a meaningful story.
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mary rosenblum
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Some erotica is very literary.
Character and story matter here, and the sex details are there, but are
secondary to the character story.
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mary rosenblum
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It's actually a respectable
market. :-)
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redhead68
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How does a body pick a pen name?
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mary rosenblum
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Whatever works for you.
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mary rosenblum
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I personally use my birth name
for mystery, just so readers know what they're getting...it's not SF.
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mary rosenblum
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I use Mary Rosenblum for SF
and mainstream.
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mary rosenblum
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I suspect that if I were to
write in the romance genre, I'd use a different pen name.
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mummsy
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i have to worry about the
'large' members in our family, especially when i describe a 'hefty'
character
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mary rosenblum
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Well, I wouldn't worry too
much unless you're actually using a real person as a character...something
I don't do.
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mary rosenblum
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Personally, I think every
piece you write should offend someone in some way!
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mary rosenblum
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Otherwise you're probably
being way too politically correct.
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jeannieml
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But, starting out in the
publishing field, is it better to stick with one name or diversify like you
do, Mary?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't suggest you use a pen
name unless you have reason to, and I don't suggest you use more than one
name...
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mary rosenblum
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unless you have good reasons
for doing that...such as you're writing Christian Fiction and erotica.
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mary rosenblum
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Then I would certainly use
different names!
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mary rosenblum
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You build a fan base and if
you divide that fan base up with different names, you won't sell as many
books.
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mary rosenblum
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I make my Freeman/Rosenblum
duality as public as I can.
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libertybell
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does a pen name protect your
privacy? I know Grisham had to move from the notoriety.
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mary rosenblum
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Probably not if you're a
blockbuster writer, liberty. In this day and age, it's far too easy to find
out someone's real identity and leak it to the internet.
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mary rosenblum
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But it will keep your friends
and neighbors from knowing it's you.
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mary rosenblum
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Me, I rather like it when
someone recognizes my name somewhere. :-) I have no problem with that...
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mary rosenblum
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but it can be disconcerting to
realize that a lot of people you've never met think they know you.
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lenna
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When using a pen name, how do
you submit your work or deal with editors? Under what name?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, publishing knows how pen
names work.
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mary rosenblum
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You put your pen name on the
manuscript as the 'by line'.
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mary rosenblum
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The Copper Court Mystery, by
Penelope Author.
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mary rosenblum
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And your real name goes on the
upper left hand corner of the page, with your address and phone number or
email address...
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mary rosenblum
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they're going to write the
check to that name. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But they won't publicize it
unless you tell them to.
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gail
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I love what you said,
"Personally, I think every piece you write should offend someone in
some way!" Love it! :-D I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm
over-exercising my red pen. *grinz*
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mary rosenblum
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Well, if you think about it, a
lot of different people read your work.
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mary rosenblum
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If your people are real,
diverse, and behave like real people in your book, some readers are doing
to be offended by something!
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mary rosenblum
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If all your characters are
mannerly, perfect, and utterly PC...how boring.
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mary rosenblum
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Some of my characters are
quite prejudiced and they're not all villains either.
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mary rosenblum
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Some are narrow minded. Some
are not. Some are homophobic. Some are gay. They're people.
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gail
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You brought to mind a question I
have. When it comes to assigning decent qualities to my villians, I don't
seem to have a problem. But, when doing the opposite to my "good
guys" I get horribly stumped. Any suggestions?
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mary rosenblum
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I think it is harder to give
your good guys less than perfect traits, gail.
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mary rosenblum
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You love them, you've created
them, they're your children.
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mary rosenblum
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You don't WANT them to have
flaws.
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mary rosenblum
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But then again...you must know
people whom you like, admire, but then that person really does kind of
think women are inferior...
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mary rosenblum
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or he doesn't really like gay
people, or she is scared of African Americans...
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mary rosenblum
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But in many other ways they're
admirable.
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mary rosenblum
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So the good outweighs the
flaw, but the flaw is there. It's just not the driving force of that
person's personality.
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mary rosenblum
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I think that can be the
hardest part of creating a character...giving that character you LOVE a
flaw.
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mary rosenblum
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You find a lot of flawed
characters in mystery. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I do suggest though, that
whether you're writing a mystery short story or novel...
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mary rosenblum
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that you find a dedicated
mystery reader and have that person read for you.
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mary rosenblum
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You want to know if that
person figured out whodunnit too soon.
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mary rosenblum
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I see a lot of novice mystery
stories where it's obvious who did it from about page three and we
simply...
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mary rosenblum
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walk through the process of
the MC figuring it out.
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mary rosenblum
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Now you can make that work as
a suspense story by creating a 'ticking clock'...
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mary rosenblum
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so that the reader knows that
the bad guy will commit a terrible crime if the MC can't put the clues
together in time.
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mary rosenblum
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Some suspense stories start by
revealing the murderer on page one.
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geezer
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That's why I never liked Columbo
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mary rosenblum
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And that's actually a valid
form of mystery. Think Sherlock Holmes.
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mary rosenblum
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Mostly those were intellectual
puzzles...how was this crime committed.
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mary rosenblum
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Although I guess he revealed
the evildoer at the end, as with modern mystery.
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mary rosenblum
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But you do have mysteries
where the 'who' is known from the start.
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mary rosenblum
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You have to balance that
revelation with something to drive the story, though.
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mary rosenblum
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Usually it's that 'stop him
before he kills again' tension.
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mary rosenblum
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When you plot that mystery,
think about who else you can cast suspicion on.
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mary rosenblum
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Often that's how you can
involve an amateur sleuth.
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mary rosenblum
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A friend of that person gets
accused of the murder.
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mary rosenblum
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Your amateur needs a reason to
be involved, remember.
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mary rosenblum
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If your MC is a professional
in the field, he/she must get involved.
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writermom
|
do you need a slueth be it
professional or amatuer
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mary rosenblum
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Well someone has to solve the
crime, writer.
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writermom
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or can your mc be to the one to
solve the mystery
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mary rosenblum
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Well, you can do it in
narrative form as the author if you can make it compelling.
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mary rosenblum
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That might be a bit difficult.
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mary rosenblum
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Strong characterization tends
to be an important component of the mystery.
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mary rosenblum
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Not impossible, just not easy.
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janecj333
|
What about a reluctant hero,
someone who doesn't want to be involved and just stumbles into it, denying
his/her involvement all the way?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure, you can make that work.
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mary rosenblum
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You could add an element of
humor, do it in a light tone, or make it more serious.
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writermom
|
my mc's parents were murdered
and she is attempting to solve the mystery and there is an underlying
mystery that creates the murder mystery
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writermom
|
I'm not sure this is making any
sense
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mary rosenblum
|
sure. It sounds like a good
'amateur sleuth' plot, writer, with lots of complexity.
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writermom
|
the mc needs to discover who the
murderer is as well as the secret to her past that involves the murderer
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mary rosenblum
|
That sounds good, writer.
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gail
|
I've been disappoointed when the
story's culprit seems to have less motive for committing the crime than the
other suspects. It always reads (to me) like a red-herring ploy that won
the musical chair. Is it a worthwhile technique, though?
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mary rosenblum
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That's a double edged sword,
too, gail. Seasoned mystery readers tend to suspect any character...
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mary rosenblum
|
who seems to have obvious
reasons to have done the murder.
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mary rosenblum
|
I was very pleasantly
surprised recently when I read a very complex and well done mystery by a
Norwegian writer. The culprit seemed obvious...
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mary rosenblum
|
too obvious...and in a
marvelous twist, it turned out to be this person but the reality of the
crime was totally different...
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mary rosenblum
|
than the initial assumption.
The author very deftly used reader expectations to fool us. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour.
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