2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year's Eve celebration.

It is only the 2nd of January, but my anticipation is already growing. After many years of writing romances, this is the year my first cozy mystery will be published. In May, I will be proudly flogging A Deadly Grind, Book 1 of my Vintage Kitchen Mysteries. Before Christmas I did the second round of copyedits on it, and in another week or so, I will have the finished cover to show around. I am in the midst of writing Book 3, Picked for Murder or Picked to Death... not sure of the title yet.

I'm so excited!

Building a Mystery Part 1 - Character and the Cozy

Building a Mystery - Part 1

Character and the Cozy

I've been a professional writer for quite a while, though my career as a published mystery author is just beginning. One thing that writing romance novels does for the writer, is it forces them to focus on character, the heart of any romance worth reading.

So I look at my eleven years writing historical romances as training ground for my career as a mystery author. For some readers, character may not seem an important part of a genre that can coast along nicely on a gripping plot, good action, and a believable murder investigation. But I guarantee this: if you think of the writers you like best, you'll find that they created at least one, and probably more, memorable characters.

Think of a protagonist who stumbled into private investigation when her lone wolf nature got her evicted from the police force of a small California town. As books in the series were published, we learned that she became the way she is because of her background, raised by an aunt who was not a nurterer. Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone is one of the iconic characters in mystery fiction, with every book giving us a little more depth, a little more insight into the quirky character.

But as a writer, how do you do that? How do you create a character that folks will not only like, but remember?

I must admit, I've thought about this a lot over the years, and if you're interested, I'll share, starting with...

What's in a Name?

Do... give your character a memorable, but not overcomplicated or difficult to pronounce in your head, name. If your character's name is pronounced 'Peter' don't spell it 'Peetyre' and expect folks to get it. The exception is if you are setting your mystery in a country where spelling of names is formalized and important to get right. If your character is Welsh, then Dafydd for David is correct, but give your reader a shot at pronouncing it right. Give a pronunciation key in some way, and repeat it in every book in which the character appears. Real-life Canadian singer Damhnait Doyle's Irish name is interesting, but I can never remember that her first name is pronounced 'DAV-net'. Maybe I will, now that I've made a point of it in my head. She's a real person, and the name is cool, but I wouldn't go out of my way to give a character such a complex name. Look at Kinsey Millhone... easy to remember, easy to pronounce.

Don't... give your character a stupid name that distracts from the character. This is somewhat a personal prejudice, but hear me out; I have a reason for disliking cutesy names like Kitty Katz, or Lily Gardener. As tempting as it is, if that character is going to stick around beyond one book, it is a turn-off for me, as a reader, if I'm rolling my eyes every time I read the character name. And it's bad for the eyes. I'm not against unusual names; far from it. After all, I named a central character in my Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series 'Valetta Nibley'. But if you feel a compelling urge to name someone Baby Druel, or something equally horrendous, go on... I dare you!

I have lots more to say, but I figure I have time. Tune in next time for more on Character and the Cozy in Building a Mystery - Part 2    

Building a Mystery

I have been thinking a lot, lately, about what goes into a successful mystery series. Some of the questions I've asked myself have to do with character, plots, setting, complications, conflict, etc. As the title of this entry says, ultimately, I've been considering what goes into building a mystery. (That's also the title of a Sarah McLachlan song, FYI!)

So I thought I'd do a 'miniseries' of blog entries on my own particular approach to planning and writing a mystery series. This is as much for my own benefit, as for anyone else's. I think it helps to pause every once and a while to look at how you do things and figure out if the approach is working for you.

I'll say right up front, for real advice on how to write a mystery, go to one of the fabulous books or sites for help. I'll do a little research and come up with a list for you. This is more my own, weird, eclectic, peripatetic, wandering, willful way of going about building a mystery series.

Some topics will be:
1 - Where Do I Begin? How I start when I'm planning a series.
2 - Character. How do I decide who my protagonist will be, as well as peopling the world.
3 - Place. Where to set the series?
4 - Will It Fit? Do all of the aforementioned things work for the kind of mystery I'm planning?

And anything else I think of as I'm going along.

If you have any questions, chime in!!

Writing Inspiration - Reading for Writers

Do you read while you write?

That's a question I'd like to ask all the other mystery writers out there.

Time is a factor, or course. When I'm in the midst of writing a book, sometimes all I have time to do is write. My only reading is confined to research, and I collapse at the end of a long day, staring at the idiots who inhabit Reality TV-Land, as they squabble about their tiny lives.

But right now I'm working on the planning of a new series. I don't take that lightly; I believe that the planning stages are what will sustain you through the series, every layer you plan adding to the depth of your characters. I'm cautiously optimistic, but there have been some bumps along the way. Then who should come along to help me out, but Dame Agatha herself!!

I'm serious! 

I read Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks... no, not the actual notebooks, but the book by John Curran. What I found was, while reading the book I was reminded of all the many methods writers have to conceal evidence, misdirect, and mislead. No one was better at that than the Queen of Mystery herself! I am not lifting any of her methods or tricks, but reading through her thought processes (weird how familiar the notes feel, sometimes; I can see her thinking things through on paper, like I do. Too bad I will never achieve her level of brilliance!!) illuminates a path that all mystery writers must tread, eventually. How can we successfully conceal the perp and his or her motives from the reader?

But lately I started reading Roberta Isleib's 'Asking for Murder', one of her advice column mysteries. And darned if it didn't have the same affect, but in a vastly different way! If you've never read the series, I urge you to pick up the books, starting with the first one, Deadly Advice.  

Here's what I've figured out, about why her book has triggered such a flood of creativity. A truly great mystery writer inspires me, reminding me that while any mystery novel is of course, ultimately about the mystery, at its core a mystery novel is also about the affect of trauma on the human heart, and how the investigation is inevitably cluttered and complicated by the secrets of the soul, the rich interweaving of human experience that is both our glory and sometimes, our downfall. It's all about the people, and their interactions.

I do so loooove writing mysteries!

Writing in a Vacuum

No, not a Hoover.

Speaking of old vacuums, just for a moment. Long ago when I was in my first apartment, I got from somewhere one of those hideous old heavy cannisters, you know the ones. The design was actually beautiful; it had a teal steel body and fabric hose and lots of chrome. Trouble was, it didn't suck. It actually left MORE dirt on the carpet than when I started.

But that's not the kind of vacuum I'm talking about.

I've been super fortunate in signing a three book deal for the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and I am now writing book 2, working title Bowled Over. I'll have book 3 done by the end of the year. Now, writing a series, when you are carrying the same main characters all the way through, requires a character arc, some kind of logical progression in the characters' lives. I love that part of the job.

However... it is very much about writing in a vacuum. I have almost zero input from others on how the characters work. All I can do, at this point, is make their lives logical, interesting and move them forward.

So... what is important to you, as a reader, or writer, about the character arc in your favorite mystery series? When there is a love interest, do you want the love to move forward quickly, or do you not want a resolution too quickly? What about love triangles... love them or loathe them?

I'm interested!

And the moral of the story is...

I've learned a lot from books over the years. Fiction, and by definition the men and women who write it, has helped me form my moral code, made me think, outraged me, soothed me, given me food for thought. I like a book that has some meat to it, something that, after the back cover is closed, or the last page has flashed by on my ereader, leaves me thinking. Some books I go back to again and again in my thoughts, mulling the core values of the story, wondering what the author meant in certain spots, weighing the morals and lessons I glean from the conflicts and plotlines within the pages. 

But sometime I just want a good yarn, a story that entertains, lightly, and without hitting me over the head with a moral. And yet, I don't think that 'light' has to necessarily mean empty of value. I do believe that even the lightest and fluffiest of novels can have a moral compass guiding it.

We, as writers, have a powerful duty to be sure we know what we're doing, that the 'lessons' contained within the books we write resonate, hold power and meaning, add light to the world, and not darkness. That doesn't mean no grit in the plot, no darkness, no true representation of evil, it just means--to me--that at the end, that the reader takes some truth away. This is a very personal view, one I hold close to my heart. When I set aside a book as boring, I often find it's because the book has no moral story at its core. I want to be entertained, but I want to be provoked to think, too, and I can't imagine hanging in there with a series protagonist who wasn't seeking the truth of his or her own life in the people around them. 

The mystery series I have stayed with over the years- V. I. Warshawski, Kinsey Millhone, Deborah Knott... these are the ladies I hang out with the most and have for many years. Even when I don't agree with them, they are mighty fine company. I feel that way about my friends in real life, too. I may not always agree with them, but I usually learn something from their company and enjoy our disagreements.

So... how do you as readers feel? What do you get from the murder mysteries, cozy or otherwise, that you read?  Do you want to learn something, or feel something while reading? No moral judgment here if you don't... reading 'just' for entertainment is fine. I'm that way with TV. After all, I watch so-called 'Reality TV', where all I learn is, don't trust anyone who says 'trust me'. Heck, I watch Wipeout, too, and you won't learn a single thing from that except watching someone try to navigate the big red balls is funny as all get out! After a day of reading and writing, sometimes I just need escape, and Survivor, American Idol and the like offer that to me. 

But what about you?