MYSTERIES OF LIFE--AND WRITERS

"Finding the stories is not the hard part. Writing them down is."
- Annie Proulex

I love mysteries--to read, watch and write. Give me a Lee Child, James Lee Burke, J.D. Robb...I could go on and on with good mystery writers as I have many favorite authors in this genre. It is not surprising that I also enjoy creating mysteries.

Having said that, although I love to read mysteries and usually cover at least one complete novel per week and I watch many of the shows on television showing crimes and who committed them, they are one heck of a hard thing to write. I can say that I have written mystery short stories. One in fact, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. I self-published a long-short story, "The Cat Who Loved Chocolate" as a Christmas gift to friends and family. People seemed to enjoy the mysterious tale.

My novel, "Aunt Lutie's Blue Moon Cafe," has a mystery with an old murder connected to a new murder running through it--those small towns can have an undercurrent of mystery just in the looks people pass among them. I guess I will have to wait to see if I hit the mark with this mystery when I hear from the agent who requested to read the whole manuscript. But just because I have written them doesn't make it any easier.

I write what is known in the business as amateur detective mysteries. Mine usually center around an innocent member of a community who is going about her (usually I write these in the female voice) daily business and stumbles upon a dead body or some other surprising crime. When I write a series character mystery, she will have become known in her neighborhood or town for solving crimes. I enjoy the writing from this viewpoint and using small town, everyday life, to show readers that crime can happen in the most innocent of places.

"The Cat Who Loved Chocolate" is a story using characters that I had used in another story and am now writing about in a children's book. These stories are inhabited by two angels, Delilah and Jeremiah, and Marmalade (the cat) is a recent addition to them. The tales are fun to write but I have to admit that I am struggling with the middle of the children's book (working title "Lost Angels") about now and need to delve into more research about the southwest location plus do character sketches of the children involved in solving this mystery.

Do I dare continue? Of course. I have to know how the children clear up the mystery. Will I write another adult mystery? Funny you should ask:

....."You're sure you don't know this child?"
He stops the gurney carrying a gray-colored bag and, at a nod to the EMT, I find myself staring at a tiny white face surrounded by dark curls, a little cherub now blue in death.
I can't do this. Take her away. She's not my Mandy but somewhere there is a mother who, like me, will never be the same from this day forward.
(End of Prologue)

Where do I go from here?

TIP: You must read in order to be able to write. But there comes a time when you need to stop and start writing. Pick a certain time of the day and create a writing habit. Not having an idea is not an option.

PROMPT: A woman in the process of being divorced by her husband, comes home to find him dead on the kitchen floor. What does she do now?