The Mystery Starts Here

It’s a hot, dry sunny day in Southern California and I’m sitting here in the family room with and A/C blasting, cool and comfy, working on the next in a series of mysteries I’m writing and…I got to wondering. How many of you out there in cyber-land plot your books? How many fly by the seat of your pants?

I’m a pantser and always have been. I know it takes me longer to write a book but I don’t care. I have to take the time to go over the book – several times, to put pertinent in information, add clues and red herrings, but, for me part of the fun of writing, is finding out what happens next! Oh, I have the main ideas down – whodunit, why, when, etc., and of course how the books ends, but I keep finding folks who walk into my books and refuse to leave and often they are the most entertaining of all. There was Harvey Martin, the neighbor of my protagonist in a yet-to-be-published book called, “Finder.” She stops by to have tea with the man and when he tells her about his hobby, taxidermy, she realizes that the fluffy white dog she thought was sleeping in the corner is really -dead. Or, from the same book, the vertically challenged Vegas P.I. named Buddy Strange. His firm is called, Strange Investigations. He made a lot of money when a Sci-Fi convention hit Vegas and mistakenly thought he investigated UFO – they all wanted him to get the skinny on Area 51.

Oh, I’ve tried to plot books, but I find by the time I’ve got everything ready to go – I don’t care. It’s almost like I’ve written the book so why do it again? Maybe I simply haven’t found the right way to plot yet. So, write and tell me – which are you, a plotter or a pantser?

I’m sitting in the family room, laptop on lap, waiting for the lights to go out – literally. For some unknown reason, SDG&E cannot keep electricity flowing to our house. Today’s excuse was they have to update the lines, or something. I’ve lived in all four corners of this lovely country and have NEVER had problems with the electric company like I do here! So, if I lose this message, my temper or my mind, blame in on SDG&E.

I finished the latest Linda Fairstein novel, “Killer Heat” today and it was good. Not fabulous, but okay. She has a penchant for educating her readers about the history of different parts of New York, but a little goes a long way. I tend to start skipping the long boring author intrusion parts until something interesting comes along. You know what Alfred Hitchcock said, “Good fiction is like life with all the boring parts taken out.” I’m afraid Linda left a few too many in there as it was getting draggy toward the end. Well, she did throw in weather. Yeah, that’s what some famous writer said (a little help here?) – when you run out of plot ideas, throw in some weather. I always enjoyed Fairstein’s novels because she was a sex crimes prosecutor in NYC for 25 years, and brings authenticity to her writing. I love Edna Buchanan for the same reason – she was a crime reporter for the Miami Herald for years and knows what’s she’s writing about. She’s supposed to have a new book out too, and I’m anxious to read it. It you haven’t read her non-fiction book, “The Corpse Had a Familiar Face,” try to pick up a copy. Fascinating.

Well, the lights are still on, so I’d best stop while I’m ahead. Till next time….