Come for the Mysteries. Stay for the Characters.
I’ve loved mysteries since I first sat down in front of the TV on Saturday mornings to watch Scooby Doo. In the past two years, I’ve had two crime short stories published in anthologies from Mt. Zion Ridge Press. I could have written my short stories from any point of view, but I felt most… Continue Reading →
Having been inspired by V.L. Adams’ guest post, “Start with the End: Leaving Clues in a Mystery“, I decided to write a post on working out the logistics in a mystery. As I tackled the next novel in my Rae Riley series, I hit upon a way to keep the action straight. Get a Calendar… Continue Reading →
After bringing to you several new authors over the last few months, I’m glad to welcome back an old friend, Carole Brown. Carole relates how mysteries are a mystery to write until you dig into understanding the genre. Welcome back, Carole! It was a dark and stormy night. Uh, huh. We’ve heard this one before…. Continue Reading →
Many articles and books describe how to create characters and plots for mysteries. But settings are just as important. If you’re writing in this genre, you need to find settings that help your mystery. Settings to Meet People In a mystery, the detective meets people, observes them, questions them. The plot can’t move forward without… Continue Reading →
Hiding the villain in a mystery is the toughest task when writing a story in the genre. Planting clues and red herrings effectively is hard too, but if I don’t correctly handle hiding the villain in a traditional whodunit, I’ve ruined the whole story. Do’s and Don’ts for Hiding the Villain Don’t have a very… Continue Reading →
JPC Allen Writes