One of my favorite TV sleuths made national headlines last week when a Kickstarter campaign to fund a Veronica Mars movie broke all kinds of records by hitting its 2 MILLION (in Dr. Evil voice) dollar funding goal in under 24 hours. Now, people the world over are pontificating on what that means. Will more darling projects get opportunities to shine thanks to ardent fan support? Is this the new entertainment paradigm where THE PEOPLE decide what they want to read/see/hear instead of some fast-talking, shareholder obsessed executive? I don't know.
But, I have considered all kinds of possibilities for seeing a few of my favorite characters get a payday for some, um, boutique projects just because they're awesome.
Jazz - I HUNT KILLERS by Barry Lyga
The Project: An Ancestry.com style website for people with deranged individuals in their family tree. You know, in case you're curious about someone in your bloodline being a violent sociopath.
My Contribution: Probably low. $25 dollars or less. Wouldn't want to ever be identified as a top backer here. You never know who's watching.
Meg - TEN by Gretchen McNeil
The Project: A prototype of a life jacket with an on board motor (think of The Rocketeer, but in water). The compact device would be perfect for, say, escaping a freaky murder island.
My Contribution: Mid-range. $100. I pride myself on not going to freaky murder islands. BUT, since I'm afraid of heights, how else am I going to be like The Rocketeer? I'm in.
Cody - REALITY CHECK by Peter Abrahams
The Project: A Find-My-iPhone like app for tracking misplaced girlfriends.
My Contribution: Um, $0. While I'm positive Cody's intentions for such a powerful application would be pure, I see this going horribly wrong. I'm talking Stalk-A-Crush wrong. Sorry Cody, your project is NOT getting funded.
What about you? Any sleuths you'd like to help get a worthy project Kickstarted? Share below.
Lamar "L. R." Giles writes books for teens and adults. FAKE ID, his
debut Young Adult Thriller, will be published by HarperCollins in 2014.
He is represented by Jamie Weiss Chilton of the Andrea Brown Literary
Agency and resides in Chesapeake, VA with his wife.
The future's on my mind lately. Maybe it's because my own middle grade mystery, THE WIG IN THE WINDOW, is coming out in June? I thought I'd take a look at the marvelous, mysterious company it will be joining on the shelves --- both current and upcoming.
Has anyone got their hands on one of these titles yet? I'd be curious to hear what you think!
Blue Balliet's a beautiful writer who manages to create layered, complex mysteries with well-developed characters that are nevertheless suspenseful. I enjoyed CHASING VERMEER and THE DANGER BOX, so I just picked up her latest at Vroman's in Pasadena the other day. This story of a girl who falls into Chicago's foster care system and must solve the mystery of her father's disappearance sounds full of heart and compelling. In stores now.
We were lucky enough to nab New York Times best-selling and Edgar-winning author Peter Abrahams for an Interrogation Room interview last year when his first book in this series, Robbie Forester and The Outlaws of Sherwood Street came out. Sounds like Abrahams has followed up that action-packed tale with an equally thrilling mystery with a social message: this time Robbie is on the tail of a murderer who knocked off one of her friend's fathers just to build an apartment complex... Out May 16th from Philomel
The cover of this debut from Candlewick mesmerized me -- isn't it something else? Zebra Forest's description sounds dark for middle grade, but I'm intrigued by what sounds like an intricate, well-written tale about an eleven year old who uncovers family secrets when she's held hostage by a fugitive. Its flap copy says it's "driven by suspense and psychological intrigue"; Jen Robinson called it "dark and brooding" book that will nonetheless appeal to young suspense fans. Coming April 9 from Candlewick.
Colby Sharp and other fellow Nerdy Book Club members have been singing the praises of this wacky illustrated tale of two detectives, a missing teacher, and a duffle bag full of fish -- it looks like such an adorable, funny, high-interest read. Jarrett Krosoczka's Lunch Lady series is already such a hit, and I'm sure this won't disappoint. Out May 7 from Walden Pond Press.
One of my favorite middle grade mysteries of 2012 was Kate Messner's CAPTURE THE FLAG, which introduced us to the junior members of "the Silver Jaguar Society," a group charged with protecting the world's most important artifacts. It offered a wonderful mix of fun, great characters, tight plotting -- not to mention a great educational angle and spot-on middle grade voice. I'm looking forward to the next installment, HIDE AND SEEK, which will be out in just a few short weeks!
We're tackling a pair of topics this week in Writing DNA. Motive & Magic...let's see what the detectives say:
Diana Renn:Motive. We mystery writers and readers are alert to it in criminals. Someone commits a crime, in life or in fiction, and we almost immediately wonder: why? Understanding motive puts us on the path to clues, or to catching the culprit, and we begin to solve the puzzle. But it's also important to think about an investigator's motive -- or motivation -- and that's the issue I'm sliding under the microscope today. Why is the sleuth getting involved in the case? If it's an adult mystery and the sleuth is in law enforcement, or a PI, it's probably just in the job description. And even so, there's likely some inner drive to solve the mystery or to serve justice. If it's an adult mystery and the sleuth or stumbles into the mystery, the writer may have to work harder to justify involvement.
And if it's a mystery for young people, and the sleuth is certainly an amateur, this becomes an even trickier issue. A child or teen sleuth may be breaking parental or school rules to get to the bottom of a case, and possibly even breaking the law (for example, driving without a license to flee an attacker; or hacking into a computer to get information on a suspect). The stakes seem higher with kids involved. Adults have to be pretty much clueless or gone to give young sleuths room to operate, and these young sleuths have to be pretty committed to the cause to risk the penalties they might incur. Yet successful kids' mysteries seem to present sleuths who have greater motivation than "I love a good mystery." Some motivations I've come across in recent reading:
A family member or friend of the sleuth has been framed, is accused of a crime, is in danger, is personally impacted by a crime.
The sleuth has been framed, accused of a crime, or put in danger.
The sleuth must prove his or her worth in the face of great skepticism.
The sleuth has screwed up, and solving the mystery will redeem him or her in some way.
The sleuth needs to save someone or something (a life, a reputation, a family business, a school, a legacy
Can you think of other motivations for young detectives? Can you think of examples of highly motivated young sleuths you've come across in fiction?
Kristen Kittscher: Magic. I always find it interesting to try to pinpoint what fuels suspense in a passage or book I love, but I often come up short. I can pick out the usual suspects -- the rhythm of its sentences, the atmospheric word choice, the foreshadowing – but when it comes down to it, I’m convinced magic is at work. In fact, I’m fairly certain Shirley Jackson was dabbling in witchcraft when she wrote the gothic masterpiece We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but that won’t keep me from trying to explain what makes its initial chapter one of the most suspenseful pieces of writing I’ve ever read. I think the crucial ingredient is how hard Jackson works to create a sympathetic figure of her utterly unreliable first-person narrator before, gradually – and with increasing frequency – having her toss out puzzling and potentially horrifying asides. “I must be kinder to Uncle Julian,” Merricat eerily reminds herself every few pages. “I’m not allowed to prepare food or to gather mushrooms,” she mentions casually not long after she’s let it slip that her entire has family died. Soon thereafter she's prattling on about her cat. However, at first Jackson makes Merricat seem like a vulnerable, immature outsider whose dark thoughts about her fellow villagers -- though exaggerated – seem like justified rage at her treatment by them. It's only a bit later that Jackson begins alienating us from Merricat, cutting us loose gradually until we know we’re adrift in a sea of unreliable narration. We Have Always Lived in the Castle reminds me that suspense at its best is about rattling expectations and putting your reader on uncertain, shifting territory.
OUR GIVEAWAY CONTINUES! Win an ARC (Advance Readers Copy) of Robbie Forester and the Outlaws of Sherwood Street, signed by Peter Abrahams! Contest closes at midnight EST, 1/23/12.Click on the link below to access the Rafflecopter thingie and enter!
Next week is an exciting one here at Sleuths Spies & Alibis. Bestselling novelist Peter Abrahams faces questioning from our detectives in the Interrogation Room! You can read the transcript of our interview on Wednesday, January 18, and learn some of his writing secrets. We're also giving away a signed ARC of his brand new novel, Robbie Forester and the Outlaws of Sherwood Street. (The novel releases January 19. It's a great blend of magic + mystery, and a wonderful start to a planned series of middle grade novels; check it out!) Our signed ARC contest runs January 16-23.
January 16-23 is also the week of the YAmazing Race -- a whirlwind blog hop featuring over 50 young adult and middle grade authors whose books are debuting in 2012. Learn more about exciting new books, take a fun quiz, and enter to win prize packages. Two of our detectives, Diana Renn and Elisa Ludwig, are participating authors. Swing by the Apocalypsies site for more details.
Welcome to "Book 'Em," our new Tuesday theme! For the next seven weeks, every Tuesday, we'll be blogging about our favorite young adult and middle grade mystery reads. Maybe you'll get some gift ideas for the mystery lovers in your life, or add some books to your 2012 reading lists. We hope you'll follow our footsteps in the coming weeks and check out some great titles -- some classic, some recent, some hot off the press!
Personally, I read so many great YA and MG mysteries this year; I'm having serious trouble narrowing down to my favorites. But here are five mysteries I read in 2011 that stood out on my list:
Young Adult Top Picks:
The Other Side of Dark, by Sarah Smith. This smart, page-turner of a mystery concerns a search for a hidden treasure box in a condemned historic house. There's a lot more than a treasure hunt here, though: this novel also confronts history head-on, not shying away from complex topics. Among them: the history of slavery in the United States, reparations, and racial identity and racism in America today. The main characters are intriguing: an orphaned teen girl (Katie) who sees ghosts and has a gift (or curse) of being able to draw them in macabre detail, and a boy (Law) who is an architecture buff; he must come to terms with his identity as a mixed-race son of academic parents who are at loggerheads over race and history. There is also a strong cast of ghosts -- some funny, some quirky, some ghastly, some furious. Evidently I'm not alone in my love of this book; it was named a "Must Read" title in this year's Massachusetts Book Awards, and it was a 2011 Agatha Award nominee.
The Christopher Killer, by Alane Ferguson. This is the first book in a mystery trilogy set in Silverton, Colorado. If you're looking for an ambitious, courageous, and extremely resilient teen sleuth, you'll find one in Cameryn, the daughter of a county coroner, who aspires to become a forensic pathologist. In this novel, she tries to track down a serial killer who has killed a friend of hers; the killer leaves a St. Christopher medal on all his victims. The young sleuth is up close and personal with dead bodies and autopsies, and you'll learn a great deal about this science -- maybe more than you wanted to. You'll also find a well-paced and expertly plotted mystery. I read the book twice this year, once for enjoyment and to figure out who did it, and the second time to figure out how Ferguson pulled off this high wire act. She makes great use of red herrings, suspects, and reveals. And the book isn't as dark is its subject matter might suggest. There is humor at appropriate and welcome moments, and ample opportunity for Cameryn to reflect on the reality of her loss. This book has really stayed with me over a period of many months; my mind often drifts back to the characters and the plot. I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy in 2012, and I'm curious how these characters evolve over three books.
Down the Rabbit Hole, by Peter Abrahams. Thirteen-year-old Ingrid Levin-Hill is one of my favorite sleuths. As a soccer player and aspiring actress, participating in community theater, she's a busy girl. But not too busy to solve a riveting mystery! Ingrid stumbles into a mystery instead of seeking one out -- on the way home from the orthodontist, she gets caught in the rain and invited into the home of "Cracked-Up Katie," a local eccentric in a not-so-great neighborhood. When Katie turns up dead the next day, Ingrid finds herself uncomfortably close to a murder mystery, especially since she left her soccer cleats in the house. She pulls a number of gutsy moves, like entering the house to retrieve her shoes, tampering with evidence in the process. I found the way she mishandles the mystery, bungles into things, and gets in way over her head totally believable. As much as I turned pages quickly to find out who the murderer was, I turned pages to find out how Ingrid was going to get herself out of trouble. This is the first book in the "Echo Falls" mystery trilogy. I'm also a huge fan of another YA mystery by Abrahams, Reality Check, but since I already raved about that on our "Under Cover" feature a few weeks ago, I thought I'd highlight the Echo Falls mysteries here. Abrahams is a suspenseful and literary mystery writer; any fans of mysteries for kids should read him. I'm very much looking forward to his new novel for middle grade readers, coming in January 2012: Robbie Forester and the Outlaws of Sherwood Street.
Middle Grade Top Picks:
Vanished, by Sheela Chari. In this novel, eleven-year-old Neela tries to track down a family heirloom that has disappeared under her watch: a veena, which is a traditional stringed instrument from India. Neela tracks down an assortment of unusual clues and stumbles into a curse that may be attached to the instrument; apparently this veena has a long history of disappearing, reappearing, and disappearing again. This book has a fairly complex plot, but clues and reveals are parceled out at just the right pace. The mystery is intriguing, but I was also compelled by Neela's personal growth in the novel, and how she deals with her self-doubts and stage fright as a budding musician. This is the best kind of mystery, I think, where the sleuth's efforts to solve the mystery lead to personal reflection and growth. Another great hallmark of this novel is the absence of one reliable sidekick; Neela is sometimes on her own in her sleuthing and sometimes aided by different people (from a cast of well-developed supporting characters) and so the mystery avoids a formulaic feel. I also loved learning about veenas, dragons, and Indian culture. And if you missed our October interview with Sheela, you can find it here.
Masterpiece, by Elise Broach. This story of an artistically gifted beetle who lives under a sink and becomes involved in an art heist seems destined to become a classic. It's in the tradition of The Borrowers books and The Cricket in Times Square in some ways -- small worlds meticulously rendered -- but the mystery plot makes it more of a page-turner for me. There is a touching friendship at the core of the novel, between Marvin, the beetle capable of imitating great pen-and-ink artists, and James, the boy who lives in the apartment. Together they become involved in a staged art heist at the Met, with the goal of recovering an Albrecht Durer miniature drawing. I love the wild premise of the novel, the details of the bug's miniature world, the art history, and the idea that small beings can accomplish great things.
Mystery lovers: what books are on your wish lists this holiday season? What mysteries are you dying to read in 2012?
