"Now For a Little Personal Detective Work"

Harry Stephen Keeler's 1934 Dutton Clue Mystery, THE RIDDLE OF THE TRAVELING SKULL, "begins when a poem and a mysterious handbag lead a man to the grave of Legga, the Human Spider — and things just get stranger from there."

Based on that description, I would understand if you left the blog right now to grab a copy. Keeler's one of those "so bad he's good" authors. Here's a snippet from NPR: "Among the classic Keeler plots: A man is found strangled to death in the middle of a lawn, yet there are no footprints other than his own. Police suspect the 'Flying Strangler-Baby,' a killer midget who disguises himself as a baby and stalks victims by helicopter."

If you're still here -- bonus points if you happen to be a teacher or librarian looking for fun activities for students -- I'd like to show you a wonderful quirk of Dutton Clue Mysteries circa 1930.

Partway through each book in the series, a tear-away coupon invited the reader to "enter the story" and predict the ending by mailing their deductions and the reasoning behind them to the publisher. When three such correctly solved cards were received, the reader won a free Dutton Clue Mystery.

A friend sent me a postcard of the tear-away from THE RIDDLE OF THE TRAVELING SKULL, below (image reissued in 2005 by the Collins Library, an imprint of McSweeney's Books).

Next time your book club, summer reading challenge club, or literature class chooses a mystery, why not insert a similar card for extra credit or prizes? Readers will get the fun of analyzing clues, discussing possible answers, and laying out the method behind their theories.

You can follow this format:

Sarah Skilton lives in California with her magician husband and their young son. Her debut young adult novel, BRUISED, about a 16-year-old black belt in Tae Kwon Do who freezes up at an armed robbery, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and is available now!

Mystery Monday #31

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.


This month we're talking about crime, and the questions that crime-writing raises for authors. One of the big challenges writing mystery is how to make the story airtight while keeping the reader guessing. This exercise forces you to examine the crime from all angles and make sure you've got alibis where you need 'em and clever clues where you don't!


Cross-Examination
Describe all that your main character knows about the crime at hand through dialogue, as if s/he were being cross-examined in court. What are the basic facts from their point of view? What doesn't the MC know? What might s/he be overlooking and for what reason?


Next, put your other suspects on the stand and submit them to questioning. What are their excuses? How do they defend themselves? What makes them suspicious? 


Look at the crime itself. How was it executed? Was it premeditated? What was the motivation? What about a getaway? Any accomplices? How did the real criminal get away with it?


Is there a detective on the scene? Any experts you can call in that could weave evidence together? What are the clues that lead the sleuth to figuring out the truth?


Now, give your closing remarks to your "jury" (think picky editors and agents!). How does the story hang together? What logical leaps are you expecting from the reader? What needs more explanation? 

Mystery Monday #17

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

This week's exercise is all about 'reversals', the technique of writing a positive into a negative or vice versa within a scene. I like to call it "The Grass Isn't Always Greener". 

We've all been in a position where another person's circumstance looks much more appealing than our own. Maybe they effortlessly aced the test that you got a 'C' on even though you studied hard. Maybe they hit the game winning shot in your b-ball league's championship game (with you defending them). Maybe the person you wanted to ask to the dance is going with them. In your mind their life is great, and yours is a little sucky at the moment.


Well, here's where you get to take their shiny happy existence for a test drive. Write a story where that particular set of circumstances is happening to you. You ace the test. You hit the shot. You get the date. Write it as grand as you can...for one paragraph.


In paragraph 2, you'll reverse the situation, while it may seem grand to the casual observer, you're going to write about why this maybe isn't a good thing. Maybe you passed the test because you cheated. Maybe you hit the shot because you fouled the defender and the ref didn't see it. Maybe you stole your date from your best friend. And if any of that happened, what are the consequences?


Try this out any way you like, but you can add the following variations for an additional challenge:

• Use nothing but tight, tense dialogue
• Use only descriptions of action
• Write your scene in 15 minutes or less

Have fun rolling around in that green, green grass. And let's hope the stains aren't permanent. Until next time...


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Lamar "L. R." Giles writes for adults and teens. Penning everything from epic fantasy to noir thrillers, he's never met a genre he didn't like. His debut YA mystery WHISPERTOWN is about a teen in witness protection who investigates his best friend's murder and stumbles on a dark conspiracy that leads back to his own father. It will be published in Summer, 2013 by HarperCollins. He resides in Virginia with his wife and is represented by Jamie Weiss Chilton of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Find out more on his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Mystery Monday #15

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

This week’s prompt is designed to inspire new plot ideas. I’ve adapted it from Sean Murphy and Tania Casselle, two authors and writing teachers based in New Mexico.

• Choose one of the photos below. Spend some time imagining the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of the place. What is happening outside the photo’s frame? What has happened before? What will happen next? Who has been here? Who will be here and why? Why do things look like this?

• First, set a timer and free-write about this setting for ten minutes starting with the phrase “I remember…” (or, if you wish, frame it in your protagonist’s POV). Do you remember the tire swing in front of the house where Phoebe broke her arm? Do you remember when flower boxes lined the apartment balconies? Or when you went to Dash’s tenth birthday at the amusement park?

• After ten minutes are up, re-set the time. Now free-write about the same setting starting with the phrase “I don’t remember…”

If this exercise was useful for you, I highly recommend you visit author Sean Murphy’s website to find out more about his and Tania’s “Writeto the Finish” workshop. At the start of it I had a vague notion that I'd like to write a novel. By the end I had a first draft of the manuscript that eventually turned into my middle-grade novel, Young & Yang. It’s hard to imagine a more encouraging environment and wiser teachers.

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THREE MORE DAYS until our giveaway ends! We are giving away one signed copy of Edgar award-winning The Interrogation of Gabriel James by Charlie Price. Click on the Read More link to enter!
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 Read more »
 

Mystery Monday #11

It's Mystery Monday!
Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

This week’s prompt is story starter I like to call Post-It Note of Doom. I've adapted it from one of the 1000+ prompts available on Bryan Cohen's Build Creative Writing Ideas site. I'll start the scenario, and you have to keep it going by taking it to the next level. Here we go...


You walk into the crowded Autumn Dance and a polite stranger bumps into you on their way out the door. They apologize and you don't think twice about it. Before long, you notice people giving you strange stares, and one panicked person rushes out of the room. They return a short time later with a police officer and point to you. Worried now, you slip out of a door on the opposite side of the room on your way to the exit, but as you round the corner to leave, you see there are more police blocking the way. Are they waiting for you? They can't be.


The officer you're running from bursts onto the hall and yells, "Right there, that's him/her!"


The other cops react, and you give into your first instinct. You run!


Cops close in from either side, and your only option is up. You take the stairs to the second floor, take lefts and rights, follow a long corridor where moonlight shines through an open window at the end. What now? What now?!


The cops corner you, cold air breezes in, and you look out the window--you look down. Gulp.


You shout, "I didn't do anything!!" 


The panicky person who called the cops points at your chest with a shaky finger, "Not according to that."


You look down and see it, a bright yellow Post-It note displaying words written in block letters. You snatch it off your shirt, read it as you feel the color drain from your face, "No. No, this isn't right."


A cop steps forward with shiny handcuffs dangling, "You can clear it up down at the station."

There's nothing good waiting for you at the station. Not based on that Post-It. The note is too grave, the implications too dire. You're being framed, and letting the cops take you in just gives the culprit more time to solidify their plans, to make sure you never leave the jail again. 


The cop with the cuffs gets closer still, "You've got nowhere to go."


You say, "That's where you're wrong."


You dive out the window. It's a two stories drop onto a cushy bed of rancid garbage bags in the open dumpster. You climb out while the cop leans from the window, shouting and promising to put you away for good. He won't though, not if you have any say. 


You have a mission now. You have to find the polite-but-conveniently-clumsy stranger that bumped into you at the beginning of the evening. You have to find out why they planted that note on you and what does it mean?


You better do it before sunrise, thought. According to the Post-It Note of Doom, that's all the time you have...


Now, keep the story going. Here are some questions to help you along:


1) What did the polite stranger look like? Did they seem out of place, or did they fit (too) perfectly?
2) What kind of background do you have to make you think jumping out of a window is a good idea? What skills or allies can help you find a person you only bumped into once?
3) What in the world did that Post-It note say?


Have fun finishing this story. And if you're interested in other story starters, check out the Build Creative Writing Ideas site for more inspiration.


If you try this exercise out, we'd love to hear about your results in the comments! Or if you have other exercises you like to do to heighten your powers of observation, please share tips!  

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We're giving away a signed copy of THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN by Josh Berk! To enter the contest, simply comment on any of the Sleuths Spies and Alibis posts between Wednesday, November 16 and Monday, November 21. Contest closes November 21 at midnight, EST. The winner will be announced on Friday, November 25. One comment = one entry in our drawing; limit one per day.

Mystery Monday #8

Happy Halloween, everyone! You're probably already in a spooky mood—or is that just your blood sugar crashing after eating too many Three Musketeers bars?(You just couldn't wait, could you?)

Well, now, let's put that inner Vincent Price voice to work on a writing exercise, shall we? Write a paragraph starting from one of the following premises:

a) There's an escaped convict amongst us, and he's trick-or-treating (you pick the costume!)...

b) At a Halloween party, one guest goes missing...

c) In her trick-or-treat bag a girl finds an unusual package she doesn't remember picking up...

d) Two boys are out combing the neighborhood for candy and they stumble on a small group of people at the cemetery, performing a strange ritual...

Good luck and best wishes for a scary and delicious Halloween.

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Elisa Ludwig's debut young adult novel PRETTY CROOKED (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins), will be released in March 2012. Her favorite Halloween costume of all time was the girl from the Hello video (replete with paper mache bust of Lionel Richie). But this year she will probably just be going as a writer. Elisa lives in Philadelphia with her husband Jesse and cat Beau a.k.a. Bread. When she's not writing for teens, she's cooking and/or writing about food for The Philadelphia Inquirer and other publications. Elisa is a proud member of The Apocalypsies.

Mystery Monday #6

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

Today’s idea comes from my library and my teaching. One of the books I love to share with students this time of year is Chris Van Allsburg’s THE MYSTERIES OF HARRIS BURDICK. If you aren’t familiar with this book, it’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma with a lot of riddle sprinkled on top. (Or however that saying goes. :-) ) Anyway, it’s irresistible. 

Van Allsburg’s story goes that there once was a book editor who was visited by a man named Harris Burdick. Mr. Burdick shared one illustration from 14 different stories he wrote. He left them with the editor to consider and promised to return the next day. But Harris Burdick was never heard from again. All we have left are his intriguing pictures, each accompanied by a caption and the title of the story.

From caterpillars who can spell, to a house that blasts off, each picture is spooky, fascinating, and slightly bizarre. I’ve never met a student who wasn’t drawn into these illustrations and didn’t immediately start buzzing about what the story could be behind them. And of course, the next step is to challenge students (or yourself!) to write that story.
 
Over the years, I’ve gotten many wonderful stories out of these pictures. Some sad, some funny, some downright terrifying, they never cease to amaze me how each individual can bring his own thoughts and experiences and creativity to create something completely new.

And once you are done writing and sharing your students’ work, treat yourself and your students to this newly released book: THE CHRONICLES OF HARRIS BURDICK. 14 stellar children’s authors try their hands at explaining the Harris Burdick pictures. Again—some sad, some funny, some terrifying—but also a perfect link to show your students that professional writers use the same strategies and processes that they do.

Happy writing!

W.H. Beck
 

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CONTEST UPDATE: We have a winner! MELODIE WRIGHT has won a signed copy of COLD CASE by Julia Platt Leonard. Congratulations, Melodie! And thanks to everyone who entered last week's contest. 

Check back this Wednesday, 10/19, for details about our next book giveaway . . . and meet our third Interrogation Room suspect! (Clue: Her middle grade mystery concerns an unusual musical instrument!)

Mystery Monday #4

It's Mystery Monday!

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

This week’s prompt is a little on the wacky side. I call it Before & After and It's based on a little nonsensical doodle I did awhile back. It's very simple, take a look at the picture below, and come up with the events that happened Before this scene, and the resolution that comes After. No matter what, the scene has to be incorporated as-is.


Feel free to make time as fluid as necessary. You can go back 10 minutes before, or 10 years. Same thing going forward. Here are a couple of questions (though you're welcome to come up with your own) to get you started:


1) What's the deal with the white ink on the wall and floor?
2) What kind of book is the victim? Why would someone want to attack it?
3) Who's the detective and why's he uniquely qualified to handle book attacks?

Have fun!! Good luck solving this one...

Mystery Monday #2

It's Mystery Monday!

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week,we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

This week, we're going to use some images for ideas. Choose any or all of the three photos below. As a starting point, write a few sentences describing what you see in the photo. Then, go back in time—it could be a week, a month or ten years—to explain what was leading up to this moment. Think about the most dramatic explanation possible. What would readers most want to know about what is happening here? What would be the most unexpected twist you could give the story? What can be seen with the naked eye and what might a sleuth discover upon further investigation? Good luck!

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Mystery Monday #1

It's Mystery Monday!

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week,we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

This month on our blog, we're introducing ourselves and discussing what drew us to mystery writing. As you'll learn, some of us stumbled into the genre, and some of us made a deliberate choice from the start.

If you're thinking of writing a mystery, or have already embarked on that journey, it's good to think about what kind of mystery you might like to write -- there's a lot of variety out there. Do you want to try your hand at a classic whodunnit? Police procedural? Cozy mystery? Mystery/thriller? Paranormal mystery mash-up? Historical? Mystery/thriller? Murder mystery? Treasure hunt? Missing person? Missing item? Caper? The first exercise here is intended to raise your awareness of the kind of mysteries that interest you.

Journal Prompt / Writing Warm-Up:
Write freely about these questions for 10-15 minutes.

• What mysteries do you most enjoy reading? Why? What do you find appealing about these mysteries?

• What mystery authors do you like to read or want to read? Why?

• Do you watch any mysteries on TV, or enjoy mysteries in movie form? Which ones? Why? 

• Picture a cover for your mystery (even if you don't have a title). What does it look like? What kind of image does it have? What colors are used? (If you're so inclined, draw a picture of it!)

Tracking Down Ideas
Ideas for mysteries are everywhere! Try listing ideas or writing freely for each of the following questions:

• What news stories have caught your attention lately? Are any of them mysteries? (Hint -- check the Local News section of your newspaper, as well as Police Logs in your community newspaper).
• Have there been any mysterious goings-on in your neighborhood (or school, or workplace)? What happened? What details could you change or add to turn a neighborhood event into a story?
• Did you ever lose something or have something stolen from you? What did it feel like? Was the item ever found? Could this experience grow into a bigger story? Can you imagine who took your item, and why?
• Do you have any mysteries in your family? A family heirloom or object that went missing -- or that mysteriously appeared? Any family "legends" -- either current ones or in the past? Could you add or change any details to turn a family mystery into a fictional one? 
• Visit an ordinary place -- a library, a clothing store, a public park, a parking garage, etc. Take notes on details you notice there. Then list any details that seem out of the ordinary\. (Is a door ajar? Is there an unclaimed bag on a table?) Finally, list details that you could add or change to create a sense of mystery. Look at all your lists when you get home and write freely about what kind of mystery might happen here.

Where have you found ideas for mysteries? Where else do you like to look for ideas?