MAYHEM ON MONDAYS

What Makes a Good Mystery?

Since I am a much better reader of mysteries than a writer I feel somewhat qualified to throw my oars into the water in giving my opinion about the qualities of a good mystery. We may all have our particular settings or styles or the love of blood or lack thereof in our mysteries I think we can all unite on one thing. A good mystery requires a good story.

Maybe that is the basic element of any book in any genre, even in non-fiction. The story has to get our attention and make us want to read more. For mystery books there has to be some element of the unknown that we are promised will be revealed if only we hang around long enough. Or even if we know 'who dun it' how the perpetrators are brought to justice or not may be enough to hold us fast to our seats and keep us turning the pages.

But how the story is told and the definition of the main characters are close behind in terms of factors that make up a good mystery. Style, pace and plot development are keys to ensuring that the reader is not just entertained, but engaged along the way. The sub-genres of mystery start diverging here, particularly around style which tends to involve detailed and sometimes flowery descriptions in cozies or technically detailed forensic talk in police procedurals. But they all come back together when it comes to the flow of the story. Good mysteries in all forms have a rhythm that somehow just seems right. Great mystery writers have the 'Goldilocks' touch: not too fast, not too slow, just right!

Great characters are another key to great mysteries. We all remember the giants like Poirot or Miss Marple or Rebus or any number of great cat writers. But I find that it is actually the sub-cast of characters that separate the great from the good. And it's not usually the person or persons who get killed that are the most interesting. It's the Corporal under the Sergeant, or the old friend who always shows up with advice or a bottle of scotch at exactly the right time.

But what really sets the mystery category aside from all other writing is the added characteristic of surprise. Every mystery book has a few twists and turns but a great mystery book has an absolutely brilliant surprise. It may be that the butler didn't actually do it, but he was certainly involved in helping the less than legitimate heir bury the bodies. Or an unheard of relative who surfaced just after the will is read or… you get the picture.

Reading a great mystery book is like having a candle to light the way down a dark and unfamiliar hallway. You don't know what you are going to find down there, but you just have to go and see for yourself.

Mike Martin is the author of The Walker on the Cape, a Sgt. Windflower mystery.
www.walkeronthecape.com

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

The Next Big Thing continues....

It's my turn today! On Monday, Mary Jane Maffini took The Next Big Thing challenge. Today, it's Erika Chase on board! I was invited to take part in this blog circle by my good friend and fellow mystery writer Barbara Fradkin. It’s sort of a ‘tell five friends’ thing. These questions funneled down from our friend Vicki Delany. You can find Barbara over at www.typem4murder.blogspot.com and Vicki at www.klondikeandtrafalgar.blogspot.com.


The Next Big Thing:


What is your working title of your book?
The third book in the Ashton Corners Book Club mysteries is titled COVER STORY and it’s due out early next fall.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
My often-overactive imagination. I’ve been wanting to introduce a ‘colourful’ Southern gal to the mix and I think I’ve found her in Teensy Coldicutt, an old school friend of Molly Mathews who returns to town after many years away, having written her first novel, which she describes as a modern Gone With the Wind. When asked what she’s done about the civil war component, Teensy states she’s compensated with a lot of steamy sex. (Don’t worry….she never reads from these scenes!)

What genre does your book fall under?
Cosy mystery.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I’d love a slightly younger (sorry, Sandra) Sandra Bullock to play Lizzie Turner, the teaching specialist who starts the book club and is the main character. Still casting for Lizzie’s love interest, Police Chief Mark Dreyfus. I see Candace Bergen as Molly Mathews and Nicholas Campbell would make the perfect Bob Miller.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
The upcoming book launch of Teensy Coldicutt’s first novel unleashes a plot to steal the books, leading to assault, murder, counterfeit money and general mayhem for the Ashton Corners Book Club sleuths.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
The publisher of the series is Berkley Prime Crime, part of the Penguin Group. I’m represented by Bookends Literary Agency.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’m on a nine-month deadline with each book so I’d probably say it took about 5 months for the first draft. Or so.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Books by fellow Berkley authors Mary Jane Maffini, Janet Bolin, Victoria Hamilton – all Canadians, too!

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
My contract. And, as I mentioned earlier, the desire to create a colourful new character.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
Each character presents his or her own reading list, offering possible new suggestions for the reader. If you enjoy mystery books, this is the book club for you!

We’ve been asked to link to five other writers but, writers being writers, most are busy writing. I’d love you to visit Victoria Hamilton’s site, though. It’s at http://www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com. Enjoy this new cosy series!

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

A KILLER READ
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
READ and BURIED, coming Dec., 2012, available for pre-order
www.erikachase.com

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

On Looking Back

Recently, in preparation for writing a memoir intended for the family, I’ve sorted through the diaries I’ve kept spasmodically over many decades. Diaries reveal what you really think and feel, not the impression you try to give to the world. You write them to record what’s happening but also what you’re thinking and feeling.Reading through mine I’ve learned a thing or two about myself.

The most disconcerting thing I found was the consistency, the lack of change despite the ups and downs of my life.

To give a few examples, when I was twenty-two I read vociferously, loved the CBC (as I lived in a remote northern bush community it truly was a link to the outside world), and thought Canadians were the best and luckiest people in the world. I wrote at length and raged at all nations in the pre-World War II years for not allowing Jews into the country when it was apparent that they needed refuge. In my teens I’d been in the southern US where the Jim Crow laws prevailed and I couldn’t believe the reality and unfairness of what I saw. In our remote community we ordered the New York Sunday Times (which arrived by train on Thursday) and useless though it was I cheered for voter registration and wished I could do something to help.

At twenty-two genealogy fascinated me as it does now. And back then I tried my hand at writing, painted and did all kinds of crafts.

And so it went. I was then as I am now.

Are all of us much the same from our twenties onward? Do attitudes that we have when we’re young change? Certainly I’ve known friends who were avowed Communists in their youth and now vote NDP or Liberal but is that a difference in degree and not in basic philosophy? I also have friends who were hippy protesters and still support social movements, march and petition for change. We all know individuals who make radical changes in their lives but I wonder if the seeds were planted and unacknowledged years before.

As a writer it’s important to discover why and how characters change. Or don’t, if they’re like me.

A member of the Ladies Killing Circle, Joan Boswell co-edited four of their short story anthologies: Fit to Die, Bone Dance, Boomers Go Bad and Going Out With a Bang. Her three mysteries, Cut Off His Tale, Cut to the Quick and, Cut and Run were published in 2005, 2007 and 2007. The latest in the series, Cut to the Bone, was published this month by Dundurn Press. In 2000 she won the $10,000 Toronto Star’s short story contest. Joan lives in Toronto and Ottawa with two flat-coated retrievers.

CRIME ON MY MIND

Exposing oneself!

I'm kind of a private person. I keep my private life just that -- private. And, what you see via the social media is usually book-related or trivial. That's why yesterday's Facebook 'expose' was really quite irritating. Until you start laughing.

If you missed it (which I truly hope you did), I happened to confirm a friend request which then led to my being tagged in a very risque photo. Now, I don't know if this 'friend' is the spammer or if yet another force is at work here. Whatever.

At choir last night one of my real friends said he laughed so hard he almost fell off his chair. I like that response. Although part of me is in a bit of a huff -- women in their sixties can be sexy, John!

But I digress. I then thought about why I, a private person, am on Facebook and Twitter to start with. Promotion. That's the reason. On my real person site, I'm hoping to encourage readers to visit Mystery Maven Canada. But then I added old time friends, family, choir members, writing colleagues, neighbours...so maybe it's expanded a bit. You think? And now that I do think about it, I included my maiden name to try to re-connect with old high school buddies.

Okay, but my Erika Chase site is really about promotion. In this fiercely competitive, although supportive, publishing world an author really has to work hard at getting her or his name out there. But Erika's site has also morphed into friends, family, writing colleagues...you get the picture.

That got me thinking about my protagonist. Another choir member (it was choir night last night) told me she's reading A Killer Read and hears me in Lizzie Turner, my main character. Okay, I gave her an almond butter addiction -- that's me. The two Siamese cats are also me. But aside from another trait here or there, I see her as her own, although fictional, person. To me, she's a totally separate woman. That's what characters have to be.

Because we experience life and have friends and meet people, they're bound to influence our writing and creep in -- sometimes on purpose but at other times, as a part of that imagination. And what's that based on? Life, I suppose.

So back to the beginning. Would a writer who values her privacy put a lot of her life into her character? Well, I figure, it doesn't really matter. We all start at different points in our writing; we have different goals; we write different stories. No right or wrong here.

So much for today's ramble. I wonder what my real writing will be like today.

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

A KILLER READ
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
READ and BURIED, coming Dec., 2012, available for pre-order
www.erikachase.com

LADIES' KILLING THURSDAYS

Tattoos

Recently I had the pleasure of attending a destination wedding in the Dominican Republic. In this warm tropical setting I spent time at the pool and the beach where I became aware of tattoos. In chilly Canada only the tattoos that creep above the collar or snake out from sleeves draw attention. In the DR it seemed everyone had one or two or many and some were so amazing staring was mandatory. What kind of a man has the crucifixion covering his whole back? And what’s with pretty girls festooned with gigantic tattoos over their shoulders and backs? Tattoos also crept across the backs of brides adding a surprise element to their beautiful traditional dresses. Interestingly one very hip grandmother visiting with her daughter and grandchild not only had an abundance of tattoos she had a lip ring and a multitude of ear piercings. In contrast her daughter had nary a one. Was this reverse rebellion? Why this obsession with tattoos? is the influence of Hollywood stars? Is it a way to make a statement in an increasingly busy world where grabbing the spotlight is not easy? A friend told me he had five and would get more but he drew the line at using his body to celebrate dead people. Then directed me to You tube video, “Go Beyond the Cover” which is totally creepy but the comments about it are interesting. There were dozens more videos about the best, the worst, the sickest tattoos along with two TV shows devoted to tattoos. I’d stumbled into a wonder world. As a Canadian I only see acres of semi-clothed bodies in the summer or perhaps at the pool. Oddly enough in my aqua fit class I have yet to spot a single tattoo but perhaps that is a generational thing. I have to file this newly discovered information away for future use. When the police ask distraught parents or partners about body markings I’ll have to include a detailed description judging which type to use - the shocking, demure or completely bizarre. It may be that someday soon fictional detectives will wonder why a person of a certain age does not have a tattoo. Interesting thought. I have to confess that I was much attracted to a spider centred over a navel which appeared to move as the man walked. If only it didn’t hurt so much to have them applied.

A member of the Ladies Killing Circle, Joan Boswell co-edited four of their short story anthologies: Fit to Die, Bone Dance, Boomers Go Bad and Going Out With a Bang. Her three mysteries, Cut Off His Tale, Cut to the Quick and, Cut and Run were published in 2005, 2007 and 2007. The latest in the series, Cut to the Bone, will be published by Dundurn in November. In 2000 she won the $10,000 Toronto Star’s short story contest. Joan lives in Toronto with three flat-coated retrievers.

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

With a little help from my friends...

I went searching my bookshelves the other day for a reference book from my bookselling days. I can't even remember the title, something about Sleuths and Sidekicks, which shows I haven't made much use of it lately. But I used to in the days when customers were often asking such skill-testing questions. I can't find it, although I do have a good selection of reference books on my shelf.

It's a wonderfully informative book. Sidekicks are so important in the detective genre, be the main sleuths amateurs or professionals, that there is indeed an entire large book dedicated to them.

It's not often you find the 'lone warrior' doing battle with the bad guys. (Most often found in thrillers.) Sidekicks add another dimension to the main character and can subtly focus on characteristics of said sleuth. They are also sounding boards for various theories and can be sure to lend a hand or a flashlight in those late night searches. They can provide some comic relief or perhaps, a saner more grounded approach when it's needed. What is Sherlock without his Watson after all?

They are recurring characters because they are part of the fabric of the series. And as such, some have even garnered their own fan clubs. Mary Jane Maffini has created such a sidekick. He's Alvin, the thorn-in-the-side assistant to her lawyer-sleuth Camilla McPhee. Imagine, a fan club!

And sometimes, the sidekick goes on to become the star of his or her own series. That happens more often in TV though.

Imagine your favourite series without the sidekick. Can't be done. Not with the more traditional mystery or detective story. They're part of the fabric of life and we want our characters and plots to wrap the reader in a real world. That means one with friends and sidekicks, often one and the same.

As I said, I can't find that great reference book. So if I loaned it to you, could I please have it back?

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime
www.erikachase.com

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

The Fun of Writing a Series

I’m like the rest of you avid mystery readers, I love nothing better than to sink my teeth into a good mystery series and follow the characters from book to book as they take on lives of their own. But when I set out to write my first mystery book, I wasn’t certain it was going to be a series. My first objective was to see if I could write the bloody book and once written whether I could convince a publisher to publish it.

But I knew that if I achieved both these objectives, my heroine, Meg Harris, would live on to solve another murder. And so she has through 5 books and onto a 6th one that I am currently writing. And I have had great fun watching her life expand and grow with each book. And not only her, but some of the people around her, like Eric Odjick, her on again, off again lover.

It is however not without its difficulties. With the writing of the first book, Death’s Golden Whisper, I paid little attention to details. I just wrote them into the story as they were encountered and didn’t make note of them. So when it came time to write the second book, Red Ice for a Shroud, I found myself constantly going back to the first book to see what colour I had made Eric’s eyes, even Meg’s, the distance of her home, Three Deer Point, to Somerset, the nearest town, her mother’s name and so on and so forth.

I eventually started keeping a log of all these key points, but invariably some are missed. So even now with my current book I find myself having to search through previous books to ensure details are correct and consistent, like the hockey team Eric played for in his younger days or the age of Meg’s beloved Sergei, her black standard poodle. All I can say is thank goodness for technology. A simple key word search usually gets me to the proper spot in the book. I just have to remember which book the reference is in. Occasionally however, I do slip up. So if you do come across something that is not consistent between books, please let me know.

However, what I enjoy the most about writing a series are the characters themselves. They really do take on lives of their own. With each book I get to know Meg better and Eric. In fact I have found myself falling in love with Eric and wish like hell that Meg would see reason. And that is the fun of it. As much as I want Meg to do what I want her to do, she doesn’t, because she has a mind of her own. She isn’t me. She has her own personality, her own foibles and she needs to work her way through them. And she does in A Green Place for Dying. And I have had fun with this latest book, because several seeds were planted in earlier books and they now come to fruition. So you the reader will learn that much more about Meg, the same way I did.

By the way, although A Green Place for Dying, the 5th book in the Meg Harris series, is now in available in bookstores and on online, its official launch is next Tuesday, Feb. 28 in Ottawa from 7:00 pm to 9:00 at the Heart and Crown Pub in the Market. Come join the celebration.

Ottawa writer RJ Harlick, writes the acclaimed Meg Harris mystery series set in the wilds of Quebec. Like her heroine Meg Harris, RJ loves nothing better than to roam the forests surrounding her own wilderness cabin or paddle the endless lakes and rivers. The 4th book, Arctic Blue Death was a finalist in the 2010 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel. Hot new release, A Green Place for Dying is the 5th and latest in the series. According to Publishers Weekly “Meg Harris…gets an education in evil in Harlick’s absorbing fifth mystery.”

CRIME ON MY MIND

Character flaws

I like to listen to music while I'm writing. In fact, I have music on in my house the entire day. I always have done this. If it's not a CD playing, I'll listen to the radio, most often CBC Radio 2 when the classical music program, Tempo is on. It stays there until mid-afternoon, when the songs gradually shift (incidentally, the name of the next program)over to more modern music. I then 'shift' it off.

What I do like about Shift is the announcer, Tom Allen. He's clever, knowledgeable and fills the time between the music with items of interest. Not so good when you're trying to write, I admit.

This past week he's been interviewing the authors in Canada Reads and has asked them to compile a play list of songs they like or having meaning to them. It's been an interesting variety. So, when Canada reads ended, he continued in his literary sojourn, talking about writing devices.

Like, how does a writer create a character? Every fictional character has at least some minute connection to a person the writer knows, has met, or even just spotted on public transit. Often it's an unconscious action on the writer's part. But sometimes, a person is just too tempting to ignore. But, if you want to create a character based on a real person, problems could arise if that person recognizes himself or herself. The solution, according to Tom, is something I'd never heard of but he claimed was well known -- the 'small penis rule'.

The author gives the character something, a characteristic, trait, whatever, that no one would ever admit to having. Hence, they will not end up suing the writer for that appearance in the book. Cute, right?

The problem arises with women and this was his question of the day...and now mine. What characteristic would you give a female character?

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime
www.erikachase.com

LADIES' KILLING THURSDAYS

Stranger than Fiction

Where do your characters come from? Do you use real people, or do you just make them up? How can you make them seem real?

These are questions authors are often asked at readings, signings or writing seminars. The creation of character is an endlessly fascinating puzzle, because character is at the heart of story. It’s the characters who draw us into the story, the characters whom we come to love, hate or root for. Characters have to come alive on the page as vivid, credible and genuine, with all the complexity and contradictions of real life.

There are many paths to this goal.. Some writers write elaborate character sketches beforehand, answering such questions as where the person went to school. Thus, when they finally do start to write, they feel they know that character well. Others do the opposite; they merely toss the character onto the page, make him talk and interact, and see how he unfolds. The first technique runs the risk of creating a static character who won’t adapt to the changing story or reveal surprises and layers as he goes along. The latter technique, although strong on flexibility and surprises, may result in a superficial character who is only vaguely conceived.

But regardless of whether we take a cerebral or an intuitive approach, we still need to conjure up characters out of our imagination. How? Partly, we draw on the people we know. Over a lifetime, we have dozens of close relationships – family, work, romance – and observed lots of people. We have worked hard to understand them, see things from their point of view and walk in their shoes. Most of us, with a few glaring exceptions, develop a fair sense of empathy. Empathy is the base from which we create real characters. Once we have sketched out in our mind the type of person he is, drawn some links to real people we know, we step into his shoes, see the scene and the situation from inside his skin, and we write from that perspective. The more different kinds of people we know and the more practiced we are at empathy, the more powerfully real our characters will feel.

But there are some psychic divides across which a writer cannot reach, some characters whose paths we cannot walk. Here we can merely analyze and make observations. I think most of us can step into the shoes of our murderer. We can draw on our own anger, rage, fear and desperation, on those times when we ourselves felt the urge to kill. But most of us can’t walk in the shoes of a psychopathic serial killer. Police, correctional personnel and mental health specialists and researchers might get the closest, but even they can’t truly relate.

Another example emerged in the past few weeks. Most of us have been following the so-called honour killing case in Kingston Ontario, in which a father, mother and their eldest son were on trial for the cold-blooded killing of their three teenage daughters as well as the father’s other wife. This crime is incomprehensible enough by itself, stretching our capacity for human understanding and empathy well beyond the breaking point. But it was the subsequent actions and demeanour of the three accused that is truly mind-boggling. Sadly, many murders involve the killing of loved ones, usually in fits of rage, jealousy, or unbearable pain. The torment of the killer is usually palpable. They are often suicidal and clearly display anguish over the act and the loss.

Not so this extraordinary trio. They expressed outrage at being charged, lied repeatedly and inconsistently throughout the trial, manipulated the system and co-opted other people, including their surviving children, to serve their own interests. Throughout the trial, I kept trying to figure out their perspective and imagine how they saw the world. What, deep inside in the privacy of their own hearts, were their true thoughts and feelings. But I could make no connection.

There are times when a writer is stumped. When characters come along in real life that we could not even begin to make up. Our imagination is limited by our ability to comprehend our fellow humans and to walk in their shoes. And in the case of this trio, I think even if I tried to write a character like that, no one would believe him. That character isn’t real, the readers would say. People aren’t like that.

But sometimes they are.



Barbara Fradkin is a child psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. In addition to her darkly haunting short stories in the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, she writes the gritty, Ottawa-based Inspector Green novels which havewon back to back Arthur Ellis Awards for Best Novel from Crime Writers of Canada. The eighth in the series, Beautiful Lie the Dead, explores love in all its complications. And, her new Rapid Read from Orca, The Fall Guy, was launched last May.

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

Food that's downright criminal!

I stayed in a lovely B&B in Ste.-Adele, Quebec this past weekend and while the room was just right, complete with balcony, and the village was worth the visit, it was the breakfast that sticks in my mind. I love breakfast, especially when it's eaten at a location other than my house.

Although I wasn't able to eat everything on the menu, it didn't stop me from appreciating what was offered. Eggs baked in cream -- doesn't it sound mouth-watering, especially in French.

Last month I stayed at a wonderful B&B in Victoria, B.C. and had the same experience...a marvelous breakfast menu, different each day. How to feel totally pampered. Did I mention, I love eating breakfast out?

Now, I readily admit I'm not a great cook. In fact, I don't even enjoy it. OK...I may feel inspired twice a year, for no particular reason. And you're wondering, why all this information? What does it have to do with mysteries?

Plenty! Pick up almost any cosy these days, and there's food mentioned in it. The

sleuth doesn't sit down to lunch. It's a lunch of Tuna Nicoise with a glass of Pinot Grigio. Many cosies even offer the recipes at the back of the book. Now, you'd expect that with a catering mystery or BBQ series. But many of these have nothing to do with food, except that the sleuth eats.

So, I'm of the opinion that in order to write a best-selling mystery these days, you need to know your food groups. Better still, know what makes a mouth-watering meal that will keep the reader salivating while the search for the killer continues.
If, like me, you're not a cook then you must do research. Not a difficult task.

I love reading cookbooks, oddly enough. But of course, they must have photos. There's something tantalizing about a cookbook, especially an ethnic cookbook. Even if I never try making a recipe from that book, I will treasure it. And of course, that's one way to do research.

Or you can put yourself in your sleuth's shoes...and eat out. What a great reason to try that new Argentinian restaurant in town! And, you must know your wines, too.

There are even blog sites devoted to recipes. Check out www.mysteryloverskitchen for some popular mystery authors sharing some non-lethal recipes.

This isn't restricted to the cosy set. Many edgy thrillers have revenge plotted across the dinner table. And how many victims have found their fate in a poisoned dish?

After all, isn't this another way of describing characters? As a reader, I want to know his or her tastes in reading, movies, clothing, and food. As long as the information is blended into the story and doesn't slow down the telling. Aren't we all searching for the well-rounded character?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

Just open a vein...

I seem to recall some writer using the phrase, opening a vein. I can't recall the name (not unusual for me) but I do remember he or she was talking about how to write with truth and emotion. Digging deep into your psyche and letting it come out through the character.

I'm reading Daggers & Men's Smiles by Jill Downie at the moment, and will be reviewing it this weekend on Mystery Maven Canada. It takes place on Guernsey and

involves the making of a film, actors and of course, death. In it, a seasoned actor comments on how a beautiful young actress has developed more depth in her acting after her lover is murdered.

Writers are like actors in that sense. You can fake the setting to a certain degree, relying on research and observation even if you're lacking the sense of place that comes from being raised in a location. You can certainly research all the forensic information you'll ever need to use in a crime novel. But how do you get the characters' real?

Do we have to suffer in our own lives in order to portray a sleuth who's been jaded by events? Can the feelings of grief be evoked and set on the page? Does a writer need a degree in psychology in order to get the characters right?

Or do we try to know our characters so deeply that they react naturally in a scene?

Or is there a tacit agreement between writer and reader that you can keep your veins closed and just write a damn good novel with believable characters, a sharp mystery and a setting that sweeps you away...and all will be accepted?

On the other hand, there's a saying we all use...'it's all research'! So suffer away?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

How organic do you want your characters to be?

If someone had asked me that a year ago, I would have answered quickly: As organic

as possible. I want to work with real people moving through my fictional pages.

Now, though, I'm not as sure.

Writing my first novel, Dead Politician Society, my characters were easy to control. They were not layered deeply with complexity like John Irving's or John Le Carre's characters, but I was fine with that; they suited the story. These men and women did exactly as they were told; they stayed well inside the lines of the plot I wanted them to fit into. As a result, I think this book works as a fun, light, logic puzzle.

Writing my second novel, Death Plays Poker, I wanted to continue the series but get deeper with my characters. So I spent more time getting to know the players before thrusting a plot upon them. They struggled a bit – I had to change the plot a few times to accommodate their quirks – but it was nothing I couldn't stay on top of. This book took more work, but I like the way it continues from the first one – a bit deeper, a bit darker, but still fun and light and logical.

So naturally I wanted to push even harder for the third book (still untitled, though it's due at the end of the summer). I wanted to challenge myself to get closer to the writers I most admire (like Irving and Le Carre) for how deeply real their characters can be.

But you know the problem with real people? They don't obey commands so well. These new characters don't seem to care that they're in a series that has to continue to be fun and fast to satisfy readers who enjoyed the first two books. They would rather smoke pot and philosophize than jump into their snowboarding gear and cause havoc and red herrings. But they can't be as dark and brooding as they like. They have to crack jokes and be devious and entertain their audience.

So the question that arises is: Am I pushing the walls of the genre too far out? When you're writing fast-paced crime fiction, how organic do you want your characters to be? Maybe James Bond is flat for a reason – his stories are damn entertaining, and he satisfies his audience time after time. Or is there a way I can keep my characters alive and figure out how to work a tight plot around them anyway?

To answer that, I look at fast-paced crime fiction writers I admire:

Jonathan Kellerman: He gets up close and personal with his characters, and his psychology background shows as he finds ways to layer his characters in very few words. I find myself deeply involved in his stories – they feel real and alive and I can't not turn the pages. His plots are tight, fast, and original each time. (Impressive, because the guy churns out a lot of books.) He can do what I'm aiming to.

Lisa Brackmann: I'm only halfway through Rock Paper Tiger, but from page one, I could feel energy. The story moves fast – she pulls us running along with the protagonist and it's really hard to set the book down. And the characters are even deeper than Kellerman's. I feel like I could meet Ellie for coffee in Beijing and we'd have a million things to talk about. I feel like I could turn on my computer and jump into the online game she's playing. The book is also really fun. I laugh out loud at least three times per page. Lisa can also do what I'm aiming for with this book.

Hilary Davidson: While I wouldn't call The Damage Done fast, because it feels so fluid reading it, the plot moves at a clipping pace and a lot happens. At the same time, I feel like I could meet Lily, drink some wine, and learn from her. That's right: learn from a fictional character. So Hilary can do this, too.

Conclusion: Organic characters can be corralled into a tight, fun, fast plot. I don't have to change genres, and I don't have to turn Clare into James Bond.

So I'll keep wrestling. Maybe I'll miss my deadline, if my characters won't obediently fall into line by the end of the summer. Or maybe I won't achieve that balance with this particular book. But I think it's worth the fight to keep pushing this series in the direction I'd like to

Robin Spano is the author of Dead Politician Society, the first book in a series about a young, hot-blooded undercover cop. This is the closest she will ever come to realizing her childhood dream of being one of Charlie's Angels. She lives in Lions Bay, BC.

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

Music and mystery!

So what do you expect when you pick up a mystery that uses a song title as its title?

Music often plays a role in the mysteries we love to read. When using it in the title, such as Michelle Spring's Standing in the Shadows, it can signal the plot, say something about the character, or give a hint at the setting. I read the title and the song takes off in my mind. From that point, it's fun to figure out how it relates.

The fifth anthology from The Ladies' Killing Circle, Bone Dance was music-themed. Each contributing author was asked to choose a song title and write a short mystery to go with it. Check the table of contents and you'll see an array of titles that inspired the mystery authors. Your next step should be to read the stories and see how they tied in. What fun it was to produce that anthology and I think all the authors enjoyed the challenge.

Peter Robinson is well-known for using song titles for his series, and his main character, Inspector Banks, loves a variety of music but mainly jazz. This tells the reader something important about the character, setting him up in the reader's mind as to what kind of guy he is and how he'll react to what's happening in his world.

A musician himself, writer Rick Blechta brings that knowledge to his mysteries, giving the reader an insight into the life of a musician, albeit, one who encounters murder. When Hell Freezes Over takes the reader into the rock musician world -- it's one of my favourites.

My character (or rather, Erika Chase's) in A Killer Read, Lizzie Turner, sings in a community choir which is busily practicing Vivaldi, Mendelessohn and Rutter for its Christmas concert. Hopefully this gives you an impression which becomes part of a well-defined character.

You'll get to know her by how she reacts to the people in her life, her thoughts about the murder, her job, her home, her interactions with the two Siamese cats in her life, what she wears and even the car she drives. You'll get to know her as do you do a friend. And, hopefully want to spend more time with her.

You'll find music in the writings of many other Canadian mystery authors, too. Who are some of your favourites?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming in April 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

HELP! ALIENS ARE TAKING OVER MY MIND!

Okay, not really. I created the aliens myself, and they’re not really aliens. They’re characters in the stories I write.

But they do like to take over. One of my protagonists lived in a house almost identical to mine (how convenient for both the writer and the writee). Someone broke into her house, the fictional one.

She was fine. I, however, couldn’t work on those chapters when I was home alone.

I moved far away, and now live in a rural area of Ontario where textile and needlework shops are hard to find. I sensibly invented Threadville, a village where textile and needlework shops line the main street.

My protagonist, Willow, owns a machine embroidery boutique, In Stitches. When she needs something she doesn’t carry in her own shop, she strolls across the street to the fabric store, the yarn shop, the notions boutique, or the quilting shop.

So there I was, taking a break from writing about her life. I was back in my real life, setting up my computer and embroidery machine to stitch an incredible embroidery design. I needed thread in a particular shade of periwinkle.

I believed, if only for a second, that I could simply cross the street to browse in Threadville . . .

It gets worse.

Last Friday, Willow blogged (see, she really has taken over) at www.killercharacters.com about what happened to her during the beginning of my first story, DIRE THREADS. A bullying zoning commissioner refused to grant her a building permit to renovate the sweet little cottage in her back yard. She wanted to rent the cottage to tourists who would enjoy living next to a river and a hiking trail leading to a sandy beach on Lake Erie.

The zoning commissioner, however, had his own agenda. He planned to turn the hiking trail into an ATV trail, expropriate the land the cottage stood on, and replace the cottage with public outhouses.

Willow made some dire threats. She didn’t mean them literally.

Early the next morning, that zoning commissioner was murdered. In Willow’s back yard, beside her cottage. The wrong people remembered Willow’s dire threats.

She ended her post on Killer Characters by asking if anyone had ever felt threatened by outhouses. (The answer was yes.)

Friday night, only hours after Willow posed the question about outhouses, I was back in my real life. I went to dinner at the home of friends I’d never before visited before. They live in fine 1840’s home in a tranquil, if snowy, country setting.

I’d no sooner removed my coat and boots when my friends pointed through their back window to a quaint building a few steps from the back door. “There’s the outhouse,” they said. “We don’t have indoor plumbing.”

As a writer or reader, do you ever feel fiction taking over your mind?


Janet Bolin writes the Threadville Mystery Series for Berkley Prime Crime (PenguinUSA). The first book, DIRE THREADS, hits store shelves June 7, 2011, and is available for pre-order now.
Janet’s short stories have been published in literary journals including The New Quarterly and The Antigonish Review. Her humorous essays have been read aloud by Bill Richardson and Shelagh Rogers on nationally-broadcast CBC radio shows. Three of those essays were published in the anthology DEAR SAD GOAT, Douglas & McIntyre, 2002.
Janet lives in rural Ontario with a pair of dogs who have a remarkable resemblance to Willow’s dogs.

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

Writers & their characters.

It's a topic that's probably been talked, written and blogged to death already, but still worth exploring. And that is, how much do our characters resemble their authors? Come on now, in all honesty, can you emphatically state that your main character has none of your traits, thoughts, or desires? Zero? Nada? Zilch?

The thought came to me while walking this morning and encountering yet another dog walker whose pooch bore a strong resemblance to him. The pooch in question was a large pug; I leave the owner's description to your vivid imagination. Ok, so it's a bit of a stretch over to authors and characters but that's where my thoughts were by the time I reached home.

I must admit my sleuth, Lizzie Turner has the same snacking habits/problems, dislikes such as cooking, and, low and behold, she also bought the same car I drive. Smart cookie! (She could at least have chosen a different colour though.) I'm sure our thoughts about the opposite sex overlap from time to time. However, she is a much smarter dresser than I. (Perhaps she can teach me a thing or two!)

It's important to have well-rounded characters, so why not endow them with likes and dislikes we know well? I would want to distance myself from my character only if she/he were a serial killer or someone equally un-sympathetic, like a politician. In these cases, creativity and imagination combine to produce fiction.

Where it gets really interesting, is when colleagues, friends or family start believing one of the characters is based on them.

So, there you have my Lizzie/Linda character. What's happening with yours? How often does your life intersect your characters?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase