Look Up, Look Down

When my husband was in the police academy, something they emphasized was, “Look up, look down, look all around.” That’s good advice for anyone investigating a crime, real or fictional.

Have you ever played one of those Search & Find games on the computer? Some of the objects you’re told to find will turn up in the most unlikely places. That’s true in life, too. I recently lost my car keys. Thankfully, I had an extra set of keys. I looked everywhere for those missing keys, including emptying out my purse (which would frighten a mere mortal) and all of my pockets. I’d had an appointment that day and finally decided I must have dropped them in the parking lot without realizing it.

I missed those keys because there were other things on the keychain besides my car and house key. The house key is another story. Whoever lived here before had different locks put on every door. Lots of keys for lots of doors. But I digress.

About two weeks later I put on a jacket to wear to the store, stuck my hand in the pocket and, surprise, surprise, there were the lost keys. I could have sworn I wore a different jacket the day of my appointment.

In Old Murders Never Die – A Sandi Webster Mystery, Sandi and Pete are stranded in a ghost town. To the best of their knowledge, no one had set foot in Wolf Creek for over a hundred years. Without much else to do, the two detectives started looking things over and they discovered unsolved murders from around 1880. Thus began their desire to solve the old murders. As the pair began searching houses in the town, they looked for clues, and Pete (an ex-police officer) offered Sandi the advice my husband offered me. She looked up, down and all around, and a few clues came to light after all those years. 

 This looks like a good hiding place.

Between my daughter and me, we have three dogs. Things disappear all the time. The little angels just love to walk off with whatever is within their reach. Very frustrating. The same advice works when looking for a lost slipper or sock. However in the case of the dogs, it’s also advisable to look under rocks or where it appears fresh digging has taken place.

Readers, including me, love secret rooms or passages. These things add to the suspense. So when our protagonists see something that doesn’t look quite right, they take a second look and generally, in a mystery, they’ll discover something unexpected. How about a secret room that houses a mummy? (Gin Mill Grill – A Sandi Webster Mystery)

When writing a mystery, have a little fun. Close your eyes and picture the last place someone might look for a clue, information, or a body. Of course, there are times these places need to fall short of offering help. Don’t forget red herrings. Also, don’t forget that not all mysteries include a death. The mystery might include a missing person, or as in my case, lost keys.

Speaking of keys, my grandfather had a key collection. Some of them were pretty old. I had a very old trunk that was locked and no one could figure out where the key might be. What’s the fun in calling a locksmith? I dug out Grandpa’s key collection and after trying several of them, I found one that opened the trunk. The case of the missing key? Solved, although I have a feeling that this might have been a skeleton key that would open many things.

So, whether we’re talking about fiction or real life, remember to look up, look down and look all around. If that doesn’t work, start checking pockets.

Have you ever lost something important and found it in a very unusual spot?

Until next time, take in your surroundings and look for the unusual or unexpected.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Listen Closely

I’m going to tell you a funny story, and it actually has a purpose.

 After working in civil law enforcement, my closest friend and I both went to work for a law firm. Put in simple terms, in the early 1980s the attorney would dictate his notes and the legal secretary would transcribe his dictation.

We'd only worked there for a short time when my friend transcribed an attorney’s notes about a man who was killed in a fire which, of course, isn’t funny. She was shocked when the recording stated that he’d been having illicit relations with his power mower at the time of his death. Okay, his power mower? We carpooled, and needless to say, we had quite a conversation during the drive home that night. What on earth could a man do with his power mower? I won’t even go into the possible scenarios that were suggested.

The next morning I was in my office when my friend walked in with an odd expression on her face. When she arrived at her desk, the lawyer walked out of his office, laughing for all he was worth. It seems the man wasn’t having relations with his power mower, but with his paramour! I have to admit, it’s kind of an old-fashioned word and I didn’t know what it meant. She had to explain it.

By the time she left my office, we both had tears running down our faces from the laughter.

What could this possibly have to do with writing mysteries? Everything, in some cases.

What if a private investigator was hired to work on this case and he or she was given the original, incorrect, transcription. How could the investigator approach a case that involved someone making mad, passionate love to a power mower?

Even hearing a name incorrectly might cause problems. In Gin Mill Grill – A Sandi Webster Mystery, they took on a client named Eloise Nutcase. Really? Ms. Nutcase had a speech problem. Her name was actually Eloise Neuchase.

Hearing something incorrectly might cause all kinds of issues in a mystery. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to say, “I’m sorry. Would you please repeat that?”

It can really be an issue if someone has an accent. When I was a little girl some new people moved in next door. The girl next door was talking to me through the fence and she told me there was a “spadder” on my arm. For some reason, all I could think of was a spatula or a splatter. I’d honestly never heard a Texas accent before. She was trying to tell me there was a spider on my arm and she finally curled her fingers, turned her hand palm down, and made a crawling motion, after which I shuddered and she reached through the fence and knocked the spider off.

One other thing. It doesn’t matter if your book is dramatic or humorous, the misunderstanding of a word can change the entire story. Of course, it might lead to an interesting ending, too.

Mysteries are based on the facts as the protagonist knows them. A misconception can lead to misunderstandings, horror, drama or humor, or just plain confusion. In most cases, though, I think the protagonist would learn of their mistake long before the end of the book. Although, you never know.

Have you ever misunderstood a word or phrase someone has used and then had to backtrack to resolve a situation? I hope, as in the situation I mentioned above, it had a funny ending.

Until next time, listen carefully. In a mystery, your life could depend on it.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Coming Soon (although don’t hold your breath while you’re waiting): People Lookin’ Half Dead – A Bogey Man Mystery. When Grandma Tillie moves to town and the first thing she does is invite some homeless people in from out of the heat, Chris and Pamela become involved in a case of missing people. Why would someone be taking homeless people off the streets?

The View from the Other Side

Every once in a while, Marja McGraw runs out of ideas for posts, so this week I’m giving her a break and taking over. My name is Sandi Webster-Goldberg, I’m a private investigator, and taking over is something I do often.

I’m not altogether sure how Marja thought me up, but I once heard her say she originally planned on basing me on a younger version of Sally Field. Well, I showed her. Within the first chapter of the first book, I took on a personality of my own. I didn’t want to be based on anyone but myself.

I later heard her say she’d decided to base my menopausal mother on Sally, but as you can read for yourself in the books, that plan fell short of the mark, too. My mother is a one-of-a-kind. Why, she once took down a mugger while in the throes of a mood swing. Poor guy – I almost felt sorry for him.

As a P.I., I’m proud of the work I do. I do a lot of work for insurance companies, but I’ve also brought down a number of bad guys – some of them really bad.

My life is full. I have Pete, my partner and now husband, our friends Stanley and Felicity, and I should probably explain that I hired Pete not long after I opened my agency. In true fictional form, the business took off and I needed help. We’ve had our ups and downs, but overall we make a great couple.

Stanley was one of our first clients. He was being stalked, but I won’t go into that because Marja has already written a story that will explain Pete’s and my relationship with Stanley. When we met him, he was writing verses for greeting cards, but now he works for us. Stanley met Felicity when Pete and I were out of town and she stopped in to ask for help. They are the cutest, smartest and clumsiest couple I know.

I have an elderly neighbor named Dolly who owns a cat named Miss Kitty. I always feel a little silly when I refer to Miss Kitty. Dolly is like the grandmother I never knew, and she loves what I do for a living even more than her soap operas. She hasn’t been in the last couple of books much, but she’ll be back soon.

I have a dog named Bubba. He’s half wolf and half Golden retriever, and he’s, well, big. Very big. And he smiles frequently. The first time he smiled at me he was a stray and I thought he was baring his teeth at me. I almost called the dog catcher. However, it turns out that Bubba’s just a big ol’ bear-sized lovable mutt. And he can be very protective when the need arises. The latest addition to the family is a Chiwienie named Clementine, half Chihuahua and half Dachshund. She’s quite a character.

 

So far Marja has exposed me to a hundred-year-old family-related murder, Bubba thinking there was a ghost in the attic, a young woman being harassed by a bum, and an eight-something year old woman (P.I. in the 1940s) who wanted me to solve a cold case for her. As if that wasn’t enough, Marja brought the Bogey Man into my life. I have to admit, he was quite a character. One of my favorite actors is Humphrey Bogart and this guy was a dead ringer for Bogey. After that, Marja sent Pete and me to a ghost town where we became stranded. Actually, that was a lot of fun.

 

We helped my mother and stepfather renovate an old house full of mystery to be used as a Bed & Breakfast, we saved a billionaire with the help of my eccentric Aunt Martha, solved a cold case in Battle Ground, Washington, where we now own a vacation home, and we became involved in a cold case involving an old gin mill. I could go on, but I don’t want to give away any secrets.

I can’t help but wonder what Marja has up her sleeve next. I know my author is sometimes frustrated with me. She wants to go one way and I want to go the other. She’ll write a scene for me, scratch her head and rewrite the whole scene. Sometimes I’m dizzy from all the rewriting.

After all is said and done, all I can say is that I think it’s very generous of me to take over the blog this week. I hope Marja is busily writing me into another mystery as I carry her load.

Like Marja always says: Until next time, have a great week and enjoy a big chocolate bar. We do have chocolate in common.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Marja: Actually, I’m working on a Bogey Man mystery right now (my 20th book), but Sandi’s latest case will be on the drawing board soon.

How's Your Credibility?

I once asked a friend for her best tip on researching. She said, “Find someone who likes doing it and give them money.” That’s not always possible, and sometimes it takes the fun out of putting a story together, although her answer did get a chuckle out of me.

Why is research important? The answer is simple. Your credibility as an author is at stake. People read books, listen to a presentation or watch a television show and walk away believing what they’ve read, seen or heard. As a writer, you’re supposed to be an expert, right? Readers depend on you to know what you’re talking about, and that doesn’t just apply to non-fiction. Many people believe fiction, too.

I’m sure you’ve heard stories about viewers walking up to a soap opera star and slapping her because they believed what they’d watched her do in her role as a bad girl. Fiction is exactly that – fiction. So, no slapping! However, there’s generally a thread of truth somewhere in your story unless it’s total fantasy.

Let’s make up a fictional town. We’ll call it Big Buck City which is located in Northern Nevada and lies somewhere near Reno or Carson City. Here’s the information you gave in your book:

            Palm trees line the streets

            The terrain is flat, barren desert

            It almost never snows and the temperatures are mild

            You refer to Reno (or Las Vegas) as the state capitol

            You mention that casinos don’t allow smoking anymore

            There’s a house of ill repute on every corner

What’s wrong with this picture? Everything. Palm trees don’t grow well in a cold climate. Northern Nevada is mountainous, and it can be very cold with fairly frequent snow. By the way, Carson City is the state capitol. Casinos may not allow smoking in their restaurants, but most casinos allow smoking in the gaming areas. At the very least, most of them have smoking sections. If you write about casinos, you’d better know about casinos. A house of ill repute on every corner? While there are such places, you won’t find them on every corner.

If you created this description in your story, you’ve just lost the readers who live in Northern Nevada. They realize you’re not familiar with their favorite place – home. When a couple from Podunk, Ohio, visits Reno, they’re not going to find anything they were expecting. You let the tourist down, too. In general, you’ve let your entire audience down.

Don’t make up facts as you go along unless one of your characters is a pathological liar, or someone’s trying to lie their way out of a fix.

Another hint? Don’t rely on one source for accuracy. The Internet is so convenient, but what you find isn’t always correct. Check out more than one site, and there are great sources at the library, too. Talk to “old timers” and locals. Talk to experts. If your protagonist discusses the weather in Colorado, you’d better know what the weather I like in Colorado.

Have any of you worked on your family genealogy? You’ve probably found names, dates, locations and stories, along with other information. Maybe you researched Great-Uncle Fred and discovered he had a fifth child the family never talked about. Hmm. This could be interesting. Why wasn’t the fifth child discussed? Did Number Five rob a bank? Run away from home when he was sixteen to become an actor? Commit a murder? (Okay, don’t forget, I am a mystery writer.)

I discovered quite by accident that I enjoy researching. It’s like solving a mystery. You follow leads to come to informed conclusions. A number of my books contain cold cases. I had to find out what things were really like during the time periods I wrote about.

Organize your information and keep a record of where and when you found it. You might need to refer back to the same source.

Do you enjoy research, and if not, how do you keep your facts straight? What are some of your favorite sources to find pertinent information for your books?

Until next week, try researching something you’ve always wondered about but you’ve never taken the time to check it out. You might be surprised at what you find.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com