Mystery Music

My heartfelt thanks to all veterans, past and present. God bless you!

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I turned on the local news on Saturday morning and heard a story that should pique the interest of most mystery writers. Imagine that.

The Delaware River runs between New Jersey and Delaware. For the last couple of weeks people have been hearing loud (lots of base) music. It starts in the early evening and ends around two or three o’clock in the morning. It’s equal opportunity music, meaning it’s rock, jazz, salsa, classical and who knows what else?

The people in both states hear it, and it sounds like it’s coming from the Delaware side of the river.

Needless to say, it’s driving people nuts and interfering with their sleep. There have been numerous complaints to the police about the noise, and yet no one has been able to determine where the music is coming from. Apparently the music suddenly stopped, but many people have said they’ve heard it occasionally over the past few months. It was only recently that it became a nightly event.

By the way, I don’t live in either state, but across the country. However, how could I, in good conscience, pass up sharing this story?

Would this inspire a mystery? Of course, it would. The story could take so many different directions.

Ghostly music trying to lead the authorities to a murder scene? Maybe someone is purposely trying to drive people nuts. It could be an elderly woman who can’t hear the music without the volume turned up. She could be a little crazy and she’s buried bodies in her basement over the years. Maybe someone is trying to make some kind of point.

If you presented the original scenario to seven hundred mystery writers, they could probably come up with at least five hundred ideas. (You have to draw the line somewhere. I figured five hundred was a good cutoff point.)

You could add something to the music. Maybe the music suddenly stops and a loud scream is heard from one side of the river to the other, and then the music starts in again, like nothing ever happened. Or a dog could howl soulfully.

Anything can inspire a good mystery, so why not music with a secret source? I kind of like the little old lady idea, although it reminds me a bit of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” which you should watch if you haven’t seen it – talk about crazy people and good laughs.

There’s always the possibility that some kids are playing a prank. What if that prank went awry?

Oh, here’s one. What if it turned out the music was coming from an old cemetery and the only music anyone heard was from a specific time period, like the 1880s or the 1920s? Since I don’t believe in ghosts, I’d have to come up with another idea for the source of the music. I know, plenty of people do believe in ghosts, so I’ll leave those story ideas to them.

If an individual decided to look for the source of the music, bear in mind that curiosity killed the cat, figuratively speaking.

I wish someone would take this news item and run with it. Create a good mystery. I’d probably read it.

Can you think of a good storyline with the music in mind?

Until next time, pay attention to any unusual stories you hear on the news. You might come up with a unique idea.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

A Well-Kept Family Secret and Bubba’s Ghost are now available in audio format. Prudy’s Back! is in the works. Just thought I’d mention it.

If you’re looking for something light, you might give One Adventure Too Many a try. These are all Sandi Webster Mysteries.

It's in the Blood

Although I write mysteries, “it’s in the blood” doesn’t refer to finding a dead body. It’s a reference to writing.

You may have noticed that from time to time I say, “I was talking to someone the other day, and…” Well, I talk to a lot of people. What can I say? I love chatting, especially about writing and books. I’ve even seen my daughter’s eyes glaze over when I start talking about writing and/or books.

So, the other day I talked to someone who’d just completed her first book. I asked her if she had a second book in mind. She said no, that one book was her limit. A few days later she said that, well, maybe there was another book or two in her. That’s when I realized that writing was in her blood.

 Me and Chocolate

Writing is addictive for a lot of authors. This is a good thing because what would we readers have to read if some of these prolific writers stopped working? I have an addiction to chocolate; I can’t stop at just one piece of candy. I now realize that the same holds true for writing. I couldn’t stop at just one book – or two or three. I’m now working on #19.

Here’s the deal: You finish your book (which includes editing and proofreading), you write a killer query letter, and you begin to look for a publisher (or you decide to self-publish). You sit and twiddle your thumbs while waiting for a response if you decided to go the way of a traditional publisher, and you start thinking, “Okay, this is boring. What do I do now? Hmm. I sure would like to write another story. I still have more things I’d like to say, and by the way, it was fulfilling and fun when I worked on the last story. But what should I write about? Do I want to write a lot of books or just one more? Or should those books I’m going to write equal a series? Would people want to read about the same characters over and over and over again? Hmm.”

Now you begin to realize that writing is in your blood. You can’t sit for too long without working on something, even if the work consists of just coming up with an idea. When you least expect it, a storyline comes to mind. No matter where the idea came from, you know you’ve got to run with it. You’re hooked on writing. You might even write a bestseller. It’s worth a shot, and in the meantime you might actually entertain some readers. Who knew? This writing stuff has suddenly become a career– an addiction or maybe an obsession. It’s in the blood.

There will be those scoffers who comment that they’re happy that you “have a little hobby to keep you busy now.” If they only knew how much work you put into your novel, they’d probably slap themselves silly. No, you can’t do that for them. No smackin’.

So go write your story and don’t feel guilty that you have this grand obsession. This is a good obsession, as long as you don’t forget that you have a family, and some other obligations – not that a family is an obligation. Listen to me, sticking my size six foot into my size five mouth. Not a pretty picture. But you get the point. Enjoy what you do and keep those stories coming. Me? I’ll be looking for your latest book. I love to be entertained. Keep up the good work.

Until next time, keep writing, and if you’re not a writer, keep reading. Readers make the literary world go round.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Speaking of Book #18… Well, I was thinking of Book #18, you might want to give Gin Mill Grill – A Sandi Webster Mystery a try. Think Prohibition, speakeasies and gin mills, and trying to solve a crime today that happened back in the day.

Note to Self

A long, long time ago I wrote a post about the appearance of characters, and by that I mean their physical appearance. I get so busy with other details when I’m writing that I sometimes forget how much appearance can define a character.

Sometime back I watched a vintage movie (1932) titled Penguin Pool Murder, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So many times the acting in old movies is corny, not at all what we’re used to seeing now, but this one turned out to be quite a surprise. The heroine in this story is a prim school teacher named Miss Hildegarde Withers, and she’s quite a character.

I discovered, to my surprise, that this movie was based on a series written in the thirties about Miss Withers and written by Stuart Palmer. So I ordered a couple of the books to read because I wanted to see if they were as good as the movie. They’re even better, but that’s not where I’m headed.

 

 In reading Murder on the Blackboard (also by Stuart Palmer), I discovered that I’m going to have to rethink my descriptions of characters in my books.  Let me give you a few examples of why Mr. Palmer made me feel derelict in my writing.

In describing one of the characters, he wrote, “He was a man of medium size, with a thick head of colorless hair and a face that was seamed and wrinkled as a potato left too long in a damp, dark place.” Colorless hair or not, that was a colorful description. I think this type of writing makes the characters come to life for the reader.

Miss Withers isn’t approximately forty, but she’s in “the neighborhood of forty – the close neighborhood…” Her face has “most of the characteristics of a well-bred horse.” Excellent!

Too many times I don’t go into enough detail about the appearance of characters. That’s coming to a screeching halt (I hope). So what if one female character is short with red hair? Who cares if a man has a small scar at the corner of his mouth. And so what if Sandi has longish light brown hair? Surely the redhead has something like freckles that form a smile on her arm to distinguish her. Maybe she has skin as pale as the full moon in the midnight blue sky. Maybe the man with the scar has eyes that dance from object to object but never really look at anything, and they’re draped by eyebrows that a lawn mower couldn’t help. Does Sandi’s brown hair have highlights that leap out at you in the sunlight? She must have some distinguishing features that set

her apart from every other woman.

So from here on out, I’m going to work on my descriptions a little more. They don’t have to be lengthy, just memorable. I have one character that I really like, and I described her this way: “The door opened again and a very short gnome-like woman with a slightly hunched back pulled the door wide, inviting me in.  She had scraggly short white hair, huge dark brown eyes, a bulbous nose that was too large for her face, and she looked around eighty. Her ears, slightly protruding, were also a bit big for her face.  She hugged a housecoat around her middle.” I might have pulled this description off, although I was off the mark by not having her look like a Mrs. Potato Head.

Writers need to read the books of others because sometimes it opens our eyes. Maybe no one else would have read Murder on the Blackboard and had the epiphany I did, but in this case it just might have been the reminder I need to write more outstanding characters (at least in appearance).

Let’s see. “He had the ears of a fighter. What do they call those? Oh, yeah, cauliflower ears. He’d been punched too many times. His nose resembled a volcano after an eruption.” No, that needs more work.

Do you ever find that reading someone else’s work makes you take a second look at your own? Thank you, Mr. Palmer, for reminding me that there’s more to a story than just the storyline.

Until next time, have a great week and think about the people you see around you. How would you describe them?

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

JUST OUT! Black Butterfly – A Bogey Man Mystery will take you to the world of thugs and goons, seniors and kids, and Chris and Pamela Cross.

Epiphany

Sometimes in books a character will have an epiphany and solve a case. And once in a while we have epiphanies in real life. Such was the situation this week.

My post will be a bit more personal than usual because I’m hoping that figuring things out might touch someone else the way it touched me. I’ve seriously been considering giving up my writing. Life just hasn’t been kind over the past couple of years.

I lost my husband to what he used to refer to as, “The Widow Maker.” In other words, he had a sudden and unexpected heart attack, and that was it. (I miss him more than I can express, and more than I want to talk about.) Among other things, I had some health problems, made a major move from Arizona to Washington, and more recently, book sales have dropped with a thud.

I’ve spent a lifetime picking myself up and moving on when things didn’t go well or as planned. I haven’t been able to do that this time – until now.

Sometimes answers come to us when we least expect it and in ways we wouldn’t dream of. I read the email of someone who’s having a rough time because of life, people and writing, and it caused an epiphany. Here’s the realization that came to me and pretty much changes everything.

Writing has been an uphill battle. In fact, without going into details, my whole life has been an uphill battle. I can’t explain it, but this person’s email brought that up from the depths of my heart and mind.

I’d hoped my writing would supplement my income. Didn’t happen, or maybe I should say, barely happened. Then I remembered something very important. I started writing because it’s something I love to do. From now on I do it because I enjoy it. If the books don’t sell, oh well… What more can one ask for than to be doing something that makes them happy?

And this goes for the rest of my life, too. The heck with it. No more worrying about every little thing. I can’t possibly please everyone, and I can’t accommodate every request that comes my way.

It’s too cliché to say that when life hands me lemons, I make lemonade. Nope. It’s not that easy. However, when life hands me chocolate, I fully intend to eat every bite and savor the flavor. It’s comfort food, and besides, I don’t like lemons or lemonade anyway.

It’s time for a downhill slide. Easy peasy. Struggling is passé. It’s time to yell, “Wheeeee” as I take the easy way down from the top of that hill. Sliding is so much easier than climbing.

I have faith and that’s what counts. Faith in what? Faith in God, in myself, in my talent, and in those I care about.

Here’s to a new life and a new beginning, for all of us who need them.

Now I’m going back to work on “Black Butterfly,” my latest work in progress. I’m ready to write, and I hope the story is ready for me.

Until next time, take a ride down that hill and enjoy every moment of it.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw's website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com