When a mystery scares the author, its ranking on the fright level goes way up. In places, Moonstruck and Murderous scared even me, its creator. It is not for the faint-hearted. Ned McNeil has a knack for getting into tight places. Some of this is due to her own carelessness or being too trusting; […]
Feb 11, 2019
Courage Comes in Many Forms
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Among the shadows of early morning, a small, darker shadow moved, sometimes crouching close to the ground as a shell burst overhead. A cold, mizzling rain matted his fur, dribbled into his eyes. He shook his head and kept going. A little further and he’d be at the general’s tent. He knew which tent […]
Feb 10, 2019
The Furtive, Mysterious, Weird Life of a Mystery Author
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Many of you will remember seeing old western movies with store buildings that had false fronts, making them appear much larger than they were. Let me tell you that people have false fronts too, sometimes without even being aware that they have them. For example, how many of you may be a secret cozy mystery […]
Jan 25, 2019
The Murderous Muddle in the Middle
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A couple of days back, we established that first lines of a story are important. But, what if a reader picks up a book, ruffles through, and reads one of those middle lines? What if she is looking for the exciting climax, the near-death experience of the heroine? Those middle lines are important too! This […]
Oct 29, 2018
October is a Golden-Haired Girl
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If you participated in the Mysteries with an Extra Shiver pen giveaway and you don’t receive your pen this week, please let me know. I’ll get one in the mail to you forthwith. If October is a golden-haired girl with sunlight on her shoulders, she is preparing to leave the stage to her older […]
Oct 28, 2018
The Older I Get
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The older I get, the more I wonder about some things and the less I think about others. The older I get, the more I wonder how I got to be this old so quickly and what happened to the years? I understand now the phrase time flies. It seems to. It seems to […]
