As I completed the third Ned McNeil moonlight cozy mystery, Moonstruck and Murderous, I looked back at the last one, By The Fright of the Silvery Moon. I remembered the terrifically hard time I had writing just the right opening scene. On this one, Moonstruck, I think I wrote no less than six beginnings before I found the one that I liked and my critique group approved of. But, at last I started and, at last, I finished. This post is about By the Fright of the Silvery Moon and how it came to be.
By the Fright of the Silvery Moon is a cozy mystery that almost didn’t happen. So, I guess the writing was a mystery in itself. It all started last year. I wanted to write a second Ned McNeil Moonlight mystery, following Moonlight Can Be Murder. I had the title already. It sounded suitably chilling. That’s where I started–I wanted to write it. But, it wasn’t all that easy. I wrote the opening scene and read it. Somehow, it didn’t sound right, didn’t have that punch that I wanted. I read it to my critique group.
“Sounds good,” someone said.
“Yes, I like it,” somebody added.
“You usually open with something exciting happening,” said another.
I detected a note of near-enthusiasm, of encouragement, of hoping that maybe it would get better. I deleted the whole thing and started again. Nope. Still too blah.
Maybe I wasn’t really cut out to be a writer. Maybe having five cozy mysteries on Amazon and other online sites was enough. I had reached my zenith and bottomed out. I was finished. Fizzled. Ka-put.
I wrote three openings that I didn’t like.
But, I decided to try one more time.
One of the Cozy Critters has the most interesting dreams. Some are nightmares, some are not, but they are not boring. Not like the opening of my new book. Then, I had it. The opening scene would be Ned McNeil waking from a terrifying nightmare. A very real, clutching at your throat kind of nightmare. So, that’s the way I began the book.
I read the opening scene to my critique group. They liked it! They sat on the edge of their chairs. When I finished, they were suitably scared and asking for more.
Of course, that opening scene was not the only hair-raising happening. In each chapter, tension builds and leads into the next. That’s the way I like to write. When my story scares my critique group, then I know I’ve found success.
Moonlight Mysteries
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