As I write this posting, I realize I'm scheduled to post on a significant date or supposedly a significant date - 12/12/12. According to the Mayan calendar, it will be a day of rebirth or the end of times as we know it. The world will not end this day or this month, but the collective of society will go through a transformation, or being reborn. Many religions around the world are also prophecizing this same thought pattern.
On that note, this past week or so, I've been trying to recreate stories featuring my protagonist, Kelly Watson, and really make her a series like the Nancy Drew series. I've printed out the winners of the MysteryNet's contests from all the months they actually held the contests; I've printed out several postings of tips on writing mysteries; and I've printed out a few "mystery story prompts/starters" to help me along the way.
The biggest problem I'm up against is having set my first tory, Finally Home, in a small town, population of under 1000, in South Carolina, which is even smaller than the town I live in which has a population of around 3500, and that my girls are only 13 or 14 - upper middle school, about to enter high school aged. They aren't driving age and therefore can't zip over to the big town to "solve mysteries" and there probably isn't much in the way of things happening in the town to be a mystery.
So, I'm looking to my readers to give me some suggestions on how to bring Kelly and Emma out in several mysteries - shoot me some ideas by way of comment and if I use your idea, I'll send you an ebook copy of Finally Home for Nook or Kindle along with an authorgraph.
See you all in the postings - E :)
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Ms. Eldering is the award-winning author of the Junior Geography Detective Squad (JGDS), 50-state, mystery, trivia series. Her stories "Train of Clues" (available in print and as an ebook on kindle), "The Proposal" (available as an ebook), "Tulip Kiss" (available as an ebook), and "Butterfly Halves", all placed first, second, or runner up in various contests to include two for Armchair Interviews and two for Echelon Press (Fast and ... themed type contests). Her story "Bride-and-Seek" (available as an ebook) was selected for the South Carolina Writers' Workshop (SCWW) anthology, the Petigru Review. She also has written several other short stories for contests including the second place winning story, "Zombies Amuck", and "La Cave". Ms. Eldering makes her home in upper state South Carolina and loves to travel, read, cross stitch and crochet. When she's not busy with grown children still at home, working her full-time job as a medical transcriptionist or participating in virtual classroom visits, she can be found at various homeschool or book events and festivals promoting her writing.
For more information about the JGDS series, please visit the JGDS blog or the JGDS website.
For more information about Elysabeth's other writings, please visit her general writing blog or her author website.
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5 comments:
Elizabeth: is there, or could you create, regular bus service between the towns? Easy biking distance? Friendly big brother/cousin/neighbor, etc? Activities in big town requiring regular transportation (mothers carpooling)?
Just a few ideas. We live in a town about the size of yours, and I did a fair amount of carpooling with other moms when my kids were that age.
Hey Peggy,
Not really sure. It sounds like I'm going to have to take a trip to the town itself and explore see what transpires that can be written similar to Nancy Drew cases. I'll keep you all posted and thanks for responding. E :-)
Elysabeth, Peggy's on the right track. Another scenario is the local school, library, and so on, that the girls have easy access to. Even within their own small town, there could be plenty of secrets and mysteries.
They could even be on vacation with their families and run into a mystery. There's lots of vehicles for young teenage girls to find trouble. :)
Elysabeth, can I suggest you read a few of Enid Blyton's stories - most notably those in the Famous Five and Secret Seven series (I'd assume you read them if you grew up in the UK as they were super-popular, but I don't think we had much exposure to them in the US). It's all small town, and no cars or modern day 'gadgets' of any sort. And boy do those kids get about - just using creative imagination. All the best with it!
I don't think they need to travel to find intrigue. Small towns are full of it. AN old abandon property is ripe for a story. But if they have to leave, having someone drive them to a doctor/movie or another activity in another town can be a starting point.
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