MYSTERY AUTHORS TURNING to YA #WriterWednesday

One of my projects has been to explore and experiment in the craft of writing stories in various genres and topics. An example is the 26 short stories I wrote in an eclectic assortment of genres for an April AtoZ Blogging Challenge. The research, reading, and writing involved were all beneficial learning experiences for me. (The master plan is to include the stories in a wider project.) 

Many writers focus on one particular genre. Mystery writers can choose from a plethora of subgenres: Cozy Mystery, Police Procedural, Hard-Boiled Detective, Soft-boiled Mystery, and Thriller, for starters. Sub-sub genres can include vampires or fairies or science fiction characters that meld with cops and robbers. But even with all these choices, mystery writers sometimes decide to branch out into a totally different genre, such as Young Adult fiction.

Stories in every genre hold a mystery, and mysteries remain at the top of my list for reading and writing. Yet all genres have unique appeal, with young adult fiction ranking high. Some of the articles concerning YA fiction writing are timeless in their information or advice. Much has changed in the marketing industry, but when writing novels for a specific genre the rules, guidelines, and writing process remain fairly solid. 

As has my addiction to dark chocolate.

Of course, YA and Mystery aren't necessarily exclusive genres, but writing for adults and for young adults can feel like writing for two completely different worlds.

For those of you interested in or toying with the idea of writing YA, several timeless blog posts I've found interesting offer excellent advice for writing in the Young Adult fiction genre.

Links are included below.

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Cherie Colyer wrote an article, Writing for a young adult audience, that gets right down to basics of audience, character development, and protagonist backstory.
http://cheriecolyer.blogspot.com/2016/07/writing-for-young-adults-audience.html

This is an interview of author Stacy Juba by author/interviewer Judy Penz Sheluk:
http://www.judypenzsheluk.com/2015/07/24/interview-with-an-author-stacy-juba/
plus: 10 YA Sports Novels for Teens and Tweens:
http://stacyjuba.com/blog/2015/07/20/ya-sports-novels/

Brian Klems welcomed teenaged writer Jamie S. Margolin to his blog site, The Writer's Dig, to discuss What NOT To Do When Writing YA Books:
http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/what-not-to-do-when-writing-ya-books-advice-from-a-teen-writer

This is a post about the " Top 5 Dos of Writing YA Lit" on the WiseInkBlog (actually 4 with a "don't" included):
http://www.wiseinkblog.com/self-publishing-2/the-top-5-dos-of-writing-ya-lit/

And here are some writing tips from editors concerning authenticity, subject matter, and trends when writing YA:
https://blog.reedsy.com/editors-tips-write-young-adult-novel

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With this information at my fingertips, I may decide to write a young adult mystery of my own. Of course, this will require a whole new mindset and a willingness to take myself back to the days of my youth. Maybe I'll begin by stocking up on chocolate - and rereading a good YA novel by a fellow mystery writer to get me in the mood:

THE RAINBOW CONNECTION by Laurie Hanan

Review comments:
The character development is awesome
Wonderfully interwoven twists and turns

THE RAINBOW COLLECTION on Amazon

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SECOND THOUGHTS ERODE MY CONFIDENCE

It's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group blog posting. IWSG was created by the awesome ninja captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can find a list of all the other members of the group here.

 

 

After writing and self-publishing three novels in my planned Pepper Bibeau mystery series, I allowed “second thoughts” to erode my confidence in writing a fourth. My marketing for the third novel never really got off the ground. I lost faith in my writing, in the worth of the stories, and in myself as a writer. It was easier to promote authors more imaginative than me and novels containing more important characters than mine. 

A lot of soul-searching followed the publication of my third novel. 

* Why had I chosen to set my stories in the near past (beginning with the late 60s and early 70s) after reading that such novels didn’t sell? Maybe it would be better to write stories occurring in the present. 

* Why was my protagonist a female with a backstory of service as a nurse in the Vietnam War? I had never been in the military, and current bestselling novels focused on action in Afghanistan or other parts of the Middle East. 

* Why did I think the life of an insurance investigator would play well in the Mystery genre? Such a career could never carry a series. 

Once I formed concrete questions to get a handle on my concerns, I considered answers to possible solutions. In November 2013, I used NaNoWriMo to test the theory of boosting my confidence by setting stories in present time. I wrote 50K words of a novel set in 2012. My main character’s backstory and career differed from my original protagonist. The surge of excitement I felt while writing the story compared to eating a new flavor of ice cream or wearing a new red silk dress. The macadamia nut chocolate swirl ice cream delighted my taste buds. The color and feel of the new dress affected most of my other senses. 

What the ice cream and dress didn’t do, and what the new protagonist didn’t do, was to satisfy my core wants and needs. My first love is vanilla ice cream: French vanilla, Country vanilla, Simply vanilla. Ready-to-wear clothes in tranquil colors suit me best. I relish the research required in developing a character whose story spans the years missed while I was “too busy living.” 

This insight resolved my concerns about why to write something “they” say won’t sell. 

For me, appreciation of a good mystery set in a familiar location generates motivation. My goal is to write mysteries that evolve in personally meaningful settings, for the enjoyment and entertainment of readers with similar interests. Book Four is now underway and I am more eager than ever to write the next Pepper Bibeau mystery.

 

 

BLOG LAUNCH on BLACK FRIDAY #MysteryInCrime

When I chose 'The Day After Thanksgiving' as the date to launch my blog site, little did I realize the biggest shopping day of the year would arrive so quickly. My only regret in selecting this day is missing the murderously long checkout lines at Macys and Walmart.

I've been intrigued by many a well-written murder mystery over the years. But early on, reading was not enough so I took up writing mysteries. My first story, drafted at age nine and entitled Ergo Death, involved the demise of a person who fell down the coal chute in our basement. My focus wasn't on depth of characters back then. With practice, my stories developed a bit more complexity.

FOR EVERY ACTION There Are Consequences

26-year old Pepper Bibeau is my protagonist in FOR EVERY ACTION, the first novel of a planned series (print date pending*.) Through several revisions and much editing, Pepper evolved into a tenacious insurance investigator who deals with an eclectic collection of characters. One literary agent I spoke with early in the protagonist's development suggested that the career I had initially chosen for Pepper was not substantial enough to carry the story or a series.

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I've learned two beneficial life lessons from this agent's suggestion:

1.) A strong personality generates attraction.

2.) Honest criticism deserves consideration.

My protagonist ultimately became an Insurance Investigator, a career that allows her to travel around the country and step or tumble into trouble every couple of years!

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Now that I have taken action and launched this blog, I'm off to read the last three chapters of the final Harry Potter novel (on the lanai, with a tall glass of iced tea lemonade.)  

 

I'll return each Wednesday to share tidbits of topics and personal experiences gathered while writing my first Pepper Bibeau novel, FOR EVERY ACTION There Are Consequences.

 

Won't you join me for some blood-orange, lime, and lemonade on the lanai?

Aloha, Gail

 

*Publication Date: April 7, 2011 in trade and eBook format at Amazon.com