Mystery Loves Company--by Linda P. Kozar

Ask anyone who lives with one. Mystery Writers are a peculiar breed. We traffic in what could only be described as morbid conversations in nonchalant ease over lunch in restaurants or in elevators, discussing everything from  murder weapons to how best to do away with people. No wonder people steer clear of us!

Maybe you like reading mysteries, but have never considered writing one. Do you have what it takes? Rate yourself in this short profile:

Mystery Writers are:

Suspicious--We are forever narrowing our eyes at the most ordinary news of the day.

Your cat disappeared? When was Flossie last seen? Hmmm. Let me ask around. Aha, someone's behind it. An elderly woman with a large knitting bag was seen walking around the neighborhood that same day. But she walked with the gait of someone much younger and later, a grey wig was found in Mrs. Delano's trash. There can be only one conclusion. A cat-napper is in our midst!

Morbidly-Minded--Though we may protest the opposite, a mystery writer must know how and why and by what means a character might die. To be accurate, that is. So we Google some strange topics--topics that police investigators would surely find suspect if any of us were ever under investigation.

1,000 Ways to Die: (www.spike.com/shows/1000-ways-to-die)
The Effects of Poison: (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/poisoning.html)
Crime Scene Investigations: (http://crime-scene-investigator.net/)
The Body Farm: (http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/july/bodyfarm_070709/)
Five Minute Mysteries (http://www.5minutemystery.com/)
How to Get Rid of a Body: (www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=99.0)

Tenacious--We can't give up! Even if the clues go cold, we keep wondering. Are you still bothered that  investigators were never able to solve the murder of JonBenet Ramsey? Now do some arithmetic. (I know that's hard for writers), but that was back in 1996. Twenty years ago...just kidding...sixteen years ago. Only a detective or mystery author would keep the file open for so long.


If you check off five out of three of these traits, you're a writer (and can't add), but if you check off one or more (out of three), you're kin to that rare breed--a mystery writer.


So break out your magnifying glass and cape (hold the pipe please), and follow those clues. But before you do--read a few mysteries. There are some great ones on this blog. . .

http://www.spyglasslanemysteries.com

Linda is the co-author of Babes With A Beatitude—Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (Hardcover/Ebook, Howard/Simon & Schuster 2009) and author of Misfortune Cookies (Print, Barbour Publishing 2008), Misfortune Cookies, A Tisket, A Casket, and Dead As A Doornail, (“When The Fat Ladies Sing Series,” Ebooks, Spyglass Lane Mysteries, 2012). She received the ACFW Mentor of the Year Award in 2007, founded and served as president of Writers On The Storm, a local ACFW chapter for three years. In 2003, she co-founded, co-directed and later served as Southwest Texas Director of Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild. She and her husband Michael, married 23 years, have two lovely daughters, Katie and Lauren and a Rat Terrier princess named Patches.

Represented by: Wendy Lawton, Books & Such Literary Agency

Member of: CAN (Christian Authors Network), RWA (Romance Writers of American), WHRWA (West Houston Romance Writers of America), ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas Chapter of ACFW, Toastmasters (Area 56) The Woodlands, Texas. WoodsEdge Community Church, The Woodlands, TX.

Linda P. Kozar

Sweet Tea Fiction

www.lindakozar.com

http://bookishdesires.blogspot.com

Find me at about.me/LindaKozar