tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post6617055885177379179..comments2023-11-22T06:35:25.251-05:00Comments on POE'S DEADLY DAUGHTERS: WHO KNOWS WHERE THE TIME GOES?Julia Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270211923343731659noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-84578277582848683892010-04-25T09:41:16.449-04:002010-04-25T09:41:16.449-04:00Sheila, you can also start killing those book club...Sheila, you can also start killing those book club members off next time you're stuck for a victim. :)Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-10639468304448500022010-04-25T09:32:38.956-04:002010-04-25T09:32:38.956-04:00I reserve the right to stick the book club back in...I reserve the right to stick the book club back in--let my editor axe it if she must. I think it's useful for my poor loner protagonist to have a batch of people to bounce ideas off, and they're fresh eyes--not related to either the museum community or law enforcement. She can find a fresh idea there if she (I?) needs to advance the plot.<br /><br />I can see it now: her new employee Sheila Connollyhttp://www.sheilaconnolly.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-3541966736049551222010-04-25T03:47:22.847-04:002010-04-25T03:47:22.847-04:00It's now 3:46 am, and I'm eating canned pe...It's now 3:46 am, and I'm eating canned peaches and reading the blogs I never get time for during the day. But if I write even that much about what my heroine is doing in her off time, I get antsy. My rule is to include nothing that doesn't advance the story, so a blah weekend will be disposed of in ten words or so. That is, if I ever write a story that takes more than two or three Barbara Monajemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06740868750916582900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-34029522705349111062010-04-25T02:46:49.439-04:002010-04-25T02:46:49.439-04:00Though look who's talking: I'm writing thi...Though look who's talking: I'm writing this at 2:45 am. I shouldn't have had the coffee ice cream at the Turkish restaurant. ;)Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-88238898734654488542010-04-25T02:45:07.756-04:002010-04-25T02:45:07.756-04:00Sandy, Jack Bauer doesn't sleep--in fact, nobo...Sandy, Jack Bauer doesn't sleep--in fact, nobody on "24" does. Or is that just an instance of how novels have to get everything right but TV shows can be totally unrealistic? Or maybe it's just that our protagonists' goals seldom include saving the world?Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-47626169855288025172010-04-24T20:05:31.531-04:002010-04-24T20:05:31.531-04:00It's not easy to find space in a mystery for s...It's not easy to find space in a mystery for stuff that doesn't relate to the plot, and that can have the effect of making a character seem isolated. But if the character doesn't inhabit a complete world, he/she won't seem real to readers. As I said, it's not easy. Which is no help at all, I know! <br /><br />My big problem is allowing time for characters to sleep. I can get Sandra Parshallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17403144248962124138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-89381526526313160792010-04-24T16:13:09.912-04:002010-04-24T16:13:09.912-04:00Hmmm. Note to sleuth?
Get a dog
Walk it.
Do the l...Hmmm. Note to sleuth?<br /><br />Get a dog<br />Walk it.<br />Do the laundry.<br />Fold it.<br />Boil an egg.<br />Eat it.<br /><br />Nope, still needs work!<br /><br />I understand the problem, Sheila. Of course, the fun stuff is all around the investigation, the love life or lack of it and of course, the dodging of bullets. I enjoyed your post and it made me think. I love these books and I lookMary Jane Maffinihttp://www.maryjanemaffini.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-70116415878015681502010-04-24T11:27:43.662-04:002010-04-24T11:27:43.662-04:00Shiela, I found that if I did a character sheet ab...Shiela, I found that if I did a character sheet about the main characters: description (hair, eye color, scars, tattoos, mental stability, etc), family and friends, occupation, hobbies, likes, dislikes, MOST of it never made it into the book but it gave me something to work from and often details will slip in at the right place. Meanin I wrote too much to get it down on paper, then used only Lonnie Crusehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14617936690870869287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-59820617461166926232010-04-24T09:02:17.917-04:002010-04-24T09:02:17.917-04:00Do you really want an ongoing series character to ...Do you really want an ongoing series character to be such a loner? I get a little annoyed with Kinsey Millhone for having no women friends--but even she has her landlord Henry and eats at Rosie's, where the reader always hears exactly what Rosie orders her to eat. Look at Judge Deborah Knott's complex web of relationships, including 11 brothers and their families. Often they don't Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-80862540352552748802010-04-24T08:51:08.333-04:002010-04-24T08:51:08.333-04:00As a voracious reader, I've developed a certai...As a voracious reader, I've developed a certain reading rule that works for me. If the amateur sleuth has a "real" job, pet(s), spouse, or child(ren), then, by golly, s/he has to spend a certain amount of time with them in the book—or account for them somehow.<br /><br />If, however, the protagonist is a loner, I'm perfectly happy to have the author dispose of time in a couple Msmstryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16482398424851486681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-13193764793073171362010-04-24T08:38:02.163-04:002010-04-24T08:38:02.163-04:00You're right, Paul--in the effort to keep your...You're right, Paul--in the effort to keep your book at 75,000 or 80,000 words, or whatever the publisher wants that week, words must be sacrificed, and most often those words are the ones that add color, flavor, texture to characters and settings.<br /><br />Ro, I suppose all readers make assumptions about those blank hours. People have to eat, sleep, and (we hope) bathe regularly. Of Sheila Connollyhttp://www.sheilaconnolly.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-47799883951918496932010-04-24T08:16:53.586-04:002010-04-24T08:16:53.586-04:00Good points here, Sheila! It's a tough balanc...Good points here, Sheila! It's a tough balance between too much info and not enough.<br /><br />I'm scheduling this on my tweets today...<br /><br />Elizabeth<br /><a href="http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> Mystery Writing is Murder</a>Elizabeth Spann Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15625595247828274405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-18143798625141482010-04-24T08:05:15.703-04:002010-04-24T08:05:15.703-04:00I say let your mind run away with other things whi...I say let your mind run away with other things while she's mulling over the crime. A crotchety neighbor who over hears her talking to herself about a murder, a stray dog or cat comes for a visit, she trips and falls requiring a short trip to the hospital where she finds a clue, while mowing her small yard the mower breaks down and the repair shop has a hunk doing the fixing. These can show a J D Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11493382472717695120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-55587040615261077982010-04-24T07:49:23.794-04:002010-04-24T07:49:23.794-04:00This is a great observation, Sheila. While it som...This is a great observation, Sheila. While it sometimes kills me to include things like "I showered and changed" , some version of that frequently has to be included. No less a pro than Stuart Kaminsky once asked me "wouldn't your character have rinsed out her mouth?" after a scene in which Paula Holliday barfs.<br />The chores and endless grooming and eating can be Rosemary Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08033747422699443024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-74825620237638957462010-04-24T04:11:56.326-04:002010-04-24T04:11:56.326-04:00It's a shame, really, that so much of the stru...It's a shame, really, that so much of the structure of stories has to be dictated by the marketplace. Certainly nothing should go in a story that isn't called for by the plot (or the tone you're trying to sustain) but that still ought to leave plenty of room for details that only indirectly advance the story yet still flesh out the character or feed the mood. And, yes, this kind of Paulhttp://www.paullamb.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com