tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post4749343253929221995..comments2023-11-22T06:35:25.251-05:00Comments on POE'S DEADLY DAUGHTERS: In Defense of Amateur SleuthsJulia Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270211923343731659noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-67276927069601112742013-06-20T11:59:46.768-04:002013-06-20T11:59:46.768-04:00Hi, Miriam--
I'm sorry to be so late in respo...Hi, Miriam--<br /><br />I'm sorry to be so late in responding to your comment--I've been traveling. I think your comment is both perceptive and eloquent. Fiction tests characters by putting them in unusual, often extreme situations in which they can't just follow their usual patterns, in which sometimes surprising strengths and weaknesses emerge.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-69469728860097099502013-06-17T11:11:00.647-04:002013-06-17T11:11:00.647-04:00Thanks so much for the insightful post. I think t...Thanks so much for the insightful post. I think that the point you make about suspension of disbelief - that it works as long as the characters respond in a real way to their unlikely situation - is a crucial one. When you are trying to understand events, you read histories. When you are trying to understand people, you read fiction. Fiction lets learn about people often precisely because it Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15566966499612585892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-10932673291041637922013-06-14T18:07:03.439-04:002013-06-14T18:07:03.439-04:00Thanks, Gail. I'm glad you enjoyed the post.Thanks, Gail. I'm glad you enjoyed the post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-85705928723545344712013-06-14T18:06:29.785-04:002013-06-14T18:06:29.785-04:00Thanks for your comment, Jacquie. I'm reading ...Thanks for your comment, Jacquie. I'm reading your THE INFERNO COLLECTION right now, and believe me--it feels plenty real to this reader! I may be skeptical about psychics in real life, but I absolutely believe in them when I'm reading your novels.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-66357381177369517102013-06-14T18:04:10.927-04:002013-06-14T18:04:10.927-04:00Paula, thanks for your comment. And let me say aga...Paula, thanks for your comment. And let me say again how much I always enjoy reading your stories.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-29269495627969051722013-06-14T18:03:22.889-04:002013-06-14T18:03:22.889-04:00Joanna, I agree. We may do other things as well, b...Joanna, I agree. We may do other things as well, but if we don't entertain, we can't reach our readers at all.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-79136842519982259762013-06-14T16:29:31.328-04:002013-06-14T16:29:31.328-04:00Enjoyed the post, B.K. Congrats on publishing so ...Enjoyed the post, B.K. Congrats on publishing so many mystery stories. Good for you! <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Gail Farrellyhttp://www.farrellysistersonline.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-6051649871851047142013-06-14T14:30:41.142-04:002013-06-14T14:30:41.142-04:00Hi, B.K.,
First, congrats on your latest publishe...Hi, B.K.,<br /><br />First, congrats on your latest published mystery story. I agree that as readers of mystery fiction, we must suspend disbelief.<br />That is exactly what I do. My own protagonist, Kim Reynolds, is a librarian who somehow stumbles across dead bodies. But she is both a reluctant sleuth and a reluctant psychic. And yes, there are professional police involved in the novels. Is it Jacqueline Seewaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09177500620940251009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-6814042862445425332013-06-14T14:10:06.250-04:002013-06-14T14:10:06.250-04:00Bonnie, what a great post! So interesting to hear ...Bonnie, what a great post! So interesting to hear how your own protagonist segued into solving crimes without having to apologize for it.Paula Gail Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08843350597811462936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-68085421245705469472013-06-14T13:37:04.964-04:002013-06-14T13:37:04.964-04:00Sandra is absolutely right. We are writing for ent...Sandra is absolutely right. We are writing for entertainment purposes. We deal in the abnormalities, not in the everyday REAL world. And I think our readers like the fantasy that they too might be able to be a super-sleuth.Joanna Campbell Slanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01951637123269159053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-39195862617328892312013-06-14T12:53:53.401-04:002013-06-14T12:53:53.401-04:00Michele, I think you make an excellent point. Mari...Michele, I think you make an excellent point. Marianne Moore's famous definition of poetry comes to mind--"imaginary gardens with real toads in them." As long as the characters in mysteries react the way human beings really would react, we can accept implausible situations--we can enjoy both the imaginary gardens and the real toads.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-65636666309835814722013-06-14T12:37:01.007-04:002013-06-14T12:37:01.007-04:00We read mysteries because they are implausible; it...We read mysteries because they are implausible; it's a way of living a "what if" moment without real danger. At least that's why I do, even though I lived with murders as an editor and reporter! Michele Drierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06944263184981732147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-24297049616019449592013-06-14T10:35:48.252-04:002013-06-14T10:35:48.252-04:00Shelia, I love your comparison of amateur sleuth m...Shelia, I love your comparison of amateur sleuth mysteries to morality plays. When we read these mysteries, we wonder if we'd respond to the situation as well as Ms. Everywoman does--and maybe we feel just a little more determined to pursue justice in our own small ways. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-36290751329065116942013-06-14T10:31:12.040-04:002013-06-14T10:31:12.040-04:00Sandy, thank you for your comment. I agree that mo...Sandy, thank you for your comment. I agree that most real-life crimes wouldn't make entertaining novels. Even when a spectacular trial dominates the news, such as the one still dragging on in Arizona, the crime isn't usually very interesting, or very mysterious: The truth is usually obvious and just plain sad.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-60654625423463312112013-06-14T10:27:57.322-04:002013-06-14T10:27:57.322-04:00Liz, thank you for inviting me to be a guest at PD...Liz, thank you for inviting me to be a guest at PDD. I don't know if we're talking about the same book or not--there are a lot of books like that out there, and they help give amateur sleuths a bad name. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-14663372088338489062013-06-14T07:50:26.858-04:002013-06-14T07:50:26.858-04:00Well said. Bonnie.
The more I talk about writing ...Well said. Bonnie.<br /><br />The more I talk about writing amateur sleuth mysteries, the more I come to think that they are like modern morality plays (a very old literary tradition): Ms. Everywoman is thrown into a situation where she must rise to the occasion and seek justice, and in our stories, she succeeds.<br /><br />I don't think readers believe this is reality, but they want to--it&Sheila Connollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05165644581595919711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-25136573803719545662013-06-13T15:09:32.061-04:002013-06-13T15:09:32.061-04:00Bonnie, it's great to have you on Poe's De...Bonnie, it's great to have you on Poe's Deadly Daughters. I think I may have started and given up on the same book you did--or one just like it, with a gleeful amateur sleuth being enthusiastic and tactless at the crime scene and in front of the bereaved.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056815460076050228.post-25117029402903268332013-06-13T09:41:02.104-04:002013-06-13T09:41:02.104-04:00Thanks for being with us, B.K.
I think most myst...Thanks for being with us, B.K. <br /><br />I think most mysteries -- and virtually all thrillers -- stray from real life. Real murder cases simply aren't all that fascinating. The cops are ordinary people, the killers and the victims are rather dull to read about. We might be interested in short news accounts, but would we want to read an entire novel about such people?<br /><br />Mystery/Sandra Parshallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17403144248962124138noreply@blogger.com