As
a writer who hops from genre to genre, looking at my resume will not
necessarily provide a clue to my first love in both reading and writing. For
that information, you would have to hack into my library card information and
television-viewing schedule to learn that mysteries rank number one with me.
What do I find so fascinating about mysteries? Is it the lure
of the puzzle? Partly. My preference is for the character-driven mystery, often
with a dash of history thrown in--thank you, Ellis Peters and others. I read
the more literary efforts of Louise Penny and PD James right along with the
popular, less "arty" novels. The way characters confront one another,
how they obsessively note minutia, and pile up a trail of clues, fascinates me.
Short
stories, I adore them! From bits and pieces on the web to magazines such as Ellery
Queen, (to which I aspire) SinC anthologies (made it into one!) and
overmydeadbody.com and Kings River Life (both of which have been very kind
to my work). I am usually reading at least one mystery along with whatever else
I am reading. On the other side of the pen, I am also usually writing or
revising at least one mystery story or flash along with whatever else I am
writing. At any one time, I usually have four documents in play—a non-fiction
piece (food article or CNF), a poem or two, and a piece of writing for
children. I usually find that working on the mystery stokes the fires of the
other writing in positive directions. Here is what I have observed:
Children—It’s the
mystery's demand for action and surprise that fuels my efforts. I write for
children, whether it is picture book script (fiction or non-fiction) or poetry,
(all of which I have successfully
published in magazines and pictures books; I even win a short story award
for a middle grade story). Children are a demanding audience and a writer
needs to keep the movement pulsing! In Rosa's Shell, I have a moment where the
reader has to wonder—will her Dad be able to help her or not?
Non-Fiction—Writing
mysteries puts a large premium on the logic of things. Whether the order is
chronological or some other, the internal logic of the piece is sacrosanct. A
non-fiction piece in journalism answers, who, what, when, where, and why—and
so does a good mystery!
Fiction—"What
if?" is the question I add when turning a situation into fiction.
Sometimes the pieces I write as non-fiction find their way into my fiction, and
sometimes I am inspired to write a piece on an aspect of an issue or piece of
history that I researched for my mystery. When did I start doing this? Well,
take a look at the little girl recovering from chicken pox. She is working on a
little assignment for school that will turn into her first attempt at a
mystery.
Romance—This is a
popular pairing with mystery. No wonder! Much of romance is about discovery,
the very foundation of mystery (discovery of the crime, discovery of who, how,
and why they did it)
Poetry—no, I do not
write crime ballads or mystery poems. But the careful selection of words—and
murdering of my favorite when revising—this is the way mystery informs my
poetry. The importance of the smallest thing, the deeper meanings behind a
simple bite of bread, a sunset, a sunrise, all of this the epiphany of the
small, the insights of the small (often a key element in mystery writing). Then
again, there can be a more direct connection since while I was writing this, a
friend posted on FB that she was researching bloodstain patterns for a poem!
Most of the red in my poetry (and
other genres) comes from red ink spilling out onto the page as I murder
favorite phrases and words.
Joan Leotta is the author
of ten books in print, four historical romances (light mystery) that can be
read as young adult or new adult in the
Desert Breeze Legacy of Honor Series, a
collection of award –winning short stories, Simply a Smile and four
picture books, Whoosh! that tackles fathers and daughters and the importance
to a child of time spent with parents, Summer in a Bowl , Rosa
and the Red Apron (both of these deal with children and cooking and children
and reading), and Rosa's Shell, a father-daughter beach book.
All
of her current books can be found at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=joan+leotta
You
can follow Joan on Facebook
Fascinating. Thank you for sharing your interests and experiences with us. I'm sure your broad interests have enriched all your work.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful gift to be able to write in multiple genres--kudos to you!
ReplyDeleteGreat update, Joan. Good to know what you're working on.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. It'a always interesting to know how other writers work.
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ReplyDeleteThanks, Joan, for joining us at Writers Who Kill. I read a variety of books, but in the end, you'll usually find me browsing the mystery section of a book store or library.
ReplyDeleteJoan, very interesting. I write mysteries, both books and short stories, and also poetry. I belong to two book clubs so often read books I might not have heard of before, and enjoy them, but mostly I read mysteries. I always have at least two and sometimes three books I'm reading. I have written one middle-grade mystery and have it published, and I've started on another one, and hope to get it finished soon.
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