Murder is Always Popular

by Kait Carson

Do you have a collection of writer’s guides? I do. Shelves of them. Some are pristine. Purchased because they caught my fancy or because writers I admire recommended them. Others are well-thumbed, annotated, and decorated with stickies and post it flags. Most are cherry picked. I’ll occasionally run a finger across the row of spines, hoping to absorb the information without putting in the work. Hey, I’m honest. In fact, I recently read an interview by an author I like who published a book on plotting. The concept sounded interesting, and as a pantser, it seemed like a method I could adapt. Fortunately, Amazon told me I already owned the book. It’s been on my shelf since 2014. Might be time to open it.

My favorites are the Howdunit Series published by Writer’s Digest. Most of those books have my fingerprints all over them if anyone is looking to collect my DNA. Especially the books on poisons. Now, I’ve never poisoned anyone in real life or fiction—yet, but the concept is very appealing. They say poison is a woman’s weapon. The series is clearly written, well researched, and has a fabulous table of contents, index, and bibliography. Perfect to help a busy writer stay out of research rabbit holes. This is also important because, if you’re like me, you buy your reference books in trade or hard back. That means that they’re never updated. You either have to buy the newest edition or use all those wonderful research aids to frame questions of experts about updates.

My other favorite writing books are not so much instructive as they are humanizing. They’re books on writing written by writers I admire. Stephen King’s On Writing taught me nothing about the craft, but every time I read it, it’s like a shot of adrenaline. Same with Elizabeth George’s Write Away, and Anne Lamont’s Bird by Bird. Wonderful books, but with each book I learned more about my favorite authors than writing.

Lately, I’ve been reading different kinds of writing books. I’m considering expanding my writing horizons, or perhaps folding back my horizons is a better way to put it. I’m amassing a collection of books focused on writing romances. That’s where my writing life began, and while I love mysteries, I’d like to soften the edges a bit. The tropes and pacing of romance stories differ from traditional mysteries, but the similarities are striking. Body in the first three chapters? Er, not a good idea. Meet-cute in the first two chapters instead. Rather than climax with a resolution of the crime, a happy for now or ever after ending is required. Both satisfy the reader, but in different ways.

Books pertaining to different genres often contain sections about suggested plots. Imagine my surprise when I read in a romance novel guide that, ‘murder is always popular.’ I laughed out loud. Isn’t this where I came in?

Readers and writers, do you enjoy delving into a writer’s mind? Are your shelves bulging with how to books?

Kait Carson writes the Hayden Kent Mysteries set in the Fabulous Florida Keys and is at work on a new mystery set in her adopted state of Maine. Her short story, Gutted, Filleted, and Fried, appeared in the Falchion Finalist nominated Seventh Guppy Anthology Hook, Line, and Sinker. She is a former President of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, a member of Sisters in Crime, and Guppies. Visit her website at www.kaitcarson.com. While you’re there, sign up for her newsletter.