Murder on the Mind By Joan Leotta

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)

and more. When I am stuck in a romantic adventure, I think about those elements of mystery to jump-start my efforts. Uh, don’t look for much sex in my romances—I'm strictly a sweet, one kiss, and then marriage writer.

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

https://www.facebook.com/Joan-Leotta-Author-and-Story-Performer-188479350973/or on her blog at www.joanleotta.wordpress.com

It's All Good By Joan Leotta

Mysteries are one of my favorite reads and the genre I most enjoy putting to paper myself.  However, I'm not a specialist in mysteries. I am what is called an eclectic writer (ok, some say "scattered.") I write in a number of genres in fiction and also write essays, poetry, and have hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles to my credit including personality profiles, food, health, and general community news.

Why don’t I specialize? Some could say it is a lack of ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. (I often have several documents open on my computer at one time.) Yet, all of it "informs" or contributes to my mysteries. Each type of writing has special twists, the research, the dialogue, the imagery—all of those twists make me a better mystery writer. The important thing is to keep writing, write every day—no matter what genre catches your fancy at any particular moment.

In many cases, the idea chooses its own form. I don’t mean to be mystical about it, but an idea comes and as I begin to write, it seems to shape itself. Only a few ideas turn out to be mysteries. All of my writing contributes to making the mysteries I do write, better.

Poetry comes at me in waves. It is a way of seeing the world that is unique among writing forms in that it is concise and unending at the same time. Poetry takes one word, one image and spins it into a whirl of images that have meanings, perhaps more than one, to the writer, and then, when let into the world, a completely new set of meanings to the reader.

This, along with playwriting and my performances is the form that makes it possible for me to weave scenes together, infuse weather with the qualities of an actor in the tale. Am I always successful? No, but without my poetry and my performance experience I could not even begin to give good descriptions.

This started out as a short story that grew out of an idea to do a feature  (non-fiction) on a friend of mine whose romance was the inspiration for this story. My background as a performer and historical researcher made inserting true details easy for me. This is a romance and mystery/spy tale that takes place during WWII. First in my Legacy of Honor series.

 Lumping all of my non-fiction writing, essays, newspaper and magazine articles into one category, provides a crossover effect in the areas of research and looking at real events and objects as possible story prompts.  In addition, researching a topic for an article can uncover anomalies that just shout "Mystery story idea!" Then the research I have done for the real article provides a base for the mystery. Real dialogue also benefits from my work as a journalist. I interview many people. This enables me to hear their voices in response to questions.

Another helper element that comes from the non-fiction writing is the ability to accept criticism and editing. A good editor improves your work. Period. Every word that comes from my pen/computer is not golden. This perspective on myself helps me work with editors for my fiction, and even my poetry! Mystery fiction is a delicate balance between the revealed and the unknown for the reader. Sometimes as a writer, I miss that balance and happily, editors find those holes and enable me to staunch the flow of poorly worded statements or undue flow of factoids so that the reader can interact with words and flow on their own.

This began as a poem and was rejected roundly. I tried it as an essay (it is based on a real experience with my Dad). Finally, I put together my performing for children with the tale and made it into a book for ages 3-7. When I did that, I searched another two years for a publisher and found one in MN who appreciated my father-daughter tale and who like me, liked snow!

As a performer, I am constantly listening in to people as they speak to catch their tone, their accents, everything about their speech, including gestures. My biggest problem is that I tend to go on and on. I need to write shorter sentences. This is something I do in revision. Ah yes, revision! Poetry is another help here—to get one's ideas and emotions through in a three-line or even a twenty-line poem often takes months of agonizing revisions. The first draft comes quickly. Poetry is also a good reminder to read everything aloud. (I admit, sometimes I do not.) Words that can live in the air as well as on the page are much more likely to penetrate the heart of a reader.

I write because I need to put words on paper. And to entertain and encourage others. Even with my humor or mysteries. I love the little twist and so I try to write that way.

Another way these other writings help is with rejection. I know that I am a good writer because my non-fiction has an almost 100 percent acceptance rate. Fiction and poetry are more personal (and creative non-fiction) and so, have a spotty acceptance—at least for me. I am not as practiced in these, my favorite fields. So, when a rejection comes, one that stings, my non-fiction writing keeps my ego propped up while I put the piece away and then take it out to revise so that the next editor will say, "Pleased to accept this piece!"

Moral of this story? Don’t be afraid to tell stories in different ways—fiction, essays, poems. Write as your inner muse commands. Sometimes you may even shift the piece from one form to another (from poem to picture book, from poem to short story, from short story to play, all of which I have done). Keep writing. Do not be discouraged if other forms catch your eye or interest. Write, write, write.

Here I am on a trip to Spain—just back. The photo is me posing with the statue of Colombus in Madrid. During the trip I kept a journal which will act as notes for poems, food articles, and maybe a story of fiction or two, maybe even a mystery!