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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/11560
Short Stories: September 14, 2022 Issue [#11560]




 This week: Itch, Scratch, Itch
  Edited by: Leger~ Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.

This week's Short Story Editor
Leger~ Author Icon



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Letter from the editor


Itch, Scratch, Itch


I've been researching a little on geneology, and then of course, things spiraled down to forensics. I read a lot of stories, and with modern technology, science has provided a way to identify a person from a tiny microscopic bit of evidence. A hair, saliva, or a flake of skin can possibly provide answers to the big "whodunit". This got me spinning the muse-wheel and thinking about how this could fit into a story.

Even animals can leave evidence. Dogs can get ichthyosis and be all flakey and crumbly. Dry skin in humans can be called xerosis or xeroderma. So the next time you need to leave evidence in your story, your character can itch a spot on their head, leave a hair and some skin, then voila you've got proof. Not only are crime scenes scoured for fingerprints, but much of the area is swabbed by forensic scientists for microbial evidence.

I'm always nattering on about research for your stories. But it's true, follow things that interest you, pick up some basic knowledge, and store that away in your head. It's amazing where that will pop up in a story. And even if it doesn't point to the guilty party, it would be a lovely red herring to drop into a mystery.

Give that some thought and as always, Write On!

This month's question: Where do you leave your clues to the mystery? Send in your answer below! *Down* Editors love feedback!


Editor's Picks


 
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Quotation Inspiration: Official Contest Open in new Window. (ASR)
Use the quote provided to write a story and win big prizes!
#1207944 by Writing.Com Support Author IconMail Icon

Quote Prompt for September 2022: "I've always loved the first day of school better than the last day of school. Firsts are best because they are beginnings."
-- Jenny Han


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2277052 by Not Available.

The subject of this fortnight:- Poets remain in a different world! (Prose Item only).

Journalistic Intentions Open in new Window. (18+)
This is for the journal keeping types that come to PLAY! New round starts July 1!
#2213121 by Elisa: Snowman Stik Author IconMail Icon

Journalistic Intentions is a contest and journalling playground. Each round will have different types of prompts, and participants will choose 8 out of the 16 that are given. Prompts will be different each time. YouTube selections, hilarious fake email addresses, and photos are all fair game. Those who join the fun are encouraged to try out new forms of writing in their entries. Want to write poetry? Do it! Feel inclined to debate a point? I welcome that! Feeling like sketching out a script? Let me get some popcorn because I really want to read that.

 
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The Missing. Open in new Window. (13+)
A Flash Fiction story about a mother and her unfortunate seaside visits.
#2241006 by Pennywise Author IconMail Icon

Excerpt: The woman stood on the beach and stared silently out across the North Sea. Fifteen years she had made the trip to this coastline. Always on the same day. There was more kinship between her and the boundless ocean than she had ever possessed with her family. Theirs was a melancholy connection.

 A Martian Mystery Open in new Window. (18+)
Some things never change.
#2180534 by Waltz Invictus Author IconMail Icon

Excerpt: I didn’t kill Michael Pierce.

I admit our relationship wasn’t what you’d call friendly. Pierce had degrees in astrophysics, exobiology, geology, archaeology, and superiority. I’m just a glorified computer tech.


 
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Case File #114 Open in new Window. (18+)
a Del Delaney, P.I. mystery...
#2058508 by Jim Hall Author IconMail Icon

Excerpt: As I pulled the door closed behind me, I took a longing look at the solitary cup of Bucky’s “Special Pumpkin Spice Premium Coffee” sitting all alone on the desk. I almost gave in to the urge to go back and rescue the coffee, but I had promised Mr. Weathersby I would be over as soon as possible. So, I pulled the door shut and locked it.

 
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The Mystery of Bo's Obsession Open in new Window. (E)
Bo dug up a gun, a metal box with cash. Where will he dig next?
#2095506 by Jeannie☃️ Author IconMail Icon

Excerpt: Detective Hall drove over to Elmer Jones’s place to find out why Elmer’s neighbor, Joyce Root, became excited about what Bo dug up. On arrival, he spotted her sitting at a picnic table. She stood to shake hands and asked, "Who would bury money along with a gun? Does that make any sense to you?"

 Winter Scorn Open in new Window. (18+)
Family feud in a small town is a sure recipe for disaster.
#2252405 by Alec R Zeelie Author IconMail Icon

Excerpt: It was the middle of another cold winter morning in the small town. The snow in the backstreet behind the shops covered the ground and the trashcans. The ice cold breeze that blew down the backstreet didn't stop Thetford and Coralett from standing in the cold just to spend a little time together. Twenty-one years old and madly in love, the cold was the last thing on their minds as they held each other and whispered to each other how they missed each other and how they wished that they could spend their every waking moment together. As it always is with young love, the two forgot about reality and their daily worries as they were together, but the moment came to an abrupt end when the backdoor of Coralett's family's takeout restaurant was opened from the inside and her Dad saw them together.

“How many times I gotta tell you to stay away from that boy!”


 
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Exposed Open in new Window. (13+)
It doesn't take a psychic.
#2245283 by CHRISTMAS cub-BELLS R RINGING! Author IconMail Icon

Excerpt: "But that's what the psychic told me, honey," Britt Larson says as she powders her nose in the bathroom mirror. "You cheated on me with my best friend, Janet Dawson. I always suspected it, the way you drool over her whenever we play Bridge with her and Drew."

 
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Ask & Answer


This month's question: Where do you leave your clues to the mystery? Send in your answer below! *Down* Editors love feedback!

Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (August 17, 2022)Open in new Window. question: What type of conflict do you favor in your short stories?


S Author Icon:
Any, really, except internal, personal conflict. I'm not saying those stories are not good, they just don't do it for me.

Serena Blade Author Icon: Any that are interesting. where there is a purpose. not something where the writer mentions something that has no purpose to the story. if that makes sense.

Kymela Tejasi Author Icon: I like mysteries as short stories like Father Brown.

Leslie Loo Author Icon: Something unexpected, I guess.

THANKFUL SONALI back on Jan 4 Author Icon: I like internal conflict - person wrestling with their own emotions.

elephantsealer Author Icon: I like mystery, of course, although any kind of conflict would be just as difficult to write...

joemjackson Author Icon: How about intergalactic space conflicts where civilizations throw planets at each other.

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