 Mystery: January 12, 2011 Issue [#4175] |
  Mystery
This week: The Sleuth has a Tail - or Not Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Edgar Alan Poe
A mystery is an answer in search of a question; knowing what's been done and the journey to discover the how and why of it. It deals with something unknown to the reader, which the writer reveals in bits and pieces with both subtle and overt clues, drawing the reader into the puzzle. Welcome to this week's edition of the WDC Mystery Newletter, where we enter and explore the puzzle for ourselves and our readers.
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Greetings, fellow sleuths
I just like that pawprint - did the cat do it? is it a cat? or perhaps the sphynx? or a being I've yet to encounter that will help me solve the crime? What if it's not a cat, but a sphynx or a morphed creature I've yet to find, maybe helpful, maybe not. Does it speak my language or an ancient tongue from the time before humankind wrote and rewrote history and mystery?
Myth and legend has been an important part of culture since the beginning. Incorporating mythical beings and heroes or villains of these legends and myths can add a bit of spice to the puzzle that is a mystery.
Remember that the puzzle remains the key. Mystery readers will embrace a puzzle with clues and herrings that lead to a non-mundane resolution, but not at the expense of the puzzle. If the inciting event is not resolved by finding and solving clues, discarding the occasional herring, to arrive at a solution that is believable and satisfying if not always pleasant, then the reader of mysteries is not satisfied in being part of the puzzle. But if there's a sprite or a Minerva or perhaps gnomes that can run along the third-rail of a train, who helps solve the puzzle, then the reader is satisfied.
Blending mystery with some fantasy can be creative fun both for the writer and reader. We find it going on in stories and verse written for both youth and youthful readers. We find some that's dark and some that's delightful. If you've recently read any of Neil Gaiman's stories for both adults and youth, or perhaps Dean Koontz you will find fantasy woven, often with subtlety, throughout a mystery. And the 'fantastical' creature can be the protagonist, even, as in Karina Fabian's "Dragon Eye PI" series, 'Vern' solves the puzzles. Yes, series, once they connect with readers and assert their identies, they often do return with some more puzzles to solve. Ms. Fabian also is editor (and contributor to) the anthology, "Infinite Space, Infinite God," which is a collection of short stories many of which blend mystery and fantasy, along with religion. , most mysterLiterature began with these stories.
When incorporating fantasy into a mystery, remember that the fantasy and magic is elemental in solving the puzzle - the crime, murder, theft, precipitating event - but not the focus of the story or poem itself.
Whether the puzzle is placed on earth today, in the city, the countryside, or in outer space; or perhaps it leads to another plane of existence or an alternate reality; or maybe the Gods of old leave a clue or offer a helping hand - it's the clues and the sleuth's need to solve the puzzle that drive the mystery. Provide clues either through brief exposition or through conversation that the puzzle pieces are not all of mundane matter. Create a world or neighborhood or area where the sleuth is at home, introducing the fantastical creatures or beings along the way, so they don't just show up as a surprise helper. For example, if a detective is 'gifted' the identity of the murderer by the divine or magical intervention of an ancient warrior spirit at the end of his journey, then there's no satisfaction or earning the prize by solving the puzzle, and the detective (and reader) is not changed in any way. And the sleuth (and reader) is left saying, 'okay, so what.' End of story.
So, what are some ways to incorporate fantasy in your mystery?
 Consider a touch of magic. If your world is going to include any form of magic, create the rules for its use before writing about it. Decide on its limits, its costs, its required actions, its possible uses, etc. Weave them into the puzzle, subtly or openly, so they make sense and seem natural. Only by creating the rules of magic will its use make sense and seem believable.
If you have non-mortal sentient beings, know their history and envision their features and characteristics, whether from mythology or your vision. Do they like mortals, are they helpful or antagonistic? That in itself can be a clue to resolution of the puzzle. Also, if a god of ancients, or dragon of fire enters your puzzle, consider their point of view of the mortal world either here today or where your puzzle is being met. Don't just give them mortal perceptions, as they are not mortal, right? And they don't just appear and hand over the solution. The sleuth (mortal or of other temperament) has to find and solve the clues ~ that's the fun of it.
The puzzle is not exclusive, but open to a clue (or false trail) tainted with a touch of fantasy, a creature or situation not of this known mundane plane (clue the muse), as your sleuth (and reader) enter your 'otherworld.'
Keep Writing!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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I invite you to explore with me a few mysteries in prose and verse with a flavor of fantasy penned by members of our Community for your reading (and reviewing) pleasure
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|  | A Time to Sin (13+)
Revised - A time traveler finds herself in Whitechapel and must end the Ripper's terror
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Now, why not give it a try ~ see if you are inspired to create a puzzle and solve it with a bit of the fantastical
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Thank you for sharing this exploration with me ~ and I invite you to send me your blended mysteries ~ weaving some fantasy, whether mythical, magickal, or as yet unimagined ~ into the puzzle.
Until we next meet,
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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