 Mystery: August 03, 2011 Issue [#4536] |
  Mystery
This week: Wanderlust & Double Lives Edited by: Jeff  
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"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
-- Carl Sagan
Random Mystery Trivia of the Week: Each one of suspense author Mary Higgins Clark's forty-two novels has been a bestseller. Although her first novel - Aspire to the Heavens - was not a commercial success, she re-titled and re-released it as Mount Vernon Love Story in 2002, which achieved bestseller status.
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Amazon's Price: $ 12.99
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WANDERLUST & DOUBLE LIVES
The term wanderlust is defined as "a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world." It originated in the German language, becoming part of the English lexicon in the early part of the 20th Century. With roots in German Romanticism, it encapsulates the feeling that some of us have (and some more so than others) to travel and seek out new places and experiences.
Earlier this year, Canadian author and journalist Elisabeth Eaves published a book entitled Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents in which she recounts the fifteen years of her life she spent traveling the world in search of new cultures and romances. While the book - at least in this reader's opinion - has its faults, there are also quite a few keen insights and philosophical discussion points that are worth exploring. I was struck, in particular, by the following excerpt:
"I think it's just too tempting to have two lives rather than one. Some people think that too much travel begets infidelity: Separation and opportunity test the bonds of love. I think it's more likely that people who hate to make choices, to settle on one thing or another, are attracted to travel. Travel doesn't beget a double life. The appeal of the double life begets travel."
It's an interesting point to consider; do those of us who travel often develop a double life, or do we travel because we've always wanted one in the first place? And perhaps more importantly, is it wrong to want to lead a double life?
While Eaves' ruminations and book are largely geared toward the issue of relationships, but it's not necessarily an issue of infidelity. Plenty of couples have the desire to travel together, and the separation isn't always necessarily from someone; it could just as easily be from something. Something in our lives that we want to escape, even if only for a little while.
Double lives are often enticing, because they allow us to be someone we're not in our regular lives. A meek accountant in suburbia might take regular trips to Vegas where he's known as a boisterous high roller. A househusband in upstate New York might have an affair with someone in the city while pretending to be a high-powered business executive. A serial killer might have a wholesome, normal family to occupy the time that he isn't out quenching his blood lust. Whatever life we currently live, the "grass is always greener" philosophy tends to indicate that many of us - whether we're happy or not - at least wonder what it might be like if we could be someone else. Or, at the very least, somewhere else. Travel is a great way to lead a double life without necessarily needing fake business cards, a fictional character, or an alibi.  It allows you to vacate your own life for a few days or weeks, while you explore some other part of this wide world and all it has to offer.
When it comes to writing, and especially when it comes to writing mysteries, the concept of a double life often plays an important role. Sometimes it's a double life that gets people into trouble; sometimes it's a double life that creates obstacles to determining the identity of the antagonist; and sometimes it's a double life that complicates the protagonist's own life. Regardless of how it's worked into a story, a double life generates mystery... it raises questions of what that other life is, and how and why it's led. If you're looking for a way to add depth and intrigue to a character, give them a double life and then set about answering the how, the what, and the why of that other life.
And remember, as Elisabeth Eaves makes evident in her book; a double life isn't always about concealing a dangerous past, or a guilty conscience, or a felonious criminal record... sometimes a double life can be as simple as a bad case of wanderlust; a desire to get away from your own life - even for a short time - and experience something new. 
Until next time,
-- Jeff
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Do you have wanderlust and/or does the possibility of a living double life appeal to you?
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This week, I would encourage you to check out the following mystery items:
He will be home soon. Dinner is almost ready, the pots on the stove simmering and steaming. I am at my dresser, applying eye shadow, a pale rose. My lips next, a demure pink gloss. A darkening foundation for my cheeks and then rouge. I spread my left palm and look at my fingernails. There is no time to clean them and paint them properly. I notice a stain on my ring finger, pinkish, like a pressure-bruise just above my wedding band. Tomatoes. I think. He won't notice anyway. He never does.
One of the kids at school told Drake that he heard a bunch of noise coming from the quarry when he and his friends had been riding through here on their way home the other night. Drake and the newly formed band of young detectives decided to check the quarry out to see if there was any thing going on they could solve. A little while ago Katy started following a scent she'd picked up and they were following Katy hoping to get a story or a detective job. Amy was one of the writers for the school paper, Doug was the computer geek, and Drake was the scientific geek. They were hoping for a good story for Amy. Drake grunted his agreement about the rain forecast comment from Doug as sweat ran down his back and face as he worked his way through the rough, overgrown trail that led deeper inside the quarry. Katy, Drakes amazing dog, barked again as if to say, 'hurry up.'
I sat there, watching the water and staring at the train tracks over the rusting bridge in the distance. The world disappeared as my eyes closed and I inhaled the scent of decaying leaves and rain, everything was back to normal for that moment, everything about my struggles erased. As I opened my eyes the truth sunk in, I had to face my fears and move past all the emotion swirling in the air. I took a deep breath savoring the smell of the open and got to my feet, starting up towards the Asylum. As my body drew closer my mind frayed away and focused on the other side of my senses. When I drew myself back the flash of terror and pain coming from the long gone patients made me stagger back and gasp, the sound as loud as a gunshot.
I was sitting at home. I was really bored. To tell the truth I haven't had an interesting case in months. As I was changing channels on the TV my phone rang. It was Puglisi, a cop friend of mine. He was calling to let me know that he would appreciate my help on the latest murder. The case had been assigned to his precinct. It appeared to be a murder at a local dinner theater. The police had been called at night to investigate a murder at a dinner party. At this point all the guests were suspects. According to Pogo, some of the suspects would do anything to get off the hook or shift suspicion to other parties.
Bradley woke with blood on his hands and beneath his fingernails. There was no horror at first, just a simple realization. He simply thought, "There's blood on my hands," just as you might think, "I slept with only one sock on my foot." He walked groggily to the bathroom, with sleep still clouding his eyes and his mind. It wasn't until he stood in front of the mirror and noticed some on his shirt did the situation fully hit him. Blood. The stuff that comes out when the skin is broken. There was too much of it to be a simple scratch.
Zombies are attacking. You must survive until rescue arrives. Anything could happen. Your story can be during the time of the first Dead Rising or after, or before/during/after Dead Rising 2.
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In response to my last newsletter on fear (the question was regarding worst and most interesting phobias):
"I think that the worst fear is Graphophobia, which is the fear of writing. Of course, my story might cause some Necrophobia, the fear of death." -- BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
I'd have to agree... for a writer, the fear of writing would be a pretty terrifying prospect! And it would be a pleasure to feature your item; nothing like a good zombie story to make people afraid of the dead! 
"I loved the newsletter. I'm writing a mystery novel now and was using fear but with some trepidation. Now, I feel more confident in my choice." -- jgb 
I'm so happy to hear that you no longer fear writing about fear!  Good luck with your mystery novel!
The topic of 'fear' seems to be the thing this month for newsletters. I wonder if it is a 'sign' of something nasty coming around the bend. Still, I am thrilled that so many of the other newsletters are writing about something that is usually only found in the Horror/Scary Newsletter. But it gives me pause, makes me think, why? -- billwilcox
On the one hand, I'm tempted to say that great minds think alike. But then again, I've always been afraid of the unknown, so who knows what other forces might be at work?
Loved this newsletter. I once used this and got a very flattering response. -- The rhapsodic dreamer
Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed the newsletter.
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