It's a Mystery to Me

Every year I obtain a copy The Best American Mystery Stories.  I've done this since the series' inception some twenty years ago . . . and by now my shelves are filled with the spines of these books.  I'm now having to stack them in closets.  (My wife suggests I sell them at Half-Price Books, which is anathema.)

Over the years I've had a few published stories that were submitted by their respective editors for this anthology (my stories entitled "Bag of Tricks", "Peeping Tom", and "The Palm Reader" being examples).  But alas, none have garnered even an honorable mention . . . so I'll have to keep improving, and creating better plots and characters.

I do have a spate of new stories floating around in the ozone currently--at least a dozen--and most of these might be loosely categorized as mystery or crime fiction.  It seems I always find a home for 3-4 of these stories a year, so I anticipate hearing from some editors very soon before the door closes on 2013.

Mysteries are fun to write and I often stay up late to create them. 

I'm just getting started on a few others, in fact . . . and I like the titles and concepts for these two that I'm working on:

"The Deltiologist" --about a guy who collects post cards and becomes involved in a murder investigation.

"Prayer Line"  --an older woman becomes involved in a prayer ministry hotline, only to discover that she may have information about a serial killer.

Sometimes, writing mysteries keeps me up nights.  I love a full moon when I write these, and owls hooting outside the window.  And if the wind is blowing just right or the thunder is cracking, it's a bonus.  I may not go to bed until morning.