08 April 2011

Channeling my inner Nancy Drew

I've been going over lots of the fiction I've written over the years and I've noticed that everything eventually turns into a mystery.  You might think there's nothing wrong with this, and you'd be right.  Mysteries are great to read and I myself have enjoyed reading countless mysteries in my lifetime.  The weird thing is that I never set out to write a mystery.  I start out with something completely different in mind, and somewhere along the line BAMMO!  A mystery emerges.

Think of it this way.  Imagine that every time you get in the car, you end up at the dry-cleaners.  Even if you intend to drive to the grocery store, or to work, or the dentist's office or the emergency room at the hospital.  You end up at the dry-cleaners.  And unless you are living in a Stephen King novel, at some point you'd get a little weirded-out.  Yes?  So, I'm a little weirded-out about it. 

Come to think of it though, I did spend an inordinate amount of my childhood with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, The Three Investigators, and my most favourite of all:  Encylopedia Brown!  I even thought about an awesome TV series where Nancy Drew and Encylopedia Brown grow up, get married and have kids who are...(get ready for it) crime-solving teenagers! 

So, I guess I should just recognize the pattern, and go with it.  I'm going to take my current work-in-progress (working title:  The Hypatia Curse...but don't worry, that won't be the real title ;-)  and turn it into a true mystery.  But no angels or werewolves or psychics or vampires.  Okay, maybe one vampire and one psychic.  We'll see how it goes.

I feel better already.  Whew!  Mystery solved.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, Gab, nothing wrong with mysteries! Go with what you got~
Susan

Nelsonjane said...

Yea!!! I too grew up with Nancy Drew Mysteries :)

Great minds read alike!