 Mystery: August 29, 2007 Issue [#1915] |
  Mystery
This week: Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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“Life is a mystery ~ Living is finding and solving the clues.”
Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.
Julia Cameron
If there were no mystery left to explore life would get rather dull, wouldn't it?
Sidney Buchman
A mystery by nature is a question in search of an answer. The Mystery Writer poses the question in prose or poetry, and then proffers clues in the scenes, conversations and actions of believable characters. A microcosm of life and living, but one that the writer controls by taking pen or keyboard in hand and designing a world of solvable riddles and clues. 
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Welcome to this week’s edition of the Mystery Newsletter.
Just as mystery abounds in all facets of life, and takes form in a number of genres and sub-genres of writing ~ historical, crime, police procedural, cozies, cats – yes, cat mysteries have a category of their own.
Cats and humans have a long relationship, perhaps as long as recorded history, both harmonious and contentious. In Ancient Egypt, cats were venerated, respected and honored. In return, they provided protection, for example, by keeping grain safe from rats. Later, in medieval times, fearing the keen senses and reflexes of these sentient creatures, misguided clerics vilified them – and the flea-ridden rats carried Black Plague throughout much of the then-known world. Today, they are again favored companions, scientific studies being produced that tout the act of petting a cat with lowering blood pressure.
Whether or not one is a ‘cat person’ it is easy to recognize the interrelationship between cats and humans. We’ve coined phrases extolling and/or invoking feline qualities such as “the cat’s meow” for potent beauty, “cat’s eyes” for luck, “feline” for exotic, mysterious women, among others.
It’s only natural, therefore, that mystery writers explore and create a genre for “Cat Mysteries” which embraces those feline qualities in their natural four-legged form as sleuths, clue-finders, protagonists and antagonists.
Edgar Allan Poe penned in 1843 “plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events” in “an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects” in his short story, “The Black Cat.” The story begins on the eve of the writer’s death, relates his initial friendship with a cat, his subsequent perverseness and resulting remorse, apparent redemption, then guilt leading to more perverseness, ending in murder. How he is found out, I will not tell, but a cat plays an integral part in solving the puzzle, and justice being done.
Cats continue their mystery-solving role in stories today.
Lillian Jackson Braun relates in a series of page-turning stories how Koko, a Siamese cat, helps her human newspaper columnist companion, Qwilleran, investigate suspicious deaths, solve crimes, save lives.
Rita Mae Brown offers stories of Koko the cat who leads her animal cohorts and companions in solving crime. The stories are penned from a cat’s eye view, with the guidance of the author’s feline companion - and co-author - Sneaky Pie Brown.
All these stories pose a question (the mystery) that is solved by developing and revealing clues (the plot), albeit with feline assistance, or directly by the sleuthing cats, in order to arrive at a believable and realistic conclusion.
Not all the cat mysteries are book-length. Short stories, both from cat’s eye view and the human point of view have been published in anthologies, one being Feline Felonies, with shorts penned by Lillian Jackson Braun, Ruth Rendell, Patricia Highsmith, among many other Mystery Writers.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this feline-inspired excursion, take a look at some of the writers in our Community who’ve penned some Cat Mysteries and, perhaps, plot a story or poem of your own (with or without the guidance of a feline companion)
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Here are a few stories of mysterious felines, and cats with mystery, penned by members of our Community for your reading pleasure
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The mystery unfolds when a cat revealed the truth...
#1156227 by ricsal  |
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And how about a Contest for Cat Tales ~ some mysterious, some simply about Cats
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Check out this contest for Twisted Tails, I mean,
And a couple challenges that inspire feline creativity
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Thank You for welcoming me into your space. I hope you've enjoyed this journey and invite your comments in response to this Newsletter.
I am honored to be a monthly editor, and will be back on September 26th. I invite you to share your favorite type of mystery for consideration in a future edition ~ whether it's one you like to write, read, or just explore.
Until next we meet ~
Keep Writing!
Kate
Next week's Editor will be SHERRI GIBSON |
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