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Mystery: October 01, 2014 Issue [#6582]

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Mystery


 This week: Mysteries driven by clockworks and steam
  Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

** Image ID #1363681 Unavailable **
Life is a Mystery -
Living is the journey of wonderment
discovering the clues


All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
E.A. Poe


         Welcome to this week's edition of the Mystery Newsletter. A mystery by nature is a question in search of an answer - a puzzle! And when we uncover the answer to the question, effectively solving the puzzle moments before the writer gives us the solution, follow clues tactile and cerebral, the momentary satisfaction is sublime! And we can have fun along the way.

If there were no mystery left to explore
life would get rather dull, wouldn't it?

Sidney Buchman



Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor

Greetings, fellow sleuths and puzzlers of stories and poems of people and places and objects mysterious *Smile*

         Consider the following, we know that a 'good' mystery will have several suspects of which one of the least obvious commits the crime. It will have several red herrings tucked in with the bait (clues) to trick the reader into believing a false theory, but it can't be too fishy, lest the puzzle get lost and become unsolvable. A good mystery allows the reader to uncover and discard clues, finding the real ones to follow to their resolution. A good mystery also has both types of evidence, physical and verbal, that the reader and the detective need to integrate in order to obtain the solution.

         A 'good' steampunk story is, very often, I believe a well 'crafted' *Tools* mystery. Long set as a form of science fiction or fantasy, steampunk is defining itself (over the past few decades} from classic steampunk mysteries of the past (Jules Verne's, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes) to mysteries penned today by authors, like Michael Coorlim in his Bartleby and James detective stories (where the pair make reference to knowing 'Holmes' as an older gent, retired), which are set in Edwardian England. Each of these above are puzzled by - and solved by - means of devices mechanical, steam powered and some cool clockworks.*Gears*

         These stories are classic mysteries, I believe, postulating a theory, then searching for clues both by use of common sense, and by creative engineering (yes, we see the clockworks, the steam-powered vehicles, mechanical devices imagined and used both to set the mystery and to solve it *Thumbsup*. Both the readers of mysteries and of steampunk stories are natural detectives, eager to find and solve clues in an attempt to solve the puzzle created by the authors.

         We can see the parallels in crafting a mystery (puzzle), whether it be cozy, noir, procedural, and a steampunk story or poem. The two combined create a unique puzzle where the reader and protagonist face obstacles to solving clues that lead to a resolution that is unexpected yet believable and satisfying to the reader and sleuth.

         Both mysteries and steampunk 'works' are puzzles, with rational and believable solutions for the reader (and sleuth) to uncover by following the clues planted (built) for them by the authors.

         I'm intrigued by this blend of mystery and steampunk. I think it's a creative and fun build *Tools*. We often speak of crafting mysteries; well, we can physically craft a mystery of both clues and solutions that are built of steam, and cogs and clockworks both of the past, and an alternate present, or future past. So let's get our sleuthing tools working *Tools* *Tools2*

Write On *Quill**Tools*
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading Author Icon


Editor's Picks

Check out some mysteries woven and solved with the aid of steam and airships, mechanical marvels and clockworks of the past, present and present past *Gears* Let the craftsmen/women of these mysteries know you've solved the puzzles by way of a review, perchance *Smile* Then, grab your own writer's tools and craft a steampunk mystery in verse or prose *Tophat*

The Case of the Diamond Watch Glass Open in new Window. (13+)
A Sherlock Holmes adventure. My first in the steampunk genre.
#1782780 by Kotaro Author IconMail Icon


 
STATIC
Arrival Open in new Window. (ASR)
Steampunk flash fiction Prompt: 500 words or less steampunk
#2008947 by ~MM~ Author IconMail Icon


 Snow, is it? Chapter 1. Open in new Window. (E)
A mysterious tale set in the late 19th century.
#2003400 by Louis Author IconMail Icon


 
BOOK
The Wings of Icarus Open in new Window. (18+)
Detective Icarus Byrne needs an edge to face a killer with uncanny abilities.
#1891866 by CeruleanSon Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2011251 by Not Available.


Mechamaniacal Agent Open in new Window. (13+)
Two detectives try to stop a steamtech killer.
#1792391 by GiGi Author IconMail Icon


In Pursuance of Zheva McGee - Chapter 1 Open in new Window. (18+)
A woman goes on an excursion to New York in search of her missing sister.
#1803296 by Missus Miranda Author IconMail Icon


FORUM
Twisted Tales Contest Open in new Window. (13+)
A monthly contest for stories with a twist. Get 500 GPs for entering! Nov round open!
#1269187 by Arakun the twisted raccoon Author IconMail Icon


GROUP
The Steampunk Authors' Guild  Open in new Window. (E)
Group for those who wish to learn, practice, write in, promote, and review Steampunk.
#1776061 by Beck Firing back up! Author IconMail Icon



 
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Ask & Answer

         Thank you for this respite in your virtual home. As a guest host, I don't have a formal Ask and Answer, but invite you to share your mysteries of mechanical designs and quandaries with our Community.

         Until we next meet, may your clues flow like 'clockwork' *Gears*

Write On *Tools*
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading Author Icon
Kate

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