 Mystery: January 11, 2017 Issue [#8077] |
  Mystery
This week: Renewal Edited by: Jeff  
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"Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle; they read it to get to the end.
The first page sells that book, and the last page sells your next book."
-- Mickey Spillane
Trivia of the Week: What makes American crime novelist Mickey Spillane unusual isn't just the 225 million copies of his books in print, or the fact that he also worked in comic books, or the fact that many of his books were made into movies. He's also the only author (that I know of) who played his own character (Mike Hammer) in a movie adaptation of one of his books.
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RENEWAL
We all need a fresh start from time to time... even this newsletter! I've been using the same format, graphics, and color scheme for the past two years, so I figured it was time to change the visuals up a little to keep it interesting. Renewal is an important part of life, and January just happens to be the most popular time of year to do it. There's something about the new calendar year that fills many of us with new hope for the year ahead. The past year has already happened and, good or bad, it's now fixed in our history. But the new year ahead of us is full of possibility.
It's important to understand that you don't have to wait until New Years to make changes, especially if those changes are related to improving your personal relationships, finances, or physical or mental health, the best time to start those is NOW, regardless of what time a year it is. But there are a lot of us who do better with some kind of significant milestone to mark the beginning of a fresh start. It doesn't have to be the new calendar year, though; you could just as easily choose a birthday, anniversary, holiday, or significant life event as your starting point.
But whether you choose to start on a specific date or a random one, the key thing is that renewal and change are necessary parts of our lives. Those ideas sometimes get a bad wrap because they're hard work and most of us naturally find a kind of comfortable equilibrium with our situation, but it's key nonetheless. The lack of those things in our lives are what lead to boredom, depression, and those crazy midlife crises you hear about where someone tries to make a whole bunch of change all at once to make up for the years they feel like they've been stuck without change.
We don't have to change everything all at once, either. You can focus on one or two goals at a time, even if there's a laundry list of things you want to accomplish. For your peace of mind, that actually might be preferable to overloading yourself and stressing out over a list so long that you have trouble wrapping your head around it.
Some areas that you might consider renewing or changing at some point:
 Your environment. We can probably all stand to be a little more organized. Whether that's filing your paperwork, cleaning out the garage/basement/attic, going through your closet, or paring down your collection of jewelry, art supplies, tools, holiday decorations, etc., there's probably a good chance there's something in your environment that could use a organizing. Studies have shown people are generally happier and more efficient when they're organized, which means this could be the perfect time to scan that box of old photos, hold a garage sale to get rid of the unwanted knickknacks, or even clean up the files on your desktop into a more efficient system.
Your reading. If you're anything like me, you probably have more books and other things to read than you have time to read them. It would take me several lifetimes just to read all the stuff I want to read that's available now, and new stuff just keeps coming out! If you're the kind of person who maintains a reading list, or picks up new things to read on a regular basis as part of a mailing list, new or used bookstore scavenger hunt, etc., there are probably books you picked up because they sounded really interesting at one time... and now maybe don't fill you with the same amount of enthusiasm. If that's the case, it might be a good idea to go through your reading list and re-prioritize it so that your reading list is optimized and doesn't contain a long list of things you aren't really enthusiastic about reading at this point.
Your writing. Even writing projects need to be pruned and refreshed every once in a while. If you only write one specific type of writing, or one specific genre of writing, chances are you'll feel a little fatigued at some point, simply for the fact that doing the same thing for extended periods of time is bound to become repetitive. When renewing your writing, it might be worth taking a chance on exploring another form or genre to give yourself a fresh challenge. Or, if you're committed to a particular form or genre, it could mix things up to try slight deviations from what you've done before. If you only write mysteries, try an action/adventure or a thriller. If you've made a name for yourself with police procedural mysteries, maybe a crime novel from the perspective of the criminals, or a spy thriller from the perspective of a secret agent would create a little variety.
Your relationships. From time to time, your relationships can stand a little renewing just like everything else. Whether it's old relationships you want to rebuild, current relationships you want out of, or new relationships you want to create, it can be useful to spend some time evaluating the relationships in your life that take up a significant amount of time and whether they're still worth that investment. In the case of significant others and family, I hope the answer is Yes! This is especially true of social media; if you find yourself constantly hiding posts or arguing with people on various topics, it might be a good time to reconsider whether they're worth staying connected to online if you're not benefiting from the interaction.
Whether it's January 1st or any other day of the year, it's never a bad time to focus on renewal and positive change in one or more areas of your life. It doesn't necessarily need to be a big sweeping change or an across-the-board different way of life, but taking one or two areas of your life and finding ways to make tiny improvements can help you avoid feelings of boredom and depression, and instead help you gain the clarity you need to achieve your goals.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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EXCERPT: Basset successfully detected many a case where, Selmon Facklin, his favorite human private investigator failed without help. Basset had to admit not many people knew how to body talk with other species as well as Selmon. It is what made the three so successful a team. Most humans preferred being loud mouths. This got blank stares from pets and other animals.
EXCERPT: They drove to the lower east side, across the railroad tracks, and into the low rent district. They parked outside of a cheap motel so rundown it was clear its better days ended many decades ago. Exiting the vehicle, Detective Bassett and Elsie walked to Room 104. Bassett knocked on the door once, twice quickly, then three slow knocks. The door opened as far as the chain would allow. A bleary, red-rimmed eye squinted through the crack.
EXCERPT: "He's allowed no visitors, but you can see him through the glass in the door ... up to you," the cop said, pointing and stepping aside. Mrs. Rowley, with her brother peering over her shoulder, pushed closer to the small square of glass embedded in the steel door. Tom Rowley lay on a thin mattress covered in a plasticized material yellowed with age. Rowley was curled on his left side, his face pressed hard against the wall of the cell. He looked like a hermit crab curled up so tight in his jail issue orange jumpsuit.
EXCERPT: "Later today, Parliament will vote on the Memory Resolution," the newscaster began. "Lobbyists have been advocates of implanting memories into synthetic humans; however the opposition believe that this could lead to developmental trauma, which could end in violence."
Detective Christopher Casey flicked off the monitor and turned to look out of the window of the car. On the streets, groups of protestors marched with digital placards warning of a 'robot revolution'.
"Can't bloody escape these idiots," Casey muttered.
EXCERPT: Sophie Carlton carried her infant son close to her body, in his sling, through the dusty cubbies and corridors of the seemingly forgotten antique store. She was not looking for anything in particular, just looking.
She struck up a conversation with the shop proprietor about babies and children and how items for them have come such a long way in recent years. The owner gently touched the sleeping child’s cheek and said quietly,
“You should see what I have in the basement.”
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Feedback from my last newsletter about prioritizing character over plot ("Mystery Newsletter (December 14, 2016)" ):
Quick-Quill  writes: "I'm not sure I totally agree with you. I do understand what you're saying, "The reader needs to sympathize with the character." BUT. lets say we have a cop, we know he's a good guy because his partner likes him. On his way home from work, he gets caught in a robbery and taken hostage. As the story goes on, the robbers are bunglers. They do everything wrong and in a few short hours they manage to get away with him still a hostage. In the end, he gets them to give up and he takes then in. End of story. We don't need to know anything about the Character of the policeman. We know he has a job to stop criminals. We know the robbers are idiots. We figure at some time He'll probaby get away. Do we need to know he's been married 3 times? has a son that's in trouble......? no. In response to your newsletter, Character buildup is what keeps people buying or watching a series."
I totally agree that there's a such thing as unnecessary character detail, but in the example you provided, I think you're confusing character development with character backstory. My argument wasn't that we have to know every single little detail about a character's life outside the narrative (in fact, I'm a huge proponent of leaving that stuff out), it was that we have to care about the character and why he's doing what he's doing. Sure, backstory is one way that can be accomplished, but it can be accomplished in other ways too. In your example, I'd argue that knowing something about the cop's circumstances would make for a more impactful story than just a kidnapped guy who needs to escape. Can you tell that story with a surface-level plot? Absolutely. But it's more compelling if we understand the cop, for example, needs to be somewhere important and is going to miss it, has a family who would be without an income if he died, is on the ropes at his job because he's not making enough busts and he really needs to not just escape but also bring these guys in, etc. My point wasn't necessarily about cramming in irrelevant details or background into the story; it was about giving us deeper reasons to care about the cop succeeding.
the Wordy Jay  writes: "Thank you for featuring my little story, "New Kid on The Block" , in your latest Mystery Newsletter, Jeff! I'm still working on improving it, so if there's any chance you could share your thoughts on my writing (whenever time permits, of course!), I'd be most grateful! Thanks!"
I'll add it to my review list! Looking forward to checking it out! 
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