 Mystery: December 13, 2017 Issue [#8652] |
  Mystery
This week: Under The Sea 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: Noah Hawley is one of those rare talents who has found success in multiple fields. In addition to being a screenwriter and producer on shows like Bones, The Unusuals, Fargo, and Legion, he's also published five novels, was hired to write the script for one of Universal's upcoming Dark Universe movies, and is about to begin directing his first feature motion picture.
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UNDER THE SEA
With nearly 70% of the planet covered by water, the world's oceans are filled with mysteries of all kinds. For example, did you know:
The Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the ocean, reaching 36,070 feet below sea level in some places? That's so far below the surface that no diffused light of any kind reaches those ocean waters!
Mauna Kea is actually the world's tallest mountain from base to summit. Its total height of 33,500 feet is nearly a mile taller than Mount Everest's 29,035 feet, but only 13,796 feet are above sea level, which is why Everest is much more commonly considered the tallest mountain for climbing purposes.
The longest mountain range in the world is the Mid-Oceanic Ridge, which extends for more than 56,000 kilometers!
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest living organism - more than 2,600 kilometers in length!
94% of all life on Earth is aquatic in nature.
In 1988, Tommy G. Thompson discovered the wreck of the S.S. Central America of the coast of South Carolina, the site of which may have more than $400 million in gold coins and gold bars waiting to be discovered.
All in all, humans have only explored around 5% of the world's oceans. If all of this stuff is in the small sliver that we've already discovered or figured out, imagine what else is waiting out there for us to explore! Imagine what mysteries that 95% might hold! By some estimates, there are still approximately three million shipwrecks still resting on seabeds around the world, waiting to be discovered. The total estimated value of all the treasure lost to the ocean depths is, by some accounts, more than $60,000,000,000! And there's a wide consensus among scientists that there are thousands, possibly even millions of species of flora and fauna near the sea floor that no human has ever seen.
With so many mysteries abounding in ocean waters, it's no surprise that books and motion pictures have ventured into this territory on many occasions. Movies like The Abyss and DeepStar Six focus on the discovery of alien creatures. Michael Crichton's Sphere, on the other hand, is about investigating an actual alien craft discovered on the ocean floor. And films like The Deep and Into the Blue center around salvage operations and the search for hidden treasure. The sci-fi television show seaQuest DSV even goes so far as to say in its opening credits that the story is set in a world where mankind is attempting to colonize the last unexplored territory of our world... the ocean.
When it comes to writing mysteries, there's a tendency to assume that usually applies to human settlements (small towns, big cities, etc.) and human endeavors (solving or committing crimes, getting to the bottom of a puzzle someone else set up, etc.). But there's literally a whole majority share of this planet that isn't just undiscovered, but is also untouched by human beings. If you're ever looking to incorporate a really unusual setting for your mystery story, consider the 70% of the planet that's beneath the surface of the water. You never know what mysteries you might find down there! 
Until next time,
Jeff
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EXCERPT: I can do this…right? I felt my heart leap in my chest as the car pulled into the parking lot.
EXCERPT: Chris walked through the hatch and turned left while the rest of the human cattle turned right. His seat was in first-class and his puffed chest showed it. The three drinks at the airport bar were behind his boldness. He had to control himself, and at this moment, he was doing a good job. He found his aisle seat. A woman, possibly thirty-something, occupied the window seat next to him. The shade over the window was raised allowing a clear view of the tarmac. Chris sat down harder than he wanted, turned to the woman, and said hello. The message from her eyes was clear; don't give her a hard time, however, she returned the greeting. He pinned his head onto the seat's headrest and sighed. All his boldness drained away once he realized this was going to be the last trip he would take with his wife.
EXCERPT: Dull yellow orbs pierced the surrounding destruction. Spheres that had observed as the human race corrupted itself. Because of absolutely idiotic things, greed of which probably the worst. Their constant want of more, never being satisfied. Like the green parchment they called money, absolutely useless pieces of paper given a value by the species it destroyed. Human fools killed each other over these thin, completely worthless shreds of script.
EXCERPT: Daphne Thompson loved estate sales. Her condo was decorated with finds from the ones she went to. Every Saturday, she traveled to the sales she’d circled in the paper. This one had been a quick trip.
EXCERPT: It was a mystery how I'd ever put this together. Things were finally just where I wanted them. “The setting for this play is a cabaret known as ‘The Writers Cramp’. It starts in a jolly old, New York, lofty square where everyone tries doing the right thing with each other at a Thanksgiving party.” I dropped my monocle and peered nervously at the actors: Shaara, Neon, Sophurky, Thing, Jay, Bianca and Robert stared back without saying a word.
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Feedback from my last newsletter about locations ("Mystery Newsletter (November 15, 2017)" ):
blimprider writes: "I couldn't agree more, Jeff! When discussing settings in reviews, this is what I tell newbies: The discussion of settings encompasses the locations you've established for your action, the ways in which they affect that action, and your ability to describe them clearly and concisely. You could say that this aspect answers (or fails to answer) the first question of fiction, What's going on here? Setting can be used to challenge a character, to highlight a skill or quality, to set the mood of a scene without overtly saying a single thing about it, and a host of lesser impacts too numerous to mention. You might think of it as a print artist's equivalent of a movie's "mood music." Pretty important stuff."
Thanks so much for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed the newsletter!
THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  writes: "Yep, location is extremely important in any story, but especially a mystery story.
I guess that is because location implies so much more -- culture, language, dress, habits. So much happens because of these!
Thanks for the reminder!"
Thanks for writing in, Sonali! 
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