Writer Unboxed

Therese here. Please welcome author Amanda Lee to Writer Unboxed. Amanda is the author of a new mystery novel, The Quick and the Thread–the story of a new shop owner thrust into the role of prime suspect when her shop’s old owner turns up dead. According to her bio:

Amanda is the lady next to you in the grocery line or car pool. She has twins: one boy and one girl, she’s a baseball fan, she likes to decorate cakes, she rocks at Guitar Hero…oh, and she likes to think about murder. But it’s OK! She only writes about murder—a lot.

So we thought it would be fun to talk about in a little more depth: Ordinary mom meets the murder mystery. How did that happen, and how does she do it? She’s here to tell us.

Baseball Mom Learns to Murder

I was sitting on the bleachers at my son’’s baseball practice, and another parent and I began chatting. He was telling me all about his job and the impressive people he meets there. And although he didn’’t ask, when there was enough of a lull in his soliloquy, I said, “I think up ways to kill people for a living.” It was like a Master Card commercial: Baseball equipment – $300. Gas to get to practice – $10. Expression on that dad’’s face:– Priceless.

So, how did a nice girl like me end up in a genre like this? I’’ve always been a mystery lover. As a child, I read every book featuring Encyclopedia Brown and the Secret Seven I could get my hands on. I graduated to Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes and the gothic novels of Victoria Holt.

Even in my nonfiction writing, I found criminal investigation more thrilling than anything else. I once was awarded a fellowship from West Virginia University. The “Murder in the Mountains” fellowship covered three days of intensive examination of criminal forensic investigations. It was one of my best “working vacations” ever. To set the mood on the drive to WVU, I listened to one of James Patterson’’s Alex Cross novels on tape.

One of the best things about writing mystery fiction is the knowledge you’’ll have everything turn out all right in the end. By the book’’s last page, the killer will be brought to justice and all will once again be right with the world…–at least, until the next book. In the real world, the villains sometimes get away. In a fictional world, we can always ensure justice is served.

I also enjoy character development. I learned early on that you can’’t make your hero or heroine too good, and you can’’t make your villain too bad. If you do, your characters become stereotypes. You might as well have your black-hatted, mustachioed villain tie your prim heroine to the railroad tracks so the white-hatted hero can rush in and save her.

Villains may be cold, manipulative and even downright mean; but 1) they have to care about something, and 2) they have to believe they have a legitimate reason for their actions. Think about this. If the movie The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones was written as a police procedural, Tommy Lee Jones would be portrayed throughout as the good guy. Harrison Ford would be the villain. From Lee’’s perspective, Ford murdered his wife, was convicted and escaped after the prison bus crashed. To him, Ford is a desperate and dangerous criminal; and it’’s his job to put Ford back behind bars.

Even though the story doesn’’t change, the perspective does. When you write, try to see everything from everyone’’s viewpoint. That’’s how you create compelling characters.

Thanks for stopping by, Amanda! Readers, you can learn more about Amanda’s latest novel, The Quick and the Thread, by visiting her website and blog.

Write on.

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