Mysteries, Murder, and the Mating of Penguins

Only Donna Andrews could insert a scene of bouncing, flapping, squawking penguins trying and seeming to fail at mating into a mystery novel. Perhaps it’s details like that, which have allowed her to publish fifteen novels and keep the James River Writers’ Writing Show audience captivated last Thursday night. But then again, how could a night not be fascinating when repeatedly sprinkled with the phrase, “The way I like to kill someone is…”

Real life research and experience was a major focus this month. Meredith Cole took a self defense class to perfect her character’s moves; both Donna Andrews and Andy Straka took a P.I. training course to understand the ins and outs of investigating; Andy Straka spent time training with falconers, becoming so intrigued that long past the writing research, he is still a falconer himself. Straka’s stunning bird even made an appearance at the Writing Show!

There was a bird theme actually: penguins, falcons, Edgar Allan Poe’s ghost – or perhaps it was just an audience member – eerily whispering ‘nevermore.’ (It was two days before Halloween after all.)

I’m finding myself inspired to truly step into my research again. A few years ago, I was doing a story on psychics. I had psychic readings from Florence, Italy to Savannah, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

How much fun is it to be a writer? Maybe I should dive into something new. Ice sculpting lessons? Professional women’s arena football? Mastering Feng Shui? Any other ideas? Maybe I need a partner-in-crime, all law-breaking to appear only within the pages, of course.