Now Write Mysteries!

By Jaden Terrell

About a year and a half ago, a friend and fellow writer, Philip Cioffari, sent me an email saying he was contributing an exercise to a book on writing and that the editor had asked him to recommend another contributor. "Are you interested?" he asked.

Was I interested? Is our papillon, Luca (aka His Lordship of Eternal Cuteness, Light of a Thousand Suns) a beautiful, shining being of goodness and light? Well...yeah.

The book, the fourth of a series called Now Write, is called Now Write Mysteries, edited by Sherry Ellis and Laurie Lamson. I chose my topic, character development, because it's the thing reviewers who read my books comment on most often and most favorably. I wrote about using character relationships to create depth and ended with a series of questions designed to reveal the complexities of a character

A few months ago, I got an email from the editor saying the book would be published on December 29th. I clicked through to the list of contributors and realized I was in the company of some of my favorite authors. In addition to Philip, whose vivid, elegant writing makes me sick with envy, the list includes such powerhouses as:

Graham Brown
Reed Farrel Coleman
Bill Crider
Bruce DeSilva
Wayne Dundee
Hallie Ephron
Chris Knopf
William Kent Krueger
Sophie Littlefield
Louise Penny
Twist Phelan
Cathy Pickins
Marcia Talley
Elizabeth Zelvin

And many more.

Seeing my name on a list packed with bestsellers and award winners was quite a thrill. I checked out the sample writing exercises and was glad to see that I would want this book even if I weren't in it.

If you're a crime fiction writer, Now Write Mysteries might be a good addition to your writing library. I'm off to spend my Christmas gift cards buying mine.

Happy 2012, all. May this coming year bring you joy and fulfill your dreams.