Christy McCall: Great formula for building mystery

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Great formula for building mystery

If you are a writer and don't know Nathan Bransford yet, do hop on over and check out his fabulous website and forums. Not only is it chock full of information, tips and support, but the guy does it with a kindness and joy that makes everyone feel - well, OK (which is exactly how a writer needs to feel - not the #1 best, and not the hack-of-the-year). He had a great post yesterday on crafting mysteries.

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OFF THE MAP

OFF THE MAP is my 46,000 word upper middle grade mystery adventure set in Washington D.C. and the surrounding area, and is the first novel of a planned U.S. based trilogy. It is a work in progress that is almost done . . .

Here's a small taste of the plot:

An unknown opponent just dragged twelve year old Thomas Walker into a game.

A six time national geography champion, usually Thomas thrives on games, especially ones where he doesn't need to rely on partners. But this game began with his uncle kidnapped from the audience during Thomas' seventh competition. Mysterious clues pop up, trash is swamping the Potomac, and Thomas is not sure who to trust – or how to rein in his loner nature. Failure surrounds him, and without gambling on his friends' help, he may lose more than he can bear.