writing mysteries for fun and profit
Blog of Christian mystery writer Darrell Case
Friday, May 2, 2014
When he is not writing Darrell is in jail. Actually several jails or prisons. And he’s been there for over thirty years. As the co-founder of Souls for Christ Darrell ministers to serial killers, mass murderers’ robbers, drug dealers, and others who have broken the law.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
My
life of crime
I sit on the bunk with him. We casually discussed
life, this life and the next. The door to his cell was locked. The order was no escape even if he took me hostage.
They had analyzed the residue on the odor from the barrel in which he burnt his
wife’s body. He would be on trial for his life shortly.
Less than two weeks later his girlfriend would
attempt to break him out. In the process, she wounded one deputy. She kept
firing spraying bullets over the dispatch area of the jail. In the subsequent
trials she would receive 16 years he would get life.igo
That was almost 30 years ago, since then I have
ministered to what society considers the most dangerous criminals. Serial killers, mass murderers, rapists,
robbers, drug dealers and others. I have spoken to cop killers and cops who
have murdered. Where others see those who are helpless and hopeless, I see a
potential child of God. One who can become a new person in Christ.
Using my experience in writing is relaxing and
enjoyable. While we can’t control the criminal in the real world we can in the
world of fiction. A reader became quite upset with Steven King because in one
of his books a man kicked a dog to death. King pointed out the book was fiction.
Therefore the dog wasn’t real. Yet to a writer while in the throes of the story
the characters, the setting and the action is real.
In Sluagh my wife cringed each time a child died. I
pointed out to her the child wasn’t real. Therefore no child was harmed in the
writing of the book.
While sitting down with a good mystery may raise the
Goosebumps on your arms you’re still safe in your favorite chair.
Like a good christian mystery? Check out my books at writersofvision.com
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
The
thread that runs so true
Some of the best novels I
read were confusing in the beginning. They seemed to be disjointed. They
started in different locations perhaps years or generations apart. The
characters appeared to have no relationship to each other. If this is a new author or an unfamiliar one
you may be tempted to put the book aside. Yet you persist. You wade through the
pages wondering where the author is going. What was the writer thinking as he
or she wrote this narrative’
It may be on page 50 or
100 you start to see a coalition in the parts of the novel that before appear
to have no connection. Now the author weaves together the different threads
until they become one.
As the story nears a
conclusion it becomes clearer and more evident what was thought to be rambling was
the true story in separate parts. All the threads are now one and stronger and perceptible.
The author like an
artist paints the picture with assorted colors looking as if they are no part
of the whole painting. Yet as with the artist when the book is complete it becomes
a representation of what the writer saw in his or her mind in the beginning.
As authors we must keep
in mind the true thread of the story. There are plots and subplots. Various
threads run throughout the novel. However we hold them in our hands weaving
them into the one true thread and with this we tell the story.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Paper Dolls
Paper
dolls
Remember when you, your sister, or a friend played with
paper dolls. Their clothes changed depending on the task or activity.
However, their expression always remained the same. They were always happy,
smiling no matter what the circumstances. They were never worried, sad or
fearful. They were fun to play with. No sorrow affected them. No tragedy
touched them. You could leave a paper doll for a day, a month or a year. When
you decided to play with them, again they always had the same expression.
Sometimes we as writers have a problem creating believable characters.
The ones creative in our writing can be paper dolls or cardboard
character. Having no depth no real feelings. A person’s childhood
colors how they react to a situation. Past failures made them cautious of
making decisions. They ache for love yet are fearful of rejection.
Are they driven by a desire for wealth or power? How does this affect
their family life? Are they addicted to drugs and long to be free?
Are they hiding something in their past, terrified this indiscretion will be
exposed. Do they weep in the middle of the night when no one hears. If
they are fired, lose a child or go through a divorce do they react with the
same feelings as your next-door neighbor. As you write, do their emotions
touch you? Do tears come to your eyes as they weep at the casket of their
loved one? Do you rejoice with them as they are united in marriage?
As they face danger, does their fear touch your heart? As you write an action scene
does your heart beat faster? Do you feel the excitement of the chase? Are you
the hunter or the hunted? Do you lose track of time? Do you get lost in the
story?
What about the villain? What kind of person are
they? What made them the person they are? What is behind their
actions? Are they mentally unstable? If so, why? Can your
reader hate them yet also feel sad for them? No person is born with
hatred in their heart, something has happened to make your villain this
way. Find out what it is. Even the villain is human and has those
who love them.
If your characters
live and breathe, weep and laugh your novel will come alive. If we as the
authors do not feel the emotions of our characters neither will the reader.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
I quit
I quit
How many times as an author, have
you quit? In the beginning, you
struggled over your manuscript writing and rewriting. You just could not find the right tempo. Then one glorious day it all came together. Your idea became a story. You breathed life
into your characters. You continued to
write adding new features. Soon they
became real, as real to you as your next-door neighbor. You met with them daily you shared their joys
their sorrows. You came to love your
heroes and to hate the villain. Page
after page you wrote and rewrote. Late
at night, you labored as the rest of the family slept or in the wee hours of
the morning. You laughed you cried
wiping away tears you wrote. Summer
became winter winter passed into spring then summer came again still you plugged
away.
Finally, you wrote the last
sentence. Relief settled over you. It
was done. Your novel your masterpiece
completed. You celebrated. The book,
which changed your life, would now change others.
You searched for just the right agent
or publisher. You lovingly bundled your
book like a baby. With trepidation, you
handled you dreams to the postal clerk. You
felt as if you were sending your first child to war. You visited bookstores dreaming of seeing
your novel on their shelves. You watched
other authors interviewed on TV thinking of what you would say about your
wonderful novel. Perhaps you would
purchase a new car.
After all as a successful author,
you could not drive the old one to all the book signings.
Therefore, you waited and dreamed. You bragged to family and friends. Soon you be wealthy. Days became weeks and turned into months. Surely, your book was lost in the vast U S
Postal system. Then one day when you had
given up hope your manuscript came limping home. The rejection letter tore your heart out. Embarrassed you went to that dark corner
alone and wept. You moaned, you
screamed, you cried. You put away your
writing materials. You thought of
burning the manuscript and all the copies.
Then the worst thing in the world happened you quit. You swore you would never write another ting other
than email or a grocery list.
How selfish of you. If you stop now we will never read your novel. If Hemmingway quit the world would be
deprived of The Sun also Rises. If John Steinbeck stopped writing, we not have The Grapes
of Wrath. What of William Faulkner, of
Thomas Wolfe and others what if they quit before they were published. No, you cannot
quit! Not now, or a year from now when
you have received 10, 20 or a hundred rejections. Keep going we want to read your book.