Here's one of the funniest writers in the business. She's sometimes called the Canadian Evanovich. And killing people is what she does best.
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| Author Melodie Campbell
KILLING PEOPLE IS WHAT I DO
By Melodie Campbell
“Why would you ever want to write about
murder?” said the horrified relative.
“Why not write a nice little romance?”
Why indeed?
As I quickly added another relative to kill
in my next book (you would be shocked how often that happens….) it occurred to
me that there were many reasons to write about murder.
1.
It’s the challenge of creating the clever
puzzle. Plotting a mystery is like
playing a chess game. You always have to
think several moves ahead. Your reader
is begging you to challenge them, and is working to beat you – meaning to guess
the killer before your detective does - to the end.
2.
It’s plot driven. Murder mysteries start with action – a murder. Yes, characterization is important, and
particularly motivation. But murder is
by nature an action, and thus something happens in the book you
are writing. And quite often, it happens
again and again.
3.
It’s important. This is murder, after all. We’re not talking about a simple threat or
theft. A lot is at stake. Murder is the final act. The worst that can happen. The end of it all.
4.
It’s a place to put all your darkest
fantasies. There are a few people I’ve
wanted to kill in my life. They did me wrong. And while I do have a bit of a
reputation for recklessness, I value my freedom more. So what I can’t do in reality, I relish doing
in fiction.
5.
Finally – it’s fun.
This is the part I don’t say in mixed company (meaning non-writers and
relatives.) I can’t explain exactly why
it’s fun – you’ll have to trust me on this part. But plotting to do away with characters in
highly original ways is a real power trip.
I’m smiling just thinking about it.
Of course, I can
understand where some of the relative angst comes from. In A PURSE TO DIE FOR, a gathering of
relatives for a funeral results in the death of one or two. It was entirely accidental, that use of
relatives. Honest. I wasn’t thinking of anyone in particular.
Not much I wasn’t.
A PURSE
TO DIE FOR
By
Melodie Campbell and Cynthia St-Pierre
What’s
more treacherous than navigating a pack of society matrons at a designer sale?
Stalking
a killer…
Top 100 Mystery, Amazon.com, Jan. 2013!
And now
on:
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