I’ve been making handmade books, and most of them have had simple covers with the design that happens to be on the paper. Now I want to make covers of collage or with objects. And I want to clear out a lot of items I’ve accumulated over the years by making things. They won’t have mass appeal, but that’s okay.

I’m still working on my current story, The Princess Detective.

Why murder the Prince? Murder was for gain, and what was gained by one less prince in the world? The Princess looked again at the crime scene in the small clearing. The body was gone and any remaining evidence rested under the snow, but she knew how to read the woods.

I started this story one NaNoWriMo because I wanted a princess with a job of some kind. And I love a good mystery. My first attempt at a novel was a murder mystery. I was in the 8th grade and wrote about the murder of the algebra teacher. But murdering math teachers no longer appeals to me. Thank goodness. (Eventually I even came to like my 8th grade algebra teacher.)

I haven’t, however, written a mystery since then, and I can’t promise my mystery writing skills have improved. Fingers crossed. Writing a good mystery is a terrific skill. How to make the murder interesting? How to surprise the reader with the big reveal and also make the reader say, “Of course! I see it now!” It must make sense in hindsight but be invisible along the way. Am I up for that?

No idea.

What are some of your favorite mysteries? What mystery author spins an excellent tale?

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