Writing the Cozy Mystery - Part 3 the Main Components

by Elva Cobb Martin

You can review Part 1 and Part 2  of this series by clicking on my archives. We covered the differences between Mystery, Suspense and Horror novels in Part 1.
In Part 2 we defined what a Cozy Mystery is.

Today let's talk about the Main Components of a cozy we will need to plan.

The Amateur Sleuth
Unlike regular mysteries (detective stories, police procedures) a cozy has an amateur sleuth protagonist working to solve the mystery, although there may be trained law officers also working on the case. Think of Father Brown on Netflix, who solves the case right under the angry inspector's nose who tries to keep Father Brown out of the picture. Think of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Poirot. I love these amateur sleuths. And I love Sherlock Holmes, but can't class him as amateur. He's too much a brain.

Location/Setting
One reason I like Father Brown and Agatha Christies' series is the English village setting. Don't you love the stately old manors, churches, modes of travel, and the dress? I'm probably going to need to consider writing an historical cozy since I love historical stuff.

The Murder Victim and Crime
Eddie Jones, CEO of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, says in his Cozy Mystery Workshop that the body must appear very soon in the story, definitely by the end of Chapter one or sooner. The crime must capture the reader's imagination and give enough information about the victim to make the reader care that justice will prevail.

Great Plotting
Like any other type story, we have to have a well-thought out plot. Plot usually has three main stages:

1) Beginning - getting to know the protagonist and set up for the conflict/crime
2) Conflict/Problem/Journey
3) Resolution

These are broken down into many parts. For a mystery it must also include clues, red herrings, and many twists until the very end. The end does not have to be happy but it must be satisfying.

Are you thinking about writing a mystery? Do you have a question? I look forward to your comments and please do share this on your social media by clicking on the below small icons.

Blessings,
Elva Cobb Martin
Link to all my books on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI

Planning Your Novel - Part 1

by Elva Cobb Martin

Are you planning your first novel or trying to get started with your next one? I give God the glory for two novels recently released by Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas, Summer of Deception and In a Pirate's Debt. You can check them out on Amazon at this link: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI. 

This summer I am researching and planning my next novel which will become a series, I hope. Here are the steps that have helped me in the past and, I believe, will assist me again.

1) Read, Read in Your Genre --and Time Period if Historical.
I find it very important to immerse myself in the genre I'm hoping to write. In your genre, find the best, most successful authors you can and read and study what makes their novel interesting to read. I often take notes and write in the margins!

If writing an historical, find books in your time period. Since I'm planning an historical series set in the 1700's like my pirate novel above, I am reading novels of established authors set in this century. It's amazing how many great ideas come to me as I soak up stories set in my chosen time period and place. Reading a contemporary novel,or one set in the Regency Period, or during World War II won't help keep me on target, so I save those novels for another time. I also look for movies set in my time period and save them in my TV groups. I take notes on setting, dialog, dress, conflict, historical tidbits, etc. 

4) Jot Down Your Initial Storyline
My basic story idea is of a heroine, an indentured servant, who has a bad past she's carrying like baggage, even after she becomes a Christian. (See the "lie" she believes and the spiritual plot possibility of her overcoming?) After a terrible incident in Spain she fled for her life to the New World as an indentured servant. She falls in love with her master after he becomes widowed, but she feels like soiled goods he will never be interested in. She desires to find respect, security and love and will go to some lengths to find them. (See the motivation and goals unfolding?) And, of course, I will give the widowed hero problems, conflicts, and goals to complicate the romance possibility we will pursue from Charles Town to the Spanish Main. Of course, some of these details will likely change as I write the story! (More on characterization, lies, motivation, and goals in Part 2.)

3) Research and Research Some More
Having the Internet has made research so much easier. Seldom do I have to make a trip to the library for research. This novel will have a heroine who is an indentured servant. Yesterday I googled "Indentured Servants in America" and came up with great information. I printed some articles and saved some to my computer. I already know this story will be set mainly on the Spanish Main in Cartagena so I googled that and came up with some great articles and maps.

How do you plan a new novel? I would love to hear your comments. Next time I will share Part 2 that works for me.

Blessings,
Elva Martin

Susan Craft's New Book, Laurel

By Elva Cobb Martin

This week my dear friend and fellow member of our ACFW-SC Chapter, Susan Craft, is launching her new historical romantic suspense, Laurel. Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas will release the book January 15.

I've read Susan's Chamomile, the first book in this series, and I was so impressed with the story and the historical accuracy relating to South Carolina as well as the exciting plot.

I know you will not be disappointed if you check out this new endeavor of Susan's.

Here is the amazon blurb about Laurel:

Desperate to rescue their kidnapped daughter, Lilyan and Nicholas Xanthakos trek two hundred miles through South Carolina mountains and backcountry wilderness, fighting outlaws, hunger, sleeplessness, and despair. When the trail grows cold, the couple battles guilt and personal shame; Lilyan for letting Laurel out of her sight, and Nicholas for failing to keep his family safe. 

They track Laurel to the port of Charleston as post-Revolutionary War passions reach fever pitch. There, Lilyan, a former patriot spy, is charged for the murder of a British officer. She is thrown into the Exchange Building dungeon and chained alongside prostitutes, thieves, and murderers. Separated from her husband, she digs deep inside to re-ignite the courage and faith that helped her survive the war. Determined to free his wife at any cost, Nicholas finds himself forced back into a life of violence he thought he'd left behind.

Following a rumor that Laurel may be aboard a freighter bound for Baltimore, Lilyan and Nicholas secure passage on a departing schooner, but two days into the voyage, a storm blows their ship aground on Diamond Shoals. As the ship founders, both are swept overboard.

Will their love for each other and their faith sustain them as they await word of their missing child? Or is Laurel lost to them forever?

Susan's book is available on Amazon here:

www.amazon.com/dp/194110391X/

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment and share this on FB and Twitter. I know Susan will appreciate it so much.

Elva Cobb Martin

How Alive OR Well Is Christian Fiction? - PART 3

by Elva Cobb Martin

                                                                   What Is Happening in Christian Fiction?

   

Kim Moore, Senior Fiction Editor with HarvestHouse, recently shared with me:

“Christian fiction is rather fluid right now. Ebooks on digital devices are changing Christian fiction in rather dramatic ways, and authors, agents and publishers are working to meet those challenges.”

Dan Balow, literary agent with the Steve Laube Agency, lately wrote a blog titled “Is Christian Fiction Dying?” He writes, “Last year a couple of Christian publishers stopped publishing fiction. Others are nervous about and it and still others are excited about it.”

He cited some reasons he thinks Christian fiction is causing some publisher-confusion:

■ Fiction is the segment of book publishing most affected by the sales of eBooks.

■ The relatively small number of new Christian fiction titles published by the main ECPA publishers.

■ The limited number of genres published.

Lighthouse Publishing of  the Carolinas CEO Eddie Jones has a little different take on the subject.

“I believe the general public is offended by the excessive cursing, gratuitous sex, and unnecessary violence, and yet, this is what passes for entertainment within the secular market. I also feel Christian Fiction has, for too long, catered to those readers who demanded a “come to Jesus” conversion ending in every story. Seems to me, there is an opportunity for book publishers to reach those readers who are offended by the word “Christ” but yet are drawn to themes of redemption, compassion, and sacrifice. I think the best fiction presents God’s truth without mentioning Him by name. When we allow God to work within the heart of a reader, they are moved not just by words, but by His Spirit, also.”

Lighthouse is a fast-paced and innovative traditional, royalty-paying publisher of eBooks and Print on Demand (POD) paperbacks. LPC embraces the new book publishing model that favors eBooks and Print on Demand over long press runs and warehouse inventories. They are excited about Christian fiction and over the next couple of years are launching five new imprints.

One writer has posed an interesting question for those wanting more “freedom of expression.” What if the Christian Booksellers Association morph’s into a quasi-ABA with more sex, violence, and coarse language, how many chomping at the bit to get there will be truly happy with the results? 

On the other side of the coin are those who are content and feel called to “write for the choir” (and read the same type fiction). One agent recently blogged in defense of the choir. He quoted statistics that 200,000 new

books are published in the United States each year from traditional publishers (not counting self-publishing), and that of those, only 10,000 would be Christian books from Christian publishers. He summed up by saying maybe we need more books with a blatant Christian message and worldview, as there seems to be enough books covering the other side.

He’s got a point.

But for those maybe caught in the middle, how does a Christian writer who desires to deal realistically with the nitty-gritty hard issues people, including Christians, may face, and the Bible even covers, do so without offending?

Author Timothy Fish may have hit the proverbial nail on the head. He commented on Karen Ball’s blog that the Bible, for the most part, tells what happened in grisly situations without giving a blow by blow account. He uses as examples the story of the Levite in Judges 19 who cut up his raped and murdered concubine into twelve pieces and sent her to the twelve tribes to stir them to action. He also used the story of Ehud, a man God raised up to deliver Israel from Moab, who thrust a dagger into the Moab king’s gut and the fat closed up around it.

The key, Fish says, is that the Bible writers did not go into detail about what precisely was taking place, what it smelled like or what the blood felt like as these actions took place. He says many people have a blood lust to show things that it is sufficient to tell only.

He’s got a point, too.

In conclusion, some would quote the dismal lowering of morals in America as the reason Christian fiction is not selling as well as would be desired. A new report, 2014 State of Dating in America, published by the online dating sites Christian Mingle and JDate, revealed that 61 percent of Christians said they would have sex before marriage.

Should the demise of morality, book sales figures, or anything else cause us to waver writing in the Christian worldview, however that’s interpreted? Should we continue writing fiction that not only entertains but also shows Christianity and gaining God’s wisdom as the answer for an individual’s problems, even the grittiest ones? Or should we try to tread more softly with inspiring fiction that doesn’t mention the name of Christ but clearly shows themes of compassion, redemption, or sacrifice? Is there room on the book shelf for both to reach various groups?

Some believe we Christians and Christian writers, publishers, agents are wrestling in a true spiritual warfare with the forces of evil which are trying, and have tried all through history, to grasp the hearts and minds of man. 

MaryLu Tyndall is a prolific Christian romance author who shows evidence of this warfare in her well-written, exciting novels. Frank Peretti, with more than 15 million novels in print and often called America’s hottest Christian novelist, infused new life into Christian fiction when he introduced this kind of warfare in his first bestselling novel This Present Darkness.

Do you believe there are forces of evil Paul spoke about in Ephesians chapter 6 that are authoring books, movies and television programs? Do you want to see changes in Christian fiction?

We look forward to your comments!

Elva Cobb Martin is president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have published her articles. She is currently polishing her second novel, an historical inspirational romance. A mother finally promoted to grandmother, Elva and her husband Dwayne, and a mini-dachshund Lucy reside in Anderson, South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site www.elvamartin.com, her blog at http://carolinaromancewithelvamartin.blogspot.com on Twitter @Elvacobbmartin and on Face book.