Katy McDermott

Okay, I lied. Well, sort of lied. As anyone who read my last post knows, the identity of the victim in my second book simply can’t be changed. However, the identity of the murderer can be – and I’m giving serious consideration to doing just that.

What happened was this: one night last week, I was working on my plot outline, focusing on the crime itself. To keep myself organized, I made a list of suspects from the many pages of notes I’ve written and character profiles I’ve done, asking myself “WHY would this person have committed the murder?” and “HOW would this person have committed the murder?”

Suddenly I had an epiphany – what if So-and-So did it instead of the person I’d been considering? (I told my husband Jack about this, not revealing my new murderer’s identity, and he responded, “You know, I’ve always had my suspicions about So-and-So.”)

Changing the killer will mean writing the book differently, I know. It will mean exploring a different motive, and coming up with different clues and red herrings as well. But if I can do it – and do it right- it should make for a much more interesting story.

Good thing I thought of this now – I suppose there’s a certain freedom in not having started to write the actual book yet!

I won’t post anything new next week, as I’ll be off doing research, but once I get back, I’ll bite the bullet and start writing, and then the fun will really begin. In the meantime, I thank all of you (or perhaps I should say “all 4 of you”!) for your continuing interest – have a wonderful holiday!

Open letter to my next (fictional) victim: sorry, but there’ll be no midnight call from the governor granting you a last-minute reprieve. Despite the fact that an interview subject helpfully suggested not long ago that I change my intent (because a similar victim was featured in a 20-year-old mystery novel), I’ve decided against it.

In other words, you’re still toast.

Now I know I haven’t started actually writing my second book yet. But I’ve already filled a notebook (and some of my trusty whiteboard) with character profiles, suspects, motives, clues, and the beginnings of a plot outline. I’ve got the bones of the story – and if I can write it properly, it should be a good one.

I tried to spare your life – I really did. For over a week, on my lengthy commute to and from work, I imagined different scenarios, different victims, different motives. In the end though, I always came back to the original story. (Well, okay, it wasn’t quite the original story – I changed it a lot from the one I started out with – I gave a lot of thought to the question of why someone would want to kill you.)

To quote a banal pop song, “you’re still the one.” My apologies. But in a murder mystery, someone has to die, right? I guess you just pulled the short straw this time.