September 6, 2023 • 54 mins
Summoning all mystery enthusiasts and budding crime writers! Get ready for an engrossing conversation with Phoenix-based author, Claire A Murray. Armed with a suite of compelling short stories and novels, she'll reveal the secret behind crafting narratives that have readers clinging to the edge of their seats.
Ever wondered how to create dialogue that resonates with reality? Claire's insights will provide you the answer. Together, we venture into the art of developing realistic and persuasive conversations that only enrich your characters, but also drive your plot forward. We also examine the role of settings and atmosphere in amplifying the tension in crime short stories.
But that's not all! Claire also drops valuable nuggets on writing compelling crime stories while managing brevity, the significance of thorough research, and the pitfalls of relying on mainstream media for facts. We also touch upon common cliches to avoid, drafting engaging investigation processes, and even share some exclusive tips for publishing mysteries. Get set for a masterclass that promises to elevate your craft to a whole new level. Don't miss out!
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Episode Transcript
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Wendy H. Jones (00:03):
Hi and welcome to the Writing and Marketing
Show brought to you by authorWendy H Jones.
This show does exactly what itsays on the tin.
It's jam-packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news
to help you with the business ofwriting.
It's all wrapped up in onelively podcast.
So it's time to get on with theshow.
(00:23):
And welcome to episode 190 ofthe Writing and Marketing Show
with author entrepreneur Wendy HJones.
And what a pleasure it is tohave you here with me again for
the 190th show and those weeksjust flying past.
I cannot believe that in Januaryit will be four years since I
started the show.
It's mind-blowing.
(00:43):
Whilst I record this, I'm inScotland, which can't seem to
make up its mind, weather-wise,what it wants to do.
I'm freezing cold one minute,having to put the heating on,
and then the other the sun isshining and it's warm.
So I can't keep up.
But when you are listening tothis, I will be in Virginia and
I will be in baking in 100degree heat.
(01:09):
By the sounds of it.
I like the heat, but that's hoteven for me.
But I'm very much lookingforward to hitting the states
next week and I'm recordingseveral of these in advance.
And as I have recorded this.
In the last episode I told youthat my brand new writing
magazine was now out that'sWriters Narrative and I'm
delighted to say that it'sgetting really rave reviews
(01:33):
already and I'm so excited aboutthat.
So it's good to know thatpeople are finding the magazine
useful.
So I've been having a great dayreally just watching what is
happening with it and whatpeople are thinking, and it's
great to know that I've broughtsomething out that will help
(01:53):
other authors.
The other thing I've done islast week I launched my writing
and retreat business,auscotpublishingcom, which is
Auscot Publishing and Retreats.
At OsscotPublishingcom.
That's A-U-S-C-O-TPublishingcom, and I'll put the
link in the show notes.
And, if you would like, aWriters Retreat in Scotland in
(02:15):
February where it will be allit's called Missing Manuscripts.
It will be all log fires andhaving a great time and learning
your craft, but you'll also getto see some of Historic
Scotland as well.
So again, it would be lovely tosee you there and I'll put a
link for that and the WritersNarrative in the show notes.
(02:38):
Before I introduce Claire, Iwould like to say it's an
absolute pleasure to bring youthe show every week.
I do so willingly and I enjoydoing it.
However, it does take time outof my writing.
If you would like to supportthat time, you can do so by
going to.
You can go to Patreon.
c om/ Wendy H Jones and you cansupport me for just $3 a month,
(03:02):
which is the price of a tea orcoffee per month, and I would be
very grateful.
So thank you for all those whodo support me.
I appreciate it and I reallyfind the support keeps me going
because it lets me know you likethe show and you want me to
continue up to the four yearsand beyond.
(03:23):
So what of Claire?
Claire A Murray is a phoenix isa Arizona author of short
stories and novels who missesher native New England but loves
her New Desert digs.
She writes Crime, mystery,fantasy and Sci-Fi, not
necessarily in that order.
She is the lead editor for theforthcoming anthology so West
(03:45):
Wrong Turn, which come out inSeptember 23, and plans to
release Play the Hand your Delt,a collection of her own short
stories, in 2023 as well.
A member of Sisters and CrimeMystery Writers of America and
the Short Mystery FictionSociety, Claire writes full time
, dabbles in painting and liveson a steady diet of zoominars
for connection, inspiration andsanity.
(04:07):
You can find out more about herat calm-writescom, where
character, crime and mysterycollide, and I will put the link
for that in the show notes.
And I'm going to be talking toClaire today about writing short
stories, or crime short storiesin particular.
So, without further ado, let'sget on with the show and meet
(04:29):
Claire.
I have Claire with me.
Hi Claire, how are you today?
Claire A Murray (04:38):
I'm fine, wendy , thank you.
How are you doing?
Wendy H. Jones (04:41):
I'm very well, although I'm freezing to death
here in Scotland.
I have to say it's allapparently cold here.
Are you in the middle of one ofthese heatwaves that
everybody's having?
Claire A Murray (04:51):
We are in a multi-week heatwave, every day
over 110.
It's 9.30 in the morning andit's 98.
Wendy H. Jones (05:03):
Where are you?
Claire A Murray (05:04):
Phoenix, Arizona.
So we're in the desert bowlthey call it the desert bowl and
we have a heat dome over usthat basically is keeping all
the heat in.
Wendy H. Jones (05:14):
Right, okay, would you like to send some in
our direction, because we'd lovesome.
Claire A Murray (05:19):
I would love to , and I'm sure major parts of
the United States would like todo that as well.
This has really been extendedfor a number of areas.
Wendy H. Jones (05:29):
I know it has.
It's crazy this weather, butanyway we can forget about the
weather for five minutes and wecan all be cool, calm and
collected or excitable, becauseI'm very excited about the fact
we're going to be talking aboutwriting crime short stories
today and, to be honest, thefirst question has to be asked
is what exactly is considered tobe a short story?
Claire A Murray (05:53):
Short story is a story with a beginning, a
middle and an end, and it runsto a max of about 10,000 words.
Anything longer than that, it'seither a novelette, a little
longer a novella, longer thanthat a novel.
Anything longer than that, it'san epic.
So fantasies often turn intoepics.
(06:14):
Excuse me, I've got a tickle inmy throat.
Wendy H. Jones (06:17):
No worries, that often happens.
I have to say.
I did one entire episode whereI was coughing, and so was the
person who was I wasinterviewing, because we both
had chest infections.
That was right at the verybeginning.
So, hey, we take all in ourstride here.
Claire, you don't have to worry.
(06:37):
But 10,000 words, that's a lotof words, because I mean, by the
time you go up to 10,000, doyou think I'd be like, well, I
just make this a novel.
Claire A Murray (06:45):
I've done 10,000 already, you know, so
that Well, I took a 75, 7,400word short story and decided to
expand it to a novella which isabout 20, maybe 30,000 words,
and when I hit 42,000 words, Iaccepted the reality that it was
(07:07):
a novel.
It's now 73,000 words and I'mworking on finishing it up.
Wendy H. Jones (07:14):
Excellent.
Well, I have to say, novels,stories, tend to do that with
you.
They take out legs of their ownand just drag you along, maybe
not kicking and screaming, butat least pounding the keyboard.
Claire A Murray (07:24):
So yeah, and that's the high part with short
stories is they sometimes wantto be longer and you're trying
to keep them short.
Wendy H. Jones (07:34):
Absolutely.
You need to keep them in theirplace.
That's what I said Keep them intheir place.
I'm curious as to what elementsare essential for crafting a
grip and crime short story,because it needs to keep the
reader on the edge of theirseats from start to finish.
Claire A Murray (07:48):
Well, there's no hard and fast rules, but this
can help Start in the middle ofthe action rather than building
up to it, because there's verylittle room for that buildup.
That's my problem is I like tobuild things up and then
introduce your crime or whatever.
That's hard to do in shortstories.
You can have a setting thatenhances the tension or suspense
(08:15):
, and I'll probably mentionsetting again later as we go
into other things.
Tensions are bad for yourprotagonist and you have to make
them worse.
You've developed a bit oftension.
You don't want to let it go tooearly, so you bring in another
(08:37):
element of tension so thatyou're keeping the reader
gripped to the story.
But you do have to have somemoments where you give the
reader a chance to breathe,where you break the tension and
then you build it back up again.
Another technique and this isgood for long or short is to
(09:00):
have an antagonist who is assmart and strong as your
protagonist.
Otherwise it's an unequal fight.
Sometimes a duel of wits can beas gripping as an even more
gripping than a chase scene.
Use only those characters thatare necessary to fulfill the
(09:25):
story.
You don't have room for a lotof extras on the set.
Think of it as a play on asmall stage versus a large stage
.
You've got to reduce the numberof players.
Limited point of view changes.
A lot of times people tellstories in multiple points of
view.
In a short story you don't getas much chance to do that,
(09:48):
although I did do one with fivepoints of view, because there
were four main characters whoeach had to have a short scene
that introduced them and itconnected them immediately to
the story.
Then there was only one scenefrom the antagonist point of
(10:10):
view.
I think it worked.
I think it worked.
Wendy H. Jones (10:15):
That's an exception.
I know that you can manage todo five points of view in one
short story.
That's pretty impressive.
That is skill.
I hope so.
Claire A Murray (10:32):
I hope people like it.
Wendy H. Jones (10:35):
You've raised some really good points there.
One thing I would like to touchon from it, which we mentioned,
is crime stories.
They often involve complexcharacters.
How can writers developmultidimensional protagonists
and antagonists that readersconnect with an understand in a
short story form?
Claire A Murray (10:54):
Well, by having fewer characters, you get to
devote more time to the ones youhave, and if you can devote
more time to them, you can playout their development.
One of the suggestions I givepeople is to write a scene with
dialogue between the protagonistand the antagonist, even if you
(11:18):
don't plan to use it, becausein writing that scene where they
interact with each other,you're actually helping develop
their characters and theirrelationship.
And then you know thatinformation, you've locked it
into your head.
This is how they think abouteach other, and then that you
(11:39):
know.
You don't even use it in thestory, but you're using what you
learned as the author from itin how you deal with them in the
story and how you have themthink about the other and how
they interact with other people.
You know how some people getalong really well and then one
person will bring something upand is like, oh, don't even go
there, I don't want to hearabout that person.
(12:01):
You know that kind of thing,but if you haven't written that
little dialogue exchange betweenthe two, you might not have
thought to do that.
Wendy H. Jones (12:09):
What a brilliant tip.
I have to say, I think that'sactually one of the best tips
I've ever heard on the show inthree and a half years.
So, thank you, you'redeveloping characters.
I love it, thank you for that.
And you've brought me nicely onto my next question, because I
want to bring up dialogue, andit's crucial in crime narratives
.
So how do you create realisticand compelling dialogue that
(12:33):
adds depth to the characters andadvances the plot effectively?
And, of course, we've got tobear in mind that you can't have
the hello how are you?
I'm fine, how are you?
Because you're wasting words.
Claire A Murray (12:42):
Well, you can if it's British.
I mean, I took you Because theyplay off that well, very well,
I think Monty Python you know.
But you listen to people.
Listen to people in the grocerystore, the coffee shop, listen
to people in places where theirbosses or family are not around,
(13:03):
because then you'll get howthey really talk to each other
you know, and you know, listenin on an argument between two
people.
I know it's eavesdropping, it'simpolite, but you can learn a
lot because the language changes, the tone of voice changes, the
(13:24):
body language changes when twopeople are really you know, they
know each other well andthey've gotten on each other's
nerves and they're really tenseabout it.
Because that helps you withdialogue, descriptions and
everything else.
When you have an interaction inyours and listen to people from
different socioeconomicbackgrounds and other cultures,
(13:48):
because things differ, you'recatching different slang.
And it's not that younecessarily want to use the
slang, it's more that how dopeople speak?
Some people use contractions alot, some people don't.
I was brought up in a household.
My mother would never let usget away with saying want to,
(14:08):
it's want to.
You know she was stuck onproper English, proper grammar,
and that has stuck with me mywhole life.
Certain things I don'tabbreviate or if I do, I repeat
it properly.
A few people, unless it's aninterview, speak in long,
(14:31):
complex sentences and paragraphs, and yet I see dialogue where
it's a whole paragraph ofsomeone speaking in long
sentences and describingsomething and it's like this
person's a private detective andex-cop.
Is he really going to speakthat way, you know it'd be more
(14:52):
like you know, listen to LennyBriscoe on Law and Order and how
he'll describe something versushow Benjamin Bratt would
describe the same thing.
They use different words forthe same thing because they come
from different backgrounds.
So, and the other thing is isin dialogue people don't always
(15:15):
answer the question that's beenasked.
They talk about something elsecompletely.
So if it's too much back andforth all the time, then you
know, especially like couples.
Couples will carry on aconversation and if you were to
write it down, it looks likethey're talking about something
entirely different and they are,and yet at the same time
(15:38):
they're letting each other knowhow they feel.
Wendy H. Jones (15:42):
Yeah, no, again, great tips there really are,
and it's true that you know,people speak differently and
they speak differently dependingon where they're coming from as
well.
For example, when I'm in London, some people there will say
want to go to town, which means,do you want to go to town?
Well, we would say no.
(16:02):
I would say do you want to goto town?
But everybody around thereunderstands it because that's
the way they speak locally andcolloquially, you know me.
The thing is, if you startputting that sort of thing in a
book, people would give you badreviews, saying you couldn't
write a sentence because it'snot go town, it's go to town.
You know, it's just.
(16:24):
It's just differences.
So bringing that in can give itauthenticity as well.
So, thank you.
Yeah, I agree, people speakdifferently, you know, and we've
briefly touched on setting, butI'd like to unpick it a bit
more.
So how can writers effectivelyuse setting and atmosphere to
(16:44):
enhance the mood and tension incrime short stories?
Claire A Murray (16:48):
I think you can use setting to mirror the story
, the tension, the feeling, theattitude, or you can use it to
oppose it and bring out the factthat it's different.
So, for example, if you, youknow the sky darkening with
(17:09):
advancing clouds, you know canset the tone for trouble brewing
you know, because the storm isbrewing At the same time, the
sun bursting through the cloudscan be the opposite of how the
protagonist feels.
And the protagonist or anycharacter can say, oh yeah, it's
(17:31):
a bright, sunny day, it's mylife where it's sunny as that.
And then suddenly you realizeyou've got that that build up
there with the setting, isopposite the person's feelings,
but it's allowed you to tell thereader what the what the
feelings are, without saying, oh, she felt blue today, you know.
(17:53):
So a stormy ocean can mirrorthe upheaval the protagonist or
antagonist feels when asituation comes to a climax.
And when I was thinking aboutthat, I was thinking about that
scene in the Harrison Ford movie, one of the one of the movies,
where he's the analyst, ciaanalyst, and they're on the
(18:17):
ocean and he's having a fightand it's really coming to the
climax and everything has boiledup over.
Well, the ocean is boiling upover in that storm.
It was.
It was great use of setting.
That's brilliant.
Wendy H. Jones (18:31):
I've never thought about using it as
opposing or using the setting toshow the characters feelings as
well.
So again, excellent tips.
I'm loving this because I'mlearning so much and I'm sure my
listeners are on the edge oftheir seat as well, agreeing
with me because there's somereally good tips and strategies
here.
And we can't get away withtalking about short stories
(18:55):
without saying they have limitedword counts.
So what are some strategies fordelivering a compelling plot
twist or surprise ending withinthe constraints of a shorter
format?
Claire A Murray (19:06):
Well, I'm going to break that into two parts.
First, about the limited wordcount Just write the story that
needs to come out and don'tworry about the word count,
because sometimes you can take astory that's a little longer
and find a way to trim it to fitwhatever the requirements are
(19:28):
that you're writing for.
I had a short story that Ireally liked, and I love the
opening scene.
It gave a lot of texture to themain character, who was a dog.
But my critique group didn'tthink it was necessary, and
that's really all they could sayabout it.
(19:50):
They loved it, they thought itwas great, but they didn't think
it advanced the plot.
So I waited months and monthsand months and then finally said
, okay, I'm going to pull thatscene out and just take one or
two little incidents from it andmove them into the new first
scene.
And so a few months after thatI gave it back to the critique
(20:12):
group for a final run-throughand they were like I don't know
what you did differently, but itworks.
So just write the story andthen you can cut later.
Keep it simple.
If it's too complex, you'lllose continuity when you cut.
Just try to keep the storylinesimple and the character numbers
(20:36):
down and if you have a lot ofcharacters and you find two
characters are sort of playing asimilar kind of role, create
one character out of them whofulfills both roles.
That's really it.
When you get to, after you'vewritten it, then you need to
(20:56):
examine it that's your first setof revisions or edits and
examine each scene, for does itadvance the plot or give us
character depth or heighten thetension or suspense?
If not, move it out.
I never tell people to deletesomething.
When I say toss it or move itout, I mean you move it to.
(21:19):
I'm not going to use this herenow, because I think you're
written words.
Sometimes, when the words areflowing, it's a nice description
, it's a nice something and youcan use it elsewhere later.
After you've gone through itthat way, go down to the
sentence level, examine eachsentence.
(21:40):
Does it slow things down orspeed them up?
Do you need so many words tosay that?
I find a lot of people.
Just they make nouns out ofverbs and use extra words.
She took a sip of tea.
Well, took is not the importantverb.
Sip is the verb, but you'vemade it a noun.
(22:02):
She sipped her tea.
Now you've shortened the wordcount, but you've also helped
the reader move along.
I tell people keep the subjectand the verb close together.
If you've got too much betweenthem, you probably have a lot of
filler words.
So ask yourself do you need touse so many words to say that?
(22:25):
Then go back and look at yourdescriptions of scene and
setting and people Would thecharacter have noticed all the
details that are there in thatdescription in a fleeting moment
, or is this a long thought intheir head that helps frame the
(22:47):
story?
So I have one short story thatopens with a woman in the
restaurant.
She's in the back corner of therestaurant watching people in
line waiting to get in and she'snoting details, not about them
well, a little about them butalso their interaction with
(23:08):
other people.
If you find out a fewparagraphs later, she's an
advice columnist.
So this is her daily routine ofpeople watching.
But other than that, peopledon't think in long, complex
sentences.
So does your description framethe story, but write it the way
(23:31):
they would notice it.
So instead of a catalogdescription of the beautiful
blue vase, it's just have thecharacter Wow, the blue on that
X Y Z vase.
Maybe it's Ming vase orsomething they're in a museum
would match my bedspread.
Now, you know something aboutthe vase and the character, but
(23:54):
you haven't had a catalogdescription.
So, tie those things togetherand keep your descriptions.
I had a critique partner.
I had a scene where a retiredpolice detective went into an
empty room in a nursing homewith multiple beds, because
(24:15):
something had happened and shewas investigating it and she had
a complete description of thewhole room in sentences.
Each bed was fully made.
Oh, and then in the corner wasa teddy bear on the floor and
one bed was unmade.
And I said to her policedetective is not going to think
in those long detective longsentences, they're going to walk
(24:38):
in and their police mind, eventhough she's retired, their
police mind, is going to kick inand they're going to note Eight
beds, seven made, one unmadeobject on floor in the corner,
teddy bear.
They're going to think that wayand so we're in the character's
head with her.
So write it that way.
(24:59):
So get into your character'shead and write things the way
they would notice them, even ifit's poor grammar and this and
that because you're in thecharacter's mind.
Wendy H. Jones (25:11):
They are brilliant tips.
I mean, wow, this is stellarstuff really.
And it's right, you know and Ihave to do that as well, because
we all tend to be a bit wordyand then you have to think, no,
get that down.
They've not got time.
They're trying to assess asituation as quickly as possible
because of a killer to catch.
You know, they've a murderer tocatch or whatever it is.
(25:31):
Whoever they have to catch, sothey're not going to be thinking
in long sentences, they'regoing to be thinking in
contractions, and you knowthat's something that we should
all learn more of.
But all of it is sound advice,thank you.
Claire A Murray (25:45):
I want to.
How to apply it to your ownwriting?
Yeah, absolutely, it's easy tosee it in someone else's.
It's harder to apply it to yourown.
Wendy H. Jones (25:56):
Absolutely, you know.
But I can't edit my own workfor toffee.
You know what I mean.
I always have to get somebodyto look at it because I can edit
everybody else's no trouble,you know.
But I think all writers arelike that, you know, because we
see what we want to see in ourown work.
That's right, and that's thecase.
I know that we have to do a lotof research for anything we're
(26:19):
writing, but it's, I mean, it'simportant in crime writing
because you need authenticity,but obviously you don't want to
spend, you know, six monthsresearching for one short story
because otherwise you're nevergoing to get short stories out,
you know.
So it's.
What are some tips forconducting research and
(26:39):
incorporating realistic detailsinto crime stories without
overwhelming the narrative?
Claire A Murray (26:47):
Well, it's interesting because I was
writing a short story for theanthology that's coming out in
September and I began with oneidea in my head and I began
researching it and I wasn'tfinding the information that I
needed that would support thestory.
But I became fascinated withwhere the research led me, which
(27:13):
was, instead of a story set inthe 1950s, it would take me back
to the 1890s and when miningwas really going strong in
Arizona, and I thought, well,maybe that's the story I should
write.
And so I shifted my researchfocus on those earlier days of
(27:37):
mining and the changes that wentabout and when certain changes
were made and how that affectedthe areas here in Arizona, and
then made my selection of whattime period I would focus on,
partly because of what I couldfind for actual.
I actually found newspapers,reprints of the newspapers of
(28:00):
the day and said, ok, so thesetwo years here is a good time
for focus, because I had details.
I had how the newspaperdescribed people.
They were like a blog chat, youknow.
Oh well, so, and so visitedtown today and blah, blah, blah,
you know, and I thought youknow, and that was the newspaper
you know.
(28:22):
So sometimes research can helpyou shift your direction a
little bit, but I think it'simportant for the writer to know
more than the reader at somepoint.
But then you have to figure outwhat details to parcel out.
So you get all the details, youwrite it down and then you pick
(28:46):
out the details that the readerwould need to know.
So, for example, they don'tneed to know every instrument
and every test that's going tobe conducted at an, you know
forensically, for aninvestigation.
They don't need to know whatthe test is, but they might need
to know.
(29:06):
Ok, well, the blood spatteranalysis was sent to XYZ lab and
other evidence was sent to thislab where a different
specialist would do it, andthat's all the reader needs to
know at that point.
But the author needs to knowmore in order to figure out
(29:26):
where certain pieces of evidencewould have to go.
So that's an example of usingof gathering more information
than you need to give the readerAnother another good thing to
do is to try to interviewsomeone who actually does or has
done that job in real life andhave them read and comment on
(29:48):
that section of the story.
But then they may add in moredetail than the reader needs.
So you need a non expert toread the same thing and say,
does this make sense to you?
And then you can figure outwhat from the expert added to
put into your thing to help thatreader understand it.
(30:11):
So so it's a little bit morework.
In a different way I say don'tuse TV and movies for your
technical research because theyget it wrong all the time, and
Miranda rights are one exampleof this.
Somebody told me in a story thatsomebody had to be Miranda eyes
(30:32):
the minute the police showed upor, you know, as soon as the
police started talking tosomeone.
And that's not true.
In the United States theMiranda rights kick in only
after you place the person incustody, which means they were
arrested.
Now they're under your control.
When they're under your control, then you have to Miranda eyes
(30:53):
them.
The other mistake people makeis that if you, if there's a
mistake in the Miranda, thewhole case will get thrown out.
The only part of the case thatgets thrown out is something
that the person said before theywere Miranda eyesed, but any
other evidence is fine.
You know so little things likethat.
(31:14):
Tv and movies go for drama overreality most of the time.
Wendy H. Jones (31:21):
Yeah, that's so true, it's been again.
It's authenticity and gettingit right.
But, as the police said to mehere, because the police came
round to my house and spent fivehours giving me advice, you
know, and then at the very endthey went for haven't say, don't
write anything we do, it'sboring, just make it all up, you
know.
Which is much more exciting,you know, and, for example, the
(31:44):
Scottish police are not armed.
We don't have any guns.
The Scottish police don't haveguns, but we do have a team that
go out with guns if needed.
So they can be armed, butthey're not ordinarily.
But of course, they said youjust can't change your team into
a brand new team at the end ofthe book, so just give them guns
and say they're the team youknow at that point.
(32:05):
So you do have to, you've gotto get it right, but you've also
got to give some leeway fordoing a compelling story that
isn't going to bore the readerto tears, because you're doing
exactly what the CID or whoever,or the police actually do in
real life.
So it's a fine balance.
It's a fine balance.
Claire A Murray (32:26):
Well, police work can be really boring.
Yeah, that's what they said, andthat's why you know TV dramas
compress it into an hour but butnormally it would take you well
, you know watch.
A lot of people now arewatching reality crime stories
like 48 hours and this and that,where real police work and
(32:48):
police officers andinvestigators are telling you.
You know what it's really likeand you see the amount of time
it takes for things and and andand the frustration that can
build up when you, when youthink you have a solid lead and
you don't.
So at least, at least thereality shows are a little
(33:10):
helpful.
Wendy H. Jones (33:11):
Well, I went out on a ride along in the USA, in
Williamsburg and Williamsburghas to be the most law abiding
place in the whole history ofthe world and I spent hours with
them and we did do a little bitand I can't tell you what
because obviously I'm notallowed to, but there was a
couple of bits.
But on the whole he said wejust drive round and round and
round making sure there's nobodyon the streets in the posh
(33:32):
house areas, you know, so thatif there is, if somebody
suspicious is there, we justwind down the window and say,
all right, there, you know, orwhatever the American equivalent
of that is, you know, and movethem on.
You can write a crime based onthat, because you lose the world
to live, you lose your readerin the first chapter.
Claire A Murray (33:53):
Yeah, and I, like no one, would ever want to
live in Cabo Cove, maine,because there's too many murders
and you had.
A small community like that isgoing to really have very few
and precisely.
Wendy H. Jones (34:04):
So, you know and what I discovered was that the
police are lovely and they do areally good job.
You know, I had a really goodevening, as I say, but there was
a couple of bits that we had todeal with, which was exciting,
but on the whole it was just aquiet sitting in the car
drinking coffee and drive around.
You know, which was pleasant aswell, because I got to ask the
(34:25):
policemen all the questions Ineeded to ask about the American
police, which was good, becauseI was doing one of my books was
going to be based in Britainand America, so I got all my
questions answers, which wasmarvelous.
So there we go.
The police are great.
They're going to be all sortsof information.
So, moving onwards from myroute along in Williamsburg,
(34:47):
which isn't really what we'rehere to talk about, I mean
you've already mentioned onecommon pitfall about what the
crime writers fall into.
But what are some commonpitfallers?
Are cliches to avoid whenwriting short crime stories, and
how can writers approachfamiliar themes in a fresh and
(35:08):
inventive way?
Claire A Murray (35:12):
Well, you know, love triangles are a common
cliche the amnesiac who wakes upfrom a coma and now must either
be murdered or, depending onyour point of view, saved from
being murdered, the chosen one,which is the destiny story.
You know, you have the genethat makes this work and you
(35:34):
know you're the one who has todo it, what they call a
two-dimensional heroine no flaws, superior at everything she
does.
You know.
Just, you know, and I think alot of authors today are doing a
better job of dealing with thatby giving their characters and
(35:59):
this is really hard to do whenyou like a character a lot, you
have to give them flaws, youhave to give them self-doubt,
you have to give them a habitthat they're trying to break
because it's not good for them,or something like that.
Otherwise they're just likeCaptain America coming in to
(36:20):
save the day and you know he'sgoing to win and this and that
Abusive or absentee parents, thefirst person narrator looking
at him or herself in the mirror,you know, in the opening scene,
and you know that kind of stuff.
So those are common cliches.
(36:41):
And what's her name?
Ellen Byron, I think it's EllenByron or Hallie Efron, I can't
remember which one said it Takethat and just turn it around on
its head, take the way it wouldnormally end and change how it
(37:01):
ends.
So what is it that works about acliche is that it's familiar
and comfortable and people wantto escape in a book and so when
they settle in and they seesomething familiar and
comfortable, they feel like theyknow where it's going.
So they come along with you forthe ride.
So you want to give it anunexpected twist and make it
(37:23):
fresh or new again.
So one way you do that is youwrite your own story, not
someone else's.
The story ideas are out there.
Everybody's using the samestory ideas.
But what is it about yourpersonal self, your family
dynamics, your education, yoursocial groups and even kind of
(37:50):
the work groups that you're inand experiences you've had?
That can make a difference inthe use of that cliche.
What's different about you?
It makes it your story.
So only you can tell your own.
You know that story.
(38:11):
How do you make it a story thatonly you can tell?
You have to bring a little bitof yourself into it and that's
an exposure and a revelationthat can be high for some people
to do.
There's a wall there you'rebreaking, what are your dreams,
your fears, what's influencedyou, and if you can imbue some
(38:33):
of that into your character orcharacters.
Now you've given the readersomething a little bit unique
and fresh and that makes it feelless like a cliche, for
sensational stories can betiring.
So just take a simple story andadd tension to it through the
(38:56):
use of interesting characters.
Three-dimensional charactersmake the crime less sensational
and more intimate to thecharacters closer to them.
A robbery can be traumatizing.
It doesn't have to be a murder.
I have friends who write verygood and well-selling books with
(39:20):
no murder.
That doesn't have to be amurder.
To make it compelling, to makeit suspenseful, to make it
something that people want tospend their time with.
Wendy H. Jones (39:35):
Again, really good advice.
And that's true.
It doesn't always have to be amurder, although I have to say,
in Scotland we're rather partialto a crime.
If you haven't got a murder onpage two, everybody's like
what's this about?
We're rather partial to murdersin Scotland.
I don't know why, but we are.
It must be all those genes fromwhen we were running around
(39:55):
trying to kill the English orsomething.
It must be something like that.
It's terrible.
But you're right, it doesn'talways have to be.
I mean closed-room mysterieswith robberies and things can be
just as equally compelling.
You're right, we've touched onthis a little bit, but again I
want to pick something againjust a bit more.
(40:16):
But crime stories often involveinvestigations in detective
work.
In fact, they always involveinvestigations in detective work
.
So how can writers create anengaging and plausible
investigation process but thatkeeps the readers engaged and
guessing?
Because of course we've alreadysaid that a lot of police work
can be dreary.
Claire A Murray (40:37):
Well, I don't write police procedurals so I
avoid that whole aspect offollowing a detective or a
police officer around doingtheir job.
But that means your maincharacter has to have a really
good reason to be involved.
What are the stakes thepersonal stakes for that
(41:00):
character?
And you can't always have yourmain character be the one
accused of the murder,especially if you have
characters that you use inmultiple stories.
So now you need to have anotherreason.
There is a friend involved, orthere's a family member involved
(41:23):
, or there's a secret and youdon't want that secret to get
out.
But the investigation of thecrime might reveal that secret.
So they're involved becausethey're trying to protect their
own interests.
That might also be a good way tobring out the antagonist point
(41:44):
of view.
If you've ever written a storyfrom it and I have one short
story written from the serialkiller's point of view so as it
starts to get investigated hereally starts to sweat,
literally and figuratively.
So you want to answer thequestions that will be on the
(42:09):
reader's mind, but only answerthem when they should be
revealed.
So if you can hold off on themain character knowing certain
information until closer to theend, then you've had a way to
build suspense throughout,because they're searching for
the answer to that and theyhaven't been able to find it
(42:33):
because they're not in anofficial position to get it.
The other thing, and some won'teven be answered till the very
end, so don't give it away tooearly.
There are blogs by two people,dp Lyle, who's an MD, and Lee
Laughlin, and they have thecredentials to provide solid
(42:54):
forensic and investigativeinformation for writers, and
they do a wonderful job.
And I know that this year wasthe last writer's police academy
, but I saw online that there'sgoing to be something different
for 2024.
So still check out LeeLaughlin's site, and DP Lyle
(43:21):
also has some books out too, sothat might be very helpful.
Wendy H. Jones (43:27):
Excellent, thank you.
And thank you for therecommendations I've heard of DP
Lyle and yeah, that is veryuseful for anyone to read.
Claire A Murray (43:42):
So Lee Laughlin's website, by the way,
is called the Graveyard Shiftbecause he used to work at
Graveyard Shift as a policeman,as an investigator.
Wendy H. Jones (43:52):
Brilliant.
I like it.
The Graveyard Shift.
I'm writing that down so Iremember the Graveyard Shift.
Thank you, Lee Laughlin.
What advice would you give tosomeone who wanted to write
crime short stories?
Claire A Murray (44:06):
Stattle the crime that is not too complex or
complicated, because each levelof complexity makes the story
longer.
So start with something simple.
Pay attention to the news.
There are a lot of crimescommitted by people who are kind
of stupid, but it can set yourmind to thinking.
(44:31):
I mean, there's this site thatgives out the Darwin Awards for
crime, and literally what theydo is they find the stupidest
crimes committed and they say,yeah, this one wins the Darwin
Award.
And I remember one one year wasthe person who stole an ATM by
(44:54):
tying chains or rope around itto the back of his pickup truck
and hauling it out to pull itoff its back.
It barriers.
Well, you know, there's camerasthere recording everything.
And there's his license plateon the back of his truck.
He didn't take it off first.
So that's, you know, the DarwinAwards for stupidity.
(45:15):
So join, you know, and playwith those kinds of stories and
then say, okay, now how can I,how can I make my antagonist a
little bit smarter and make thecrime a little less difficult, a
little more difficult to solve?
But you've got, you've got thebasis there.
(45:36):
You've got real things thatreal people have done.
Now you want to just, you know,make it a little harder to
figure out.
Join Sisters in Crime, mysteryWriters of America or other
writing groups because they'llhelp you develop your craft.
And short story writing is verydifferent from long story
writing, and I know people whowrite short.
(45:57):
They've written hundreds andpublished hundreds of short
stories and they're tackling anovel and saying, wow, this is a
whole different ball game, thisis really hard work, whereas
the rest of us, you know, writelong and then we try a short
story and we say, wow, this isreally difficult, this is hard
work.
So some of some people writewell long and some people write
(46:20):
well short and and sometimesit's hard to shift from one to
the other.
Read Easeen it's onlinemagazines there's and there's
Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
two of the longest running andwell known Mystery Magazines
(46:40):
that publish short stories allthe time.
Read those stories, see the,see the styles they're used and
see the kinds of things theywrite about.
There's Black Cat MysteryMagazine.
There's Mystery Weekly, sothere's a lot actually out there
that's available to.
Plus, you know, hundreds ofanthologies and short story
(47:00):
collections to choose from.
And there's writer focusedmagazines and blogs, such as the
Writer.
Read Easeen Career Author, nowNovel Writers Digest.
They give out a ton of writingadvice for free, and your you
know these blogs are really,really helpful and I've used
(47:22):
those in my critiquing.
You know, when I when I seesomeone making the same mistake
over and over and over and Irealize they're just not
understanding, I'll do someresearch and find a really good
article that pinpoints exactlywhat they're doing and why they
might want to shift it a littlebit, and I'll put that in the
(47:45):
critique.
I'll put the link in thecritique so that you know
they've got the source.
And, for your own piece of mind, stay safe when pursuing
publication by staying updatedwith the Writer Beware blog.
That's a site that can warn youoff of bad publishers, bad
(48:08):
agents and other scams and otherthings that go awry in the
publishing industry.
Any writer should stay on topof the Writer Beware blog.
Wendy H. Jones (48:17):
Absolutely, I agree.
Writer Beware blog should be amust read for every writer.
I'm going to give you anothermust read, which is Writers
Narrative Magazine.
It only came out today.
That was a new magazine.
I'll give a plug for it.
Claire A Murray (48:31):
Yay, congratulations.
Wendy H. Jones (48:33):
Thank you, thank you.
Yeah, so there's a new magazineon the block, as they say, but
all the ones you've mentioned aswell, outstanding, especially
the you know, like Ellery Queenmagazine, sherlock Holmes
magazine I've never heard ofBlack Cat, but I'm going to be
chasing that up as well.
So, yeah, really good advicethere.
So I was going to ask you aboutWordCount, but I think we
(48:55):
pretty much covered theWordCount issue and how we can
write throughout the rest of it.
So I think I'll just move onand ask you about your own
anthologies, because you havebeen in a number of anthologies.
Can you tell us about them?
Claire A Murray (49:14):
Well, this four in particular that I'm really
pleased to have been in.
The first one I was publishedin, you know, as an anthology,
was in 2017, 17 or 14, I don'tremember Busted Arresting
(49:34):
Stories from the Beat, and thatincluded my story Chains, which
is about a beat cop trying tosave an abused woman's life, and
that's from Lovell Best Books.
And then there was Peace, loveand Crime, crime Fiction
Inspired by the Songs of the 60s.
So my story Spirit in the Sky,is about a Vietnam vet 50 years
(49:57):
later who's still looking outand protecting two members from
his platoon.
Then there's so West Love Kills, and my story, the Backpack, is
about a man who kills hisbrother after a robbery gone
wrong and takes off into thedesert and then coming out in
(50:19):
September.
So West's wrong turn includesCharlotte's Mining Days, and
that's the story I was talkingabout earlier, where the
research led me to the story,and that's where a young woman
in 1890s Arizona tries to solvethe mystery of who's stealing
from their fellow miners aftershe's been accused of it.
(50:41):
So each of those I mean a beatcop, a Vietnam vet, a bank
robber and a female miner invastly different tales, but they
worked for different reasonsand I have one story that's in
(51:02):
submission.
It's been in submission forever.
There's just been delay afterdelay in the editor reading them
and I really, really like thatstory.
So I'm just crossing my fingersthat he'll finally get around
to finishing reading all thestories and making selections,
because I'd like to see thatpublished.
(51:23):
So and that's set in NewHampshire in the dead of winter,
and that's an assassin who'ssearching for her victim and
trying to out with him.
Wendy H. Jones (51:39):
Certainly eclectic stories.
Amazing.
You're an eclectic writer,that's for sure.
So my very final question iswhere can my listeners find out
more about you and your work?
Claire A Murray (51:50):
Well, primarily , although I don't update my
blog very often lately.
I started out I was able to doit weekly for a year and a half,
but life has gotten too busyand I don't update it much.
But my website, cam dashwritescom.
C A M dash W R I T E S dot com.
(52:10):
You can find me on Amazon isClaire A Murray and on Goodreads
as Claire A Murray.
So I think those are the and ohand on Facebook, of course,
which is Claire Murray writesRight.
Okay so that's out there,without the A, without the.
Wendy H. Jones (52:35):
A yeah, yeah, okay, thank you.
Well, thank you very much forjoining us, claire.
This has been enlightening.
It really has.
I'd loved it.
Claire A Murray (52:46):
Well, thank you very much, Wendy.
This has been a fun time and itwas fun to think about these
questions a little bit and, andyou know, put my thoughts, you
know into into my thoughts, intowords, because it it it always
points out I have more work togo back and do on my own stuff.
Wendy H. Jones (53:09):
Don't we all feel like that?
I tell you the minute it comesout.
You think oh, I wish it was toolate, now it's out.
Claire A Murray (53:16):
Yeah Well, thank you very much for having
me.
Wendy H. Jones (53:19):
And I'll see you in about an hour and a half's
time for our next enthrallinginstallment of yes, it's Tuesday
, I'm writing.
Otherwise known as the Claireand Wendy show.
Claire A Murray (53:32):
Or the Wendy and Claire show.
Wherever you want to look at it, take care, then We'll see you
then.
Thank you, bye, bye bye.
Wendy H. Jones (53:42):
That brings us to the end of another show.
It was really good to have youon the show with me today.
I'm Wendy H Jones and you canfind me at wendahjjonescom.
You can also find me on Patreon, where you can support me for
as little as $3 a month, whichis less than the price of a tea
or coffee.
(54:03):
You go to wwwpatrioncom.
Forward, slash wendahjjones.
I'm also Wendy H Jones onFacebook, twitter, instagram and
Pinterest.
Thank you for joining me todayand I hope you found it both
useful and interesting.
Join me next week when I willhave another cracking guest for
you.
Until then, have a good weekand keep writing, keep reading
(54:28):
and keep learning.
Hi and welcome to the Writing and Marketing
Show brought to you by authorWendy H Jones.
This show does exactly what itsays on the tin.
It's jam-packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news
to help you with the business ofwriting.
It's all wrapped up in onelively podcast.
So it's time to get on with theshow.
(00:23):
And welcome to episode 190 ofthe Writing and Marketing Show
with author entrepreneur Wendy HJones.
And what a pleasure it is tohave you here with me again for
the 190th show and those weeksjust flying past.
I cannot believe that in Januaryit will be four years since I
started the show.
It's mind-blowing.
(00:43):
Whilst I record this, I'm inScotland, which can't seem to
make up its mind, weather-wise,what it wants to do.
I'm freezing cold one minute,having to put the heating on,
and then the other the sun isshining and it's warm.
So I can't keep up.
But when you are listening tothis, I will be in Virginia and
I will be in baking in 100degree heat.
(01:09):
By the sounds of it.
I like the heat, but that's hoteven for me.
But I'm very much lookingforward to hitting the states
next week and I'm recordingseveral of these in advance.
And as I have recorded this.
In the last episode I told youthat my brand new writing
magazine was now out that'sWriters Narrative and I'm
delighted to say that it'sgetting really rave reviews
(01:33):
already and I'm so excited aboutthat.
So it's good to know thatpeople are finding the magazine
useful.
So I've been having a great dayreally just watching what is
happening with it and whatpeople are thinking, and it's
great to know that I've broughtsomething out that will help
(01:53):
other authors.
The other thing I've done islast week I launched my writing
and retreat business,auscotpublishingcom, which is
Auscot Publishing and Retreats.
At OsscotPublishingcom.
That's A-U-S-C-O-TPublishingcom, and I'll put the
link in the show notes.
And, if you would like, aWriters Retreat in Scotland in
(02:15):
February where it will be allit's called Missing Manuscripts.
It will be all log fires andhaving a great time and learning
your craft, but you'll also getto see some of Historic
Scotland as well.
So again, it would be lovely tosee you there and I'll put a
link for that and the WritersNarrative in the show notes.
(02:38):
Before I introduce Claire, Iwould like to say it's an
absolute pleasure to bring youthe show every week.
I do so willingly and I enjoydoing it.
However, it does take time outof my writing.
If you would like to supportthat time, you can do so by
going to.
You can go to Patreon.
c om/ Wendy H Jones and you cansupport me for just $3 a month,
(03:02):
which is the price of a tea orcoffee per month, and I would be
very grateful.
So thank you for all those whodo support me.
I appreciate it and I reallyfind the support keeps me going
because it lets me know you likethe show and you want me to
continue up to the four yearsand beyond.
(03:23):
So what of Claire?
Claire A Murray is a phoenix isa Arizona author of short
stories and novels who missesher native New England but loves
her New Desert digs.
She writes Crime, mystery,fantasy and Sci-Fi, not
necessarily in that order.
She is the lead editor for theforthcoming anthology so West
(03:45):
Wrong Turn, which come out inSeptember 23, and plans to
release Play the Hand your Delt,a collection of her own short
stories, in 2023 as well.
A member of Sisters and CrimeMystery Writers of America and
the Short Mystery FictionSociety, Claire writes full time
, dabbles in painting and liveson a steady diet of zoominars
for connection, inspiration andsanity.
(04:07):
You can find out more about herat calm-writescom, where
character, crime and mysterycollide, and I will put the link
for that in the show notes.
And I'm going to be talking toClaire today about writing short
stories, or crime short storiesin particular.
So, without further ado, let'sget on with the show and meet
(04:29):
Claire.
I have Claire with me.
Hi Claire, how are you today?
Claire A Murray (04:38):
I'm fine, wendy , thank you.
How are you doing?
Wendy H. Jones (04:41):
I'm very well, although I'm freezing to death
here in Scotland.
I have to say it's allapparently cold here.
Are you in the middle of one ofthese heatwaves that
everybody's having?
Claire A Murray (04:51):
We are in a multi-week heatwave, every day
over 110.
It's 9.30 in the morning andit's 98.
Wendy H. Jones (05:03):
Where are you?
Claire A Murray (05:04):
Phoenix, Arizona.
So we're in the desert bowlthey call it the desert bowl and
we have a heat dome over usthat basically is keeping all
the heat in.
Wendy H. Jones (05:14):
Right, okay, would you like to send some in
our direction, because we'd lovesome.
Claire A Murray (05:19):
I would love to , and I'm sure major parts of
the United States would like todo that as well.
This has really been extendedfor a number of areas.
Wendy H. Jones (05:29):
I know it has.
It's crazy this weather, butanyway we can forget about the
weather for five minutes and wecan all be cool, calm and
collected or excitable, becauseI'm very excited about the fact
we're going to be talking aboutwriting crime short stories
today and, to be honest, thefirst question has to be asked
is what exactly is considered tobe a short story?
Claire A Murray (05:53):
Short story is a story with a beginning, a
middle and an end, and it runsto a max of about 10,000 words.
Anything longer than that, it'seither a novelette, a little
longer a novella, longer thanthat a novel.
Anything longer than that, it'san epic.
So fantasies often turn intoepics.
(06:14):
Excuse me, I've got a tickle inmy throat.
Wendy H. Jones (06:17):
No worries, that often happens.
I have to say.
I did one entire episode whereI was coughing, and so was the
person who was I wasinterviewing, because we both
had chest infections.
That was right at the verybeginning.
So, hey, we take all in ourstride here.
Claire, you don't have to worry.
(06:37):
But 10,000 words, that's a lotof words, because I mean, by the
time you go up to 10,000, doyou think I'd be like, well, I
just make this a novel.
Claire A Murray (06:45):
I've done 10,000 already, you know, so
that Well, I took a 75, 7,400word short story and decided to
expand it to a novella which isabout 20, maybe 30,000 words,
and when I hit 42,000 words, Iaccepted the reality that it was
(07:07):
a novel.
It's now 73,000 words and I'mworking on finishing it up.
Wendy H. Jones (07:14):
Excellent.
Well, I have to say, novels,stories, tend to do that with
you.
They take out legs of their ownand just drag you along, maybe
not kicking and screaming, butat least pounding the keyboard.
Claire A Murray (07:24):
So yeah, and that's the high part with short
stories is they sometimes wantto be longer and you're trying
to keep them short.
Wendy H. Jones (07:34):
Absolutely.
You need to keep them in theirplace.
That's what I said Keep them intheir place.
I'm curious as to what elementsare essential for crafting a
grip and crime short story,because it needs to keep the
reader on the edge of theirseats from start to finish.
Claire A Murray (07:48):
Well, there's no hard and fast rules, but this
can help Start in the middle ofthe action rather than building
up to it, because there's verylittle room for that buildup.
That's my problem is I like tobuild things up and then
introduce your crime or whatever.
That's hard to do in shortstories.
You can have a setting thatenhances the tension or suspense
(08:15):
, and I'll probably mentionsetting again later as we go
into other things.
Tensions are bad for yourprotagonist and you have to make
them worse.
You've developed a bit oftension.
You don't want to let it go tooearly, so you bring in another
(08:37):
element of tension so thatyou're keeping the reader
gripped to the story.
But you do have to have somemoments where you give the
reader a chance to breathe,where you break the tension and
then you build it back up again.
Another technique and this isgood for long or short is to
(09:00):
have an antagonist who is assmart and strong as your
protagonist.
Otherwise it's an unequal fight.
Sometimes a duel of wits can beas gripping as an even more
gripping than a chase scene.
Use only those characters thatare necessary to fulfill the
(09:25):
story.
You don't have room for a lotof extras on the set.
Think of it as a play on asmall stage versus a large stage
.
You've got to reduce the numberof players.
Limited point of view changes.
A lot of times people tellstories in multiple points of
view.
In a short story you don't getas much chance to do that,
(09:48):
although I did do one with fivepoints of view, because there
were four main characters whoeach had to have a short scene
that introduced them and itconnected them immediately to
the story.
Then there was only one scenefrom the antagonist point of
(10:10):
view.
I think it worked.
I think it worked.
Wendy H. Jones (10:15):
That's an exception.
I know that you can manage todo five points of view in one
short story.
That's pretty impressive.
That is skill.
I hope so.
Claire A Murray (10:32):
I hope people like it.
Wendy H. Jones (10:35):
You've raised some really good points there.
One thing I would like to touchon from it, which we mentioned,
is crime stories.
They often involve complexcharacters.
How can writers developmultidimensional protagonists
and antagonists that readersconnect with an understand in a
short story form?
Claire A Murray (10:54):
Well, by having fewer characters, you get to
devote more time to the ones youhave, and if you can devote
more time to them, you can playout their development.
One of the suggestions I givepeople is to write a scene with
dialogue between the protagonistand the antagonist, even if you
(11:18):
don't plan to use it, becausein writing that scene where they
interact with each other,you're actually helping develop
their characters and theirrelationship.
And then you know thatinformation, you've locked it
into your head.
This is how they think abouteach other, and then that you
(11:39):
know.
You don't even use it in thestory, but you're using what you
learned as the author from itin how you deal with them in the
story and how you have themthink about the other and how
they interact with other people.
You know how some people getalong really well and then one
person will bring something upand is like, oh, don't even go
there, I don't want to hearabout that person.
(12:01):
You know that kind of thing,but if you haven't written that
little dialogue exchange betweenthe two, you might not have
thought to do that.
Wendy H. Jones (12:09):
What a brilliant tip.
I have to say, I think that'sactually one of the best tips
I've ever heard on the show inthree and a half years.
So, thank you, you'redeveloping characters.
I love it, thank you for that.
And you've brought me nicely onto my next question, because I
want to bring up dialogue, andit's crucial in crime narratives
.
So how do you create realisticand compelling dialogue that
(12:33):
adds depth to the characters andadvances the plot effectively?
And, of course, we've got tobear in mind that you can't have
the hello how are you?
I'm fine, how are you?
Because you're wasting words.
Claire A Murray (12:42):
Well, you can if it's British.
I mean, I took you Because theyplay off that well, very well,
I think Monty Python you know.
But you listen to people.
Listen to people in the grocerystore, the coffee shop, listen
to people in places where theirbosses or family are not around,
(13:03):
because then you'll get howthey really talk to each other
you know, and you know, listenin on an argument between two
people.
I know it's eavesdropping, it'simpolite, but you can learn a
lot because the language changes, the tone of voice changes, the
(13:24):
body language changes when twopeople are really you know, they
know each other well andthey've gotten on each other's
nerves and they're really tenseabout it.
Because that helps you withdialogue, descriptions and
everything else.
When you have an interaction inyours and listen to people from
different socioeconomicbackgrounds and other cultures,
(13:48):
because things differ, you'recatching different slang.
And it's not that younecessarily want to use the
slang, it's more that how dopeople speak?
Some people use contractions alot, some people don't.
I was brought up in a household.
My mother would never let usget away with saying want to,
(14:08):
it's want to.
You know she was stuck onproper English, proper grammar,
and that has stuck with me mywhole life.
Certain things I don'tabbreviate or if I do, I repeat
it properly.
A few people, unless it's aninterview, speak in long,
(14:31):
complex sentences and paragraphs, and yet I see dialogue where
it's a whole paragraph ofsomeone speaking in long
sentences and describingsomething and it's like this
person's a private detective andex-cop.
Is he really going to speakthat way, you know it'd be more
(14:52):
like you know, listen to LennyBriscoe on Law and Order and how
he'll describe something versushow Benjamin Bratt would
describe the same thing.
They use different words forthe same thing because they come
from different backgrounds.
So, and the other thing is isin dialogue people don't always
(15:15):
answer the question that's beenasked.
They talk about something elsecompletely.
So if it's too much back andforth all the time, then you
know, especially like couples.
Couples will carry on aconversation and if you were to
write it down, it looks likethey're talking about something
entirely different and they are,and yet at the same time
(15:38):
they're letting each other knowhow they feel.
Wendy H. Jones (15:42):
Yeah, no, again, great tips there really are,
and it's true that you know,people speak differently and
they speak differently dependingon where they're coming from as
well.
For example, when I'm in London, some people there will say
want to go to town, which means,do you want to go to town?
Well, we would say no.
(16:02):
I would say do you want to goto town?
But everybody around thereunderstands it because that's
the way they speak locally andcolloquially, you know me.
The thing is, if you startputting that sort of thing in a
book, people would give you badreviews, saying you couldn't
write a sentence because it'snot go town, it's go to town.
You know, it's just.
(16:24):
It's just differences.
So bringing that in can give itauthenticity as well.
So, thank you.
Yeah, I agree, people speakdifferently, you know, and we've
briefly touched on setting, butI'd like to unpick it a bit
more.
So how can writers effectivelyuse setting and atmosphere to
(16:44):
enhance the mood and tension incrime short stories?
Claire A Murray (16:48):
I think you can use setting to mirror the story
, the tension, the feeling, theattitude, or you can use it to
oppose it and bring out the factthat it's different.
So, for example, if you, youknow the sky darkening with
(17:09):
advancing clouds, you know canset the tone for trouble brewing
you know, because the storm isbrewing At the same time, the
sun bursting through the cloudscan be the opposite of how the
protagonist feels.
And the protagonist or anycharacter can say, oh yeah, it's
(17:31):
a bright, sunny day, it's mylife where it's sunny as that.
And then suddenly you realizeyou've got that that build up
there with the setting, isopposite the person's feelings,
but it's allowed you to tell thereader what the what the
feelings are, without saying, oh, she felt blue today, you know.
(17:53):
So a stormy ocean can mirrorthe upheaval the protagonist or
antagonist feels when asituation comes to a climax.
And when I was thinking aboutthat, I was thinking about that
scene in the Harrison Ford movie, one of the one of the movies,
where he's the analyst, ciaanalyst, and they're on the
(18:17):
ocean and he's having a fightand it's really coming to the
climax and everything has boiledup over.
Well, the ocean is boiling upover in that storm.
It was.
It was great use of setting.
That's brilliant.
Wendy H. Jones (18:31):
I've never thought about using it as
opposing or using the setting toshow the characters feelings as
well.
So again, excellent tips.
I'm loving this because I'mlearning so much and I'm sure my
listeners are on the edge oftheir seat as well, agreeing
with me because there's somereally good tips and strategies
here.
And we can't get away withtalking about short stories
(18:55):
without saying they have limitedword counts.
So what are some strategies fordelivering a compelling plot
twist or surprise ending withinthe constraints of a shorter
format?
Claire A Murray (19:06):
Well, I'm going to break that into two parts.
First, about the limited wordcount Just write the story that
needs to come out and don'tworry about the word count,
because sometimes you can take astory that's a little longer
and find a way to trim it to fitwhatever the requirements are
(19:28):
that you're writing for.
I had a short story that Ireally liked, and I love the
opening scene.
It gave a lot of texture to themain character, who was a dog.
But my critique group didn'tthink it was necessary, and
that's really all they could sayabout it.
(19:50):
They loved it, they thought itwas great, but they didn't think
it advanced the plot.
So I waited months and monthsand months and then finally said
, okay, I'm going to pull thatscene out and just take one or
two little incidents from it andmove them into the new first
scene.
And so a few months after thatI gave it back to the critique
(20:12):
group for a final run-throughand they were like I don't know
what you did differently, but itworks.
So just write the story andthen you can cut later.
Keep it simple.
If it's too complex, you'lllose continuity when you cut.
Just try to keep the storylinesimple and the character numbers
(20:36):
down and if you have a lot ofcharacters and you find two
characters are sort of playing asimilar kind of role, create
one character out of them whofulfills both roles.
That's really it.
When you get to, after you'vewritten it, then you need to
(20:56):
examine it that's your first setof revisions or edits and
examine each scene, for does itadvance the plot or give us
character depth or heighten thetension or suspense?
If not, move it out.
I never tell people to deletesomething.
When I say toss it or move itout, I mean you move it to.
(21:19):
I'm not going to use this herenow, because I think you're
written words.
Sometimes, when the words areflowing, it's a nice description
, it's a nice something and youcan use it elsewhere later.
After you've gone through itthat way, go down to the
sentence level, examine eachsentence.
(21:40):
Does it slow things down orspeed them up?
Do you need so many words tosay that?
I find a lot of people.
Just they make nouns out ofverbs and use extra words.
She took a sip of tea.
Well, took is not the importantverb.
Sip is the verb, but you'vemade it a noun.
(22:02):
She sipped her tea.
Now you've shortened the wordcount, but you've also helped
the reader move along.
I tell people keep the subjectand the verb close together.
If you've got too much betweenthem, you probably have a lot of
filler words.
So ask yourself do you need touse so many words to say that?
(22:25):
Then go back and look at yourdescriptions of scene and
setting and people Would thecharacter have noticed all the
details that are there in thatdescription in a fleeting moment
, or is this a long thought intheir head that helps frame the
(22:47):
story?
So I have one short story thatopens with a woman in the
restaurant.
She's in the back corner of therestaurant watching people in
line waiting to get in and she'snoting details, not about them
well, a little about them butalso their interaction with
(23:08):
other people.
If you find out a fewparagraphs later, she's an
advice columnist.
So this is her daily routine ofpeople watching.
But other than that, peopledon't think in long, complex
sentences.
So does your description framethe story, but write it the way
(23:31):
they would notice it.
So instead of a catalogdescription of the beautiful
blue vase, it's just have thecharacter Wow, the blue on that
X Y Z vase.
Maybe it's Ming vase orsomething they're in a museum
would match my bedspread.
Now, you know something aboutthe vase and the character, but
(23:54):
you haven't had a catalogdescription.
So, tie those things togetherand keep your descriptions.
I had a critique partner.
I had a scene where a retiredpolice detective went into an
empty room in a nursing homewith multiple beds, because
(24:15):
something had happened and shewas investigating it and she had
a complete description of thewhole room in sentences.
Each bed was fully made.
Oh, and then in the corner wasa teddy bear on the floor and
one bed was unmade.
And I said to her policedetective is not going to think
in those long detective longsentences, they're going to walk
(24:38):
in and their police mind, eventhough she's retired, their
police mind, is going to kick inand they're going to note Eight
beds, seven made, one unmadeobject on floor in the corner,
teddy bear.
They're going to think that wayand so we're in the character's
head with her.
So write it that way.
(24:59):
So get into your character'shead and write things the way
they would notice them, even ifit's poor grammar and this and
that because you're in thecharacter's mind.
Wendy H. Jones (25:11):
They are brilliant tips.
I mean, wow, this is stellarstuff really.
And it's right, you know and Ihave to do that as well, because
we all tend to be a bit wordyand then you have to think, no,
get that down.
They've not got time.
They're trying to assess asituation as quickly as possible
because of a killer to catch.
You know, they've a murderer tocatch or whatever it is.
(25:31):
Whoever they have to catch, sothey're not going to be thinking
in long sentences, they'regoing to be thinking in
contractions, and you knowthat's something that we should
all learn more of.
But all of it is sound advice,thank you.
Claire A Murray (25:45):
I want to.
How to apply it to your ownwriting?
Yeah, absolutely, it's easy tosee it in someone else's.
It's harder to apply it to yourown.
Wendy H. Jones (25:56):
Absolutely, you know.
But I can't edit my own workfor toffee.
You know what I mean.
I always have to get somebodyto look at it because I can edit
everybody else's no trouble,you know.
But I think all writers arelike that, you know, because we
see what we want to see in ourown work.
That's right, and that's thecase.
I know that we have to do a lotof research for anything we're
(26:19):
writing, but it's, I mean, it'simportant in crime writing
because you need authenticity,but obviously you don't want to
spend, you know, six monthsresearching for one short story
because otherwise you're nevergoing to get short stories out,
you know.
So it's.
What are some tips forconducting research and
(26:39):
incorporating realistic detailsinto crime stories without
overwhelming the narrative?
Claire A Murray (26:47):
Well, it's interesting because I was
writing a short story for theanthology that's coming out in
September and I began with oneidea in my head and I began
researching it and I wasn'tfinding the information that I
needed that would support thestory.
But I became fascinated withwhere the research led me, which
(27:13):
was, instead of a story set inthe 1950s, it would take me back
to the 1890s and when miningwas really going strong in
Arizona, and I thought, well,maybe that's the story I should
write.
And so I shifted my researchfocus on those earlier days of
(27:37):
mining and the changes that wentabout and when certain changes
were made and how that affectedthe areas here in Arizona, and
then made my selection of whattime period I would focus on,
partly because of what I couldfind for actual.
I actually found newspapers,reprints of the newspapers of
(28:00):
the day and said, ok, so thesetwo years here is a good time
for focus, because I had details.
I had how the newspaperdescribed people.
They were like a blog chat, youknow.
Oh well, so, and so visitedtown today and blah, blah, blah,
you know, and I thought youknow, and that was the newspaper
you know.
(28:22):
So sometimes research can helpyou shift your direction a
little bit, but I think it'simportant for the writer to know
more than the reader at somepoint.
But then you have to figure outwhat details to parcel out.
So you get all the details, youwrite it down and then you pick
(28:46):
out the details that the readerwould need to know.
So, for example, they don'tneed to know every instrument
and every test that's going tobe conducted at an, you know
forensically, for aninvestigation.
They don't need to know whatthe test is, but they might need
to know.
(29:06):
Ok, well, the blood spatteranalysis was sent to XYZ lab and
other evidence was sent to thislab where a different
specialist would do it, andthat's all the reader needs to
know at that point.
But the author needs to knowmore in order to figure out
(29:26):
where certain pieces of evidencewould have to go.
So that's an example of usingof gathering more information
than you need to give the readerAnother another good thing to
do is to try to interviewsomeone who actually does or has
done that job in real life andhave them read and comment on
(29:48):
that section of the story.
But then they may add in moredetail than the reader needs.
So you need a non expert toread the same thing and say,
does this make sense to you?
And then you can figure outwhat from the expert added to
put into your thing to help thatreader understand it.
(30:11):
So so it's a little bit morework.
In a different way I say don'tuse TV and movies for your
technical research because theyget it wrong all the time, and
Miranda rights are one exampleof this.
Somebody told me in a story thatsomebody had to be Miranda eyes
(30:32):
the minute the police showed upor, you know, as soon as the
police started talking tosomeone.
And that's not true.
In the United States theMiranda rights kick in only
after you place the person incustody, which means they were
arrested.
Now they're under your control.
When they're under your control, then you have to Miranda eyes
(30:53):
them.
The other mistake people makeis that if you, if there's a
mistake in the Miranda, thewhole case will get thrown out.
The only part of the case thatgets thrown out is something
that the person said before theywere Miranda eyesed, but any
other evidence is fine.
You know so little things likethat.
(31:14):
Tv and movies go for drama overreality most of the time.
Wendy H. Jones (31:21):
Yeah, that's so true, it's been again.
It's authenticity and gettingit right.
But, as the police said to mehere, because the police came
round to my house and spent fivehours giving me advice, you
know, and then at the very endthey went for haven't say, don't
write anything we do, it'sboring, just make it all up, you
know.
Which is much more exciting,you know, and, for example, the
(31:44):
Scottish police are not armed.
We don't have any guns.
The Scottish police don't haveguns, but we do have a team that
go out with guns if needed.
So they can be armed, butthey're not ordinarily.
But of course, they said youjust can't change your team into
a brand new team at the end ofthe book, so just give them guns
and say they're the team youknow at that point.
(32:05):
So you do have to, you've gotto get it right, but you've also
got to give some leeway fordoing a compelling story that
isn't going to bore the readerto tears, because you're doing
exactly what the CID or whoever,or the police actually do in
real life.
So it's a fine balance.
It's a fine balance.
Claire A Murray (32:26):
Well, police work can be really boring.
Yeah, that's what they said, andthat's why you know TV dramas
compress it into an hour but butnormally it would take you well
, you know watch.
A lot of people now arewatching reality crime stories
like 48 hours and this and that,where real police work and
(32:48):
police officers andinvestigators are telling you.
You know what it's really likeand you see the amount of time
it takes for things and and andand the frustration that can
build up when you, when youthink you have a solid lead and
you don't.
So at least, at least thereality shows are a little
(33:10):
helpful.
Wendy H. Jones (33:11):
Well, I went out on a ride along in the USA, in
Williamsburg and Williamsburghas to be the most law abiding
place in the whole history ofthe world and I spent hours with
them and we did do a little bitand I can't tell you what
because obviously I'm notallowed to, but there was a
couple of bits.
But on the whole he said wejust drive round and round and
round making sure there's nobodyon the streets in the posh
(33:32):
house areas, you know, so thatif there is, if somebody
suspicious is there, we justwind down the window and say,
all right, there, you know, orwhatever the American equivalent
of that is, you know, and movethem on.
You can write a crime based onthat, because you lose the world
to live, you lose your readerin the first chapter.
Claire A Murray (33:53):
Yeah, and I, like no one, would ever want to
live in Cabo Cove, maine,because there's too many murders
and you had.
A small community like that isgoing to really have very few
and precisely.
Wendy H. Jones (34:04):
So, you know and what I discovered was that the
police are lovely and they do areally good job.
You know, I had a really goodevening, as I say, but there was
a couple of bits that we had todeal with, which was exciting,
but on the whole it was just aquiet sitting in the car
drinking coffee and drive around.
You know, which was pleasant aswell, because I got to ask the
(34:25):
policemen all the questions Ineeded to ask about the American
police, which was good, becauseI was doing one of my books was
going to be based in Britainand America, so I got all my
questions answers, which wasmarvelous.
So there we go.
The police are great.
They're going to be all sortsof information.
So, moving onwards from myroute along in Williamsburg,
(34:47):
which isn't really what we'rehere to talk about, I mean
you've already mentioned onecommon pitfall about what the
crime writers fall into.
But what are some commonpitfallers?
Are cliches to avoid whenwriting short crime stories, and
how can writers approachfamiliar themes in a fresh and
(35:08):
inventive way?
Claire A Murray (35:12):
Well, you know, love triangles are a common
cliche the amnesiac who wakes upfrom a coma and now must either
be murdered or, depending onyour point of view, saved from
being murdered, the chosen one,which is the destiny story.
You know, you have the genethat makes this work and you
(35:34):
know you're the one who has todo it, what they call a
two-dimensional heroine no flaws, superior at everything she
does.
You know.
Just, you know, and I think alot of authors today are doing a
better job of dealing with thatby giving their characters and
(35:59):
this is really hard to do whenyou like a character a lot, you
have to give them flaws, youhave to give them self-doubt,
you have to give them a habitthat they're trying to break
because it's not good for them,or something like that.
Otherwise they're just likeCaptain America coming in to
(36:20):
save the day and you know he'sgoing to win and this and that
Abusive or absentee parents, thefirst person narrator looking
at him or herself in the mirror,you know, in the opening scene,
and you know that kind of stuff.
So those are common cliches.
(36:41):
And what's her name?
Ellen Byron, I think it's EllenByron or Hallie Efron, I can't
remember which one said it Takethat and just turn it around on
its head, take the way it wouldnormally end and change how it
(37:01):
ends.
So what is it that works about acliche is that it's familiar
and comfortable and people wantto escape in a book and so when
they settle in and they seesomething familiar and
comfortable, they feel like theyknow where it's going.
So they come along with you forthe ride.
So you want to give it anunexpected twist and make it
(37:23):
fresh or new again.
So one way you do that is youwrite your own story, not
someone else's.
The story ideas are out there.
Everybody's using the samestory ideas.
But what is it about yourpersonal self, your family
dynamics, your education, yoursocial groups and even kind of
(37:50):
the work groups that you're inand experiences you've had?
That can make a difference inthe use of that cliche.
What's different about you?
It makes it your story.
So only you can tell your own.
You know that story.
(38:11):
How do you make it a story thatonly you can tell?
You have to bring a little bitof yourself into it and that's
an exposure and a revelationthat can be high for some people
to do.
There's a wall there you'rebreaking, what are your dreams,
your fears, what's influencedyou, and if you can imbue some
(38:33):
of that into your character orcharacters.
Now you've given the readersomething a little bit unique
and fresh and that makes it feelless like a cliche, for
sensational stories can betiring.
So just take a simple story andadd tension to it through the
(38:56):
use of interesting characters.
Three-dimensional charactersmake the crime less sensational
and more intimate to thecharacters closer to them.
A robbery can be traumatizing.
It doesn't have to be a murder.
I have friends who write verygood and well-selling books with
(39:20):
no murder.
That doesn't have to be amurder.
To make it compelling, to makeit suspenseful, to make it
something that people want tospend their time with.
Wendy H. Jones (39:35):
Again, really good advice.
And that's true.
It doesn't always have to be amurder, although I have to say,
in Scotland we're rather partialto a crime.
If you haven't got a murder onpage two, everybody's like
what's this about?
We're rather partial to murdersin Scotland.
I don't know why, but we are.
It must be all those genes fromwhen we were running around
(39:55):
trying to kill the English orsomething.
It must be something like that.
It's terrible.
But you're right, it doesn'talways have to be.
I mean closed-room mysterieswith robberies and things can be
just as equally compelling.
You're right, we've touched onthis a little bit, but again I
want to pick something againjust a bit more.
(40:16):
But crime stories often involveinvestigations in detective
work.
In fact, they always involveinvestigations in detective work
.
So how can writers create anengaging and plausible
investigation process but thatkeeps the readers engaged and
guessing?
Because of course we've alreadysaid that a lot of police work
can be dreary.
Claire A Murray (40:37):
Well, I don't write police procedurals so I
avoid that whole aspect offollowing a detective or a
police officer around doingtheir job.
But that means your maincharacter has to have a really
good reason to be involved.
What are the stakes thepersonal stakes for that
(41:00):
character?
And you can't always have yourmain character be the one
accused of the murder,especially if you have
characters that you use inmultiple stories.
So now you need to have anotherreason.
There is a friend involved, orthere's a family member involved
(41:23):
, or there's a secret and youdon't want that secret to get
out.
But the investigation of thecrime might reveal that secret.
So they're involved becausethey're trying to protect their
own interests.
That might also be a good way tobring out the antagonist point
(41:44):
of view.
If you've ever written a storyfrom it and I have one short
story written from the serialkiller's point of view so as it
starts to get investigated hereally starts to sweat,
literally and figuratively.
So you want to answer thequestions that will be on the
(42:09):
reader's mind, but only answerthem when they should be
revealed.
So if you can hold off on themain character knowing certain
information until closer to theend, then you've had a way to
build suspense throughout,because they're searching for
the answer to that and theyhaven't been able to find it
(42:33):
because they're not in anofficial position to get it.
The other thing, and some won'teven be answered till the very
end, so don't give it away tooearly.
There are blogs by two people,dp Lyle, who's an MD, and Lee
Laughlin, and they have thecredentials to provide solid
(42:54):
forensic and investigativeinformation for writers, and
they do a wonderful job.
And I know that this year wasthe last writer's police academy
, but I saw online that there'sgoing to be something different
for 2024.
So still check out LeeLaughlin's site, and DP Lyle
(43:21):
also has some books out too, sothat might be very helpful.
Wendy H. Jones (43:27):
Excellent, thank you.
And thank you for therecommendations I've heard of DP
Lyle and yeah, that is veryuseful for anyone to read.
Claire A Murray (43:42):
So Lee Laughlin's website, by the way,
is called the Graveyard Shiftbecause he used to work at
Graveyard Shift as a policeman,as an investigator.
Wendy H. Jones (43:52):
Brilliant.
I like it.
The Graveyard Shift.
I'm writing that down so Iremember the Graveyard Shift.
Thank you, Lee Laughlin.
What advice would you give tosomeone who wanted to write
crime short stories?
Claire A Murray (44:06):
Stattle the crime that is not too complex or
complicated, because each levelof complexity makes the story
longer.
So start with something simple.
Pay attention to the news.
There are a lot of crimescommitted by people who are kind
of stupid, but it can set yourmind to thinking.
(44:31):
I mean, there's this site thatgives out the Darwin Awards for
crime, and literally what theydo is they find the stupidest
crimes committed and they say,yeah, this one wins the Darwin
Award.
And I remember one one year wasthe person who stole an ATM by
(44:54):
tying chains or rope around itto the back of his pickup truck
and hauling it out to pull itoff its back.
It barriers.
Well, you know, there's camerasthere recording everything.
And there's his license plateon the back of his truck.
He didn't take it off first.
So that's, you know, the DarwinAwards for stupidity.
(45:15):
So join, you know, and playwith those kinds of stories and
then say, okay, now how can I,how can I make my antagonist a
little bit smarter and make thecrime a little less difficult, a
little more difficult to solve?
But you've got, you've got thebasis there.
(45:36):
You've got real things thatreal people have done.
Now you want to just, you know,make it a little harder to
figure out.
Join Sisters in Crime, mysteryWriters of America or other
writing groups because they'llhelp you develop your craft.
And short story writing is verydifferent from long story
writing, and I know people whowrite short.
(45:57):
They've written hundreds andpublished hundreds of short
stories and they're tackling anovel and saying, wow, this is a
whole different ball game, thisis really hard work, whereas
the rest of us, you know, writelong and then we try a short
story and we say, wow, this isreally difficult, this is hard
work.
So some of some people writewell long and some people write
(46:20):
well short and and sometimesit's hard to shift from one to
the other.
Read Easeen it's onlinemagazines there's and there's
Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
two of the longest running andwell known Mystery Magazines
(46:40):
that publish short stories allthe time.
Read those stories, see the,see the styles they're used and
see the kinds of things theywrite about.
There's Black Cat MysteryMagazine.
There's Mystery Weekly, sothere's a lot actually out there
that's available to.
Plus, you know, hundreds ofanthologies and short story
(47:00):
collections to choose from.
And there's writer focusedmagazines and blogs, such as the
Writer.
Read Easeen Career Author, nowNovel Writers Digest.
They give out a ton of writingadvice for free, and your you
know these blogs are really,really helpful and I've used
(47:22):
those in my critiquing.
You know, when I when I seesomeone making the same mistake
over and over and over and Irealize they're just not
understanding, I'll do someresearch and find a really good
article that pinpoints exactlywhat they're doing and why they
might want to shift it a littlebit, and I'll put that in the
(47:45):
critique.
I'll put the link in thecritique so that you know
they've got the source.
And, for your own piece of mind, stay safe when pursuing
publication by staying updatedwith the Writer Beware blog.
That's a site that can warn youoff of bad publishers, bad
(48:08):
agents and other scams and otherthings that go awry in the
publishing industry.
Any writer should stay on topof the Writer Beware blog.
Wendy H. Jones (48:17):
Absolutely, I agree.
Writer Beware blog should be amust read for every writer.
I'm going to give you anothermust read, which is Writers
Narrative Magazine.
It only came out today.
That was a new magazine.
I'll give a plug for it.
Claire A Murray (48:31):
Yay, congratulations.
Wendy H. Jones (48:33):
Thank you, thank you.
Yeah, so there's a new magazineon the block, as they say, but
all the ones you've mentioned aswell, outstanding, especially
the you know, like Ellery Queenmagazine, sherlock Holmes
magazine I've never heard ofBlack Cat, but I'm going to be
chasing that up as well.
So, yeah, really good advicethere.
So I was going to ask you aboutWordCount, but I think we
(48:55):
pretty much covered theWordCount issue and how we can
write throughout the rest of it.
So I think I'll just move onand ask you about your own
anthologies, because you havebeen in a number of anthologies.
Can you tell us about them?
Claire A Murray (49:14):
Well, this four in particular that I'm really
pleased to have been in.
The first one I was publishedin, you know, as an anthology,
was in 2017, 17 or 14, I don'tremember Busted Arresting
(49:34):
Stories from the Beat, and thatincluded my story Chains, which
is about a beat cop trying tosave an abused woman's life, and
that's from Lovell Best Books.
And then there was Peace, loveand Crime, crime Fiction
Inspired by the Songs of the 60s.
So my story Spirit in the Sky,is about a Vietnam vet 50 years
(49:57):
later who's still looking outand protecting two members from
his platoon.
Then there's so West Love Kills, and my story, the Backpack, is
about a man who kills hisbrother after a robbery gone
wrong and takes off into thedesert and then coming out in
(50:19):
September.
So West's wrong turn includesCharlotte's Mining Days, and
that's the story I was talkingabout earlier, where the
research led me to the story,and that's where a young woman
in 1890s Arizona tries to solvethe mystery of who's stealing
from their fellow miners aftershe's been accused of it.
(50:41):
So each of those I mean a beatcop, a Vietnam vet, a bank
robber and a female miner invastly different tales, but they
worked for different reasonsand I have one story that's in
(51:02):
submission.
It's been in submission forever.
There's just been delay afterdelay in the editor reading them
and I really, really like thatstory.
So I'm just crossing my fingersthat he'll finally get around
to finishing reading all thestories and making selections,
because I'd like to see thatpublished.
(51:23):
So and that's set in NewHampshire in the dead of winter,
and that's an assassin who'ssearching for her victim and
trying to out with him.
Wendy H. Jones (51:39):
Certainly eclectic stories.
Amazing.
You're an eclectic writer,that's for sure.
So my very final question iswhere can my listeners find out
more about you and your work?
Claire A Murray (51:50):
Well, primarily , although I don't update my
blog very often lately.
I started out I was able to doit weekly for a year and a half,
but life has gotten too busyand I don't update it much.
But my website, cam dashwritescom.
C A M dash W R I T E S dot com.
(52:10):
You can find me on Amazon isClaire A Murray and on Goodreads
as Claire A Murray.
So I think those are the and ohand on Facebook, of course,
which is Claire Murray writesRight.
Okay so that's out there,without the A, without the.
Wendy H. Jones (52:35):
A yeah, yeah, okay, thank you.
Well, thank you very much forjoining us, claire.
This has been enlightening.
It really has.
I'd loved it.
Claire A Murray (52:46):
Well, thank you very much, Wendy.
This has been a fun time and itwas fun to think about these
questions a little bit and, andyou know, put my thoughts, you
know into into my thoughts, intowords, because it it it always
points out I have more work togo back and do on my own stuff.
Wendy H. Jones (53:09):
Don't we all feel like that?
I tell you the minute it comesout.
You think oh, I wish it was toolate, now it's out.
Claire A Murray (53:16):
Yeah Well, thank you very much for having
me.
Wendy H. Jones (53:19):
And I'll see you in about an hour and a half's
time for our next enthrallinginstallment of yes, it's Tuesday
, I'm writing.
Otherwise known as the Claireand Wendy show.
Claire A Murray (53:32):
Or the Wendy and Claire show.
Wherever you want to look at it, take care, then We'll see you
then.
Thank you, bye, bye bye.
Wendy H. Jones (53:42):
That brings us to the end of another show.
It was really good to have youon the show with me today.
I'm Wendy H Jones and you canfind me at wendahjjonescom.
You can also find me on Patreon, where you can support me for
as little as $3 a month, whichis less than the price of a tea
or coffee.
(54:03):
You go to wwwpatrioncom.
Forward, slash wendahjjones.
I'm also Wendy H Jones onFacebook, twitter, instagram and
Pinterest.
Thank you for joining me todayand I hope you found it both
useful and interesting.
Join me next week when I willhave another cracking guest for
you.
Until then, have a good weekand keep writing, keep reading
(54:28):
and keep learning.
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