Knowing Whodunnit before Writing the Story

In the last article, I wrote about coming up with a protagonist. Now I'm going to write about what I knew I had to know next before beginning to write the story.

Where to Start When Writing a Murder Mystery?

One night at the Thursday Night Writers' Group my partner, Elisabeth, and I host, one member, Erik, proposed that we each write a Sherlock Holmes story. We all muttered weak assent, but only Erik wrote something.

I resisted writing my story for a couple of reasons. One was that I was not a practiced hand at writing short fiction. I prefer long-form, novel length. Another was that even though I'm a bit of a Sherlockian, I didn't believe I understood Victorian England (or Victorian anywhere, for that matter) well enough to write a credible story. But it did get me thinking.

It's About Time...

I've been blogging infrequently as a publisher, but I never started a blog for my identity as an author in my own right.

I don't have an author website, or even a facebook page. How smart is that since just about every book and maven for book marketing says an author needs an online presence to held build that all important "author platform"? And the big advice is for an author to blog. What has it taken me so long?