Mystery writing requires compelling mysteries. A light, gentle touch is the best way to reveal the darkness beneath.
"Mystery writing can be summed up as starting with the discovery that something is lost or that something is found; usually what's lost is a life and what's found is a corpse."
Cozy Mysteries are the ones where there's a body (usually in a library), a small group of suspects, each of whom has something to gain or something to lose, and a great detective who, by chance or by design, is there to solve the conundrum of... Whodunnit?
Of course, today, writers are more diverse, and that once dominant format has flourished into wild variety. But underneath, it feeds the same appetites: for mystery, for suspense, for danger... but without the need for terror, gore, or pessimism.
The cozy mystery is a special balancing act that forces the author to get really good at mystery - because the shock tactics of horror and the adrenaline of thriller is not available.
This is a course designed to teach some of the core principles of storytelling, and teach you to focus on creating and delivering a strong mystery, by teaching you how to write a Cozy Mystery.
In this course you will learn:
Requirements
I've spent the last 10 years working with authors to get their books ready for publication, and then getting them published in the new e-book/e-reader/print-on-demand market. …