Just because I write cat mysteries and not the great
American novel doesn’t mean I’m not a serious writer or that my work, however
light and cozy, should not be taken seriously. I realize that some cozy authors
write for quantity instead of quality but I’m not one of them. My books are my
soul, revealing hopes, fears, and the human condition. My cat sci-fi explores
the secrets of the universe. My mysteries seek to answer not only whodunit but why. Why do we kill? If
that’s not a serious question, I don’t know what is.
Do you ever wonder what drives us to entertain ourselves
with murder? If the things that happen in books, even in cozies, happened to us
in real life, we’d all have PTSD. In fact, I had that experience. I was working
on a mystery that took place at the beach, a beach very like our place in Ocean
Park. We visited our little cabin often. It was quiet and slow-paced with clam-digging,
crab dinners, and long walks on the shore. Then one night we got a call that a
friend was dead. As the story unfolded, it turned out he had been murdered,
right there in our quiet little town. Gone was the safety I’d always felt in
that beautiful place. And gone, at least temporarily, was my ability to write
about fictional murder.
For most readers, a murder mystery is merely a puzzle to
solve. I enjoy solving them too; I do read
what I write. But since my experience with my own real-life murder mystery, (which
unfortunately didn’t wrap itself up in a nice neat ending but instead lingered
on until finally the killer was set free for lack of evidence) I try never to make light of death. Thankfully I was able
to finish writing the book eventually and have gone on to write many more. I am grateful for both the resilience
of the spirit and the opportunity to learn.
Check out more blogs by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer
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Happy reading!
I can't imagine how unnerving it must have been to have a friend who was murdered in a quiet seaside town. I have, however, had a close relationship with a person who worked in coronary care with me who was convicted of child abuse of a foster child. It was a most unsettling experience. It made me wonder how I misjudged him for a decent human being.
ReplyDeleteOnce you've had time to recover from your experience, I hope you'll be able to return to mystery writing. I wish you every success, Mollie.
Thank you, Sarah. I did recover and have been writing ever since. But an experience like mine and yours changes a person forever.
DeleteI live in a small, rural community, and a murder/suicide a few years ago really rocked our foundation. It hit home for me, particularly, because the death not only happened in the house my parents had owned for a few years then sold, but the murderer was a former student of mine. (he killed his father) 0_o
ReplyDeleteGood for you that you were able to go on with your writing.
I am an optimist. I think the best of people. It doesn't naturally cross my mind that the people around me might not be so nice, even though the fatal flaws are the foundation of my books.
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