Murder Mystery Writing – a generational authorship approach
Yesterday I had the very great pleasure of interviewing a second generation author, Martie Liter Ogborn, who had been gifted with a legacy of five novels written by her Dad, Bob Liter. Martie explained how she is now planning to take on the role of writing sequels with her protagonist, the niece of detective Nick Bancroft, continuing the legacy of the Bancroft Mysteries. In fact she is writing the first of these sequels right now.
Our conversation revealed some enlightenment and inspiration for writers and highlighted how writing can be the ‘anchor’ in an otherwise turbulent whirlpool, when life throws out challenges. Martie says: “If you look at the ‘world of frailties and possibilities’ as a life friend, you never know where that will take you.” Martie encourages us to look for those possibilities and let them take you on a journey.
“Everything has to make sense”, when writing a novel. Bob Liter’s advice to Martie, has prompted her to create a fictional Family Tree to keep the continuity of the stories in context. This really resonated for me and made me think more about my audiences and how I can make their reading journey easier.
The sequels to the Bancroft Mysteries will be Martie’s legacy to her family; one that may yet continue on to a third generation.
As I listened to Martie talk about the ‘reason for writing’ – creating a legacy – I was encouraged and inspired to continue my own writing to leave a legacy for my family. In one of my stories, ‘The Crown of Wisdom’ recently drafted during NaNoWriMo in November 2020, I had included the background information of the ‘grandmothers’ whose wisdom I had selected for the book. Now I am inspired to add in the actual Family Tree to help the reader comprehend who’s who in my story, and to enable my grandchildren to see the links in their ancestral clans from a new perspective.
You can listen to my interview with Martie in this podcast, Episode 11 The Bancroft Mysteries, below:
I am especially pleased with the progress I am making in the world of podcasts and enjoying the process of planning and inviting others to join me in the Essential Genealogists and Storytellers podcast.
If you have a story to tell about your journey into storytelling, being an author, or if you would like to share your prowess in researching Family History and writing stories of ancestors, please ‘BE MY GUEST’.
All Episodes are automatically updated here in my website in the Podcast page.
Update on Courseware!
During May 2021 I am developing a new ecourse called ‘DabbleWriter for Genealogists‘ and you can take a sneak peak at this here. The course will unpack and demystify the DabbleWriter software for those who are seeking methods of ‘writing’ from any device in the cloud.
In another Podcast in May I will be interviewing Jacob Wright, the creator of DabbleWriter. Subscribe to my podcast channel to ensure you are notified when this goes live.
