Newsletter 02/10: Mysteries and thrillers
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| February 14 is Valentine’s day — as you present your favorite people with hearts, chocolates and sweet thoughts — consider giving Satan’s Chamber! We promise this gift will be remembered long after the chocolates are gone! Click here to order a copy. |
| In this letter:
- Do you know the difference between a mystery and a thriller?
- Reviews for Satan’s Chamber continue to amass on Amazon.com
- Submit your questions to the Muze
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| Mysteries and thrillers |
| First let’s acknowledge the similarities of these two genres. Both are plot-based; both create puzzles to solve; both build on suspense and surprise. In general, though, a mystery is smaller in scope. It focuses on crime, usually murder. It has a singular protagonist, usually a police officer or a private detective. If the protagonist doesn’t relate the story in the first person, it still most often comes to us through her or his eyes. We know as much as the protagonist knows. And although the explosion of communications technology has expanded the possibilities for far-flung settings, many of the prototypical, traditional mysteries are confined to one city, one village, one olde English mansion.
A thriller splashes across a larger canvas. Instead of a clear crime that needs to be solved, it is driven by a conspiracy—often furthered by many different crimes–that must be exposed. Its larger scope requires multiple settings and points of view, which generate a constant tension. The reader is always kept aware of actions taking place simultaneously in various locations, often at cross-purposes. Although one character emerges as the protagonist, the perspectives of other characters maybe equally developed, as the plot is braided out of several strands. The antagonists, notably, are given equal time as the reader sees them undercutting or second guessing the hero. We know more than the protagonist knows, yet can’t quite figure out what it all means.
Whereas the big surprise occurs at the end of a mystery, when the protagonist fits the puzzle pieces together and presents the unexpected reality, a thriller deploys major surprises throughout, continually overturning the provisional reality and forcing reevaluation. The more leisurely pace of the mystery allows more emphasis on characters’ backstories; the fast-paced multi-tasking of the thriller keeps physical action at the forefront. Mysteries intrigue the mind; thrillers get the heart pounding. See if you don’t think Satan’s Chamber manages the best of both worlds.
Writer Linda Adams in Joy of the Thriller, summarizes the differences between the thriller and a mystery. “The thriller is about something bigger and more important at stake behind the murder that may endanger more lives. Because the storylines are bigger, the plot itself becomes more complex . . . .A thriller may start out looking like it’s about one thing and then take a sudden turn and become something else . . . .And, of course, where would a thriller be without the action? The action of thriller stories makes it perfect for feature films. Because thrillers have so many diverse possibilities, there is something for everyone — and especially for readers who love action.” (The Joy of Thrillers, Vision: a Resource for Writers, September 2005)
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| Reviews of Satan’s Chamber amass on Amazon.com |
| Recently, Kathryn Stockett’s bestseller, The Help, a novel about Mississippi in the 1960s, received a record-breaking 1,287 five-star reviews on Amazon.com!!! These reviews catapulted The Help into bestseller status and it is now a must-read for many book groups. This outstanding support is as inspirational to us at Fuze as it is impressive. We want to bring Satan’s Chamber up from the grass-roots to best-sellerdom, and we need your reviews. Together we can do it!
Satan’s Chamber currently has 25 reviews on Amazon—many more than most books—and the number is climbing! When we make a sale through Amazon.com our ranking goes down (a good thing — the closer we get to number 1, the better!) and when readers who like the book post five-star reviews the ranking goes down more.
So for those of you who have read Satan’s Chamber and really liked it, posting your positive response can really make a difference. Your review can be simple—a jotting down of one or two thoughts you were left with after finishing the book. No need to retell the story; just the fact you liked it is sufficient. To see current reviews, click here and scroll down the page until you get to the review section. |
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| Submit your questions to Tapping the Muze |
| Have you ever been told that some particular experience of yours would make a good story? Have you ever thought yourself that you ought to write an account of something you’ve lived through? You may have only written memos or grocery lists up till now, but that doesn’t mean that Molly Best Tinsley can’t be of help to you. Have you ever wondered where authors get their ideas for a novel? How they determine the best point of view? How they create texture? Or even those more basic questions so easy to forget, such as the rules for punctuating quotations? Give yourself a treat and ask a source that’s more reliable than Google. E-mail your questions about writing narratives—anecdotes, memoirs, stories–to Molly Best Tinsley at fuzepublishing@gmail.com today.
Molly co-authored The Creative Process (St. Martin’s Press) and has taught writing workshops for twenty years.
Please check out our website! http://www.fuzepublishing.com
Next week : Feedback from readers, more events around town, and….surprises!
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