I write books with mysteries in them.

Sometimes I stop short of calling them mysteries, because there are some designations between the subgenres that seem to move around. Much like Chicago neighborhood designations can change depending on whether you’re talking to a real estate agent or someone who just lives there, the lines between, say, a suspense novel and a cozy novel can be awfully fuzzy.

I read books with mysteries in them. Sometimes? Those books aren’t even close to being shelved in the mystery section. A mystery—an unknown variable in a story of any kind—can pull the reader through pages like nothing else.

I also like mysteries in my daily life. I’m the one who’s wondering how the gray-haired man and the young, eye-brow-pierced boy—oops, wait, that’s a girl—in the Thai restaurant know each other. (They got on a tandem bike after they left! The mind reels!)

I just like…puzzling over things. Is that you, too?

Next Saturday, an eight-week course in writing mysteries begins at Story Studio North Shore. I’ll be teaching it, along with Clare O’Donohue, who, if you haven’t read her book Missing Person, you are missing out. Clare also writes the Someday Quilts mystery series. She’s in with the craft mystery people. Together, we might be a super power.

We’ll cover all the elements of the spectrum of mystery/crime books, and then you’ll share your work with your new writing community for feedback.

If you or a friend of yours has a little bit of the Miss Marple in them, as I do, take a look at our course. In eight weeks, you could have the beginnings of something pretty noir.