Mystery – April 24

Sue Grafton was born on this date in 1940. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist defines the solution necessary to commit the perfect murder.

Mystery – April 23

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” Today is the accepted birthday of William Shakespeare in 1564. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must comfort someone who believes her/his life is in jeopardy becaues of her/his position.

Mystery – April 22

“We don’t appreciate the value of humor sometimes.” -Janet Evanovich, born this date in 1943. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist cannot see the amusement value in circumstances everyone else considers hilarious.

Mystery – April 21

Anti-death penalty advocate Sister Helen Prejean was born on this date in 1939. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is confronted by an activist who opposes your protag’s position on the death penalty.

Mystery – April 20

The model for the contemporary private detective first appeared in print on this date in 1841. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” featured the prototypical intelligent, eccentric loner in the form of C. Auguste Dupin. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must suffer an insufferably incompetent law enforcement authority.

Mystery – April 19

“Doubts raced through my mind as I considered the feasibility of enforcing a law which the majority of honest citizens didn’t seem to want.” -Eliot Ness, born on this date in 1903. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist has to enforce an unfair law.

Mystery – April 18

Richard Harding Davis, a writer who got his start as a reporter by infiltrating criminal gangs to write about them for his newspaper, was born on this date in 1864. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist discovers that someone s/he believes is a criminal is a reporter working undercover.

Mystery – April 17

“I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for.” -Thornton Wilder, born on this date in 1897. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must fight a dangerous fight for something good and excellent.