What is NaNoWriMo and Why Did I Do It?

Here's the challenge: write, in the month of November, a novel of 50,000 words length. Thirty days. That is the simple goal of National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. Run by a somewhat ad hoc nonprofit organization, the now-annual event attracted over 90,000 of writers from every corner of the world, including a couple of thousand hardy Minnesotans. The idea is to "just sit down and write" without worrying about perfecting your work, without fussing, and without procrastination. After the month is over, then you can rewrite, revise, edit, restructure. Schoolteachers have had great success using NaNoWriMo to stimulate student interest in writing.

Why did I try NaNoWriMo? I was up for a new challenge, and wanted to try writing in a different manner than usual. Last year, I lasted all of ten minutes. This year, I was ready for it, and wrote steadily for the whole month, reaching what I thought was a very reasonable amount of 30,000 words (bear in mind that 1000–2000 words a day is for many writers an average daily output, and that most novels are actually going to be 65,000 words or more).

I prepared well for the month-long adventure. I thought through the structure for the new novel, which is a follow-up to DEATH BY THE DEPOT (the manuscript of which, almost complete, was ready for a month of fermentation).I stocked up on food, took care of winterizing chores, and warned people what I was up to just in case I got a glazed look in my eye. I filled my fountain pen, sharpened some pencils, and assembled a stack of color-coordinated scrap paper. I did some test runs with my new novel-writing software (the very wonderful Scrivener for Mac). I then opened the door for the novel's newly minted dozen-or-so characters to come in and start taking shape.

The result? A good solid start for me on a novel that has been lurking in the back of my mind for a couple of years; some new work methods for my repertoire. Some new writing buddies (the Twin Cities had just shy of 1600 people signed up, who produced 13,059,537 words, and placed 3rd internationally in number of words written, just behind Seattle and "Maryland"). Mostly, though, I had fun.

What's next? Now it's this novel's turn to ferment for a spell while I take care of other matters including DEPOT, and begin to dream up a story for next year's NaNoWriMo.

"Cabin 6" —A Story of Love, Obsession—and Murder

The vast, northern Lake Superior is a mysterious place that harbors many secrets under its frigid waters, and in the many whispered confessions of the people who journey to its shorelines. As the waves crash and crash upon the rocky shoreline, a lone figure is seen leaving Cabin 6....

"Cabin 6," a tale of love, obsession, and murder, will appear in Resort to Murder, an anthology scheduled to be released this fall by Nodin Press. This anthology is a follow-up to the wildly successful Silence of the Loons and edited by well-known Minnesota mystery authors Ellen Hart, William Kent Krueger, and Carl Brookins, Resort to Murder features mystery stories set against the backdrop of Minnesota's perennial favorite vacation spots.
"Cabin 6" is the mystery debut of Barbara DaCosta, a Minneapolis-based writer. She is at work on her first novel, Death by the Depot.

Resort to Murder Praised

Resort to Murder has been praised in the
St Paul Pioneer Press. "Some of the stories are about revenge, including David Housewright's "Miss Behavin' " and Hart's "14-A." Several tales offer an O. Henry-style twist, including Brookins' "A Fish Story" and Judith Yates Borger's "Hunter's Lodge." Pat Dennis describes a very odd mother-son relationship in "Mother's Day," and Deborah Woodworth evokes the dark north woods in "The Moose Whisperer." Barbara DaCosta's "Cabin" is the most surprising, and Michael Allen Mallory's "Bird of Prey" shows how far a writer will go for her craft. The sweetest tale is Joel Arnold's "Leave No Wake," featuring a pair of gay senior citizens. For lots of fun, there's Jess Lourey's "The Locked Fish-cleaning House Mystery," featuring a lively sleuth who lives in a nursing home and crashes weddings." - Mary Ann Grossmann

Barbara DaCosta was also mentioned in Andrea Sisco's review at Armchair Interviews. "For fans of Ellen Hart (I am a huge fan), she’s written a scathing take on the downside of marriage in 14-A that you won’t want to miss. Pat Dennis gives the reader a new take on Mother’s Day (I’ve got my eye on my kids now). Judith Yates-Borger takes on tradition and progress when a developer who wants to turn a resort into private homes loses his life over the decision in Hunter’s Lodge. And Barbara DeCosta deals with the death of a relationship in Cabin 6. There are also wonderful stories by William Kent Krueger (one of my favorite mystery authors), Carl Brookins and David Housewright (I loved Dead Boyfriend) and others."

Resort to Murder Blog

Resort to Murder now has its own blog. Here you can find information about readings and signings, about the authors, and more!

BOOK RELEASE PARTY

Join the authors of Resort to Murder: Thirteen More Tales of Mystery Monday, September 24 at 7 pm, for a book release party at Once Upon a Crime, 604 West 26th Street, in Minneapolis. There will be a limited supply of books signed by all of the authors, so you need to contact the store if you want one.

Resort to Murder's First Review

Resort to Murder has been reviewed in the prestigious Publishers' Weekly. Here's what they had to say: "The Minnesota Crime Wave’s entertaining second volume of short stories from Minnesota writers (after 2005’s The Silence of the Loons) introduces some promising talent to a wider audience." Click here and then scroll down to "mysteries" for the complete review.

Why Mysteries?

Since beginning to write mysteries, I've gotten two recurring questions from people. The first: "Why are you writing mysteries?" The second one comes with a smile and a questioning eyebrow: "Can I tell you this great idea I have for a mystery that you could write?"

Why mysteries? I've always loved reading, and was introduced to the mystery world as an adult. Immersed as I was in academic and professional writing, I soon found that writing fiction (and why not mysteries, since I enjoyed them so much), functioned as comic relief, an escape valve. It was fun to create worlds, characters, and plots out of wholecloth, with nary a footnote in sight.

Which leads me to the second common question. Creating a novel or a short story is like being in your own dream world. You can picture everything and everyone, even without having to spell it all out in words. But someone else cannot (at least for most of us) be there in your dream seeing and experiencing it with you. So when you've got that tantalizing thread of an idea playing in technicolor in your head, it's probably best to sit down and start writing YOUR novel!

Resort to Murder

"Thirteen More Tales of Mystery by Minnesota's Premier Writers"

Here's a sneak preview of the Resort to Murder cover. The anthology features writers William Kent Krueger, Jess Lourey, Ellen Hart, David Housewright, Scott Pearson, Pat Dennis, Carl Brookins, Joel Arnold, Deborah Woodworth, Barbara DaCosta (featuring my story "Cabin 6"), Michael Mallory, Moira Harris, and Judith Yates Borger, with an introduction by author Lorna Landvik, and published by Nodin Press. Look for it in your stores soon!