Writerly Ways

[cornerofmadness]

First off, let me direct you a final time to some flash fiction I did for a challenge, based off last year’s nano. If you liked it, you might like these. click me to see the flash fiction If you do like them, please follow the link saying I’m #87 and click like there for me. Thanks!

Secondly consider this your warning. I plan on posting my Big Bang today. I apologize NOW for the spam.

The topic for today is plotlines that no longer work in the 21st century and how to jigger them to make them work if possible. Call it another side effect of watching Murder, She Wrote lately.

1. cutting the phone lines. That was even on Criminal Minds the other week. Does this still even work? Don’t most of us have cell phones? I know tons of people who no longer even have a land line. So how do we get around the loss of dramatic tension when the lines are cut? I guess we have the coincidental but at least believable escapes of a) battery is dead or b) no signal. Of course the latter would need to be set up in advance and wouldn’t really work so well in city settings. I believe you can buy jammers. I would have to research that before thinking to use it but that could add some suspense.

2. I’m your long lost relative. Unless you were trying to pass this off in a short time frame, I just don’t see this one working any more. Usually they show up to claim part of a will or get back in the good graces of a sickly elderly person. DNA testing is relatively cheap and easy to do. I don’t see a millionaire with money to be had just taking someone’s word for it. Researching the family would no longer be enough. I’m not sure I see an escape for this plot unless you want to go with the person is so happy to see said long lost relative that they refuse to ask for a DNA test.


3. several different types of crime, especially rape would be much harder to get away with IF there is DNA evidence. It would be harder to frame someone as well. Of course, the escape on this is easy. There is no DNA (and it does still happen even when there is DNA when you have crime labs that lie or prosecutors/judges who refuse to reopen cases. I’m seeing far too many of these in real life for comfort.


Can we think of any more?

I am still working frantically on the Scarred Soldier story (Kept Tears) which may be too long for the anthology and might have to be marketed as a novella. I need to check Storm Moon Press on that one. I don’t think I’ll have time to finish this and edit a vampire short story and do the geeklove one. Sigh. I had some links I wanted to share but I’ll be damned if I can remember where they are.

Yearly count –

15160 / 75000 words. 20% done!

Geeklove

3580 / 10000 words. 36% done!

Scarred Soldier

9412 / 10000 words. 94% done!

Machiavelli Moon – did nothing

Splinters of Silver and Cold Iron- did nothing. Hey who asked to see this? I think cala_jane did.

Until the Ice Breaks – edited chapter three and got it to the writers group

Riding with Strangers – diddly. Sigh.

Comments

[bay115.livejournal.com]

You don't have to apologize in advance for posting your Big Bang. If anything I look forward to it. :)

Yeah most of us don't have landlines anymore. Just last month my parents had cut off the home phone. I think quite a few people are switching from cell phones to smartphones now too (my dad and I did that a couple weeks ago while my mom still insists on her cell phone, lol).

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Snort, good to know. I just hate flooding my flist (and right now i'm having issues making it post, thank you useless broadband)

right (though I lump cells and smarts in the same basket)

[cala-jane.livejournal.com]

I proofed the first chapter of Cold Iron and demanded more, but I thought you didn't do edits on the second chapter.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

that's it. And I hadn't. Because I'm a loser. I think I'll try to get to that on break if you still want to see it (and if you get too busy and can't look at it, let me know. I'm fine with that)

[cala-jane.livejournal.com]

Don't stress oer it. I am hoping I'll catch up on everything this week so I should have the time to go through the second chapter. I loved the first one and I want to see what happens next :)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

okay cool. you see, i'm off work this week so i should have time to accomplish stuff

[enemytosleep]

Cell phones can also be lost or damaged very easily in a scuffle in addition to dead batteries and jammers (and there are so many buildings we can't get signal in with all the interference, so big cities can be as tough as rural areas). I've only dropped mine a million times so far in my life. XD

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

there you go. That helps. I don't drop my cell phone as a rule but my god, my students leave theirs all the time. I have a collection of iphones that are mine for an hour or two

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

You should hide them. :D

[halighfataliter.livejournal.com]

Ahah, I love the warning! After all the work you've done, you BB writers deserve more than anyone else the right to spam you fics!

Living in a basement flat, I can tell you, luring your victim in one can remedy the landline problem (preferably if your character has a shit phone).

I was thinking of Agatha Christie's The Herb of Death the other day. Although there is no reason why, I can't see a digitalis poisoning being featured in a modern book anymore... Fictional murders have become too refined and complicated...

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

i should.

[marlex.livejournal.com]

I have a story idea I've been toying around for years in which two teens run away and start a new life in another state, and trying to figure out how to get them enrolled in school with new identities in this day and age has been bothering me and I've just about decided to push the time frame to the 1980s to make it work.

The other idea I've thought of using since they're abuse involved that there's an underground organization which helps set them up (I want to say I saw that on Law and Order).

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

thanks. Well I figure i have peopel from all over, should give them a head's up

there you go, another way around the cell phone. or lure them into my lab which kills all cell phones and internet dead even though I technically need the latter to actually RUN the lab

It's detectable so yeah it's not popular any more but I was just telling the class how to kill with it on friday

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yeah I think 25 years ago your plot would be much easier to do.

Hmmm that could be an interesting twist (as opposed to the marshall serivce doing that as witness protection)

[halighfataliter.livejournal.com]

But aren't most poisons detectable nowadays? And you can play the accident card with digitalis...

So what did you tell your class, teacher?

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

not all but yes most are. Poisoning is more of an old fashioned way of doing things. There's an excellent book, the Poisoner's Handbook, that covers the 1920-1930's and two guys who all but single handedly created Forensic chemistry. One of the best non-fiction books I've read well ever.

You could play that role and I tell the parents here to keep the kids out of my garden where I have foxglove growing.

In class we were talking about the chronotropic (affects heart rate) and ionotropic (affects force of contraction of the heart) chemicals and digitalis was one. We discusses how it is a popular pill for cardiac arrthymias and how in larger doses the medicine kills and simulated it in lab