Wednesday, July 7, 2010

The Bone Orchard Mystery

I'm going to borrow a page from Chris Holm and begin chronicling the history of my individual stories immediately after their completed. This is, without a doubt, more for me than anything else. Something I can look back on.

Before I start writing a new story, I put in a short note at the top of the document saying when and where I was at that moment and then I add to the note as the story progresses. "The Bone Orchard Mystery" started over a year ago in New York, I continued working on it in southeastern Europe over the winter and into spring and finally polished it up in Maine. It's a Cash and Miles western that involves the most mystery I have infused into one of these adventures. It's the fourth in the series.

The plot revolves around the wealthy McAllister family of Twin Falls, Wyoming, and the puzzling death of an estranged prodigal son from England. When a sibling commits suicide on McAllister's grave, Marshals Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles investigate the circumstances of these untimely deaths that just may include a ghost haunting the cemetery.

Today, I dropped the story in the mail and it’s on its way to NYC to one of The Big Two. It may be a little racy for them (Cash, in particular, has a propensity for calico queens) but, if rejected, I still have confidence that I've turned in a first-rate western mystery.

I'll let you know how it goes.

24 comments:

Brian Drake said...

Not being a western expert I'm curious about who the Big Two are. Can you tell me?

Good luck with the submission.

Sage Ravenwood said...

Sounds intriguing. I'm huge on ghost stories.(Hugs)Indigo

David Cranmer said...

Brian, Kind, sorta the unofficial names for Ellery Queen/Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines. AHMM, in particular, has published similar pieces to ORCHARD.

Indigo, I love a good ghost story myself. Most recent favorite was Nicole Kidman in THE OTHERS.

Cullen Gallagher said...

Best wishes on your submissions! Looking forward to more adventures of Cash and Miles.

Shannon said...

Hey, that's a cool idea. It's interesting to see what goes on behind closed doors.

The plot sounds really interesting, too.

Ron Scheer said...

Where does a person find the Cash and Miles stories already published?

You are right about The Others. It's a good one.

Chris said...

Good luck with the submission! I'm sure it's excellent.

Cloudia said...

Best of luck!




Aloha from Waikiki :)

Comfort Spiral

David Cranmer said...

Thanxs Cullen!

And thanks Shannon. I'm notoriously slow at writing, so I'm not sure how frequent these behind scenes will happen.

Ron, "Cash Laramie and the Masked Devil" is in A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS (Express Westerns) and "The Wind Scorpion" will be in BEAT to a PULP: ROUND ONE. And I believe you already read "Miles to Go."

Chris/Cloudia, Gracias.

David Barber said...

Good luck, David. I guessed the big two were EQ and AHMM. All the very best...and watch out for those aspirin. They're bad for you...oh no, now they're good for you...woah, they're bad again... :-)

David Cranmer said...

Yeah, strokes run in my family (dad and grandfather) and I've paid attention to the great aspirin debate. I go through periods where I take the occasional baby aspirin and then some report scares me off. And then it's ok again. Go figure.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Good luck with the big two, David.

David Cranmer said...

Thanks Patti.

RReynolds said...

Let me toss in a finger's crossed. The Cash and Miles have been a blast to read.

Dave King said...

Sure sounds like you've turned in a first-rate Western. I wish you all the luck that's going. Interesting to hear of your chronicling plans and your method of note-making.

Photographe à Dublin said...

Hello from Dublin, Ireland.

Here's wishing you every success. It's so interesting to find a blog where a writer shares activities surrounding work in progress.

Deka Black said...

Good luck! Hope in a few years can say "well, i was commenting at his blog back in the beginning of his career"

David Cranmer said...

Thanks RR.

Dave, I'm a history nut. Both my own and others.

Photographe à Dublin, I was thinking folks may have found it boring (and maybe the ones that didn't comment did. :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Deka, Thank you, sir. And success would be nice but I will continue to write no matter what.

Alyssa Goodnight said...

How exciting! I really wish I had it in me to write mysteries. I wish you the very best of luck!

David Cranmer said...

It's easy. Just introduce a shifty eyed butler, a family that hates each other, and murder. The writing works itself out.

Chris said...

You nailed precisely why I do it. It's a record of sorts, of where I've been and what, writing-wise, I've been doing. I'm not much of a diarist, so it's my way of making sure there's a record of all my meager exploits.

And I've got a good feeling about Cash and Miles hitting the big time... or at least the Big Two.

David Cranmer said...

Chris, Thanks for the vote of confidence. We'll see what happens because there's lots of talented authors battling for that space.

Naomi Johnson said...

Good luck with the Big Two. I look forward to reading this one -- I hope it's in EQMM since that's the one subscription I have.

David Cranmer said...

Naomi, I will let you know but you may have to get another subscription. :)