Mystery – July 24

“A man with a credit card is in hock to his own image of himself.”- John D. MacDonald, born this date in 1916. Writing prompt: Write a scene from your protagonist’s life when money problems motivated your protagonist to do something wrong.

Mystery – July 23

“The law isn’t justice. It’s a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer.”- Raymond Chandler, born this date in 1888. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must decide whether to allow the machine of law to work or to break it.

Mystery – July 22

Edward Hopper, born this date in 1882, painted Automat in 1927: Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must extract vital information from this woman in this setting.

Mystery – July 21

“We’re all seeking order. We’re all seeking control.”- Michael Connelly, born this date in 1956. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to bring order to a chaotic situation.

Mystery – July 20

“I felt early on I wasn’t going to be a respectable citizen.”- Cormac McCarthy, born this date in 1933. Writing prompt: Write the scene from your protagonist’s early life when s/he made the first conscious decision to follow the path that brought your protagonist to the start of your current story.

Mystery – July 19

“I’ve been as bad an influence on American literature as anyone I can think of.”- Dashiell Hammett, whose The Dain Curse was first published on this date in 1929. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist tries and fails to convince a person who could tilt either bad or good that the person’s friends are a bad influence.

Mystery – July 18

“There is no truth, no truth whatever, to the widely circulated suspicions of immoral conduct that have been leveled at my behavior and hers regarding that evening.” On this date in 1969, a car driven by Sen. Edward Kennedy crashed into a pond on Chappaquiddick Island, Mass., killing his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns that everyone is more...

Mystery – July 17

“Just because people are liars is no reason for us to be fools.”- Erle Stanley Gardner, born this date in 1889. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist recognizes the dubious value of legal advice s/he got from an attorney more interested in a hobby than practicing law.