Mystery – March 24

“Why? What you mean, ‘Why?’ Because you’re different, that’s why. You know, you’re like me. You want different things. You got somethin’ better than bein’ a waitress. You and me travelin’ together, we could cut a path clean across this state and Kansas and Missouri and Oklahoma, and everybody’d know about it. You listen to me, Miss Bonnie Parker. You listen to me.”- A movie version of Clyde Barrow, born...

Mystery – March 23

“I’ve always been intrigued by Stockholm Syndrome. Reminds me of my childhood.”- Jonathan Ames, born this date in 1964. Writing prompt: Write the scene from your protagonist’s childhood that most haunts his/her adult life.

Mystery – March 22

“When you’re right, that’s all you get to be.”- James Patterson, born this date in 1947. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which being correct about something earns your protagonist negative responses from her/his colleagues or friends.

Mystery – March 21

“Imagine living in a country where the cops are all people who’re cut out for the job.”- Michael Dibdin, born this date in 1947. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist accomplishes a task honestly while appearing to accomplish it corruptly.

Mystery – March 20

“That’s not the way we operate around here. We do everything by the book, according to regulations, above board.”- Hal Linden, portraying New York City police precinct captain Barney Miller, born this date in 1931. Writing prompt: Write a scene allowing your protagonist to make abundantly clear his/her opinion of a bureaucracy that exerts enormous influence over your protagonist’s...

Mystery – March 19

“Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything.”- Wyatt Earp, born this date in 1848. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s interest in speed rather than accuracy creates a real problem for your protagonist and her/his closest colleague.

Mystery – March 18

“The pleasure of sport was so often the chance to indulge the cessation of time itself.”- George Plimpton, born this date in 1927. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist tries to compete in a sport or event alongside its most accomplished practitioners, even though your protagonist has never practiced the sport before.

Mystery – St. Patrick’s Day

Kurt Russell, born this date in 1951, starred in Escape from New York as Snake Plissken, to whom the movie’s universal greeting was, “I heard you were dead!” Writing prompt: Write a series of dialogues in which your protagonist must dismiss a similarly, obviously untrue rumor.