Remember those old horror movies where the woman always falls while running from the monster? Yeah, I'm over it. And as much as I love mysteries, I think I'm becoming irritated when the amateur sleuth goes alone to confront the suspect or walks alone at night in some dark forest or on a lonely street.
I knew I had had it when I found myself saying, "I can't care if they kill you because this shit is stupid." I've lost patience with them. But... it sells. Bestselling books, Hallmark movies, book club favs, all feature the citizen sleuth---usually a woman, who's smart enough to decipher clues better than trained detectives, but who doesn't adhere to common-sense safety.
I've always been that odd duck in nearly everything I've done. I guess once a non-conformist, always a non-conformist.
As I refine my next mystery series, I won't allow my sleuth to do that mess. It's about a former TV news personality (sound familiar?) who is dethroned by a younger woman and begins using her spiritual gift of cultural voodoo to help a homicide detective solve murders. She's a California woman with Louisiana Creole roots who respects her ancestors (also familiar). Lotus Hayes and her homicide detective keep her "consultations" a secret. He's used police psychics, but voodoo is next level. For Lotus, the voodoo religion and practices are not for party tricks. It's a sacred calling.
And as with any story I write, there's wine, martinis, laughter, and tears. Lotus's life is like all of ours; she makes mistakes, learns from them, and makes new mistakes. She has a smartass but lovable teen daughter and three ex-husbands. I hope to finish this refined version of Lotus Angelle Hayes Johnson Fernandez Gill. She's fun, spiritual, brilliant, and a little crazy. É pi sa, li byen konsa. And that's just fine.
If you like a little Creole spice in your mysteries or want to laugh and cry while you help to solve a murder, stick with me. I'm working on more of dat, yeah, Chè!
Photo by Bruce Christianson on Unsplash