- Close-minded
- Manipulative
- Hostile
- Anxious
- Rebellious
But even more interesting are the positive aspects, which include:
- Strong will
- Resilience
- Defense against peer pressure
- Passion and vigor
- Good work ethic
But even more interesting are the positive aspects, which include:
Narcissus by Caravaggio |
From Wikipedia:
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance and an excessive pre-occupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others.
The most common symptoms include:
Dial M for Murder by Alfred Hitchcock |
It has to be for murder, of course. It's a Cutting Edge Mystery. What will make this set of stories a little different is that all the murders will involve blades of some sort. Knives, swords, and even box cutters. And don't forget straight razors. Henry Bell, my hero, is an expert blade master. He might be a suspect in any of the murders, but not for long. He usually is sought out as the civilian expert and becomes part of the police team.
So, let's think about murders and where they might happen. It's early days here, and I have only started brainstorming the first book's murder.
Most obvious, since Henry is a knife sharpener with restaurant clients, is a chef's knife that is used for a murder... with Henry's fingerprints on it. They would be easily explained and, of course, he'll have an alibi. Probably the antagonistic heroine. I have to find ways for them to keep running into each other.Another idea: because he helps choreograph theater fight scenes, a sword could become a murder weapon in that setting. No clue why, but actor egos seem logical. Maybe even some competition around the heroine?
Shears. He sharpens those too. Murder at a hair styling salon? It could happen. Those scissors are pointy and very sharp. There is a lot of pressure on business folks in the early days of the pandemic, and hair salons were shut down. Death by stress? It could happen.
Garden tools, farm equipment, and even power tools like drill bits can all be used to maim and murder. I don't even like thinking about those possibilities. Ew.
And the classic throat slitter, er, I mean, straight razor, a time-honored way to end a life quickly. Double ew.
... and for laundromats. I haven't used one in forever, and probably take my washer, dryer, and clothesline too much for granted. But someone who travels in a home on wheels, would have to scope out laundry facilities everywhere they park, right?
How do they even work nowadays? Does one still use cash? How much per load? Do campsites have laundry facilities? I'm guessing probably so, but don't know for sure.
Now keep in mind that my main character has a child. That changes the paradigm a little, too, doesn't it? Because children are not naturally clean, and most kids love to play.
But in a novel that begins during a pandemic when everyone is cautioned to wear masks and social distance, kissing is going to present quite the challenge, isn't it?
So that leads to research about a new kind of smile - the Duchenne smile. How would I describe this in my story? Smize like you mean it! I do believe I'll use that expression.
Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horseriders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament.
Wikipedia.org |
The Cutting Edge mystery series begins at the start of the COVID pandemic. So many things were instantly impacted, including travel and how businesses operated. Can you imagine what is was like for a traveling business, not knowing how your usual venues were impacted? Theaters closed. Stores closed. Restaurants closed or had limited hours. And how to find more work? I think we all realized how dependent we were on the internet. Certainly my book characters did.
So that begs the question: how do RVers access internet? Do they have equipment on their rigs? What's a hotspot? Or do they rely on their smartphones? Because you can bet that everyone was tapped into some form of virtual communication. Must research this some more.
That made me wonder how banking would work for people on the road all the time. Online banking, but what about carrying cash? How would you hide money on a rig?
And those stimulus checks. No problem, I guess, with federal payouts, but what about state support? Do travelers register somewhere so they have a home base? Would they qualify for some sort of state unemployment?
Please leave me a comment if you know the answer to any of these questions!