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"How's it going?" she asked. "Slow right now, Hon."
"It'll come," she said. "You'll see."
Then she left quietly.
Dud Campbell opened the desk drawer and pulled out the title page
of the book again. He had typed it up specially, just the way he
wanted it, and Anita had put it on the computer.
"Murder in the Soggy Bottoms," it read. "By Dudley M. Campbell."
He smiled.
Of course, the guys down at the Mule Barn truck stop referred to
Dud's once-rejected mystery as "The Duchess and the Truck Driver"
because the story involves, well, a duchess and a truck driver.
After its initial rejection by the publisher, Dud decided to modify
it so there would be only three murders in Chapter 1, rather than
the original eight. It has taken some doing, but he plugs away at it
when he gets time.
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He sipped the coffee and looked out the window at the streetlight
shining on the snow in the yard. Do you suppose every artist goes
through this? How many mystery writers, Dud thought, face this very
same dilemma? For two of the murders, not a problem. But he couldn't
decide who murdered No. 3 or why. This seems to be pretty important
to the story, so he has to figure it out. Like a puzzle.
He could go with just two murders, he supposed, but that third
victim deserved killing, that was the problem. Could he have two
murderers? One could knock off the two, the other take care of the
third?
Oh, well, it's a cold, dark winter's night and a good time for
thinking, and the coffee's good. And Dud still has his day job, of
course. Such things are probably the cornerstones of great creative
work.
[Text from file received from Slim Randles]
Brought to you by 3Rivers Archery, the home of traditional
shooting. Visit them at
www.3riversarchery.com.
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