The Windlass Whodunit serial novel.

The basic idea -

Let’s write a Windlass serial novel, in the style of   The Sunken Sailor, Naked Came the Manatee,  or Naked Came the Phoenix ( a synopsis is at http://www.reversephonedirectory.com/

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This first book (one of many to come?) will be a murder mystery, a whodunit committed, crewed, and solved  by Windlasses. 

Here’s how it works -  I’ll write the first chapter, and send it out as an email.  Other Windlasses read what has already been written, and add  subsequent chapters.  The story keeps building until the case is solved, or the whole project peters out and slinks away. 

If enough gals get into this, it may turn into a thick novel.  Or it might be a really short story.   In any case, the goal is to have fun with it.

When it is finished, which might take years, I have absolutely no idea what we'll do with it.  Make a suggestion.

We’ll need a snappy title.   So far I’ve thought of

Murder at the Marina

The Wasted Windlass

Prams in Peril

Slaughter a la Sunfish

Ruin at the Ramp

Obviously, we need some ideas

Writers’ Rules

1.     Absolutely no characters can be recognizable as real people, restaurants, or politicians.  Use composite personalities and names picked from a map.  Don’t embarrass anyone. Feel free to use and mis-use the characters already introduced.

2.  Don’t kill Woody, the Heroine.  Other characters are disposable, but don’t wipe out the whole club too early – leave some victims for other writers.

3.  Don’t contradict previous authors -  you can, however, turn each fact on its head, sideways, or upside down.

4.  No profanity, graphic gore,  or XXXX rated scenes.  Romantic scenes are fine.

5.  Add more characters if you want to.  These can be more women, a ghost, a friendly dolphin, an alien, etc.

6.  Add a romantic interest if you want.  A handsome detective, a hunky marina dweller, a waiter at a restaurant, a relative of another Windlass  – just remember he is a fictional character,  and not anyone recognizable.

7.  Give each character a tag, so the reader can remember who is who.  Examples: shakes her hair, constantly scratches her arms, stutters, polishes her boat, snaps bubblegum, wears distinctive scarves, smells odd, twitches,  has a deep voice,  stutters, squints, etc.  List this tag so we’ll all know who is who.

8.  Time frame?  Should this murder be solved in a day?  A week?  A race series?

9.  Keep the action within Pinellas County.  Dunedin Marina locale is OK, but it’s now called Sloop Harbor).    Named streets and real geographical spots, such as ramps, water towers,  intersections, hospitals, police departments, etc.  are great.   We’re calling our fictional club the Windlasses, unless somebody can think of a reason to keep our real club anonymous.

10.    Don’t be shy.  EVERY Windlass can pitch in.  If you envision a scene, a dialogue, a description, or just one word,  type it up and email it to huffsandy@aol.com  

11.     Chapters can be as short as a one word sentence, or run to 10 pages or so.

12.     Action verbs and exaggerated dialogue are always good.

13.    You can continue the story in third person (SHE sneezed),  or switch to  first person (I flinched), or even second person (YOU gargled).  “Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.”

14.    If your chapter has to be in a certain place,  such as chapters  12 thru 25,  or one of the last 3 chapters, announce your intentions so 2 gals don’t slave over the same scene.

15.     Compiler/editor (that’s me = Sandy Huff) reserves the right to clean up spelling and  offer suggestions – which you can, of course, completely ignore.

16.     Suggested deadline is 2 weeks per author. 

17.    Have fun!

Like all the best novels, we'll need a drawing of the marina, showing the pram shed, boat club, launch areas, and marina slips.  Anyone wanna sketch that?