Trip into the Past
Last Sunday afternoon I took a box of 191 yellowed, typed manuscript pages from a closet shelf and and read straight through. The last time I'd read them was about ten years ago. A friend and I spent an afternoon reading each other's early attempts at writing a complete book. We laughed. Groaned. Shook our heads . . . and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I did the same last Sunday.
Sixty-six years ago, I graduated from high school at age16. Dad and Mom gave me my heart's desire: a Royal Quiet Deluxe portable typewriter. The following summer I knew the time had come to embark on my writing career. THE STAIRCASE MYSTERY, a teen novel that would out-Nancy Nancy Drew and out-Hardy the Hardy Boys was born.
After each day's work when the family went to bed, I left my little western Washington logging town. I traveled to Riverview in the Adirondacks by kerosene lamplight, since we didn't have electricity. (I'd never been east of the Rocky Mountains.)
Bob and Bill Jackson welcomed me into their world and adventures. Every creak of our old house (once a one-room school where Mom taught all eight grades) startled me. When the story got too scary, I blew out the light and shivered my way to sleep. The next day I read my chapter to Dad, Mom, and my younger brother. Naturally, they liked it. 😊
Complete at last, typed on cheap paper with the title in red (ouch), I packaged the book that would launch me as an author and sent it to Nancy and the Hardy Boys' publisher. They returned it. Not to worry. I had a list of other places to submit . . . they also returned it. I continued to submit until I struck gold. Well, fool's gold. A publisher praised THE STAIRCASE MYSTERY and predicted glorious results . . . for only about $2000!
As school secretary in Darrington, I had too much else going for me to let rejection get me down. Someday I would write other novels, perhaps even teen mysteries. In the meantime, life was good. (Decades later the popular six-volume Juli Scott Super Sleuth series came out and was praised by readers of many ages.)
Following is how THE STAIRCASE MYSTERY looks, except it is double-spaced.
Jackson Twins
Mystery Series
THE STAIRCASE MYSTERY
by
COLLEEN L. REECE
A story for Young People
This book is dedicated to my brother, Randall G. Reece,
who
likes mystery stories
CONTENTS
Chapter
I A
Scream in the Night
II The Deserted Camp
II The Deserted Camp
III The Mystery of Jim Blacker
V The
Cave of Horrors
VI A Mysterious Threat
VII the Masquerade Clue
VIII A Way of Escape
IX The Plot Deepens
X An Uninvited Guest
XII More Mystery!
XIII Uncle Jim Takes a Hand
XIV A Baffling Clue
XV Danger Rides at Anchor
XVI Trouble for the Twins
XVII Hazardous Happenings!
XVIII Peril Lurks Ahead
XIX Pursuit
XX Which Set of Stairs?
XXI the Mystery is Solved
CHAPTER 1
A
Scream in the Night
"Boy,
I can hardly wait," exclaimed Bob Jackson to his twin Bill. "Now's
the time for us to prove to dad that we can track down a clue for him and maybe
after this adventure he will see that we really are cut out to be
detectives."
“I
hope he does," answered Bill, "but if that guy ahead isn't more careful of his driving we won't have a chance
to," he added as a huge truck on the wrong side of the road just missed the boys ‘coupe.
The
truck had stopped and to their surprise when they pulled up alongside of it,
the twins saw that the driver was a swarthy Italian in a bright colored sport
shirt with a very angry expression on his face.
"What
do you mean, trying to run into my truck," he yelled. "I'll sue, I'll see the police!"
“Just
a minute, said Bill, “why were you driving on the left side of the road? And
why isn't there a license on your truck? You can talk to my dad, Dan
Jackson."
"Dan
Jackson!" With an exclamation of fear, the man jumped in his truck and
drove off. Quickly the boys raced to their car and started after him. As the
truck was a huge van loaded with fruit, the boys had no trouble following him, until with a quick motion he speeded
up and went into a side road through the trees at the right.
"Hurry,
Bob," shouted Bill, "there he goes!"
* * *
Although THE STAIRCASE MYSTERY is not publishable, it has some good points. It was correctly set up (except for the red type).Spelling and grammar, good. Plot, believable. Characters stay in character. Fast-paced. High action. Good family values. Interesting chapter titles.
Weaknesses include a gazillion exclamation points!!! Cliches and stereotypes based on the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys titles. Author intrusion, editorializing, over-explanation. Example:
"Hands up!"
They obeyed. There wasn't much else they could do with guns jabbing them in the back.
Collection/singles available at
Although THE STAIRCASE MYSTERY is not publishable, it has some good points. It was correctly set up (except for the red type).Spelling and grammar, good. Plot, believable. Characters stay in character. Fast-paced. High action. Good family values. Interesting chapter titles.
Weaknesses include a gazillion exclamation points!!! Cliches and stereotypes based on the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys titles. Author intrusion, editorializing, over-explanation. Example:
"Hands up!"
They obeyed. There wasn't much else they could do with guns jabbing them in the back.
Lessons learned
My first novel taught me a valuable lesson at an early age--I could actually plan, execute, and complete a full-length, 60,000+ word manuscript, the first important step on the ladder to success. The timeworn pages provided encouragement and served as a reminder that "I did it once; I can do it again." THE STAIRCASE MYSTERY now goes back on my closet shelf, a continuing reminder that dreams coupled with hard work and determination really can come true.
Collection/singles available at
11 comments:
I LOVE the enthusiasm behind it! And how fun for your family getting to hear the nightly installments the following day. I can imagine how proud your family was over the years as you continued being published again and again. My favorite stories of yours are the stories behind the stories. My first story was one I entered in a contest, so sure I would win. It was about a puppy that gets hit by a car and its cute female owner takes it to an emergency vet in the middle of the night--where a very handsome veterinarian saves its life. The title, I'm sorry to say, was PUPPY LOVE.I didn't win the contest.haha.
Fun! Thanks for this peek into your first novel-writing experience. Seems the least Grosset & Dunlap could have done would have been to sign you up to write for the syndicate (: I remember I started (and illustrated, title page) a Nancy Drew knockoff starring a character named Ann Harding. I was about 12. It didn't get past the first page and the first drawing. Oh, well!
It's fun (and funny) to hear everyone's first attempt to follow their writing dream. Good thing rejection didn't stop us. :)
Thanks Renee and Judy. I have been wanting to write this for some time but was too busy. I can close my eyes and see myself hunched over my Royal Quiet Deluxe late at night. It sat on a small, cheap wooden desk that if I remember right, we bought unfinished and stained. It wasn't until years later that I acquired a rolling typewriter table and finally an office desk. I lived in Vancouver WA at the time, working for Bonneville Power Administration. Their newsletter carried ads. A woman was selling a steel desk for $100. Friends went to Portland and picked it up for me. It came with a rolling secretarial chair with an orange seat that matched the trim on my bedroom curtains!
The orange-seated chair gave way to a nice black office chair my brother Randy urged me to get after Mom and I moved here. The steel desk still occupies space under the window. I will have been here 40 years as of Memorial Day weekend. Incredible!
My first attenpt at Writing was a four-paged “All About Me” book. I wrote in Braille (I am blind) an autobiography and bound it with a rubber band. I read it to my mother, who loved it and at age seven, that was enough to confirm me as a writer.
Three cheers for you, Kayla! I also wrote stories before I went to school and when I was in grade school. I remember in third grade our class put out a story paper. I think almost everything in it was mine. Even then I loved to write. My classmates didn't (!)
I just remember that there was something about daffodils. Wish I still had a copy . . . smile. Thanks for commenting. I love to hear how and when people fell in love with writing.
I am 25 now and seeking advice for a writing career. Cam you help? I like your blog. This post brought back memories. I have found your books on www.bookshare.org
Today's market is tough to get into, Kayla. Much more so than when my friends and I started writing decades ago. Best suggestions are: Take writing classes from a published author, preferably one who is selling in your chosen genre. Attend Writing conferences. Get into a writer's critique group with others who are serious about writing. If you are a person of faith (I am) pray about your work. Write. Write. Write. Study books in the area you want to enter, books on grammar, books on how to approach editors, etc. Treat your dream as a regular job, one about which you need to know as much as possible. And never, ever give up.
The sad sequel to my "Staircase Mystery" is that I didn't write another novel until about 1975. So many years busy as a school and government secretary. You have an advantage. You are young--now is the time to put wings to your dreams and climb the ladder step by step.
God bless you in your efforts,
Colleen
Yes, I am a Christian. I am not sure what genre to start with, but I want to write in many of them. It is just trying to sit down everyday with a simple word count and writing. So far, I only write magazine stories and only have one published story in a children’s devotional.
I am reading your book Flower of Seattle.
Thank you for your comments and advice.
You are a very kind woman.
Congratulations on your accomplishments so far, Kayla! Actually, writing magazine stories and articles and contributing to devotionals is an excellent way to break into the market. When I was getting started, I wrote dozens of magazine pieces. Each taught me more about writing and marketing and working with editors. The inspirational market can always use more good writers.
Flower of Seattle was a fun book to write. It has three sequels: Flower of the West, Flower of the North, and Flower of Alaska.
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