Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Wednesday Scramble (and Mystery by Twitter)

Tomorrow's Guest Blogger

Blogger friend and mystery author Alan Orloff will be here tomorrow to talk about his novel (Killer Routine) which debuts a new mystery series featuring a stand-up comic.


Speaking of Mysteries, Here's a New Twist

The crime writing festival Magna cum Murder that takes place in late October in Muncie, Indiana (home of Ball State University) is going to have a bit of fun this week on Twitter. Here's the scoop direct from the Magna cum Murder e-mail:

Magna cum Murder intern Austin Lugar is a Telecommunications major at Ball State University. This semester he is in a Pop Culture and Communication class and they were assigned a project to show the power and potential of Twitter. For his project, Austin decided to craft a murder mystery that will take place entirely through a real time Twitter feed.

Seven characters are going to a mansion for a dinner party when--what do you know--a murder takes place. Along with the host of the party, his surly butler, and the determined detective the crime will (probably) be solved.

You can follow along on Wednesday, March 30th starting at 7PM EST. It will take place for about three hours.

There are two ways to watch all of the comedic action. Keep track of the hashtag #popclue. All of the tweets will have that tag.

Or you can follow all 10 characters which you can find at these links:

http://twitter.com/DetectiveNotes
http://twitter.com/JennyFlowers01
http://twitter.com/LowlyButler
http://twitter.com/MisterGainey
http://twitter.com/MsProfessor
http://twitter.com/NextBestGangsta
http://twitter.com/PinkNRad
http://twitter.com/SteveOnTop
http://twitter.com/VirtualMom18
http://twitter.com/WriterTy

This will be an entertaining experiment in telling a story with a new platform. There will be plenty of jokes and clues through the duration. The more people follow along the more fun it will be. So if you think this sounds good, please tell your friends to follow these accounts or the hashtag. (If you write about this, I would love to know.)

"I hope to see you on Twitter this Wednesday at 7PM!" says Austin.

That's tonight, folks, at 5PM Mountain Time.


Adding to My Kindle Library

I just bought Alex J. Cavanaugh's CassaStaR and I already have Headwind by KK Brees. I need to pick up a couple of mysteries as backup.

I've had the Kindle since Christmas, but keep on reading hardcovers and paperbacks when I'm at home. I'm getting ready for a trip though, and I'll have a three-hour layover at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. All I need is a venti latte from Starbucks and my Kindle and I'll be fine.


The A to Z April Blog Challenge Begins on Friday

Even if you don't plan to participate this year, you might want to visit some of the fine bloggers who will keep the challenge going. The list is at Arlee Bird's tossing it out blog.


What I'm Reading

The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest

I'm just hoping these folks all said their longevity is directly related to their daily intake of wine and chocolate (in moderation, of course).

8 comments:

Jan Morrison said...

hello deary deary deario! Have you got a theme in mind for the A to Zed challenge? Just wondering...
I love the idea of the twitter murder - not sure I'll follow due to self-imposed deadline but lvoe the idea...

Anonymous said...

Pat - Thanks so much for reminding us of Alan's visit. I am very much looking forward to it :-). And that book you're reading sounds really interesting; I'd love to know the secrets, too! Oh, and the twitter murder - absolutely innovative and intriguing :-).

Patricia Stoltey said...

Hi Jan -- I'm still mulling over themes, but picked my word for "A" and decided I might be able to do all 26 posts on some aspect of blogging -- what new bloggers should and shouldn't do. I'm going to start writing posts this evening and try to get a week ahead. (Yeah, right!)

Good morning, Margot. Alan is always fun, and his new mystery series concept sounds like a winner. -- I'm going to follow along with the Twitter mystery from Magna cum Murder. It's a clever idea, so I'm anxious to see how it works.

Patricia Stoltey said...

I just checked and there are 785 bloggers signed up for the A to Z Blog Challenge. That is AMAZING! Click on the logo in my sidebar if you want to sign up.

Elspeth Futcher said...

I'm going to follow the twitter murder - what fun! Thanks for letting me know, Pat.

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Quite a few things going on, looking forward to the A to Z.

Yvonne.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Elspeth, you're most welcome. I thought you might get a kick of the Twitter mystery experiment.

Yvonne, A to Z will be even more fun than last year.

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Fascinating idea to create a murder story to get solved on Twitter. Now if I didn't have to work on my new book...

Monti
MaryMontagueSikes