Lynn Emery

I started at age ten, inspired by the first mystery novel I read- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

When I was ten or eleven, I started writing a murder mystery novel. The heroine was a news reporter who was invited to attend the reading of a will, but she'd never met the elderly woman who'd died. The premise was that the reading of the woman's will turned into a treasure hunt, with the winner inheriting the woman's fortune. Picture it, greedy family members who'd never cared about or visited the deceased. Faithful family employees with secrets, and more. Then several potential beneficiaries are murdered one by one. The reporter would solve the mystery. Of course, I didn't get too far. I finally hit a wall and couldn't figure out what came next. So I tossed it out, frustrated and a bit angry with myself. I had yet to learn about plotting, characterization, etc. But that was a fun summer while I was writing, and I'll never forget how excited I was to write each day.