Ideas breed like bunnies, and

There really are a lot

From which to pick as I prepare

An outline for my plot:

A big financial Guru

With a fat and dowdy wife

Considers all his options

And decides to end her life.

He’ll swap her for a trophy wife

With luscious, pouty lips.

Just thinking of her on his arm

His heart does double flips.

Or I can write about a Dad

And mom who struggled long

To raise a most beloved child

Who nonetheless goes wrong.

A nasty, rotten piece of work

Addicted to all drugs,

He murders both his parents with

The help of local thugs.

A more enticing crime would have

A smidgen of romance.

Perhaps about a heiress who’s

Invited to a dance.

A handsome scheming psychopath

Malevolent since birth

Intends to woo and wed her for

Her very high net worth.

And after having frolicked in

Their honeymooning bed.

To transfer all her money, and

Then thwack her on the head.

Or there’s the nightclub owner with

A calculating eye.

Perhaps he’s planning how his business

Partner’s going to die.

Because the partner expertly

(He always had been brash)

Has been, for over three years now,

Purloining all the cash!

But…readers might be bored without

A love affair or two

So theft, though deft and criminal

Will not entirely do.

I must engage, entice, amuse,

My mystery must “play fair”

With guys and gals so likeable

If they should die, we’d care…

I must create a story, and

I must devise a plot,

A character must suffocate,

Be bludgeoned, or be shot.

Regardless of the circumstance,

In wind, or sun, or hail.

Clues must be found and followed, my

Detective cannot fail.

So that’s my task: To wield a pen

And exercise my skills.

To write an entertaining book,

That charms, intrigues, and thrills.

We want our noble hero to

Arrest and apprehend

The evil-hearted villain, and

Serve justice in the end!!!

Shelly Reuben has been nominated for Edgar, Prometheus, and Falcon awards.. For more about her books, visit www.shellyreuben.com.

Copyright © Shelly Reuben, 2016