Author Jean Henry Mead

Jean Henry Mead is a mystery/suspense and western historical novelist. She's also an award-winning photojournalist. One of her fortes is interviewing writers, actors, politicians, artists and ordinary people who have accomplished extraordinary things. She began her writing career as a California news reporter/editor/photographer, first in Central California and later in San Diego. Mead later transferred to Casper, Wyoming, to serve as a staff writer for the statewide newspaper. While there she served as editor of In Wyoming Magazine and two small presses. She also freelanced for other magazines, both domestic and abroad, among them the Denver Post's Empire Magazine.

Please welcome Jean Henry Mead.

Writing for Children and Seniors.

by Jean Henry Mead

My recently published novels include an autobiographical children’s book, Mystery of Spider Mountain, and Murder on the Interstate, the third novel in my Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series featuring two sassy, 60-year-old amateur sleuths.

Although I’ve written and published 14 books, the task of writing a children’s mystery was daunting because I didn’t know the language. Watching Saturday morning children’s shows helped and I added a few “hey, dudes,” “sweets” and “bros” to the dialogue. But, because I wanted to write for 9-12 year-olds, I had to do more research, which included taking a course in children’s literature. Middle graders don’t require complicated plots so it’s best to concentrate on one powerful theme in a simple plotline, such as bullying or losing a friend or parent.

Setting is also important. Most middle graders’ lives are centered around school so you have to decide if your plot takes place during those hours or on vacation or after school. When you decide how the problem or action is going to take place, you need to develop a time schedule when events are going to happen. That means outlining, which doesn’t have to be detailed but it should include events that get progressively worse as the plot marches on. Otherwise, you can paint yourself into a corner, which I’ve done in the past. You then need to decide which events are needed to complicate the problem. And, above all, allow the child to solve the problem on her own, with only minimal help from adults, including her parents.

I don’t mean to imply that senior readers are in the same category as children, but a few rules seem to apply as far as sexual content and language. Older women comprise a large percentage of readers and many are turned off by graphic language and sex. Most, according to recent surveys, enjoy reading about people in their own age groups, so I substitute humor and a little romance.

 In my latest novel, Murder on the Interstate, which features my two senior sleuths traveling Interstate 40 in northern Arizona in their motorhome, they discover the body of a young woman in her Mercedes convertible. The killer returns to make sure his victim is dead, and disables Dana and Sarah’s RV. A trucker named “Big Ruby” McCurdy comes to their rescue and they chase after the killer in her produce truck to get his license number, but soon realize that he’s pursuing them. The language is authentic as well as humorous because I drove my RV over the same route while listening to truckers on my CB radio.

Carolyn Hart, a senior herself, wrote the following blurb for the book:

Careen into crime with two intrepid sleuths who outwit terrorists in a fast-paced plot taken from today's headlines. A page turner. 

I hope I didn’t leave any of my senior readers so breathless that they needed oxygen.

Thank you Jean!

Jean’s first book was published in 1982. She's since published fourteen novels and nonfiction books. You can also catch her on four different blogs: Mysterious Writers, Writers of the West, Murderous Musings, and Make Mine Mystery. If you’d like to take a look at the trailer for Murder on the Interstate, zip over to You Tube.

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