Near Miss

Preface

Hey readers, and thanks for tuning in! I'll be starting on Near Miss today, writing every day as a part of Camp NaNoWriMo, as has become usual for these novels. (find out more at https://nanowrimo.org/). I'll be publishing a chapter a day, starting tomorrow, so I have a chance to put them up at a reasonable time of day. I'm thrilled to be bringing back Rhiannon and Sylvie for what I hope will be a thoroughly puzzling new exploit!

Last year, over the course of November, I wrote my first NaNoWriMo project: a mystery novel, upwards of 50,000 words, by the name of Onions & Garlic. I introduced a pair of nontraditional sleuths: Rhiannon Valdez, science nerd and aspiring medical student, and Sylvie Stein, a driven young reporter at the Skybrook Gazette, puzzling out their first investigation. Rhiannon and Sylvie returned this spring for April's Camp NaNoWriMo (similar to, but not actually that distinct from, July's Camp NaNoWriMo) in the short story collection Headlines & Head Wounds, which in retrospect involved very few important headlines, exactly one head wound, and exactly zero deaths.

Why? The reason is simple: most normal people don't get involved in murders very much. Some prominent fictional detectives cough cough seem to encounter a most extraordinary amount of murders whenever they attempt to take any sort of well-deserved vacation. To be realistic, though, murder is not that common- not in a small town east of Seattle, not in the vaguely interesting lives of two amateur investigators, and certainly not in my work.

Instead, what makes Rhiannon and Sylvie such competent investigators is that they're willing to nose into things that are none of their business. To use an old analogy of mine, they might dig a small hole in the ground and start grabbing at any roots that look interesting- quite a good many, I should think. But for any given root they pull at, there's a small chance indeed that they'll grab something that happens to be attached to a tree. Or, for our purposes: a murder.

I'm absolutely going on a tangent here.

Just to get a few important things out of the way: I will try to keep Near Miss almost completely spoiler-free for earlier Rhiannon & Sylvie installments. However, because certain important suspects from Onions & Garlic will necessarily be returning, I can't fully guarantee that it won't tip you off as to the solutions of previous mysteries. If you're concerned about spoilers, I'd suggest that you read Onions & Garlic first.

As this will be my first... yup. I'm definitely out of old excuses. Let's try again. As I'm going to be posting this at the incredible rate of one chapter a day, with essentially no previous editing, I'm open to any reader feedback. Feel free to star, suggest, and theorize in the comments as much as you'd like. So that I can get a general idea of how many people are reading Near Miss, please log into Wattpad or make an account (it's simple and it supports writers) in order to be tracked as a reader. You can also join the Autumn Lin Writing Discord server (there's a link in my profile) for exclusive sneak peeks.

As always, thank you for your support, and enjoy the journey!