Dean Gilbert's Writing Blog

So far I haven't written much about my books themselves. This blog should b a place you can visit for tips on entertainment, mostly related to mysteries, magic tricks and snows, and puzzles. But I do need to work through something, and I thought getting it all in type in front of me might help.  I am working well beyond full time with a second job and a small business. That means when I sit down to write I like to be ready with the next part of my story. I have the outline worked out, and the first draft is about 75-80 finished. But I am a bit stuck. This is not exactly writer's block. I have just written a scene in which my main character has to sneak around a mansion to collect some evidence. As I wrote the crucial moments I realized that I forgot to make it difficult for him. The majority of my time plotting the book so far has been thinking up nearly impossible situations and then thinking up ways my hero can get out of them. But this time I hadn't got that together, so...

When I decided to include puzzles in the scope of this blog I began thinking of the various types of puzzles I was aware of. I have a few in possession, but there are some others that I have lost or never owned. One of the ways I intend to make up the deficit is to build some of the ones I want to add to my collection. To be worthwhile they should be attractive enough to sit on a desk in an office space as a decoration. This means I will likely use wood as often as possible. I don't intend to figure out my own designs, but find suitable plans on the Internet. This works best if you know what kind of puzzles you are searching for. I started by searching for a particular type whose name I know because I do own it, then expanded. The puzzle is called a yoke puzzle, which is based on its shape, and it is a type that challenges the player to manipulate string that has been run through various shapes of wood. The idea is to move or release a steel ring that is trapped on the string. As I...

If you have enjoyed the Kenneth Branagh films based on Agatha Christie's classic mysteries, I have great news for you. Even if you have read everything Christie wrote, more mystery in the same vein awaits. I am referring to the works of Ngaio Marsh. Of course die-hard mystery fans are probably aware of Marsh and her sleuthing team of Scotland Yard detectives, Alleyn and Fox. But if the events on the Orient Express were your gateway murder you may not know who to turn to after Poirot's Last Case.    My short list is to start with Marsh, then move on to Patricia Wentworth, whose stories    feature a Miss Marple-like Miss Silver, who always seems to be at the right place at the right crime, and has cordial relations with Scotland Yard. I am not suggesting that these three are the only great mystery writers, nor even that the classic cozy-style is better than any other crime writing. I am recommending that if you like Christie and haven't read Marsh or Wentworth you have...

I had to post a short entry as a bit of celebration. Last week I completed a draft of a non-fiction work for my employer. It is a robotics training manual designed in a modular fashion, based on a slide deck. It consists of about 250 slides, many with multiple screenshots from simulator software that show the exact steps in an operation. The modular design will let me adapt it quickly to custom courses. I consider this a milestone for myself because it proved to me that I could write a longer work of nonfiction. Yes, not as exciting for you as for me, but it did help me understand my own writing process and that means more content for you. Look for more content related to mysteries and magic in the next entry. Sent from my iPhone

 I could not let this day pass without a quick post. It's Sherlock Holmes Day. Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday. We can't exactly celebrate Holmes' birthday, because, while he was conceived, he was never born. But a lot of plots have been hatched thanks to Doyle's character. Not only are there imitators of Holmes, but of Doyle, including some very good adaptations, thank you Guy Ritchie, and some not so good (Elementary, The Seven Percent Solution ). Many fictional sleuths refer to Holmes, and who knows how many of the authors we follow today were inspired by the stories of murder and mayhem in old London. And nobody can deny that Sherlock Holmes stories still have the power to entertain and amaze. If you haven't read them, or it has been while, maybe this day is your sign to revisit the work of a master. Enjoy!

In my last blog entry I promised you an Easter egg from The Blacklist. What I didn't know then was that I would notice another. I will admit up front that these are probably known to diehard fans, but I had fun spotting them. They both appear in season one. At one point we see the main character Raymond "Red" Reddington in front of a painting of a boat. The picture is "Storm on the Sea of Galilee" by Rembrandt which was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston in 1990 and has never been recovered. I also promised to connect this with a James Bond film, Dr. No. In the film Bond is about meet the doctor for dinner in his lair. As he climbs a staircase he passes a painting that is visible to the audience. It is Goya's Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, which had been stolen the year before the film was released, and not recovered for several years after.  In fact, the Bond franchise repeated this effect in Skyfall, this time with a missing Mod...