A-Z Blog Challenge: M is for Mysteries by Rachael Rawlings

It's that time again!!!  Unwritten and some 1000 other blogs participated last year, and this year looks to be even bigger! Just like last year, I've opened up the blog to host 26 fabulous writers, with each day of the challenge representing the letters of the alphabet from A-Z. I've asked each writer to focus on something that is personal to them, so we can learn more about each other. 

Please check out some of the other blogs in the challenge here: 

A-Z BLOG CHALLENGE 2013

M is for...Mysteries

by Rachael Rawlings

M is for Mystery! Of course it is! Some of the finest books, spine tingling, breath holding, roller coaster ride novels are based on the good, old fashioned mystery. We live for the hunt. We want to be taken from the mundane problems of our day to day to look into someone else’s experiences to see how they handle their problems, their situations, and best of all, their unanswered questions.

So M is for mystery. And the most important part of the mystery is to have a great question to be answered. Not just who done it, but why, and why do we care, and what will happen when we know, and all is revealed? We have to have something original, something that raises the eyebrows, causes the reader to pause, and makes them say “oh” when they reach the solution.

So in my newest novel, The Parrot Told Me, my mystery is this; if the only witness to a crime is a talking African Grey Parrot, can the bird tell the story?

The mystery of these clever animals is absolutely fascinating. I originally thought of this idea when I adopted a three year old Grey, Isaac. In his chattering conversation, he would call dogs, ask if they wanted to go out and potty, bark like a small dog, call out names of his old family members, whistle familiar songs, make innumerable sounds of the house (doors closing, slamming, beeping, buzzing, and phone ringing), and give his rendition of the closing of a conversation, “Okay, love you, bye.” He provided a very cool insight to the day to day lives of his old family. And I couldn’t help but wonder, what would he say about us? And what could he really tell?

Take a moment and think of the lives of the hidden family members in our houses. Look at the dog that lays at our feet, watches our every twitch over the kitchen table, and chews our shoes with love. Look at our cats that spy on us from the backs of chairs, that slip around our legs as we move throughout day to day, and cuddle in our laps at night. What mysteries are they seeing? And what do they think of us?

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Rachael Rawlings began writing when she was in grade school, and hasn’t stopped since. She currently has completed five novels, to be published by Hydra Publications, and a sixth is in the editing phase. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders from the University of Kentucky, and her Master’s of Science degree at the University of Louisville. She has worked as a Speech Language Pathologist in Rehabilitation Centers, Long Term Care facilities, private practice, and the school system. Her love of working with people and the importance of communication has continued to inspire her in her work.

Rachael has a true love of reading, and reads different genres depending on her mood. She is interested in mystery, fantasy, good old fashioned spine tingling horror, and gentle romance. She reads for entertainment and comfort, and her writing reflects this. Her main goal is to show the reader a good time, make them think just a little, and make them wonder about things that are just on the other side of reality.

She lives with her husband, a professional architect, her three wonderful children, and two dogs. She also is owned by two parrots who continually surprise her in their sheer intelligence (a new definition of bird brained). She grew up in and lives in the small town of Crestwood, Kentucky.

Find Rachael and her work at Amazon!