THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2006
Writing Instructor Turns Assignment Into Novel
By DENISE FLEISCHER
Lifestyle Editor
Des Plaines author Cheryl Hagedorn's fictional mystery was kindled by a writing assignment at the Park Ridge Senior Center. Her debut novel, "Park Ridge: A Senior Center Murder" brings together four seniors who love to play pinochle and plot to end the lives of a number of activity boosters at the center.
Hagedorn's motivation for creating the book began when her writing class, which she's been teaching for the past four or five years, began working on short, shorts. Her students have also explored memoirs, creative writing, poetry and short stories during eight week sessions.
"The assignment was to write a murder mystery and it had to take place at the senior center. It evolved into a contest. I read all the students' manuscripts and personally wrote 18 entries. I really whipped them out," stated the 1965 Maine West graduate.
She also helped convert some of their stories into plays, with the assistance of Renata Galassini, one of the ladies in her writing class. Hagedorn believes Galassini is a gifted writer.
After Hagedorn spoke to a friend through e-mail, she wondered if she erased the 1,000 word limit if her storyline and the characters could develop. She selected a story that had the most room to expand upon, one with four killers and five murders.
"This is not a whodunit. The reader knows from each murderer's own words the 'how' and sometimes 'why,' stated Hagedorn. "The mystery is whether the detective can discover who committed the crimes and if he will be able to convince the State's Attorney that "old people" can be pushed to murder."
"This is a psychological suspense novel. The book's layout is interesting because the format is different. There's a section for every murder that includes the killer's actions and thoughts. Part of the fun is watching the detective trying to solve the case. You'll be rooting for the bad guys," she said.
The book is absolutely character driven, confessed Hagedorn. There's next to no plot. There is romance, though. Several people have pointed out to her that the romance was almost as interesting as the mystery. Nothing steamy.
"I don't know if I have a hero," she said. "It's not like he's this big, macho man. Issue and conflict is the core of the book. It's true to life and has characters with attitudes and animosities which need to be addressed.
Hagedorn stated that she's been writing seriously for the last 10 years, both short stories and poetry. She took creative writing classes at Oakton Community College and then went for her Masters in Writing at DePaul in Chicago. Besides teaching at the senior center she has taught writing classes for the Chicago Dept. of Aging and Truman College.
She writes every morning on her computer from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. "Park Ridge: A Senior Center Murder" was written in eight drafts before she passed it on to two readers to edit the manuscript: Linda Mowry and Holly DeVogt. Hagedorn chose to self publish her book, rather than follow the traditional path of sending query letters to publishers, submitting her manuscript and waiting for approval or rejection. Since the setting is the actual senior center she did not have to do research, merely used the actual arrangement of rooms. She did create a fictional lounge, though, where one of the murders takes place.
"It never even crossed my mind to have it published traditionally. I thought it would be a one hit wonder. I didn't even envision an audience beyond the senior center," she said.
When the manuscript was finished and she chose the company to publish the book, she uploaded the file on its website, proofed the pdf file the staff created, proofed it again and gave the "go-ahead" on the galley and then ordered the books. As for the cover, there were various templates to choose from. She told her illustrator, Julie Sartain, what she wanted, liked what she created and the fonts for the title and her name were selected. The book is hot off the press and now available through a Print on Demand process. It will be sold as both an e-book and trade paperback.
Asked what this book means to her, Hagedorn replied, "It's just something I wanted to do. I think I'm going to be much more prouder of the next one, which is "Six County Senior Olympics. It's been a hell of a ride getting acquainted with the characters," she added.
In terms of promotion of her debut novel, Hagedorn would like to create a set of discussion questions to be used with her book.
"I'd like to go to senior centers and talk about the book and how it addresses issues of interest to seniors," she stated.
After "Six County Senior Olympics," which continues the romance of the detective, Stan Nevins and senior center director Teresa Cusentino during the senior competition, Hagedorn will write another mystery, possibly titled, "Des Plaines," which will have it's own twists, characteristic of the schizophrenic split in physical facilities during a time of transition. She also hopes to focus her time and attention on a non-fiction book on Theodora Van Wagenen, Emily Dickinson's assistant editor and on a collection of short murder stories entitled, "The Rules are Simple." These are the winning stories of the senior center contest mentioned above.
As for the authors that Hagedorn loves to read, that would be Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, Patricia Cornell and Faye Kellerman. She admits to be an avid reader, as well.
For more information about Hagedorn's novel, log on to cheryltime.com.
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