About Quest Mystery
The origins of the 'Quest Mystery' concepts springs from the historic mists. Always, I have been creative in my writing. Even during my business career I was an expert in creating companies. When I was living in the Colorado mountains, going through an artistic phase, I became involved in the gaming towns of nearby historic mining communities. I wrote a story of a treasure hidden in a stolen miner's backpack with associated murder and revenge. For the fear factor, there was even a dead dog that kept unexpectedly appearing giving fright to the killer. I first called this manuscript, 'Casino Mountain' and later 'Rocky Mountain Die', a little tongue-in-cheek John Denver humor.
I decided the goal of the story would not only to be a mystery, over and done with, but a story with a 'hook' which would draw visitors to these certain Colorado mountain towns, to visit, and spend their dollars in the small casinos. Towards that end, I went around and buried three antique, turn-of-the-century blue poison bottles, with the hardest to find bearing a note redeemable as the prize worth cash. I fleshed out the details of the treasure hunt, and then, like many aspects of my life, other junctions in the road of life appeared, and I took a different pathway, and shelved the manuscript. That was, I believe, in 1995.
When I picked up my pen again, after my move to Nevada, in 1997, I followed the adage of write what you know. The Mayor of Las Vegas was a neighbor; I had a background in casino gaming, had expertise in the business and entertainment world, and thus, the first draft of Vegas Die arose from the keyboard of imagination.
Why Quest Mystery? Having been active in the early stages of registering dot com names for my boss, I found I had come too late to the table of gaining any standardize web site names. For Rocky Mountain Die, I had registered 'Quest Treasure' dot com, because 'Treasure Quest' was taken, the same for 'Mystery Quest', so I had to go with 'Quest Mystery'.
My other input was in reading a lot about what was going on in the book and publishing industry. Just writing a book these days is too contained; too purist to a market place. An author has to think to the bottom line not first he or she is writing great prose. A good commercial book these days leads to audio books, if lucky, towards a movie deal with supporting computer games, perhaps a celebrity cookbook. We are in a digital multi-media entertainment world. I decided why not have the book entertain on several platforms, at the same time; hence a puzzle within a mystery within a book. As my pitch goes, you read Vegas Die for the mystery, and return again to read it as a treasure hunt. How many writers can boast of multiple required reading to their works?
If the concept of a 'Quest Mystery' takes root, I see branches appearing. I need to hurry up and finish a sequel to Vegas Die. I would like to give talks and demonstrate a Quest Mystery game. Look to the website for those sort of experiments. Above all, I want the readers to stick around and join in, become Questors, become participants to the community, to offer their own variations of a Quest Mystery. After all, the book as we once knew it, hard yet brittle upon yellowing age, is perishable, but its soul has metamorphed into a Digital Age. It is my goal to attract new readers, to rekindle excitement in this transitional craft. Not asking too much, am I?
S.Grogan
Join the Quest!
I decided the goal of the story would not only to be a mystery, over and done with, but a story with a 'hook' which would draw visitors to these certain Colorado mountain towns, to visit, and spend their dollars in the small casinos. Towards that end, I went around and buried three antique, turn-of-the-century blue poison bottles, with the hardest to find bearing a note redeemable as the prize worth cash. I fleshed out the details of the treasure hunt, and then, like many aspects of my life, other junctions in the road of life appeared, and I took a different pathway, and shelved the manuscript. That was, I believe, in 1995.
When I picked up my pen again, after my move to Nevada, in 1997, I followed the adage of write what you know. The Mayor of Las Vegas was a neighbor; I had a background in casino gaming, had expertise in the business and entertainment world, and thus, the first draft of Vegas Die arose from the keyboard of imagination.
Why Quest Mystery? Having been active in the early stages of registering dot com names for my boss, I found I had come too late to the table of gaining any standardize web site names. For Rocky Mountain Die, I had registered 'Quest Treasure' dot com, because 'Treasure Quest' was taken, the same for 'Mystery Quest', so I had to go with 'Quest Mystery'.
My other input was in reading a lot about what was going on in the book and publishing industry. Just writing a book these days is too contained; too purist to a market place. An author has to think to the bottom line not first he or she is writing great prose. A good commercial book these days leads to audio books, if lucky, towards a movie deal with supporting computer games, perhaps a celebrity cookbook. We are in a digital multi-media entertainment world. I decided why not have the book entertain on several platforms, at the same time; hence a puzzle within a mystery within a book. As my pitch goes, you read Vegas Die for the mystery, and return again to read it as a treasure hunt. How many writers can boast of multiple required reading to their works?
If the concept of a 'Quest Mystery' takes root, I see branches appearing. I need to hurry up and finish a sequel to Vegas Die. I would like to give talks and demonstrate a Quest Mystery game. Look to the website for those sort of experiments. Above all, I want the readers to stick around and join in, become Questors, become participants to the community, to offer their own variations of a Quest Mystery. After all, the book as we once knew it, hard yet brittle upon yellowing age, is perishable, but its soul has metamorphed into a Digital Age. It is my goal to attract new readers, to rekindle excitement in this transitional craft. Not asking too much, am I?
S.Grogan
Join the Quest!
