Blog - M.E. Browning

Safety Advice from a Cop and Her Character

Blog banner of the title and a paperback of BEACHED by Micki Browning

It’s not enough to flee danger—you must run toward safety

The number one safety tip I used to share as an officer? It’s not enough to flee danger, you also have run toward safety. Otherwise you might end up in an even worse predicament. Easy to say, but it’s not always easy to do. If you’ve ever been frightened, you probably already know that fear changes a person’s ability to function in an emergency. If a person becomes panicked, they may shut down completely–which may be great for your story, but it’s not something you want to experience in real life.

In law enforcement, officers train for both day-to-day encounters and worst-case scenarios— and what to do when the one devolves into the other. Officers learn to recognize signs of danger and behavioral clues that foretell a fight. The smart ones try to mitigate hazards and defuse danger before the first punch is thrown. That takes a certain amount of vigilance.

Training starts in the academy. Some lessons last through retirement.

Blog graphic of BEACHED, A Mer Cavallo Mystery by Micki Browning in a Pinterest format.

Here are a couple of the things I still do:

I call Dibs! on the restaurant seat that allows me to keep my back to the wall so I can watch the door.

Exits are important. I note where the emergency exits are regardless if I’m in the air, on the ground, or underwater (actually, especially underwater. There’s a scene in Beached that demonstrates why).

Unless I’m in a high-rise, I try to take the stairs. If I do take an elevator and someone gives me the creeps, I get off, even if it’s not my floor.

Speaking of which. I always pay attention to my gut. I’ve taken too many reports from people who told me that they had a bad feeling about something and disregarded their intuition.

I look at other people’s hands. Empty hands are a good start, but I also pay attention to waistbands and funny bulges under sports coats.

Knowing your location can be a lifesaver. Calling 9-1-1 and telling the dispatcher you’re by the tall palm tree makes it difficult for other people to find you. I still look for street signs when I’m in an unfamiliar place.

I don’t carry things in my right hand if I can avoid it. It’s my gun hand even when I’m not armed.

While coming to a stop behind another vehicle, I keep a bit of room between my car and the vehicle ahead of me. One never knows when it might be necessary to peel out of traffic. (That said, please don’t be that person who keeps two car lengths distance and is slow off the line when the light changes….)

I don’t draw even with the car next to me. No sense giving anyone a clear shot. Stopping in their blind spot is best, but inching ahead of will do in a pinch. If they want to look at me, they’ll have to work for it— and chances are I’ll notice. Then? Well, see the above comment.

My law enforcement friends understand my habits. In fact, they’ll try to get to the restaurant first to claim the coveted chair with the view of the door. Some of my other friends tease me—if they notice at all.

In BEACHED, the second Mer Cavallo Mystery, Mer’s romantic interest has advanced tactical training. A bit of his wariness has rubbed off her, and it’s always in the back of her mind that even if she calls him for help, she should still have her own plan. Which is pretty sound safety advice for everyone.

Chapter Seven

His presence gave her comfort even as his heightened vigilance threatened her composure.

Thanks for diving into the replay of posts that preceded the release of Beached, the second Mer Cavallo Mystery! I hope you enjoy learning a bit about the inspiration behind the story, decisions that went into the writing, what it’s like to live in the Keys, or a bit about Meredith Cavallo, a marine biologist whose life unravels after she finds a plastic-wrapped bundle floating on the waves off Key Largo.

Holidays in Fiction: What Could Go Wrong?

Despite its potential for disaster, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It’s also a great occasion to see how well your characters navigate the unrealistic expectations that show up like unwanted guests during the holidays in your fiction. Mer Cavallo, my protagonist in Beached, decides Thanksgiving will be the perfect occasion to host her first ever dinner party as she tries to make a home for herself in Key Largo. It does not unfold as intended.

Book cover for 'Beached' by Micki Browning featuring a diver underwater, with a compass and ocean background. Includes text about Chapter Six and 'Holidays in Fiction.'

Over the years, I’ve personally honed a standard menu: roast turkey with a caramelized-onion gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, a second wildcard vegetable, homemade cranberry sauce, assorted relishes, and rolls. For dessert I double up and make a killer dried cranberry and apple pie along with my grandmother’s pecan pie.

Contrast that with the first time I contributed something more than a can of cranberries or the floral centerpiece to a Thanksgiving meal. I volunteered to cook the turkey. I mean, I’d never cooked one before, but seriously, how hard could it be?

Um, yeah. Bet you can see where this is going.

Let me assure you, there is a reason Butterball has a turkey hotline. It was a number I should have put on speed dial. For the uninitiated, no matter how delicious a turkey smells, or how perfectly bronzed the skin, neither is truly an indication of whether the bird is actually cooked. But I proudly carried the turkey to the table. My brother-in-law picked up the carving knife. And I learned a lesson about the value of a good meat thermometer.

Thanksgiving for Dummies

I’ll admit, I once bought into the hype surrounding the holiday even while recognizing that the glossy photo of the perfect table, set with expensive china showcasing a holiday bird that could only have originated from Martha Stewart’s own oven was an unattainable ideal. The woman holding the carving knife as if she actually intended to use it on the turkey instead of her family gave it away.

Thanksgiving isn’t about perfection. It never was. But it’s that imperfection that makes the celebration interesting.

It’s no secret that an author’s humiliations are often fodder for their characters’ challenges, and more than one of my escapades have ended up complicating the holidays in my fiction. Since the Year-of-the-Great-Turkey Debacle, I’ve discovered the key to tackling a meal of any magnitude is preparation and a lot of help. But that doesn’t mean Mer learned the same lesson in Beached. In fact, no matter how intelligent the hostess, this is not a lesson that can be taught. It must be experienced.

Chapter Six

Mer considered herself a reasonably intelligent woman, but smart wasn’t the word used to describe a person who went to the grocery store the night before Thanksgiving.

A Hurricane in the Keys and How it Shaped my Characters

When I first wrote this post it was supposed to be about the petty annoyances of living steps away from the ocean: the salt rime that slowly eats away at a car, the rust forming on garden tools, wood splintering from constant exposure to heat and humidity. Mildew. But along came Irma, and I would be remiss if I pretended that life in the Keys remained the same.

Two boats docked in a marina, one labeled 'Ocean Divers' and the other a green boat, with buildings and palm trees in the background. — The Ocean Diver boats secured in the canal away from the dock in preparation of a hurricane in Key Largo. Author photo.

In the early morning hours of September 10, 2017, Hurricane Irma slammed into the Florida Keys as a monster Category Four storm. Her wrath tormented the island chain, the eye passed over Cudjoe Key and her bands battered every bit of the archipelago.

Living in paradise comes at a cost and sometimes the price is dear.

The Aftermath of Hurricane Irma

Book cover for 'Beached' by Micki Browning featuring ocean imagery and a hurricane theme, highlighting Chapter Five titled 'A Hurricane in the Keys and How it Shaped My Characters'.

When morning dawned and Irma had moved onto the peninsula, those who rode out the storm had their first glimpse of the devastation. Houses were flayed open, cars overturned, buildings flooded, landscape uprooted. Boats clogged canals, their moorings snapped and their docks crushed. Still other boats had been plucked from the ocean, cast upon the shore and across roads. Debris brought life to a standstill.

September is a hot month in the Keys. Humidity soars and mosquitos thrive. Life without power is harsh. Food spoils, sleep becomes elusive.

In the midst of the misery, stories were born—tales of heroism and neighborliness and luck. One Key Largo man found a wedding band glinting in the middle of his street. The ring belonged to his neighbor who had lost it eight years earlier. A gift unearthed.

Like palm trees, the people who chose to live in the Keys are tough and resilient. More importantly, they are also caring, generous, and loyal. It will take more than a storm—even one as massive as Irma—to break them. They survived. They began rebuilding. And once again, they flourished.

It’s exactly that kind of spirit that I wanted the characters of BEACHED, the second Mer Cavallo Mystery, to embrace.

Chapter Five

Nothing remained untouched in the Keys.

Welcome to One-Line Wednesdays—a series of posts I wrote in the weeks preceding the original release of Beached, the second Mer Cavallo Mystery in 2018. In this series, I share insight into Mer’s life in the Florida Keys as well as the inspiration behind the story and decisions that went into its making. I hope you enjoy this peek behind the scenes!

7 Great Craft Books for Fiction Writers

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an author in possession of a story idea must be in want of a craft book on writing.

Confession time. I can’t go into a bookstore without at least taking a gander at the reference section. My eyes skip over the dictionaries and SAT study guides to dwell on the books dedicated to the art and craft of fiction writing. I know there is no craft book that holds the magic nugget of truth that will gild my prose or gift me with the perfect plot. But, it won’t stop me from searching. And the lessons I’ve learned along the way, enable me to create my own magic.

A collection of four craft books for fiction writers on writing and storytelling, including 'The Nighttime Novelist', 'Structuring Your Novel', 'The Fantasy Fiction Formula', and 'The Secrets of Story'. — Four of my favs. *The Nighttime Novelist* was one of my earliest purchases and one I still reference.

I consider that a win.

Regardless of where you are in your own writing, I’d encourage you to continue to hone your craft. Very few authors hit it out of the park on their first novel. Uber-successful fantasy author Brandon Sanderson famously wrote thirteen novels that were rejected before his sixth novel was acquired. I have two “practice” manuscripts that will never see the light of day. But those early attempts served their purpose. My first published novel, Adrift, was nominated for the Agatha Award for Best First Book. My third novel, Shadow Ridge, won the Colorado Book Award. Those successes came only after expending a lot of effort studying my craft.

I’m currently in that liminal space that exists between books. My current manuscript is with my agent while the outline of my next book is coming into focus. I find this is the perfect time to grab a new or beloved craft book–both to cleanse my mind of one story and find inspiration for another. Reading about strong openings or how the midpoint is the perfect place for your character’s goals to become more complicated often sparks scene ideas.

Here are some of the writing craft books that I’ve found particularly helpful. The first one happens to be the book I’m currently spending time rereading.

The Fantasy Fiction Formula

When I decided to enter the realm of fantasy writing, I knew there were going to be genre expectations that differed from the mysteries I’d written. It wasn’t until I read urban fantasy author Jim Butcher’s full-throated recommendation of The Fantasy Fiction Formula by Deborah Chester that I knew I’d found the book for me. Turns out, Chester was his writing instructor at Oklahoma University. I expected the book to focus solely on fantasy. I was wrong. Chester shares solid writing principles that extend far beyond speculative fiction, making this a craft book that will benefit writers of any genre. After all, fantastical or not, every story must feel authentic.

The Fear Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to What Holds Characters Back

This thesaurus is the latest addition to the stellar writing guides created by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi—and it’s another winner. While it may be tempting to flip to the individual entries, writers seeking to create compelling characters should take time to mine the discussion of fear in the front of the book. Its explanation of the formative force of fear offers excellent insight into how it shapes your characters. It’s also a reminder that not all fears are equal—nor rational. Crafting a fight scene? Knowing how your character’s fight, flight, or freeze response will add veracity to any scene.

I personally found the section on “How Villains and Antagonist Use Fear” to be particularly revealing. The thesaurus entries offer a comprehensive breakdown of what the fear looks like, the internal struggles it causes, how it can disrupt the character’s life, where the fear may have originated, triggering behavior, and most importantly for a story arc, how the character can overcome it. This isn’t a book to read from cover to cover. Rather it’s best to dip in and out as your needs require.

Searching for inspiration?

Look no further than Stephen King’s On Writing and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. Both books speak to the chaos and frustration that can accompany a life dedicated to writing, but lest you think either is a downer, both will leave you smiling, empowered and ready to tackle your writing! These two books are on almost every writer’s bookshelf for a reason!

Two books resting on a wooden surface: 'Bird by Bird' by Anne Lamott and 'On Writing' by Stephen King, both craft books for fiction writers. — The honesty and humor in both books is so engaging!

Two craft books that take you from idea to completed novel

Open craft book for fiction writers displaying pages with text about narrative structure, escalating scenes, and revision notes for storytelling from The Nighttime Novelist by Joseph Bates.

I started seriously writing while I held down a full-time job and was finishing my Medieval Studies degree at UCSB. I know what it’s like to snatch bits of time to write. That’s what I love about The Nighttime Novelist. Joseph Bates understands that few people have dedicated time or an office in which to craft their stories, let alone their magnum opus. Bates guides writers from idea through revision with kindness, insight, and plenty of great examples. Plus I’m a sucker for anything that comes in a binder that lays open and is punctuated with the occasional pullout page. I’ve had this book for sixteen years, and yes, I still return to certain flagged pages.

K.M. Weiland’s Structuring Your Novel is one I pick up when I’m working out a pacing issue or about to embark on revisions. The woman knows her structure. You may already know her from her wildly popular blog “Helping Writers Become Authors.” She breaks down structure so you can see the architecture of your story. This is one to read from cover to cover and then return to specific topics when you’re trying to determine where your story wandered into the weeds.

An unexpected delight

Chuck Palahniuk writes violent stories with an intense and unflinching gaze. While I’ve always appreciated his skill, his stories tend to be too graphic for me to enjoy. So when I first heard he had written a craft book for fiction writers, I shrugged and carried on with life.

Book cover featuring a hand holding a pencil, pointing upward. The title 'Consider This' by Chuck Palahniuk is displayed, along with the subtitle 'Moments in my writing life after which everything was different.'Craft book cover for fiction writers featuring the title 'Consider This' by Chuck Palahniuk, displaying a hand with an upward-pointing finger and pencil-like fingertips, along with the subtitle 'Moments in my writing life after which everything was different.'

Then I stumbled across it in a bookstore and read the title Consider This. So I did. Dear reader, I flipped through the book, and within a moment, concluded Palahniuk’s advice on writing was exactly the craft book I needed to read. The book jacket describes his book as a “blend of memoir and insight.” He shares a fair amount of hard-knock snippets from his life, along with the writing lessons he learned along the way. Many of the techniques are damn powerful. It also reminded me that to properly portray violence, you have to be sensitive enough to understand its impact and the repercussions it leaves in its wake. I’ve since followed his Substack: Chuck Palahniuk’s Plot Spoiler. He is generous with his advice, and as you might expect, his words can be brutally and exquisitely raw.

What should you read first? Whatever resonates–and you may not find your perfect craft book on my list of favorites. That is the wonder and beauty of art. And remember, the lessons you retain are the ones you put into practice.

I’m constantly on the prowl for ways to up my writing game. What craft books for writers would you add to the list?

Happy writing!

Characters and the (Imaginary) Media

I wrote and rewrote this post several times. The first draft was too flippant, the second too stodgy. Unlike Goldilocks, I didn’t get it right on the third time, either. Truth is, writing a post about the media is difficult for me. I, like many police officers, have a love/hate relationship with them. The media wants to ferret out the very information that may jeopardize an investigation. That said, I once dated a news photographer, developed friendships with journalists, and staunchly believe that officers and reporters pursue the same goal—to present the truth.

So what’s the problem? Well, it’s complicated.

When Art Imitates Life

Book cover for 'Beached' by Micki Browning featuring a compass and water background, with chapter details and tagline about characters and media.

Media training for officers starts in the police academy. I forget how many hours the class encompassed, but the message that stuck with me was simple: keep your mouth shut. As patrol officers, it wasn’t our job to disseminate information or offer opinions to reporters. Frankly, we were happy to pass the buck to the supervisor or the public information officer.

But journalists are deadline driven, and they will badger* officers until someone breaks and says something** just to make them go away.

Which leads to the second lesson in media relations: once words have been spoken, they can’t be taken back, and something said in frustration is almost guaranteed to lead the evening news or appear above the fold.

As a police captain, I received additional media training, including graduate-level courses at the FBI National Academy. There, I trained to handle the worst of journalistic behavior while keeping my composure. I learned how to parry interruptions, accusations, and anger with information, professionalism, and compassion. In a twist of karmic payback, I became my agency’s spokeswoman–a position, I enjoyed immensely.

Even so, and despite knowing journalists are remarkably similar to cops, I’ve never moved beyond thinking of the media as wild animals. Sure, they look cute and cuddly, but never turn your back on the pack or they’ll tear you to pieces.

In Beached, Mer unexpectedly finds herself in the spotlight. It’s not a position she likes.

Three microphones being held by hands, including a blue microphone, a red microphone, and a black microphone.

Chapter Four

A satellite media van pulled into the parking lot.

* Badger is my word. I’m sure they considered themselves merely tenacious.

** Usually snide. Sadly officers are masters of sarcasm.

Novel Settings Have Stories of Their Own

Many of the settings I mention in Beached are actual places. Key Largo, individual dive sites, the Overseas Highway, all ground my story with a sense of realism. Other locales are drawn from my imagination so as not to taint a real business with the specter of crime. Sometimes, I blend the two—and one such place is the fictional Aquarius Dive Shop located in the very real Port Largo Marina.

Book cover for 'Beached' by Micki Browning, featuring ocean imagery and a compass, promoting Chapter Three of the Mer Cavallo Mystery series.

Even without my addition, Port Largo has a storied history. For starters, it was originally built as an airport. Secondly, the land was underwater.

The tale begins in the late 1960s, when a developer purchased a submerged parcel of state-owned land with the intent to turn it into an airport that Monroe County would eventually control. Located on the Atlantic side of Key Largo, the parcel had to be dredged and a breakwater constructed. The paved breakwater served double-duty as a 2,300-foot runway and the airport opened in 1972. Commercial carriers offered commuter flights from Homestead and Miami, but local lore maintains that drug runners maintained a busier flight schedule.

Eventually another savvy developer realized pilots didn’t need a runway with a view and that wealthy people would pay a hefty premium to live on the edge of the Atlantic. After a court battle with the county, the airport closed in 1972.

Map of a marina layout showing streets and waterway access in the area. — Port Largo. The runway was the long stretch along the right side of the map.

Surrounded on three sides by water, the converted airstrip is now a separate gated community comprised of a single street. Palatial homes, built to withstand tropical storms and hurricane winds, rise above carports, garages, and surge levels on the Atlantic side of the street. Their docks run parallel to the main Port Largo canal on the other side.

Today, a hodgepodge of homes, resorts, dive shops, restaurants, and tiki-bars dot the seven canals that make up Port Largo proper. The famed African Queen (from the 1951 movie of the same name), enjoys easy access to the Atlantic, although it now transports tourists rather than Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. Boat traffic on holiday weekends can be intense with pleasure crafts, commercial charters, kayakers, jet skiers, and paddle boarders all vying for the right of way. One has to navigate a 90-degree bend—affectionately known as crash corner by the local captains—to access the marina.

There’s an adage about writing what you know, and I spent a great deal of time in Port Largo. So does Mer. And for those in the know, the Aquarius Dive Shop was based on the very real and iconic Ocean Divers Dive Shop.

Chapter Three

Mer and Leroy looked over their shoulders the entire way back, only powering down the LunaSea’s engines when they hit the no-wake zone at the entrance of Port Largo.

What the Heck is a Square Grouper?

Thanks for diving into the replay of posts that preceded the 2018 release of Beached, the second Mer Cavallo Mystery. At the end of each post, I’ll share the first line of consecutive chapters. The post itself reveals the inspiration behind the story, decisions that went into the writing, what it’s like to live in the keys, or a bit about Meredith Cavallo, a marine biologist whose life unravels after she finds a plastic-wrapped bundle floating on the waves off Key Largo.

Hint: It’s not a fish.

Pirates still roam the seas.

Cover of 'Beached' by Micki Browning featuring ocean imagery and text about Chapter Two, including a playful clue about a 'Square Grouper'.

In the drug smuggling heyday of the 1970s and 1980s, Miami was considered the drug capital of the world, and much of the drug cartels’ inventory came into the state through the Florida Keys. Coastlines are hard to patrol, and the Florida Keys were particularly inviting due to the number of areas a boat could dock, as well as the Keys’ proximity to the Caribbean and South America.

Despite the best efforts of law enforcement, drug dealing is still profitable and the trade is nowhere near eradicated, although it has subsided some. Even today, boaters occasionally find plastic-wrapped bales of marijuana and brick-sized bundles of cocaine floating in the waves off the Keys. Dubbed square groupers, these floating bales may have washed overboard in bad weather or been intentionally dumped by smugglers trying to avoid apprehension by law enforcement. Some smugglers chalk up the loss as the cost of doing business. Plenty others try to retrieve their missing inventory.

A collection of wrapped packages stacked in a black bag, found in the back of a vehicle. — Approximately 55 pounds of suspected cocaine discovered
off the Keys in August of 2025. Photo released by Monroe County Sheriff Office

Recovery numbers are difficult to track due to the multiple local, state, and federal agencies that have overlapping jurisdiction in the Keys—and not all bales are brought to the attention of the authorities. According to a Miami News Times article dated March 28, 2017, at least 600 pounds of marijuana and cocaine, worth approximately $5 million dollars, was turned in within the past several years. Imagine how much wasn’t.

Some people consider finding a bale of drugs a windfall and attempt to profit from the illegal booty. Key Largo often goes years between murders, but in 2015, the small island experienced a double-homicide. The source of conflict?

The recovery of a square grouper.

Beached, Chapter Two~

They weren’t out of danger. Not yet.

The Sentence that Started it all: BEACHED

Welcome to One-Line Wednesdays—a series of posts I wrote in the weeks preceding the original release of Beached, the second Mer Cavallo Mystery in 2018. In this series, I shared insight into Mer’s life in the Florida Keys as well as the inspiration behind the story and decisions that went into its making. I hope you enjoy this peek behind the scenes—and this time around, I won’t make you wait as long for the next installment!

One-Line Wednesday: Beached, Chapter 1

Home might be a single place, but it has several meanings. Some people consider it a physical space. For others, home is more a state of mind.

I’ve changed addresses so many times that the FBI agent assigned the background investigation for my security clearance paled when I provided the list. Without looking at my records, I can’t recall the number of towns where I’ve lived, but so far, I’ve tallied two countries and four states (five if you count an eleven-week stint in the FBI National Academy dorms at Quantico). I’m consumed by wanderlust—and I make my home wherever I go.

I moved to Key Largo, Florida, after eight years in Colorado. The difference in latitude, attitude, and snow levels was dramatic. Even the ocean was different from what I’d grown accustomed to during my years in California.

A framed artistic map of Florida showing the area from Key Largo to Long Key, featuring a painted octopus in the foreground, blending with the marine charts and geographical details. — Florida Keys Nautical Map with Octopus by Carly Mejeur

Tropical climes are often dubbed a paradise simply because they possess gin-clear water and coconut palms. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll still find dirt—sometimes even closely guarded secrets.

When I began writing the Mer Cavallo Mysteries, I wanted to present Key Largo through the eyes of an outsider; someone who likes life orderly and structured in contrast to the informality of the Keys. Mer, a marine biologist, thought adjusting to a laid-back life in the Florida Keys would be a breeze after the regimented schedule of an Arctic research vessel.

Yeah, not so much.

Outsiders often wonder if they’ll ever fit in, but their reasons for staying often speak more about themselves than the area.

Chapter One~

Meredith Cavallo had questioned her decision to stay in the Florida Keys plenty of times over the past few months, but never while standing on the deck of the LunaSea.

Mystery Writing: It Starts with a Crime

A mysterious mask is displayed above the blog title

The best writing advice I ever encountered come from Erle Stanley Gardner: Plot from the perspective of your villain, but write from the point of view of your protagonist. Simple, right? But it was an a-ha moment for me.

A bit of background. Like most writers, I have a couple of practice manuscripts currently occupying space in the bottom of a drawer. They both garnered decent feedback from agents, but the novels were episodic—most of the second act chapters could have been rearranged without affecting the story. I wasn’t building on prior events. Why? Because I didn’t know what my antagonist was doing behind the scenes.

A lot of new writers put a great deal of thought into the character development of their heroes, but they tend to give their antagonist short shrift. But think about it—the antagonist is the character that drives the story. It is his or her actions that the protagonist must address.

For most of my adult life, I was a police officer. Part of the job description involved investigating crimes. Most incidents began when someone called 9-1-1. Upon arrival, I’d try to piece together what happened by observing the scene, obtaining witness statements, and collecting physical evidence. Armed with this information, I’d search databases, develop additional contacts, run down new leads.

I was a first responder—just like my protagonist.

Imagine how easy police work would be if an officer knew before being dispatched to the scene exactly how the criminal had planned the crime, what motivated the person to do such a nefarious deed, and what steps he’d taken to avoid detection.

As a writer, you can do that!

To combat my story-structure issues, I incorporated two exercises into the planning stage of every story I write. The first exercise explains the antagonist’s motivation for doing what he did. I write it in first person and it essentially creates the backstory of the character. The first line of this exercise for Adrift, my debut novel reads:

Ishmael Styx is a man who knows what he wants, and he wants to be dead. All he had to do is figure out how to make it temporary.

I then wrote 1200 words explaining what had happened in his life to bring him to this point.

The second exercise explains how the antagonist pulled off the crime. Adrift had a complicated crime (more than one, actually, but that developed later in the story). Drawing on my background, I hatched the plan. Knowing how the crime occurred gave me the insight I needed to identify the clues my protagonist had to notice, what other things could be misinterpreted, and how to follow the breadcrumb trail left by the antagonist. The exercise revealed some surprising options that prompted me to go deeper into my storytelling.

The structure of a mystery novel is such that the antagonist runs the show in the first act. After all, the crime is the inciting incident that ensures the protagonist’s involvement. Roughly the first half of the story involves the hero reacting to the actions of the protagonist while your protagonist is frustrated by false leads and investigative missteps. After the midpoint, their roles change. Now your protagonist is hot on the trail, developing those leads, realizing her mistakes. Sure, she’ll have setbacks, but as she gets closer to solving the crime, the two characters are also nearing their final confrontation. Both exercises will help you determine how your cornered antagonist will lash out, try to escape, and outwit your sleuth.

Mapping out the crime first allowed me to structure my storyline so that it built on the information learned in previous chapters. Actions had consequences. My writing was no longer episodic.

I first put this writing advice into action during the writing of Adrift. That novel earned an Agatha Award nomination for Best First Novel. Coincidence? I don’t think so. I knew how to foil the crime because I had plotted it first—and that made for a much more compelling read.

Happy writing!

An earlier version of this article was posted on “The Writing Train” blog.

Dive the Keys with Mer Cavallo!

Author Micki Browning diving on the USS Spiegel Grove Shipwreck in Key Largo

The third largest barrier reef in the world is found off the Atlantic coast of the Florida Keys—and that makes for world-class diving all along the 100-mile stretch that runs between Key Largo to the north, and the southernmost tip in Key West. I spent several years in Key Largo and while I’m familiar with the other Keys and their diving, Key Largo’s dive sites are what inspired me to write the dive books I set in the Keys. Mer, my marine biologist heroine, visits many of them in the pages of Adrift and Beached, two of the Mer Cavallo Mysteries.

Florida is home to the only coral reefs in the nation and some of the best are off Key Largo. Molasses Reef and French Reef are two of the most popular and are great for all levels of divers as the reefs are shallow. At one point, thirty-two mooring balls marked Molasses, and seventeen divided French Reef, but Hurricane Irma snatched a couple of them.

Divers can find plenty of sea life on both reefs. Snapper, spadefish, porcupine, a variety of colorful tropical fishes, plus nurse, reef, and the occasional hammerhead sharks, rays, and plenty of sea turtles call the reefs home. Look for little critters too! Flamingo tongue and nudibranchs can be found on sea fans, and eel gardens often sprout in the sandy patches

The USS Spiegel Grove ranks as Mer’s favorite dive site–and the author’s, too (that’s me in the photo). It is a massive ship (the wreck has 7 mooring balls on it) and stretches 510 feet from bow to stern and 84 feet across the beam. It rests in 135 feet of water, and divers hit the superstructure at about 65 feet. The main deck is at 85-90 feet. That makes this an advanced dive and current can be strong. There are plenty of swim-through passages, but penetrating the wreck is dangerous. Almost all the commercial charters go out to the Spiegel and it is about 5 nautical miles offshore.

Local hint: Look for the “Spiegel Beagle” emblem—Snoopy riding an alligator—painted on the floor in one of the interior swim-throughs.

Looking for a shallow shipwreck? Check out the Benwood. The merchant marine vessel collided with another vessel one night in 1942 while both vessels were blacked out to avoid detection by German U-boats. The Benwood lies between French Reef and Dixie Shoals in water ranging from 25 – 45 feet deep.

Other not-to-miss dive sites include the USCGC Duane, another (deep) purpose-sunk artificial reef just a mile south of Molasses, and the Christ of the Abyss statue. The Christ statue is a bucket-list dive and frequently photographed by professional and amateur photographers, alike. Located in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the shallowness of the dive draws in droves of snorkelers—great if you are traveling with non-divers, but it makes for an extremely crowded site on most days.

Night dives are also popular—especially during the full moon when the coral spawns–typically in August and September.

Regardless of the site you choose, the gin-clear water of Key Largo is the place to start—or stay—on your Florida Keys dive vacation. And the perfect beach reads? Well, I hope you’ll say hello to Mer!

Parts of this blog were originally published on the Girls that Scuba blog. https://www.girlsthatscuba.com/scuba-diving-key-largo-florida/

Also, check out the Girls that Scuba Book Club on Facebook!