On Cringy Special Interests
What do the British royal family and British murder mysteries have in common?
So true confessions time: I have had a life-long special interest in both the British royal family and British murder mysteries.
It doesn’t get much more cringe than that, does it?
When I was eight years old, and in third grade, I made my mom get me up in the wee hours of the morning so I could watch Princess Anne get married on TV. I was astonished to learn that she had brothers who were basically my age, and I determined that my way into their family was to marry one of them.
Ewwwww, right? We’re talking about *Andrew* ffs, who is almost certainly a pedophile, and *Edward* who is, well … not the sharpest tool in the shed.
The thing is, I did not have stereotypical little girl fantasies about being a princess. I did not love pink, I did not wear princess costumes for Halloween, I was not looking for a knight in shining armor. I was just inexplicably fascinated by this particular royal family, and I figured one of those boys was my way in. Even in high school, I wore a dress to the prom that was basically a dupe of Diana’s wedding dress.
(I hope you appreciate how vulnerable I am making myself to admit all this.)
In time, my obsession waned, and I didn’t even watch William and Kate’s wedding. But the fascination still lingers, although I have gone from loving to love them to loving to hate them (what always stands out for me now is how very common they all are). If I were British, I would be an ardent republican. Yet I still click religiously on British royal family click-bait, and could probably name all the people by name in the line of succession to ….well, a very long way down. (And yes, I did watch the Queen’s funeral; and of course, The Crown. Duh.)
My other life-long special interest is murder mysteries, especially British ones. Starting with Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five, I was obsessed. In high school I read all of Agatha Christie, until I could reliably predict whodoneit. I read Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers, PD James. I loved Elizabeth George’s series (until she mercilessly killed off a beloved character and then got to be so big that she was clearly no longer being edited, when I quit in disgust). I’ve read most of Anne Cleeves (or watched the very good TV adaptations), all of Louise Penny (I know, I know, she’s Canadian, but close enough), and very recently discovered perhaps one of the cringiest series of all, the Ruth Galloway mysteries by Elly Griffiths. No, they’re not great mysteries; yes, I did buy the last several in the 15 book series in hardback.
I have been such a British mystery fan for such a long time it honestly didn’t hit me full force how deeply problematic this genre is until I decided to write one of my own. How is it possible to be someone deeply critical of the police and the carceral state over on the intellectual/political side of my brain, but still deeply committed in the most uncritical way to crime drama and all its attendant copaganda? I think that’s jsut sort of the nature of a special interest, especially one you’ve maintained since early childhood; our devotion is by definition uncritical.
When I began to write my own murder mystery, set in a fictional Design school on the South Downs in East Sussex England, the contradictions began to bother me so much that I stopped writing about 30,000 words in. Despite loving the characters I had created (quirky, queer, and neurodivergent, natch), and feeling pretty good about the mystery plot I had outlined, I didn’t touch it for more than two years while I grappled with how to reconcile my special interest with my politics and values. (Did I stop reading British murder mysteries in the meantime? Not on your life; you will have to pull the last murder mystery out of my cold, dead hands.)
I think I have worked out enough of the contradictions (what if all the sleuths are not coppers? What if the ones who are eventually become critical and some even leave the force? What if I explicitly insert abolitionist politics and values into the story over time?) that I feel really good about picking my novel u[ again, and I’m back to working on it!
I have no thought that a big publishing house is going to be inerested in this mystery, and I will probably end up self-publishing it (maybe serially, maybe here in the newsletter!). But honestly, I’m not thinking that far ahead right now—I’m just having a blast actively pursing my cringy special interest.
Be the cringe, I say!
What are your cringy special interests? Any other mystery lovers out there? How about fantasy and/or romance (which I have just discovered and am very much enjoying).
I hope you have found ways to joyfully embrace your cringy special interests!
Its probably a bad idea, as it’s early days, but I was thinking about offering a preview of the first several chapters of my novel to paid subscribers, along with regular updates of my writing process. If you’d be interested?
Also, over at Divergent Design Studios (an online community for neurodivergent creatives), we’re planning a series of workshops in the Writers Retreat Lab for folks working on anything that involves narrative—short or long fiction, or narrative nonfiction. If that’s something you might be interested in, consider joining DDS where there is a wonderful crew of writers waiting to embrace you. We charge a modest monthly fee, on a sliding scale, in order to pay everyone who hosts regular events, of which there are many!
My mother always knew "who done it" in the Agatha Christie novels too. Hope you're doing well!
I'd be very excited to read this! There's nothing more fun than taking a genre you love and trying to subvert it to be better.