By Bryce Spadafora
Contributing Writer
A short story by Dr. Daniel Ellis, associate professor of English, was published in the December issue of Over My Dead Body, The Mystery Magazine Online, a monthly magazine dedicated to short stories with a murder-mystery theme.
The story titled, “Ian was Pointing a Gun,” follows a boy and girl as they confront a murderer, Ian, in his home. As Ian points a gun at the two characters, they interrogate him. The loose ends of the case are explained and the killer’s motive is revealed.
“Ian was Pointing a Gun” is the first mystery by Ellis to be published in a magazine, but Ellis explained that he has always had an interest in the genre.
“I’ve always loved mysteries and for years I had been making notes,” Ellis said. “I decided I wanted to do [‘Ian was Pointing a Gun’] as a flash fiction, a story that’s under a thousand words. It ended up being longer than that. Because of this I tried to start it at the end. It’s all the denouement.”
Ellis attributes his fascination with mysteries to the work of several famous writers, many of them mystery writers.
“I have a thing for Golden Age mysteries,” Ellis said. “In England that means Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Gladys Mitchell. In about the same time writing in America is Raymond Chandler. He falls into the category of ‘hardboiled’ mysteries. Those are books I can enjoy in a way that’s hard to do as an English professor sometimes.”
Other authors who inspire Ellis are poet Frank O’Hara, as well as writers Lydia Davis and Iris Murdoch.
Ellis also said he likes mysteries because of a defined plot in the mystery genre.
“There’s no worry about plot in a mystery. Somebody was killed and you have to find out who did it,” Ellis said.
Ellis also said that mysteries can reveal aspects of culture, space, and place.
Ellis said, “[Mysteries] are an interesting way of capturing little bits of culture and a sense of place. There’s a question of class. There’s a difference in power, and I find that interesting as a reader. As a writer, it’s a sweet spot for me. There’s space to be funny. You don’t have to take it too seriously.”
When asked to describe his writing process for the story, Ellis said, “Spilling words onto the page and trying to shape and cut them into something. I usually overwrite. I just sort of go. Sometimes whole things have to be regenerated.”
As for future stories with the characters in “Ian was Pointing a Gun,” Ellis said that it is a possibility.
“I have one short story and a longer piece with the two characters, Ruthie and James,” Ellis said. “At the moment it’s drudgery. I’m getting interesting stuff for the other characters, but I haven’t hit that voice I’m looking for—that spirit of it. Hopefully that will come.”
Readers can find the story on www.overmydeadbody.com.
