I also like the Fantasy whodunnit. Inspector Conan. Slices and dices first and asks questions later. ;-)

The fantasy whodunnit would allow for my true intention of the development of Juliana to come through. If we go that way, I'll explain more. Don't want to skew the character before the genre and theme is set.

yeah go ahead and use one time period and just anchor it in the modern world i.e. we have modern characters that's fine by me

what about colonial africa?

or Canada ca 1700

or Mexico ca 1515

or Australia ca whenever (outback)

or the Middle Ages in Europe

or the fall of Rome

or right after the death of Alexander the Great

or Judea during the Jewish rebellion 1st century AD

or whatever. we dont have to do time travel lol i really do think mystery is a bad idea though.

This is my opinion on fantasy - everything that is good about fantasy can be achieved in historical fiction or science fiction. No need for magic of any kind which grates my suspension of disbelief.

or we can still do the God thing. we could just have it be in history but God is real and acts and is a character. know what i mean?

we could transport their asses back to canaan in abraham's day lol that's the wild west if there ever was one

So any other opinions? Are we set on Fantasy Whodunnit? If so we need to set some ground rules about the Fantasy world.

Will it be Sword and Sorcery but all humans (ala Conan)?
Will there be other races (ala Lord of the Rings)?
Will there be talking animals (ala Narnia)?

Will magic run rampant (Xanth)? Or will just a few limited characters be able to perform it (Lord of the Rings)?

Will it be a serious story (LotR) or more humorous (Xanth)?

I am okay with fantasy (barely) but not a mystery.

As I said with multiple writers it would very hard/poor since details and forethought are so important.

Sorry, Thucy - I was typing that as you were posting.

also will you be writing with us draug?

Think more hunt for the badguy mystery. Like a Magnum PI type thing. Not so much about details, but about the fun of the chase.

I'd like tpo, but want these thihngs set before I submit a character idea.

Well that's not a mystery then is it. Lol. That's an adventure story.

It's a mystery in the same sense that 'Time After Time' (1979) was a mystery. Sherlock Holmes chasing Jack the Ripper across time to stop him.

With the time travel to a time period (I prefer medieval Europe personally), either an adventure or a mystery would work.

I haven't read that but that doesn't sound like a mystery it sounds like a time travel adventure with a main character who happens to be a detective.

Lol. But I mean.. I don't know. Let's not get too caught up in the names of the genres what do we want the setting and central problem to be?

Ok First Apple I second that as a good compromise - Medieval Europe is similar to fantasy but real, time travel is possible but still fantastic.

If we can agree on this premise I think we can then begin to say what the story is about/ who is the antagonist etc.

And I must correct myslef, It was H.G. Wells who pursued Jack across time in Time After Time.

I like it. Maybe Arthur could play a visceral role (much like King Richard in Robin Hood's adventures)

I'm excited about Draugnar being involved as well. This is starting to turn out great. Perhaps it's a mystery where the events that unfold during the adventure of figuring out the mystery change history (change it to be what really happened for us, thus explaining WHY those turn of events occurred)

We could use the earthquake in Basel, Switzerland as a 'natural' occurrence that could possibly cause the break in time and send them back to the medieval period. It would make it a little more scientifically based (versus their choosing to go there on their own)

Why are you so excited about me being in it? I've not demonstrated any skill with writing fiction. the only fiction I've ever written were D&D and Gamma World modules for my friends to play in Junior High and High School.

It could be called 'A Quake in Time' if that were the case.

Why the choice of Switzerland? Isn't that likely to influence the heritage of our characters? The recent US East Coast quake would have a more diverse cast, especially if we set it in DC in some toruisty place like the Smithsonian.

Because you have great ideas and passion! That's the most important part. AND since you've never really written before as you said before, then this may be the stepping stone for a great new writer to emerge. That's why I'm excited to have you join us.

The reason I think Switzerland as it was the biggest quake to occur in Medieval Europe and one of the only natural phenomenon that could potentially be swung to use as a time-travel devise without overwhelmingly suspending belief in the possibilities.

It's also occurred during a very turbulent period of time in France (was Germany at the time). Could make for a great setting.

Again, I'm open to suggestions though. This is GREAT brainstorming we have going on here.

Tourists go to Switzerland all the time. Also, the recent quake on the east coast was a joke. No way it had enough energy to open a rift in time.

Abge has a point. The one in Basel toppled castles so it had to be strong, at least for the area.

There's another option if we want to use Earthquakes: maybe each earthquake takes 1 person with it into a different time period; and the stronger(or weaker) the earthquake, the further that person is pulled through space-time. Which could result in them landing at relatively the same end point even with disparate starting earthquakes. Also, it opens up the possibility of using multiple time periods as casting grounds.