Blog tag! Current Project: Four questions

The incomparable Laura Bickle has tagged me to answer four questions on my blog about my current writing project. Ever the good sport, here I go:

1) What am I working on?

My current project is a murder mystery called Polychotomy. This is my first attempt at a novel-length work that doesn't involve any speculative fiction elements.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Polychotomy deals with the travails of a quintet of polyamorous lovers in crisis. When Emily's boyfriend is murdered, the police immediately accuse her husband John of the crime. They paint him as a jealous cuckold, even though their nonexclusive relationship is well-known in their small town. To complicate matters further, John's girlfriend Sadie is also dating Tom, assistant detective of the local police force. In a town where everyone's business is fodder for vicious gossip, Tom fights to find the killer.

The only other crime novel I've heard of that involves a non-exclusive relationship is Savages by Don Winslow. While I haven't checked it out yet (though I did enjoy one of his other books, Dawn Patrol), my understanding is that the nature of the relationship in that book, as well as the setting, is much different.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I'm writing Polychotomy for a number of reasons. First off, I enjoyed my first foray into writing in the mystery/crime genre, my novella All Hope Lost. I enjoy murder mysteries and wanted to try my hand at a longer work in the genre. Also, I've not seen a polyamorous family portrayed in fiction, so I wanted to explore that as well. It's fertile ground for ideas!

4) How does my writing process work?

I do a lot of planning before I write: freewriting, character sheets, scene outlines. I've also discovered that I cannot write solely electronically. I tried doing all of these steps on a writing software program and it just didn't work. For some reason, I need the tangible pages of a notebook and the feel of a pen.

Want to get tagged on what you're working on? Let me know in the comments below!