Do You Love a Mystery?

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 40 Comments

“You’d think solving mysteries would bring you closure, that closing the loop would comfort and quiet your mind. But it never does. The truth always disappoints.” ~John Green in Turtles All the Way Down

Finally, finally, I have gotten brave enough to try a new Mystery Photo Game. Do you hear a drumroll? I’ve been dragging my feet about getting this done because I’m not sure that I haven’t already used all the mysterious things out there. Of course, that’s not true. The world is full of mysteries that many of us hardly notice.

“The world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don’t know.” ~Sherman Alexie

That’s not to say that I will be able to find some things you don’t know to post as mystery photos.

Many of my books have just a hint of mystery threaded into the whole of the story. A pinch of this (mystery) and a pinch of that (romance.) Maybe more than a pinch of romance.

Old time recipes often used those descriptions in the instructions. A pinch of salt, a handful of flour. A dab of shortening. Sometimes a cook doesn’t know how to tell someone exactly how he or she makes something. An example is when my son-in-law and daughter wanted to know how I make pie crusts.

I’ve never thought about measurements for the ingredients. Mom didn’t say anything about cups and tablespoons when she showed me how to make it.  My this and that recipe wasn’t helpful for my daughter. They watched me make a pie crust, measuring what I did. Talk about pressure. I wasn’t sure I was putting together the flour, etc. anything like I would normally do. All at once, my own recipe was a kind of mystery even to me.

That’s how the mystery photos that I’ve used in the past can be too. I looked at some of those I had saved in my photo files. A few of those pictures were mysteries to me now. Some I figured out because I had the original picture right there too.

Now I’ll try to share some new mysteries with you – like the picture up at the top of this post. Share your thoughts about what it might be and you will get an entry into a book giveaway. I will be looking around for more mystery photos to share in the next couple of weeks to try to keep you guessing. At the end of the game at midnight EST on June 22, 2024 (which is when I’m having a Hometown Book Party to celebrate The Song of Sourwood Mountain here in Lawrenceburg at our public library – more info to come), I will pick three winners who will win their choice of one of my books. To enter, you must be at least 18 years old.

Each time you try to guess on a new mystery photo, you will get an extra entry. You don’t have to come up with the right answer. I sort of hope some of you don’t. LOL. But if you can’t come up with any guesses at all, a simple “I have no idea” will also get you an entry.

All right. Ready, set, go. What are you seeing in the picture I’ve posted tonight?

Before you start guessing, if you’d like to know a little more about how I came up with my new book, The Song of Sourwood Mountain, you can check out my interview on Family Fiction. One of the questions was why I always set my stories in Kentucky.

Comments 40

  1. It looks like an eye on a piece of material…but in essence, I have no idea.
    😄
    Thank you for writing such wonderful books!
    God bless you & yours!

  2. Welcome back mystery photos 😊
    You’ve shared some pretty pictures of butterflies.
    I’m guessing this is a spot on a butterfly wing.

  3. I can think of a few things this one kind of could be. At first glance I was thinking a crocheted blanket and then I thought maybe the bottom of a sneaker. When I looked further away though, I thought maybe it could be an above view of trees and a shoreline in the center. Can’t wait to find out what it is. I love when you do these mystery photo games! 🙂

  4. Well well well…we asked for it, and you certainly delivered a mystery! I’ve looked at this several times but I see something different every time. First it looked like a design on a tapestry or cloth (I have fabric on my mind all the time!) 😉 Then I saw an eye. I’m also thinking a butterfly wing. It’s going to be fun reading all the guesses!

  5. I love these mystery photos. I think you gave a hint on this one with your John Greene quote. My guess is a snapping turtle’s eye.

  6. It looks like a design on a carpet, but I’m sure that’s not right since it isn’t pretty.
    Oh, wouldn’t that be awful if it was and I made that comment! 😟

    1. It looks like an eye on a piece of material…but in essence, I have no idea.
      😄
      Thank you for writing such wonderful books!
      God bless you & yours!

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