Stuart McRea, Author

Kids that are smarter than adults solving mysteries, breaking codes, and having witty banter the entire time. That is the core concept of The Thinking Kids, a mystery series that I see as a spiritual successor to child mysteries like Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Three Investigators.

Birth of an Idea

The Thinking Kids came out of nowhere really. There was no precipitating event, it was born fairly quickly. Discussing with my lovely future copy editor I have the idea for a group of kid detectives that show how to use deduction, critical thinking, and logic to solve mysteries. All mysteries do this to some degree, but a group of kids to discuss how they come to their conclusions in the real time of the story. No “Elementary, my dear Watson” monologue at the end of each story. Rather the characters discuss it in real time. 

Thus were the Thinking Kids born. The name was originally meant to be a placeholder. I considered various names but could not find myself coming up with much. I tried “Snoops” which was the 2nd place choice, but the similarity to both “Snoopy” and “Scooby” seemed problematic. I thought of a child led investigative online magazine as a early concept and if I do a major rewrite I might go back to it. However the idea of Andrew Armstrong, detailed in a later post. came forward loud and clear. Being on a magazine staff did not seem to be Drew’s style. He clearly saw himself as a “consulting detective” like Sherlock Holmes. Being wheelchair bound, he was also a lot like Nero Wolfe and effectively house bound. This gives a curb to his intense power of observation. I want Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew/The Three Investigators style books. Adventurous mysteries where smart kids solve the cases the adults can not.  

“Thinking”?

In order to call them “The Thinking Kids” they needed more than just be, well, kids that think. They would be called “The Thinking Kids” if they were from a town called Thinking. Thus, Thinking, Kansas was born. Nancy Drew has River Heights. The Hardy Boys have Bayport. My kids have Thinking, Kansas. As a Kansas City resident who used to deliver for Amazon, I know the rural area east of the city. Thinking will be a conglomeration of Leavenworth and Lawrence.

I have a very strong theory that one thing that makes bestselling books is worldbuilding. What do Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Twilight, and The Godfather all have in common? Worldbuilding. The worldbuilding of River Heights and Bayport feels incidental. You do not see anymore of those cities than you need to. I do not believe there has every been a map made of either place. I want more from Thinking, Kansas. I want it to have real estate, someplace you can step into. I want it to have history which affects the circumstances of the mysteries. The first question is “Why is it called Thinking?” which I will answer in a later post. Thinking is going to be highly detailed. People are going to wonder if Thinking is real; that’s the level of detail I am going for. 

The town will have a history, an economy, a geography, and lots of set pieces to it. Furthermore, whenever I make a location for Thinking I will make secret to go with it. Thus, I always have a source for the next mystery. While writing, I created a substitute for nearly everything in the Thinking Kid’s world. These guys are, ultimately, a bunch of nerds. Nerds talk about Star Wars, Star Trek, bands, TV shows, Dungeons and Dragons, and other things. Then there are all the elements of living in 2024. However, things can change rapidly and any mention of anything invites legal issues and automatically dates the book. The Hardy Boys have a book that mentions the exciting new technology of airships!

The Thinkverse

So I make alternate versions of everything. Apps that the kids use, TV shows they watch, music they listen to, licensed items they have, etc. ThreeBee, for example, is the catchall social media app. I imagined a history of the app by thinking of old Bulleting Board Systems and went from there. What is the original was simply black and was called the Black Bulletin Board, which got shortened to ThreeBee.

This quickly took on a whimsical tone. Star Wards became Supernova Saga, a Bollywood version of Star Wars with a bit of Flash Gordon in there. A soap opera about competing bands called Sound and Fury, which actually transliterates Shakespearean characters and plots. A line of toys called Bunny Buddies that is my stand in for My Little Pony. Thinking becomes a fun place and a little more evergreen for possible future sales of the books. It would be nice if this series outlasted me.

That’s the basics. Smart kids show how to solve mysteries by having adventures in and around the highly detailed world of Thinking, Kansas. Next came the characters, who shaped themselves quite readily for me. Here’s to Thinking and the Thinking Kids!