To promote our upcoming crime fiction conference in Ottawa — Capital Mayhem — we’re launching a Twitter mystery contest that starts Monday, April 28. Don’t worry, you have until the end of the week to come up with a mystery that will blow our judges’ socks off. We want the opening line to a short story or novel that you haven’t yet written or wish you could read. The story must be in the crime fiction or thriller genre.

Here are the rules:
1. The complete opening sentence must be contained in a single tweet (There’s no Part 1, Part 2, etc.)

2. You can enter more than once.

3. Your tweet must contain the following hashtag: #capitalmayhem

4. To be eligible for prizes, you must live in the Ottawa/West Quebec area.

The top three tweets will be announced at Capital Mayhem. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

Looking for inspiration? CanadaWrites held a contest like this a couple of years ago. Here’s a link to their winning entries in the Lawmakers/Lawbreakers Twitter Challenge.

We’ll also publish our favourite tweets on the blog, so stay tuned.