It's time for a brand new season of the show and this time around, Valerie and Melanie are studying the same topic: left-brained stories. Never heard of it before? Don't worry. Valerie made up the term to describe any story that has a puzzle of some kind and invites the reader/audience to try to solve the puzzle before the author reveals the solution. Left-brained stories tend to be mysteries/crime stories, thrillers, and spy stories but they can show up in any genre. In left-brained stories, storytelling principles are applied a little differently—and that's exactly what Valerie and Melanie will explore all season long.