Mystery Novels

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• MWA Nominees for 2012 Edgar Allen Poe Awards

  Michael Haskins Key West Writer

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:10 am

  Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce on the 203rd anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2011.  The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at our 66th Gala Banquet, April 26, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York, New York.BEST NOVELThe Ranger by Ace Atkins (Penguin Group USA – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)Gone by Mo Hayder (Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Minotaur…

• Galaxy Fest

  Biting Edge

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:09 pm

  Great local con-- check it out here More local news about a well-known local writer:The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America have announced that Connie Willis will be honored with this year's Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for her contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy. Willis is the author of 15 novels and more than 50 short stories and novellas. Her many prizes include seven Nebulas, eleven Hugos and four Locus awards. The award will be presented at the 47th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend in Arlington, Virginia, May 17-20, 2012.Connie is not only…

• A belated shout-out to a company with a sense of humor

  Donna Andrews

  Donna Andrews

  8 Jan 2012 | 11:13 am

  Last January I posted about sales pitches that miss the target. I was poking a little mild fun at Shutterfly's auto sales email, which encouraged me to preserve my precious photo memories by putting them into a book--but since the...

• Technical Stuff

  Reading Proust In Foxborough

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:48 pm

  I am in the ugly process of changing a 12 year old (maybe older) email address to something more contemporary. My whole life is linked to that email, and even my blogs. Detaching and reattaching is unbelievably complex. Merging, purging, changing, setting hair on fire. So far I have only locked myself out of two sites. This is just a test to make sure I can blog with a "new" identity. Proust never had these 21st century problems. Ye gods.!

• Reds in Bed

  Jungle Red Writers

  Jungle Red Writers

  28 Jan 2012 | 2:30 am

  JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING:  It's been a long, hard day, but it's finally over, and you're headed up to the bedroom. You kick off your shoes, start peeling off layers: goodbye anything with an underwire, with a waistband, with spandex. Finally, you're ready for the best part of the evening... pajamas. Reds, most of us have been married more than a few years, so you know what I'm talking about. Does anything feel as food as finally getting out of those Spanx and into a ancient nightgown large enough to shield a family of four? No, it does not.When I was a newlywed, I had a…

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  Biting Edge

• Galaxy Fest

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:09 pm

  Great local con-- check it out here More local news about a well-known local writer:The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America have announced that Connie Willis will be honored with this year's Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for her contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy. Willis is the author of 15 novels and more than 50 short stories and novellas. Her many prizes include seven Nebulas, eleven Hugos and four Locus awards. The award will be presented at the 47th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend in Arlington, Virginia, May 17-20, 2012.Connie is not only…

• A Personal Day for Mario...

  22 Jan 2012 | 7:59 pm

  Photo Credit: Diego Azubel/EPAOur friend Mario is attending a wedding out of state so while he's off sipping champagne and flirting with bridesmaids, we have to stumble along without him. I'm sure he'll be back next week with lots of stories we may or may not believe. In the meantime, Happy Year of the Dragon to you!!Want to know more about the Dragon? Go here

• I think I can, I think I can

  18 Jan 2012 | 4:33 pm

  Maybe it's because it's January, there are all sorts of blog posts and videos about motivation floating on the Internet. I'm as susceptible (or as neurotic) as the next but these two were pretty good. See if they don't light your fire.From YouTubeFrom wimp.comTuesday night Mario and the rest of our critique gang went to the debut book signing of Jason Heller's Taft 2012 at The Tattered Cover on ColfaxJason was funny, charming and as erudite as one might expect. Can't wait to read his book and if you missed his book trailers, scroll down to BE Monday Jan. 8 and check them out. The best I've…

• Back from the Big Apple

  16 Jan 2012 | 9:47 am

  Mario here:Late post because I spent the weekend in NYC to attend the Mystery Writers of America national board meeting as I'm the President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter. One of the perks of the job though the rest of the year they get their money's worth out of me.Besides official business, it's a chance to reacquaint myself with old friends and meet new ones.Among the reacquaintances:The funny (and closeted pervy) Jess Lourey, one of my favorite writers and the author of the satirical Murder-by-Month cozy Mysteries featuring librarian amateur sleuth Mira James.Gary Phillips, he of the…

• Clean Desk/Sick Mind?

  11 Jan 2012 | 3:45 pm

  There is supposed to be a video here and I have no idea why it's not showing up...a blogger mystery!Monday was National Clean Off Your Desk Week. So, how's your work space? Send us a picture (before and after if you'd like) and let's see who has the messiest desk and whose cleaned up best.Photo credit: National Western Stock Show PhotosDenver's holiday season extends well in January with The National Western Stock Show. The mutton-bustin event where little kids try their luck on little sheep is a favorite of everybody. I think even the sheep have fun with his one!Let's see--by now most of you…

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  Donna Andrews

• A belated shout-out to a company with a sense of humor

  Donna Andrews

  8 Jan 2012 | 11:13 am

  Last January I posted about sales pitches that miss the target. I was poking a little mild fun at Shutterfly's auto sales email, which encouraged me to preserve my precious photo memories by putting them into a book--but since the...

• Bringing the year to a graceful close

  Donna Andrews

  30 Dec 2011 | 8:18 pm

  Earlier this year, I celebrated turning in SOME LIKE IT HAWK by going on a plant- and bulb-buying spree. But other deadlines loomed up, and I never found the time to plant them all. Especially the bulbs, since I knew...

• Shoe freaks of the world, unite! Somewhere else!

  Donna Andrews

  29 Oct 2011 | 4:46 pm

  One of the great mysteries of cyberspace--at least my small corner of it: why do so many people trying to sell shoes seem determined to spam my blog? I have the blog set so I see all the comments that...

• Let there be light, and Wii

  Donna Andrews

  4 Oct 2011 | 10:22 pm

  The power went out while my nephews were here enjoying a spot of Wii gaming. They weren't altogether thrilled at having their screen time curtailed, but once they realized there wasn't anything I could do about it, we settled down...

• A small mystery solved

  Donna Andrews

  4 Oct 2011 | 11:14 am

  I've solved a small mystery. I discovered embarrassingly late that I had NOT registered for Bouchercon 2011. And with a convention I regularly attend, I always try before the end of the event to register for the next one--how had...

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  Reading Proust In Foxborough

• Technical Stuff

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:48 pm

  I am in the ugly process of changing a 12 year old (maybe older) email address to something more contemporary. My whole life is linked to that email, and even my blogs. Detaching and reattaching is unbelievably complex. Merging, purging, changing, setting hair on fire. So far I have only locked myself out of two sites. This is just a test to make sure I can blog with a "new" identity. Proust never had these 21st century problems. Ye gods.!

• Proust Bloggers Active Again

  18 Jan 2012 | 9:47 am

  Here are a couple of Proust Blogs of interest this week.  I am using a new version of Blogger and feeling my way in.  Think I might like to return to the old.  Why does everyone fix things that aren't broken?I am still working my way through Albertine living with the narrator in Paris.  Nothing new has happened.The blogs, forthwith:  The Strangeness of Words A Year of Reading ProustI have been re-reading Proust for far longer than a year.  Over time, sort of like the novel.  Happy New Year to all.Odette

• Re-reading Proust in Paris

  26 Dec 2011 | 2:06 pm

  An Apple guru reads and re-reads and then reads some more?  Technical manuals?  Nope, Proust.  How cool is that?  And in the original French.  My college French never reached that level.   Camus?  Oui.  Proust?  Non.This is an interesting essay for us Proust afficionados.   Take a look.  Thoughts on Reading Proust AgainThe author is right.  Proust is not difficult.   Lots of characters, but after a few reads they're like old friends.  Long sentences and no dialog tags?  Check, but one gets used it…

• In Search of "Good Reads"

  7 Dec 2011 | 8:22 am

  Good Reads,  a web site for book lovers has a discussion devoted to Marcel Proust.  Who knew?   I never realized they were into anything except current fiction and non-fiction.  The site can be hard for a newbie to navigate, but here is the link to the Proust discussion.  Marcel Proust and Good Reads                 ISOLT is, of course, In Search Of Lost Time.  Explore Good Reads Onward with Proust.         

• 1 Dec 2011 | 9:45 am

  1 Dec 2011 | 9:45 am

  Found a new (to me) Proust book.  It looks interesting, although I am always a bit suspicious of academic writing with its long (sometimes tedious) sentences and big words, but let's not make an apriori (ha! ha!) judgement, because the book does seem readable.  Reading Proust at OxfordThe book is actually about reading in Proust.  Reading Reading Proust at Oxford? How circuitous!   I am still reading about Marcel and the sleeping Albertine.  Marcel isn't reading; he is watching.  Is Albertine  like a princess who will awaken from a kiss?  Albertine is a…

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  Jungle Red Writers

• Reds in Bed

  Jungle Red Writers

  28 Jan 2012 | 2:30 am

  JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING:  It's been a long, hard day, but it's finally over, and you're headed up to the bedroom. You kick off your shoes, start peeling off layers: goodbye anything with an underwire, with a waistband, with spandex. Finally, you're ready for the best part of the evening... pajamas. Reds, most of us have been married more than a few years, so you know what I'm talking about. Does anything feel as food as finally getting out of those Spanx and into a ancient nightgown large enough to shield a family of four? No, it does not.When I was a newlywed, I had a…

• The Best Writing Advice You'll Never Get: a guest blog by E.J. Copperman

  Jungle Red Writers

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:30 am

  Looks like the Jersey Shore, all right.The elusive and mysterious E.J. Copperman has long been a friend of the Reds. Rare orchid collector, bon vivant, international curling champion (we won't mention the rumors which suggest the sport is merely a cover for espionage) Copperman still manages to pen type word process write the Haunted Guesthouse mysteries. Are the tales of a ghost-ridden manse on the Jersey Shore ripped from life? Copperman isn't telling. (Showing, sure, but not telling.) We feel fortunate to get Copperman's unique take on the ubiquitous Advice to Writers.Nobody has ever given…

• The Ancient and Honorable Order of Detectionists

  Jungle Red Writers

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:30 am

  JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING:  Yesterday's guest blogger, Val McDermid, used a wonderful word in her description of the camaraderie that exist among crime fiction writers: clubbable. That word caught me, because it seems so true for both those inside and outside the peculiar fraternity of authors. Before I had ever finished writing my first novel, back when getting published as a pipe dream on par with winning the Maine Megabucks, I used to go to libraries to hear mystery authors speak. (This was in the dawn of the internet age, children, when Twitter was something birds do and face book…

• Immortal Memory: a Burns Night guest blog by Val McDermid

  Jungle Red Writers

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:30 am

  Val McDermid needs no introduction. Creator of the Lindsay Gordan, Kate Brannigan and Tony Hill series. Winner of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger, Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year, Pioneer Award (Lambda Literary Awards,) Los Angeles Times Book Prize, New York Times Notable Book of the Year, the Anthony Award, Macavity Award, and Dilys Award.  The Robert Burns Night Supper may need a bit more introduction. Luckily, we have an expert. Let's begin the customary way:Some hae meat and canna…

• Why I spend my vacations in the Rust Belt: a guest post by CJ Lyons

  Jungle Red Writers

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:30 am

  Why I spend my vacations in the Rust Belt…CJ LyonsSo many of my thriller writing friends get to travel to exotic locales to research their books. Egypt, Paris, St. Petersburg, Monte Carlo…Me? My research trips are to Pittsburgh, PA, Ansted, West Virginia, Blowing Rock, NC and other towns so small they don't even show up on Google Earth…You see, my Thrillers with Heart aren't set in locales James Bond would frequent. Instead they're set in the heart of America, small towns with ordinary people facing the worst day of their lives.The same kind of small town, rural setting that I grew up…

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  A Writer's Life

• The Big Box

  Lee Goldberg

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:27 pm

  Coming very soon... Two big days. Dozens of free, five-star books from five top-selling authors...including the ultimate Kindle box-set. And many chances to win Kindle Fires for yourself and money for your favorite library. 

• Big Kindle Boogie

  Lee Goldberg

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:30 pm

  Some of your favorite, bestselling Amazon authors are teaming up for a special event next week. You can be the first to know by visiting  here.

• Where Am I?

  Lee Goldberg

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:18 am

  Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. It's not that I have a shortage of publishing scams, weird mail, gripes, and industry stuff to write about (my "For The Blog" folder is full)...but I've been busy writing (my last MONK book), writing some more (my February novella McGrave, writing even more (an in-development book project with another author), editing (The Dead Man series for Amazon),  having meetings (on that western project I haven't told you much about yet), and prepping for my short film Bumsickle (which I am directing in Kentucky the first weekend in…

• TV Main Title of the Week

  Lee Goldberg

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:41 am

• THE WALK is Outselling Stieg Larsson!

  Lee Goldberg

  20 Jan 2012 | 5:49 pm

  Here's something I never thought I'd see. I still don't believe it.

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  Norman Green

• GOING NAKED

  Norman Green

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:02 pm

  We all have our secrets. We have all done stupid things, here and there, now and then, but most of us do so from the comfort of obscurity and even if we have been so unfortunate as to make the local newspaper, the public’s eye usually loses interest quickly and moves on. We are generally free [...]

• WHAT’S YOUR HURRY?

  Norman Green

  22 Jan 2012 | 12:37 pm

  Once upon a time I was a project engineer, and at times the places my projects took me to were not the garden spots of the world. In that profession your focus tends to be, ‘get it built, get it working, get out.’ What I remember most about those times is that every time I [...]

• SUNDAY

  Norman Green

  8 Jan 2012 | 1:40 pm

  NFL playoffs, Giants and Atlanta. I’ve been waiting for this game all week long, and I have mixed emotions as I sit here watching it. Aside from the dubious morality of supporting a game which measurably detracts from both the quality of life and the life expectancy of those who participate in it, I am [...]

• THE FUTURE AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE

  Norman Green

  4 Jan 2012 | 2:22 pm

  My wife bought me a Kindle. It seems I am joining the 21st century whether I want to or not. It is an amazing device, which I am sure I am one of the last people on the planet to find out. And it will pay for itself eventually, if only because I no longer [...]

• DAVID FOSTER WALLACE

  Norman Green

  26 Dec 2011 | 12:08 pm

  I never heard of the guy until I read in the NY Daily News that someone had ripped him off  for a commencement address somewhere so I thought I’d check the guy out. The work in question is titled ‘This is Water.’ It turned out to embody much of what I love from a good [...]

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  Beth Groundwater

• On Vacation!

  13 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  From January 14 - 28, I'm taking a vacation from blogging. Please check back on January 30th or 31st, and you'll find out what I've been up to. ;-)

• A Wild Ride!

  12 Jan 2012 | 6:30 am

  Today I'm over at Inkspot, the blog for Midnight Ink authors, talking about the wild ride I took when Amazon picked Deadly Currents for their Kindle Daily Deal on January 6th. Read all about it, and let me know what you think!

• Today's Mystery Author Guest: Lois Winston

  10 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  As promised yesterday, fellow Midnight Ink mystery author Lois Winston is visiting my blog today. To read her bio and see her photo, please page down to yesterday's post.Above is the cover photo for her most recent book, Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series. In the book, overdue bills and constant mother vs. mother-in-law battles at home are bad enough. But crafts editor Anastasia Pollack's stress level is maxed out when she and her fellow American Woman editors get roped into unpaid gigs for a revamped morning TV show. Before the glue is…

• Tomorrow's Guest: Lois Winston

  9 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Tomorrow, fellow Midnight Ink mystery author Lois Winston will be a guest on my blog. Lois is the author of the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries published by Midnight Ink. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. The new year brings with it the release of Death By Killer Mop Doll (Jan. 8th), the second book in the series. Read an excerpt HERE. Visit Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog. You can also follow Lois and Anastasia on Twitter @anasleuth.In her guest post…

• Deadly Currents Daily Deal!!!

  6 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  I want to share some exciting news. Amazon has selected Deadly Currents, the first book in my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series, for its Kindle Daily Deal today!! It's for sale at somewhere between $2.99 and 99 cents, which is much, much less than its list price of $14.95 and the standard Amazon discount price of $9.99.You can find the deal HERE.If you received a Kindle for the holidays, here's a great chance to load one of my mysteries on your new device for a song! But, you don't need to have a Kindle to read Kindle formats. Many other electronic devices will accept Kindle ebook formats.

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  Michael Haskins Key West Writer

• Jenny Hilborn

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:01 am

  My friend, and fellow writer, Jenny Hilborn just released her latest thriller, Madness & Murder. Here is an excerpt you might enjoy.Madness & MurderWith the body count at five, and the blade marks left on the latest victim determined to be have been made by an eight-inch blade, Mac Jackson had little doubt in his mind that they had all died at the hands of the same killer. Another serial killer on the streets of San Francisco, but this one left no cryptic clues or taunting letters, made no demands to the police or the general public. He didn’t appear to want attention or…

• MWA Nominees for 2012 Edgar Allen Poe Awards

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:10 am

  Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce on the 203rd anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2011.  The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at our 66th Gala Banquet, April 26, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York, New York.BEST NOVELThe Ranger by Ace Atkins (Penguin Group USA – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)Gone by Mo Hayder (Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Minotaur…

• 18 Jan 2012 | 9:59 am

  18 Jan 2012 | 9:59 am

  My friend and fellow writer Dellani Oakes, has published "Indian Summer" and agreed to share a little. I thought you'd enjoy this section. If you enjoy it, as I did, buy it and write a review on Amazon.  INDIAN SUMMER     There was a nagging feeling of dread rising in my mind. I felt hot then cold all over as if I were taking sick again. I had the feeling that Manuel needed me, something was horribly, terribly wrong. I couldn't suppress it, for it seared my soul. My dreams nagged my thoughts, causing shivers of dread down my spine.      …

• Paul D Barzill, guest blogger, Grit on the Box

  15 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

   With the BBC’s latest incarnation of Sherlock back on the small screen it may again seem that America is thehome of harboiled crime television such as Breaking Bad and The Wire, while the United Kingdom is the land of Dame Agatha style cozies and stuck-up, Latin quoting police detectives. However, for over forty years British television also has looked at the grubby underbelly and produced plenty of gritty crime writing. While we may think of sixties and seventies British TV cops as sophisticated post James Bonds, for example, Frank Marker, who  was…

• Bill Crider's Private Eye Truman Smith returns

  9 Jan 2012 | 11:20 am

  My friend and fellow writer Bill Crider has released three of this Truman Smith PI series as eBooks. Check them out for that new Kindle you got during the holidays.About the books: Dead on the Island:  Private-eye Truman Smith returns to his hometown of Galveston, Texas, to investigate the disappearance of his sister.  He runs into people from his past, finds a cat, and gets into a lot of trouble.  Publishers Weekly says that Smith is "another well-drawn protagonist, this time a moody, introspective PI in the finest tradition, who works in a seamy city smoldering with old…

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  225batonrouge.com blogs

• Spatula Diaries: Along comes a venison roast

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:05 am

  Last week, my mother in law’s family bestowed a good-sized piece of venison on us, a bone-in shoulder roast with a thin sheen of fat on top.

• The Movie Filter: 'Extremely' dramatic and 'Incredibly' moving

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:29 am

  Oskar Schell is the definition of precocious. Too witty and bookish by half, at the age of 12 the young Manhattanite resembles an overly reclusive college student, the kind that learns more than anyone but wouldn’t ever know it because he only ventures out of the dorm for class or the library.

• The Record Crate: Fly like an 'Eagle'

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:22 am

  As I type this, I’m listening to Fred Eaglesmith’s 1987 album Indiana Road, as congenial procession of rural desperation as one can imagine.

• Unleashed: Carnival 2012 offers Capital City canines many ppportunities to 'paw-rade'

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:17 am

  Thanks to a change in the Carnival calendar, local canines and their companions have more opportunities to paw-ty and paw-rade than ever before.

• The Movie Filter: Weekend 'Warrior'

  18 Jan 2012 | 10:08 am

  Billed as the Rocky of Mixed Martial Arts, one of 2011’s underrated masterpieces and an emotional roundhouse of a film is available now on DVD and well worth seeing.

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  Vicki Lane Mysteries

• Blue Skies . . .

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:05 pm

  Smilin' at me,Nothing but blue skiesDo I see... And very welcome they are, after several rainy overcast days.

• Ball Hooting in a Gaum

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:05 pm

   This unseasonably warm and rainy weather that has flowers blooming too early has also made the ground muddy. John came in from getting fire wood and told me that the way into the pasture was a big gaum and he was afraid the Kubota ATV would go to ball hooting if he wasn't careful.Before we moved here, I would have thought maybe he was speaking in tongues.  But I've learned the language.A gaum (or gom) is a big mess -- in this case, a patch of mud, though it could apply to a teenager's room. And ball hooting means sliding around.  The term come from days of logging with horses…

• Lemon Curd Pie

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:05 pm

  It was a birthday request from Justin -- and one of my own favorites. Lemon curd, whipped cream, pastry, chocolate -- you know you want some.....   Start by making a pie crust (yes, you can use a pre-prepared one but I bet it won't be as good.) I follow a standard recipe (1 1/2 c. flour, 1/4 tsp. salt,  1/2 c. Crisco. 4-5 TB. cold water. I substituted vodka for the water, having read that this made for a flakier crust, and it worked quite well.) Bake the empty crust at 425 for 15 minutes ot till the edges begin to brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle with semi-sweet chocolate…

• Impatient

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:02 pm

  Eager for Spring blooms,I bring quince branches inside --Pale petals unfold.Early daffodilsAre eager too -- don't they knowIt's January?  

• At the River

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:04 pm

  Our little riverside park, where the rafting companies put in to go down river to Hot Springs, is being enlarged and tidied up. This silo was the inspiration for a scene in In a Dark Season where the valiant Phillip had to climb up and then down into it in search of. . . something awful. Of course, in my imagining, it was at least twice as tall.

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  It's a Writing Thing

• A day without sunshine…

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:19 am

  …is like today. Woke up to strong winds and heavy rain pounding into the window above my head. I wanted nothing more than to roll over and try to get some more sleep, but alas, I have things to do. Mostly, though, I have people coming. Grocery delivery scheduled between 9 and 11, then between 11 and 1 – oh joy of joys, the medical equipment guy is coming with my CPAP machine!! I know it’s going to be an adjustment to learn to sleep with a mask on my face, but trumping that x 1000 is the fact that I’m going to be able to get REAL sleep. Last week, when I went to the…

• True grit: My kind of reality television

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  It began with Homicide: Life on the Street, with the murder po-lice, the Waterfront, the dark and twisty tales of life in a Baltimore cop shop. Who can forget following right along with newbie Tim Bayliss as he desperately sought Edina Watson’s killer in season one? How we agonized when the brilliant Frank Pembleton was brought down, not by bullets, but by a stroke? Seven seasons of awesome by Tom Fontana and based on David Simon‘s Homicide: Life on the Killing Streets. After Homicide made its final bow, as desperate as Bayliss for equally brilliant entertainment, I uncovered Oz.

• I’m not an extrovert…but I can fake it

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:11 am

  A blog post today over at Book View Cafe (which linked to an article) got me to thinking about a conversation I had some years ago with Dana Cameron. It was the deadest of the dead dog Sunday evenings, after the close of Malice Domestic. I’d planned to stick around for one drink, then found myself chatting with Dana until nearly 11:00 that evening, in the tapas bar. Can’t recall exactly when this occurred, but I know I was plotting out my 2nd book, so you do the math. Over some lovely Macallan, we discussed how we were both “high-functioning introverts” – a term…

• We're not out of the woods yet.

  24 Jan 2012 | 12:56 pm

  Thanks to suricattus for the info!Originally posted by seachanges at We're not out of the woods yet.Originally posted by cantarina1 at postOriginally posted by electricdruid at The fiasco continuesACTA in a Nutshell –What is ACTA?  ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they…

• Still ticking…

  24 Jan 2012 | 7:06 am

  I’m still here. My goal to do a blogpost daily got derailed by a digestive system upset thanks to new/old meds (all of which list various digestive issues as side-effects). I’ve spent the last several days just feeling rather miserable and doing a lot of sleeping. A bit better today, but still rather out of whack, so I’m working at the job from home – thank goodness I can do that. Hoping that this will clear up. So, what’s new in your world? or the world–now that I think on it, I’ve been offline and have no clue what’s been happening. Originally…

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  The Graveyard Shift

• Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

  Lee Lofland

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:26 am

  The Graveyard Shift extends our condolences to the families of each of these brave officers. Sergeant Barbara Ester, 47 Arkansas Department of Correction January 20, 2012 – Sergeant Barbara Ester was stabbed to death by an inmate when she entered an open dormitory area to investigate a contraband issue. Sgt. Ester had reason to believe that inmate Latavious Johnson, a convicted murderer, possessed an unauthorized pair of tennis shoes. And, when she approached Johnson he stabbed her in the side, abdomen, and chest. Sgt. Ester is survived by her husband who also works as an officer in the…

• Dr. Katherine Ramsland: Seeking Serial Killers

  Lee Lofland

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:11 am

  Seeking Serial Killers: Real-life Lecter helps hunt monsters by Dr. Katherine Ramsland Like Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs,” Ted Bundy once enlightened a task force on the motives and movement of an elusive killer. They learned a lot about Bundy as well. Now a unique new crime show, “Dark Minds,” will engage in a similar process. True crime author M. William Phelps created the series with criminal profiler John Kelly. Their aim is to reopen some cold cases that involved serial murder and view them from a different angle — that of another serial killer.

• Southland: Underwater – A Review And Recap

  Lee Lofland

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:48 am

  Cops routinely find themselves under water. The best manage to keep their heads above the surface. But even for a strong swimmer like Ben Sherman the undertow can be tricky. Ben finds himself in a situation where he’s surrounded by a large group of unruly young people. There’s bumping and shoving and name-calling. Things begin to get out of hand. He’s pushed by a young woman who he immediately places under arrest. Then, suddenly, another woman slaps Ben directly in his rookie face. What’d he do? How’d he react? Well, we had to wait until later in the episode to…

• Castle: An Embarrassment Of Bitches – A Review and Recap

  Lee Lofland

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:10 am

  Dogs, dog shows, and one well-trained, floor-scratching drug dog. This episode was all about furry, four-legged friends…well, that and a scene that was so hot it nearly caused my TV to burst into flames. Castle and Beckett land squarely into a world that’s the polar opposite of Beckett’s personality. The duo’s handed a murder case that leads to a reality TV star and her shallow world of shopping, smiling, and posing for photos. As usual, though, the case takes a few twists and turns before the light bulb above the home team’s head finally switches on. But this…

• Keep Your Shirt On: Seriously, Keep Your Shirt On…OMG!

  Lee Lofland

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:06 am

  You’ve had a long night answering call after call—he-saids, she-saids, chasing a Peeping Tom through back yards and alleys, a couple of drunks arguing over a near-empty bottle of Ripple, kids spray-painting Smiley Faces on stop signs, and the guy who insisted he was Jesus and attempted to prove it by damning you to hell a few dozen times after you refused to give him ten dollars. Yep, a looonnnggg night and it was only half over when Jimmy Bob “Peanut” Lawson, Jr. decided to join forces with his good friend Jack Daniels and blacken both his wife’s eyes. Well,…

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  InkSpot

• Writing is Rewriting

  Joe Moore

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am

  By Joe Moore I just finished the first draft of my new thriller, THE BLADE, co-written with Lynn Sholes. This is our sixth novel written together; this one coming in at a crisp 92,500 words. Now that the first pass on the manuscript is finished, the rewrite begins. As E.B. White said in THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, “The best writing is rewriting.” Some might ask that if the manuscript is written, why do we need to rewrite it? Remember that the writing process is made up of many layers including outlining, research, first drafts, rewriting, line editing, proofing, more editing and more proofing.

• GOING UNDERCOVER

  Lois Winston

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:05 pm

  This week I’m winding down a month-long blog tour to promote the release of Death By Killer Mop Doll. Since the last weekend in December, I have been the guest blogger at 27 different blogs, with six more to go. I dubbed my tour the Sit on Your Butt Book Tour because all of my interaction with readers has been while…well, sitting on my butt. As exhausting as it was to come up with 33 different posts over the course of a month, a virtual tour sure beat driving hours and hours from one book store to the next and hoping that someone showed up. There are many benefits to a virtual book tour.

• That's What I'm Talking About, He Said

  Deborah Sharp

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:24 pm

  By Deborah SharpI've been drafted to teach a class on dialogue next month, and I've been thinking that writing good dialogue is as much about what you don't do as about what you do. Sure, it's important to: LISTEN to the way real people speak (but leave out all the boring uhms, ers, and repetition when you turn everyday speech into dialogue)READ ALOUD your dialogue (but don't delude yourself that choosing labored tags like John roared or Mary screeched makes you sound more clever than using the perfectly adequate, and not nearly as distracting, word ''said.'') BREAK UP long blocks of dialogue…

• The Lost Boys

  Jennifer Harlow

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am

  by Jennifer HarlowSince we're all a fan of mysteries and crime here, I wanted to share the biggest, most horrifying true crime story in recent history. Here is a truly true, dark crime story. Once upon a time, in our terrible times...In 1994 in West Memphis, Arkansas Chris Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch, three eight-year-old boys vanished one evening from their neighborhood. The next day after an exhaustive search the boys were found hog-tied naked, beaten, and in one case missing genitals along a creek bank in the Robin Hood hills wooded area. Needless to say the community and…

• The Secret Promo Tip Is…

  Alan Orloff

  23 Jan 2012 | 4:55 am

  by Alan Orloff   I’ve been busy the past 21 months. In that span, I’ve published three books with Midnight Ink (DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD, KILLER ROUTINE, and DEADLY CAMPAIGN). I’ve also published two ebook originals, writing as Zak Allen: THE TASTE and FIRST TIME KILLER. Along the way, I’ve done a fair amount of promotion and marketing. I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you which methods work best and which are not worth the time or money. Yes, I’d like to, but I can’t. Because I don’t have a frickin’ clue. We’ve all heard the witticism, “Fifty percent of…

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  doahsdeer's Xanga

• The Return of the Full Nelson

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm

  It's come to my attention (thanks to this lovely post) that today is Nelson's birthday, and he is, once again, dancing in his birthday suit.  So I feel obligated to re-post this entry from last year, wishing Nelson a very happy birthday.The Full NelsonI am struck by the number of people who are familiar with Nelson’s habit of appearing in the nude at social events.  I never realized that what started as a dare ten years ago had become an all-consuming part of Nelson’s social life.  And I am embarrassed to admit publicly, my role in Nelson’s naked ambition.You see, it was…

• Literary tattoos

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:36 pm

  Okay.  I admit it.  I don't get the popularity of tattoos.  I mean, go ahead and get your tats if you want to, it's no skin off my ass, so to speak.  But a tattoo is not the best look for a balding, slightly overweight middle-aged man.  And yet, this morning I read an article about a growing tattoo subculture.  Literary tattoos. Here's a line from the Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.   The tattoo belongs to Maria Carlos and was posted on Contrariwise.And here's the complete poem I Go Back to May…

• Do you suffer from comment envy?

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:01 am

  Most of us do, from time-to-time.  You slave over a blog post and then your friends and subs let you down.  It's okay.  Today's blog is designed to help you overcome comment envy.  You see, I spent some time this morning reading your posts and I didn't leave any comments.  Instead, I've assembled those comments here, in this post.  If you're dissatisfied with the number (or the quality) of comments you've been receiving, let me know which of these comments you'd like to see on your blog post.  And I'll come by and leave the…

• The assignment

  23 Jan 2012 | 4:18 pm

  It was early Saturday morning, and the world outside my window was covered in fresh snow.  It was nearly time for me to leave for the train station.  "We need you to deliver a package."  My assignment was simple enough.  I was to pick up the package on my way to the Trenton train station and deliver it, upon my arrival in D.C.  "K will be waiting for you at the cafe in Union Station."The two-and-a-half hour train ride to Washington D.C. was uneventful, but when I deboarded in Union Station, something was amiss.  The cafe was quiet, too quiet.  K fixes…

• Chucho Valdes

  21 Jan 2012 | 7:01 am

  Chucho Valdes was great last night in Princeton.  Here's a clip, not from last night, but from last year at Jazz San Javier, in Spain.  Chucho Valdés - pianoLázaro Rivero - bassJuan Carlos Rojas - drumsCarlos Manuel Miyares - tenor saxReinaldo Melián - trumpetYaroldy Abreu - percussionDreiser Durruthy - percussion, batá, vocals

• 

  KILLER HOBBIES

• 6 Ways to Energize Your Writing Naturally

  28 Jan 2012 | 3:07 am

  Like most cozy mystery authors, I have a writing routine. For example, right now I need to do a rewrite of Scent to Kill, the follow up to Death Drops: A Natural Remedies MysteryThe best time for me to be productive and hopefully brilliant! is in the morning from 9 to noon. But once I have lunch, I feel less energetic. However, if I’m under a deadline I need to power through less productive times and write throughout the day. That’s when I turn to my favorite natural remedy – coffee! I buy mine from 7-11 because home brewed just isn’t strong enough. I interviewed a doctor at Harvard…

• Getting Unstuck

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:02 am

  I can tell there is something different going on because I'm knitting instead of crocheting. Even though I can't wait to start on the eight crochet mystery, I had to set aside all my notes and start on the first book in my new series which features Casey Feldstein, a dessert chef who has inherited a business putting on yarncraft retreat at a slightly sinister conference center on the Monterey peninsula. The first book which I think is going to be called Yarn2Go involves knitting. So to get in the mood, I've become a needle head as Adele from the crochet mysteries would probably say.I thought…

• My Zumba Moment

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:21 pm

  I’m heading off to teach a mystery writing class at the Roanoke Regional Writer’s Conference on Saturday. I’m a new mystery author, but I’ve studied and learned a lot over the past few years. I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned—and learning a thing or two myself. I’m always a bit nervous when I head off to a conference, so I’ve been thinking about my presentation a great deal—even while huffing and puffing at Zumba class. For those of you who don’t know, Zumba is an aerobic/dance class with a Latin flair. I love it—and am now doing it three times a week.

• The Present and Past in Writing

  25 Jan 2012 | 12:21 am

  Let me start with the present. I’ve got two really fun events coming up in the near future.The nearest is Mystery on the Menu, a luncheon followed by panels at the Cerritos Library. It’s this Saturday, January 28. The cast of characters--well, writers--has been changing but it promises to be a really fun event. Check it out at the Mysterious Galaxy website: www.mystgalaxy.com/event/mystery-menu-cerritos-library-0128Next month is Passion and Prose. It’ll be at the Westin Long Beach hotel on Saturday, February 25. The website (www.passionandprose.org) says, “Please join bestselling…

• Why We Tell Stories, Part Two

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:11 am

  This is Part Two of an essay I wrote and presented at my church a few Sunday ago on the topic “Why Do We Tell Stories?”We like stories because they give us information – and we all, at every age, are seekers of information. Stories tell us how to act when presented with a new situation. We eagerly listen as characters behave boldly, bravely, stupidly, cowardly, cleverly, properly, when confronted with an unfamiliar or dangerous situation. Professor Boyd: “Narrative can offer us either particular social information to guide immediate decisions or general principles we can apply in the…

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  My Weblog

• The awesome task of the "must-read" list

  Dana Cameron

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:47 pm

  by Dana A few years ago, I was given a daunting task: I had to pick out five science fiction books to give to someone who was interested in, but had never read, SF.  I was reminded of this just recently because Boskone is just  around the corner.  Also, David Brin recently printed his list of lists of must-read SF books. It's the kind of stuff late night convention-bar conversations and arguments are made of—it's hard to get definitive on a subject like that. I eventually sent my friend a list of ten books, but gave her five of them to get started. I cannot…

• Now Hear This!

  Mary Saums

  22 Jan 2012 | 12:07 pm

  from Mary   Do you like audiobooks?   I do. I am absolutely crazy chunked double-roasted about them. This last year, my library plunderings changed from mostly book books to near 100% audiobooks. I've checked out books on CDs for the car for a long timeBut, as the library's PlayAway collection gets bigger and bigger, I find I'm becoming more and more addicted to them. If you haven't seen one, they look like this:     Very easy to slip in your pocket and go. You provide your own AAA battery and earbuds. What a great invention! Here are…

• Getting a handle on 2012

  Donna Andrews

  15 Jan 2012 | 11:42 pm

  by Donna Andrews I’m embarrassed to admit that it’s already January 15 and I still haven’t finished sorting out my goals for the year. There’s nothing magical about January 1, of course, but going two weeks into the new year without having my annual road map done—it feels a little feckless. And I realized tonight why I haven’t done it yet.  I remember hearing Barbara Hambly speak at Crescent City Con in 1997.  She mentioned a writer friend who had trouble getting himself to write because as long as the book was in his head, it was going to be the best thing he’d ever…

• What's in your wallet?

  krisneri

  11 Jan 2012 | 10:44 am

  By Kris Neri THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron, along with some of her other books, have been incredibly influential in my life and have spurred my writing career. In case you’re unfamiliar with her work, I like to describe THE ARTIST’S WAY and some of the others as do-it-yourself therapy for artists. I probably do THE ARTIST’S WAY again every couple of years. I say “do it” rather than “read it” because, although it is a book, THE ARTIST’S WAY, along with others of Julia’s titles, present a program of multi-week creativity-enhancing lessons and exercises, which have…

• Making a Hat

  Hank Phillippi

  8 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

  by Hank Phillippi Ryan Are you making a hat? I am. I’m in he midst of writing a new book (please take a moment to cross fingers, Femmes and FoFs, you know what this is like. I’m on page 112, or so, and sometimes it makes sense. I keep saying to myself—just keep going. You can fix it later.)  But I digress. Well, not exactly. Creating new characters out of nowhere! That never ceases to amaze me, you know? I sit down at the computer, blank page. Some hours later, if I'm lucky, several pages are full, and a new person—or two or three—has been born.  Jane Elizabeth…

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  Conjectures and Refutations

• Incoherence

  8 Jan 2012 | 11:37 am

  What will it take to get our politicians to sit down and talk seriously about solutions to our country’s problems? The primary season never brings out the best in candidates, but even allowing for that, the political class seems far more interested in scoring points like a bunch of seventh-graders trading punches than in arriving at intelligent policy decisions.The first casualty is any kind of coherence. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were for an insurance mandate before they were against it. Barack Obama was against it before he was for it. Democrats oppose corporate welfare except when it…

• Resolved

  1 Jan 2012 | 10:40 pm

  New Year's Resolution Number One: revive the blog. When I started it, I swore I would never post just to be posting something; I would only write when I had something worthwhile to say. I still think that’s a healthy attitude, but unfortunately it reacts too easily with laziness to produce long blank stretches. So my resolution now is: exert yourself a little, find something worthwhile to say a little more often.Just to ease into things, here’s a wild swipe at the topic that will dominate 2012:I only have ten months to decide whom to vote for. I’d love to vote for one of the two major…

• Collective punishment

  25 Sep 2011 | 12:41 pm

  Film director Michael Moore has called for a boycott of the state of Georgia following the execution there of a man many claimed was innocent. With his usual temperate rhetorical style, Moore pledged to donate a portion of his royalties from his current book to “help defeat the racists and killers who run that state.”The execution of Troy Davis ought to make the most ardent death-penalty booster stop and think for a second; I don’t know of anybody who claims that the criminal justice system is infallible, so maybe it’s not a good idea to insist on irreversible measures to enforce its…

• Plug 'em

  17 Jun 2011 | 9:53 am

  In the tussle between Tom Coburn and Grover Norquist, I think you have to come down on Coburn’s side. The Oklahoma senator says closing tax loopholes is a step on the road to fiscal sanity; the viscerally anti-tax Norquist says closing a loophole is a tax increase and he’s against it on principle.Both men are conservatives; the question is a current bone of contention within the Republican party. Let’s take a look at the principles. Norquist is consistent in his opposition to big government and the taxes that fuel it. He favors the starve-the-beast approach, in which you cut off revenue…

• Badgering the Governor

  20 Feb 2011 | 11:47 am

  The rhetoric is getting heated in Wisconsin as the Tea Party groups are starting to show up to shout back at the protesters who have been besieging the state capitol in Madison. At issue is governor Scott Walker’s bill curtailing public-sector unions’ collective bargaining rights and requiring higher pension contributions. Meanwhile, the state’s Democratic senators are in hiding, refusing to report for work and thus provide a quorum enabling a vote they know they will lose.I’m not going to get into a discussion of the issue itself; if you’re interested you can check out the opposing…

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  What Fresh Hell...?

• PUPdate: Green Bunny

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:52 pm

  Bella's been having a bit of a sore leg lately, so she tires easily. Even stuffed bunnies have more stamina. See:

• The Writer's Dog in January.

  18 Jan 2012 | 1:35 pm

  So... it's snowing in Seattle which is unusual. And Bella, so far as we know, has never seen snow before since she's only three and I don't recall that we've had snow in the city in about that many years. It does look pretty, but as a Seattleite, it's also treacherous since there will be no snow plowing down to the marina--its at the base of a hill, and not economically important. So I walked the dog up to the off-leash dog park this morning:Snow clings to the fence and blackberry brambles at the dog park.and she was the only dog there. Good thing she found a stick to play with, yeah?Bella…

• Writing Update

  14 Jan 2012 | 2:35 am

  "The Hollow Hounds" is done and sent. A day of rest, then on to the revisions of SEAWITCH.

• Appearance Updates

  12 Jan 2012 | 11:32 pm

  I have now paid for my memberships to WorldCon in Chicago and World Fantasy Convention in Toronto this year. I'm still working on the Comic Con stuff and I'll be leading some SF/F workshops at PNWA in July as well as the one-day workshop for the Clarion West Extension in March... Whoo! Oh yeah and there are a couple of books coming out. Y'know: two or three....

• A Tiny Steampunk Nibble

  11 Jan 2012 | 2:24 pm

  I'm really loving writing this story:"In a while, the soldier could see something coming down the moonlit road from the woods. It marched along on six slim legs and in front of it ran the metal dog...." (from "The Hollow Hounds")

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  Myth & Mystery

• Worst. Cat. Ever.

  19 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

  A quick update on our found dog, Speedy, since many of you were wondering. Yes, we decided to keep her. We just didn't have the heart to put her up for adoption, knowing that all the shelters in San Antonio are overflowing, and with a high-needs dog like her, she'd have trouble finding a home. We did our due diligence: took her to the vet to check for a microchip, put out signs, searched Craigslist, etc., but it seems the poor puppy was well and truly abandoned, so now she's part of the Riordan pack. What can I tell you? We're an ADHD family, so she fits right in. Our cats are still convinced…

• The Serpent's Shadow

  9 Jan 2012 | 9:50 pm

  As announced earlier tonight on NBC's Rock Center, the title of Kane Chronicles Book 3 is The Serpent's Shadow! Above is John Rocco's amazing cover. I think it's my favorite Kane cover yet, and it was certainly my favorite Kane book to write.In this book, all your questions will be answered: Can Apophis be stopped? Will Ra ever be whole again? Is Bes really gone for good? What happens with Carter and Zia? And, of course, what happens with Sadie, Anubis and Walt? The book will be out May 1. I hope you enjoy it!Also announced on Rock Center tonight: The Demigod Diaries, a book of new short…

• Rick on Rock Center, Exclusive Kane 3 First Look!

  5 Jan 2012 | 6:42 am

  Tune in on Monday! COMING UP ON "ROCK CENTER WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS" - MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2012 AT 10P ETExclusive first look at the title and cover of the final book in Rick Riordan’s Egyptian series, The Kane Chronicles in Kate Snow's report.Behind the best-selling book series Percy Jackson & the Olympians is author Rick Riordan, but the real inspiration for the fictional hero is Riordan’s own son. The books, based on Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology, have sold over 30 million copies - and they began as a simple bedtime story told to his son Haley, who had been diagnosed with ADHD…

• Happy New Year, Readers Young and Old

  3 Jan 2012 | 6:56 am

  Here’s a New Year’s Greek mythology tie-in for you. Did you know that the tradition of Father Time with his toga and scythe giving up his place to the Baby New Year is based on the story of Kronos and Zeus? According to Bernard Evslin and other scholars, this is rooted in one version of the Titan War story (which I used in Percy Jackson) that states Zeus cut up Kronos with his own scythe when he took over the throne of the heavens. From this we get the image of the old king (Kronos = Old Year) with his scythe getting displaced by the baby (Zeus = New Year Baby). Over the centuries, we…

• Happy New Year! Being Grateful and Giving Back

  29 Dec 2011 | 11:50 am

  As the end of 2011 approaches, it’s a good time to reflect on all the things I’m grateful for – like my family, a writing career I love, and my wonderful readers who’ve helped make my books so successful! This is also a good time to remember to give something back to the community. Times are tough, and charities are hurting just like everyone else. It’s not so much the amount we give, but if you are able and so inclined, giving anything to a worthy cause does make a positive difference – whether you donate money, goods, or time and talent. I tend to focus on charities in my…

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  Wendy Roberts

• How to Write Your Stupid Book: Tip 5 – A Rose by Any Other Name Still Stinks

  3 Jan 2012 | 12:14 pm

  Since it’s been a while, let’s briefly recap how I’m writing my stupid books and notes from previous posts:TIP 1: was all about BICHOKing.TIP 2: IdeasTIP 3: plotting and pantsingTIP 4: internal editorsAll caught up? Good. Today’s post is about names. The name of your book. The names of your characters.I know writers who obsess about these things. I know writers who truly can’t write a single

• Snowball Fight!

  21 Dec 2011 | 4:34 pm

  Click (or copy and paste) link below to view my fun with my dog, Bella, as well as Obama, Einstein and Oprah. Best people in the world to have a snowball fight with *snort*http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/LnFmYWqJUKQwpGg4Wishing all of you the very best Christmas and much joy in the coming year!I'll be back with more posts in the New Year!

• What to get for the author who has everything

  7 Dec 2011 | 6:35 pm

  Most people who know me know that I don't enjoy shopping. It makes my eyes twitch and gives me cramps. This time of year is hell on a person like me. I do a lot of shopping online and in-store shopping gets done in November because I don't want to be trampled by crazed lunatics who've been imbibing in too much eggnog.This year, I'm very proud of a couple purchases I made for myself.Deadly serious

• How to Write Your Stupid Book: Tip 4

  4 Dec 2011 | 11:16 am

  Tell your internal editor to go to hell. You open your manuscript with the idea of writing a gazillion new pages and finally reaching that mid-way point in your two-gazillion page book. Except the minute you open Word you’ve gotta, just GOTTA, go back and check to see if the fact you mentioned about your protagonist liking chai tea is accurate to the story. I mean, what would happen if you said

• How to Write Your Stupid Book: Tip 3

  25 Nov 2011 | 8:55 pm

  Plot if you have to but only if you have to.Many authors I know are extreme plotters. They will plot the living daylights out of their stories before writing the first chapter. They’ll have flow charts and colorful graphs and, yes, even point-by-point lists of what comes after what. Some even plot for 50 or more pages before writing a single word in their book. It works for them and they’ve

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  Lisa Unger's Notes From the Margin

• The Ones That Got Away

  Lisa Unger

  11 Jan 2012 | 12:32 pm

  I take the business of endorsing other authors very seriously, because I feel so fortunate to have had support from some of the most important writers working today.  Harlan Coben, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Laura Lippman, Karin Slaughter, Tess Gerritsen, Lisa Gardner, Jeff Abbott, and other fantastic authors have all taken the time to read my novels and offer their kind words.  And every single time I am humbled and washed over with gratitude.  These are some of the writers who I most admire, and who have inspired me to be the best writer I can be.  And to have their names on my book…

• Christmas Countdown!

  Lisa Unger

  19 Dec 2011 | 9:11 am

  I get stressed around the holidays. You probably do, too.  It seems to be the nature of the season.  Has it always been this way?  I feel the tension start to mount just before Thanksgiving, my brain subconsciously creating checklists of what must be accomplished over the next six weeks – gifts for family, friends, neighbors and colleagues, tips for the various people responsible for holding my life together. A parade of questions to be answered, decisions to be made. Should I bake cookies or not?  How bad are holiday cards for the environment? If I send them, do I hate the planet? If I…

• FRAGILE has been optioned for film by TNT!

  Lisa Unger

  15 Nov 2011 | 1:09 pm

  TNT has optioned FRAGILE to be part of its new Mystery Movie Night!  On November 29th, Scott Turow’s Innocent will launch a series of contemporary crime dramas that will include Lisa Gardner’s Hide, Sandra Brown’s Ricochet, Richard North Patterson’s Silent Witness, April Smith’s Good Morning, Killer, and Mary & Carol Higgins Clark Deck the Halls. Naturally, I’m thrilled that FRAGILE has been selected for what promises to be a series of fantastic crime fiction films.  TNT is a home for quality television (including the brilliant Tess Gerritsen’s “Rizzoli and Isles”). …

• Mommy Writer

  Lisa Unger

  30 Aug 2011 | 8:59 am

  I was on my way to New York a couple of weeks ago on the 6 AM flight, looking ahead to a day of meetings. I left my five-year-old daughter back in Florida, which I rarely do.  So she was very much on my mind — mainly because she put the screws to me for a full 24 hours before I got on the plane. Why do you have to go, Mommy?  Just cancel your meetings. Why can’t you work from home like you always do? Why can’t I go, too?  Don’t leave me!  I needed to carry an extra suitcase to tote all my guilt with me.     After the plane was in the air, I opened my pen case to…

• The Truth about Fiction

  Lisa Unger

  27 Jul 2011 | 8:41 am

  My blogger pal Erin Faye recently asked me an interesting question on Twitter.  When I sat down to answer her, I found I couldn’t do it in 140 characters.  Having just read DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND, she wanted to know if a restaurant in the novel, called Grillmarks, was a real place in New York, or if I was referencing a local restaurant in Florida by the same name.  The answer is oddly complicated. No, it’s not a real place in New York. But, then again, neither is The Hollows.  The Hollows is a fictional town, a construct of my imagination.  It’s some hybrid of the place I grew up…

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  Persia Walker || Author of Black Orchid Blues » Blog

• Change

  Persia

  10 Jan 2012 | 4:45 pm

  TweetEvery now and then we all need to make changes — sometimes in what we eat, what we where, in our friends, in our outlook on life. Since my last time here, I made a couple of changes, the main one being where I live. I’m no longer in New York. Instead, I moved south and am now the proud resident of Virginia! I love it here. We live in a small town — it’s very nice. It’s green and spacious and … well, just about everything I missed while living in New York. Of course, the one thing it doesn’t have is my friends. I miss my friends from New York. Not…

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  Getting Medieval

• Are You Ready for a Medieval Flash Mob?

  Westerson

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:04 am

  It's happening in York, England, this weekend. Head over to the city centre (Parliament Street and St. Helen's Square) this weekend and hang out--we can't tell you when exactly--but you will find yourself in the middle of a medieval impromptu dance flash mob.  Put together by York College students, its part of the Residents Festival, but also to kick off the summer’s Mystery Plays "Spectacular". It's a big ploy to get discount tickets to residents for the Plays. According to The Press: Charlotte Dootson, marketing manager for York Museums Trust, said: “We…

• Thousand Oaks Library

  Westerson

  22 Jan 2012 | 2:50 pm

  Generally, I don't post about every appearance I make, but I do like to promote exceptional libraries. I was in attendance yesterday on a panel sponspoed by the American Association of University Women and Sisters in Crime at the Thousand Oaks Library. It was a great event, well attended, books were sold. But the star of the event has to be the library itself. A library is an important cultural center. After all, it contains the world's knowledge within its walls. It's run by people who cherish this knowledge and are supporters of literature, even when that literature is a…

• Burial Stone Stolen

  Westerson

  20 Jan 2012 | 1:21 pm

  Have you seen this woman? The burial slab was stolen from a Herefordshire church, St Mary's Church in Foy, near Ross-on-Wye, on 5 January. Tricky, because it's been tagged by forensic markings and photographed and catalogued by England's National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts. Maybe the coppers should check ebay. Or yard sales.

• Quartzsite 2012

  Westerson

  18 Jan 2012 | 6:26 pm

  Okay, so this was just an annual trip to Quartzsite but it doesn't mean it has nothing to do with history. As a matter of fact, in 1856, the Secretary of War Jefferson Davis (yes, that one) thought it was a natural to import camels to the west's deserts in order to transport freight. Makes sense, right? Along with the camels from Syria came the animal trainer, Hadji Ali, soon renamed by his American sponsors Hi Jolly. This was in the area now known as Quartzsite, Arizona. The experiment failed but Hi Jolly stayed until he died in 1902 and is buried in the Quartzsite cemetary under a…

• Revealing the Faces of Kings

  Westerson

  11 Jan 2012 | 12:10 pm

  This is quite remarkable. Just another way technology helps us to understand the past. These are Photoshop re-imaginings of the faces of long gone English monarchs. We have some of the family here, of Henry II, his wife the remarkable Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their son King Richard I (also known as Richard the Lionheart. I guess no one cared about King John). These effigies on their tombs were once resplendant in paint and gold leaf. Years in a cold damp cathedral have taken their toll. These reconstructions extrapolate from the poor quality of the effigies and make them flesh and blood…

• 

  POE'S DEADLY DAUGHTERS

• Guest Blogger Nancy Bilyeau

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am

  I'd like to introduce guest blogger Nancy Bilyeau. Nancy is a longtime magazine editor and writer who has worked on the staffs of "Rolling Stone," "Entertainment Weekly," "Ladies' Home Journal" and "InStyle." Born in Chicago, she earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and has lived in Canada as well as the United States. "The Crown," her first novel, took five years to

• IRISH CRIME

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:15 pm

  by Sheila Connolly I'm in the throes of completing the first (unnamed) book in my new (unnamed) Irish series, coming in just over a year. I've been to Ireland more than once—four times, in fact. The last trip, with my husband, was supposed to be a research trip, but the research was somewhat sidetracked by a broken ankle (it won't surprise you that I managed to include a visit to the emergency

• The Literary Thong

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  Elizabeth Zelvin My short story, “Death Will Tank Your Fish,” appears along with twenty-one others in the anthology, Murder New York Style: Fresh Slices. The contributors are all members of the New York/Tristate chapter of Sisters in Crime (one of them, Ken Wishnia, a Mister Sister). Quite a few of us were present at a chapter meeting at which the speaker was a highly motivated PR person who

• How do you spell "change"?

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  Sandra ParshallI think Benjamin Franklin and Noah Webster would approve of Twitterese and online language in general. Both were enthusiastic proponents of a flexible language and believed that words, when written, should look the way they sound. I doubt that either man would be moaning about internet-fostered illiteracy and young people who prefer phonetics (ur) to standard words (your).The

• Blog Break

  24 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Sharon WildwindSorry, guys and gals. I am in the middle of planning a funeral for a family member. Sometimes the writing world just has to give way to real life.See you next week.

• 

  The Outfit: A Collective of Chicago Crime Writers

• E-Reader Owners Watch Your Wallets: Plagiarism Abounds

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:33 pm

  by Jamie Freveletti  If you haven't read the recent Fast Company article about rampant plagiarism on Amazon, check it out. Turns out that some entrepreneurial souls are uploading plagiarised material and swiping the cash from under the noses of the legitimate authors. While the article focuses on erotica books, I presume it is occuring elsewhere as well. I was surprised by the number of

• Writers' Conferences --Tips and Tricks

  19 Jan 2012 | 3:27 pm

  by Jamie Freveletti I’ve been asked to comment on writers’ conferences. I’ll be attending a few conferences and I always enjoy them. I began attending as an unpublished writer and now attend as part of the industry, but I still enjoy just listening to the panels and talking books. Writing conferences are the something I didn’t attend as a reader. I would attend signings periodically, but had

• Second City to None in Books...

  17 Dec 2011 | 11:34 am

  I am amazed and honored to report that TOXICITY was among the books cited by the Chicago Tribune in their list of favorite 2011 Chicago authors’ books!Several other OUTFIT authors were also listed, including Laura Caldwell, Dave Heinzmann, Jamie Freveletti, and of course, rising TV star, Marcus Sakey. And Luis Alberto Urrea, Keir Graff, Michael Harvey, and Melanie Benjamin, also some fine authors

• Jon Cornbleet on the Peterson Verdict

  26 Nov 2011 | 12:35 pm

  By Kevin Guilfoile Justice has been a long time coming for members of Chicago's Cornbleet family. It's been five years since Hans Peterson drove here from New York and brutally tortured and murdered their dermatologist father in his Michigan Avenue office. After a year-long manhunt and an even longer extradition battle, Hans Peterson was convicted this week by a French court in Guadalupe and

• Hans Peterson Verdict: Life in Prison

  25 Nov 2011 | 4:45 pm

  A sentence was promised by the weekend and the French courts delivered. Hans Peterson has been sentenced to life in prison plus 22 years without possibility of parole for 22 years. More later. (For more background on this story look at this and here, or you can really go in-depth with this excellent Chicago Mag article from 2007.)

• 

  Type M for Murder

• Lone Elm and Old Buzzards

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:11 pm

  I span three centuries. Odd, but true. My father, born in the 19th century, was 51 years old when I was born. He was 70 when I married and my husband’s father was 74. I’ve welcomed grandchildren into the 21st century and loved the life I lived in my own 20th century, and am continuing to live now. Having a foot in three centuries gives one a peculiar insight into different eras. My parents had

• Immortal Dollars…Um, I mean, Characters

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:25 am

  The crime fiction community has, of course, always been obsessed with death. It is after all part of what we do—in our stories, the greater the risk, the better we can view humanity. However, death in the publishing industry seems to be a different matter. When Robert B. Parker, one of my favorite writers, passed away a couple years back, I was selfishly saddened, realizing I could no longer look

• What’s in a name?

  25 Jan 2012 | 4:09 am

  <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if !mso]> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt

• What to leave out

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:52 am

  I’d like to go back to John’s blog posting of last Thursday (See “Using a Cleaver to Create”) because it’s taken up a lot of my “thought-time” this past week.I did leave a comment to his fine post addressing my feeling that perhaps Patterson’s cleaver swings a bit too freely, positing that the writer might possibly become annoyingly relentless in his prose in his quest for pushing the action to

• Read it, become it

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Humankind has always loved stories, ever since, as Kipling put it, ' 'Omer smote 'is bloomin' lyre.' Now a psychologist at Toronto University, Professor Keith Oakley, claims to have experimental proof that stories shape the personalities of their readers.Brain scans show that while a subject is reading, the experiences and emotions of the protagonists are mirrored in such a way that the brain

• 

  John Baker's Blog

• Tuesday Thoughts: 1

  john baker

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:59 am

  There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution. Aldous Huxley to George Orwell in a letter of 21 October 1949. The Joy of Books: a…

• Milligan and Murphy – a review

  john baker

  15 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pm

  Perhaps this is as good a place as any, as our heroes wend their way towards the future, to describe in some small detail the countryside through which they trudged. If I were to provide you with a simple-to-understand expression to describe where Lissoy was, then ‘in the middle of nowhere’ would be fairly accurate: somewhere dwindled into anywhere and the next thing you knew you were nowhere. The ‘nowhere’ consisted of bogs and moors with only a single road leading to the place and that road bounded by hedgerows along its full length as if to keep the inevitable at…

• New Review for Winged with Death

  john baker

  7 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Winged With Death by John Baker, Flambard Press (2009) ISBN 978-1906601027, 291pp £8.98 ‘It was 1972 and I was eighteen years old. I had jumped ship and watched while she sailed away.’ The narrator’s account of his decade in Uruguay gets off to a running start. A young man in a remote country is a recipe for picaresque adventures, and Montevideo is seething with political violence and sweating with the tango. On his very first day young Frederick runs into Tupamaros member Julio, gets a job washing dishes, and accepts the name Ramon Bolio. ‘That day in 1972 I was up…

• Cock and Bull by Will Self

  john baker

  28 Dec 2011 | 3:37 am

  These two postmodern stories from 1993 have remained under my radar until now. Will Self writes irony and challenges gender roles along the way with immaculately timed black humour. The lead character in each of these stories wakes up to something of an anatomical surprise. In the first story, Cock, a woman grows a penis; whereas in the second offering, Bull, a man grows a vagina behind his knee. Throughout, classical narrative expectations are undermined and destabilised. And we find ourselves always more interested in the emotional, rather than the physical metamorphosis of the protagonists…

• A Poem by Mary Oliver

  john baker

  18 Dec 2011 | 5:10 am

  When Death Comes When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn; when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me, and snaps his purse shut; when death comes like the measle pox; when death comes like an iceberg between the shoulder blades, I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering: what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness? And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood, and I look upon time as no more than an idea, and I consider eternity as another possibility, and I think of each life as a flower, as common as…

• 

  Mystery of a Shrinking Violet

• What are SOPA and PIPA?

  Barbara

  19 Jan 2012 | 1:48 pm

  If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about and want to know more about SOPA and PIPA, what they would do and why they would be bad for the Internet, here’s an informative video that I found extremely helpful (about 11 minutes in length): Understanding PIPA / SOPA & Why You Should Be Concerned (YouTube)

• Stop SOPA and PIPA from censoring the Internet

  Barbara

  18 Jan 2012 | 10:23 pm

  OPEN LETTER TO US LEGISLATORS I request that you vote against SOPA and PIPA. The Internet does not need any censoring. If people were more educated as regards copyright law there would be a lot fewer violations. I’m a creative writer whose copyrights have been violated, with some of my poetry and an entire novel. I handled those instances on my own. It cost me no money, since the owners of the sites were cooperative as soon as they learned of the violations by their users. Those instances occurred because of lack of education of the public as to copyright law and fair use, and I don’t…

• Waterkeeper Alliance needs you

  Barbara

  31 Dec 2011 | 12:08 pm

  What do you and Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) have in common? I’ll bet you both think clean water is important. Everyone deserves clean, healthy water, including Mama Gaia and everything that grows on her. Please start the year fresh by supporting Waterkeeper Alliance. If you’re on Twitter, you can help by following @waterkeeper and helping them reach their end of year goal of 20,000 followers.

• Spirit Blooms – Why I won’t tell you my New Year’s Resolution

  Barbara

  29 Dec 2011 | 7:30 pm

  I’m blogging again, over at Spirit Blooms. Today’s entry: Why I won’t tell you my New Year’s Resolution.

• Rescued Kittens

  Barbara

  30 Jun 2011 | 6:58 pm

  We’ve been busy here raising some rescued kittens born to semi-feral and stray mothers, getting the adults spayed and neutered, and bottle feeding three litters. We’ve now found homes for all the kittens, including the two we’re keeping. We’re very happy about this. But I sure wish people would spay/neuter ALL their pets and do everything they can to keep them with them permanently. This is a preventable problem that nonetheless seems to be epidemic.

• 

  Chris Orcutt, Writer

• It’s All About the Reader

  Orcutt

  6 Jan 2012 | 11:12 am

  The novel, available on Amazon. ONCE UPON A TIME there was a mystery novel, a mystery novel that only one agent and zero editors believed in. This mystery novel was read by editors at top publishing houses including Dutton, Harper, St. Martin’s Press, Harcourt, Tor and Poisoned Pen. It was even read by a major movie studio. Yet none of them were willing to take a risk on the novel. “The mystery market is too crowded,” they said. “We don’t see how it can stand out.” Never, though, did they say it wasn’t good enough, that it wasn’t well-written.

• A Shattered Paradigm

  Orcutt

  30 Dec 2011 | 6:48 am

  I HAVE READ hundreds of books on writing. Conservatively figuring an average of 15 per year, over 24 years that makes 360 books on the subject. Books on voice, style, grammar, plotting, dialogue, point of view, syntax, narration, description, characterization, novel writing, technical writing, short story writing, nonfiction writing, query writing, getting an agent and getting published. But, none about what it means to be your own publisher. And none specifically about how to go forward as a writer during this time of the rise of e-publishing and the slow, inexorable decline of print…

• An Open Thank You Letter to Readers

  Orcutt

  17 Dec 2011 | 8:37 am

  The novel, available on Amazon. This one is for you readers. For those of you who took a risk on a relatively unknown quantity (me) by plunking down cash for my PI/mystery novel, A Real Piece of Work. For reading it, and for expressing your love of the book to everyone you know. Your words of praise for the novel have encouraged me more than I can express. I also feel vindicated as all hell. You have to understand—I knew it. Back when I was submitting A Real Piece of Work to agents, and then my agent to editors, I knew that if I could just get the book into the hands of…

• Chris Orcutt’s Barbaric Yawp

  Orcutt

  10 Dec 2011 | 10:40 am

  “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”—Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass Photo by Jen Cray THE OTHER DAY, I wrote that I was going to “take it easy” when it came to self-promotion, but you know what? Screw that. I don’t want to take it easy. I don’t want to be modest, humble, or self-deprecating. I’ve done that all my life, and I’m sick of it. I was raised by honest and hardworking Mainers—parents and grandparents—who imbued in me the sense that a person shouldn’t brag or go on about himself. Promoting yourself, they suggested, was unseemly. But…

• You Don’t Need a Kindle to Read A Real Piece of Work

  Orcutt

  9 Dec 2011 | 11:24 am

  Friends, Romans, Countrymen: I’ve received dozens of messages from would-be book-buyers who say, “I’d love to read A Real Piece of Work, but I don’t have a Kindle.” NOTE: You don’t need a Kindle to read my novel. With the FREE Kindle Reader app, you can read it on your iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Droid, Windows 7 Phone, or your computer. Here’s the page for the novel: A Real Piece of Work at Amazon And here’s the page for The FREE Kindle Reader apps Finally, if you buy the novel and enjoy it, I urge you to post a positive review on Amazon. Your…

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  Freedom From The Mundane

• I’m Back and with Book News Galore

  Colin Galbraith

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:02 am

  Image: JT Lindroos Hello again an welcome back to Freedom from the Mundane, the daily writing blog I have been keeping up since sometime in 2004. My blogging record since 2012 began has been dismal. In fact, I’ve not blogged once since my monthly work plan post on the 4th of May. My only excuse is that I’ve been terribly busy with the release of my new book, my first full length thriller novel, SLICK, on 2nd January. The reviews I’ve had so far have been remarkable. So far, SLICK has received nothing but 5-star reviews with some rather flattering comments being made. Check…

• Goals, Dreams and Resolutions – January Plan

  Colin Galbraith

  4 Jan 2012 | 10:40 am

  Fiction * Complete polish of GATECRASH * Send GATECRASH to beta readers * Submit and recycle short fiction returns Poetry * Publish SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE on Kindle * Continue work on LONDON chapbook for spring release * Continue writing coffee shop poetry book Editing * Prepare RR March (issue 18-March ‘12) * Keep up with subs for issue 19 (June ’12) Freelance * Development work on GGP Boudoir website * Development work on Driving School website * Gig reviews: none scheduled Marketing / Networking * Advertise SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE * SLICK: Send out advance copies to reviewer *…

• Happy New Year Everybody and December Wrap-Up

  Colin Galbraith

  3 Jan 2012 | 5:47 am

  Image: PSD Graphics Happy New Year everybody! It’s great to be back blogging again. My new year break is one time of the year when my blogging is at its lowest because I down tools completely to spend time with my family and friends. So as far as socialising and partying goes, it’s been quite a fortnight. Christmas was very pleasant indeed. We got up on Christmas morning and shared our gifts. I got lots of clothes this year (jumpers, socks, knickers, all that garb), a few CDs (Mogwai, Caravan, Dananananakroyd), lots of sweets (almost all gone), music and book vouchers, the…

• The CG Awards – My Best of 2011

  Colin Galbraith

  30 Dec 2011 | 1:00 am

  Well here we are already, the end of another year. In only a coupe of days we shall slip noisily and cheerily from one year into another (I will, at least!), and then a new year shall dawn. 2012 holds a lot of promise for me; I have a lot of writing projects coming to fruition in both fiction and poetry (as Chas Stramash). But before I sign off for another year, I’d first like to wish everyone a brilliant Hogmanay, whatever you’re doing. I’ll be leaving for a short holiday to the highlands as usual, during which time I’ll be consuming lots of whisky, Bloody Mary’s, and perhaps the…

• Merry Christmas Everyone!

  Colin Galbraith

  24 Dec 2011 | 8:00 am

  Image: tracitodd MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow and that Santa is good to you all! My Christmas Eve has been quite relaxed. I spent my morning up town getting a few last gifts, then stopped off in the coffee shop for a read of the paper and a wee chocolate pastry to myself. Other than that, my ears are still hurting from the awesome Mogwai gig the other night, so although I’m still listening to them as I go about my business, the volume is somewhat lower! I decided the best way to celebrate my Christmas Eve post, which will also end up being my…

• 

  Ellen Byerrum

• Updates and DEATH ON HEELS Chapter Posted!

  10 Jan 2012 | 11:49 am

  With less than a month to the publication date for my latest Crime of Fashion mystery, DEATH ON HEELS, my webmaster and favorite guy Bob has posted the first chapter of the book on my web site for your consideration. The publication will hit stores and be available electronically on Feb. 8.  Looking back, It's amazing to me that this is the eighth book in my series. Reaching this point and beyond is not something you think about when you write the first words of the first lines of the first book. It's been a long and fascinating road to arrive at this point. When I first started…

• Letting Go in Order to Write

  8 Dec 2011 | 2:14 pm

  Every book gets written in spite of fear, anxiety, and the world at large. Or maybe they are written in spite of ourselves, when we manage to get out of our own way. And so there comes a point in every mystery novel where I have to let go of my fears and preconceptions about what it should be and who it has to please, and simply write the story. I have to let go in order to reach a new and different level in my writing.That seems self-evident, and yet it's easy to allow little things to stump me and stop me. I have to remember what I enjoy about writing. That often seems impossible. And…

• A Day in Lacey's Life

  30 Nov 2011 | 5:35 am

  What is a typical day in Lacey Smithsonian's life like?That's the question I contemplate today in a post at Dru's Book Musings, a blog by Dru Ann Love.It's a pleasure to be among the other talented writers who have answered this question in the words of their main characters.It gave me a chance to consider that simple, and yet not so simple, inquiry.Of course a day in Lacey's life is more than simply getting up in the morning and grabbing her first cup of coffee, and possibly discovering an ill dressed corpse.I find the days in the lives of my characters are as varied, and…

• Thanksgiving Turkeys and The People Who Love Them

  20 Nov 2011 | 11:42 pm

  This week in honor of Thanksgiving, I am reposting a piece I wrote last year. Why? Because I really can't think of Thanksgiving without turkeys and I can't think of turkeys without remembering one of the stranger and funnier interviews I had as a safety reporter. It's always been a good conversation opener, or closer. (It could also be subtitled The Sex Lives of Turkeys.)Some years ago, when I was reporting for a D.C. trade journal, I interviewed an ergonomist who described to me possibly the worst job I can imagine. On a turkey farm. This job is just one small step, possibly the…

• You Can’t Always Get What You Want in Fashion. But You Can Try.

  14 Sep 2011 | 11:01 am

  When I see the latest designer collections, I can’t help but think of the exact opposite: Real women. What real women want, what we get, and why, as Mick Jagger says, we can’t always get what we want. But do we even get what we need? Obviously fashion thrives on the new, the unusual, the shocking. And designer collections aim to be publicized. So if their dresses resemble origami cranes, they’re going to get their picture in the paper. An actress might even wear one to the Academy Awards, but a CEO is not going to wear it to the board…

• 

  Laurie R. King: Mystery Writer» Page not found

• Enough with the Sherlock, already

  Laurie King

  19 Jan 2012 | 1:02 pm

  You know you’ve been doing too many events with a writer when:

• Life in Baker Street

  Laurie King

  12 Jan 2012 | 8:34 am

  I’m in New York, for the annual festivities of the Baker Street Irregulars, that wild-and-crazy bunch of Sherlockians (it began as a drinking society, after all) that inexplicably welcomed me to its (mostly) manly bosom a couple of years ago. Tonight begins with a distinguished speaker’s lecture, to get things off in the properly academic mood. Before which people have a drink, and after which everyone rushes off to dinner reservations with friends. Friday begins bright and early with the Gillette luncheon(drinks beforehand) run by ASH, the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, which…

• Laurie’s busy year: an annual report

  Laurie King

  13 Dec 2011 | 11:30 am

  2011 has been a busy year.  A ridiculously busy year.  A year so nuts, it has forced me to declare 2012 The Year of No.  Meaning that if you’re about to ask me to write a short story, participate in a seminar, or show up at your festival, I can only say that if you’re not on the docket already, you probably won’t be. Here’s what I’ve done in 2011: This represents eight writing projects—only the writing projects, you understand, not the conventions, engagements, book tour, or family stuff.  From the bottom up (I’ll put links, in case you want to read excerpts or order…

• The SEND button

  Laurie King

  19 Nov 2011 | 10:42 am

  For the past year, I’ve been working with Michelle Spring on a book about writing for the Arvon writing foundation.  The Arvon Book of Crime and Thriller Writing will be published in 2012, both in the UK and US markets.  And I can say that with assuredness because I have just this morning hit the SEND button and flipped the final manuscript across the Atlantic to Michelle.  It’s been a ton of work and I am very grateful that Michelle asked me to share the project, because I probably never would have got around to writing a How to Write book on my own. But I’m very glad…

• Sherlock mania

  Laurie King

  8 Nov 2011 | 8:26 am

  The anthology A Study in Sherlock is getting a lot of, er, buzz, with puns flying as newspapermen work their literary magic on reviews.  There are several upcoming group events, including tonight in the San Francisco library, then the 19th in Scottsdale, the 20th in Los Angeles, and December 3rd in Redondo Beach.  Various of the contributors will be at each of them, but Les and I will be at the first three, and I’ll try to make it to Redondo Beach.  Details are in the sidebar, here. All your holiday shopping, on one fun event.

• 

  Terry's Place

• Friday Field Trip - Colorado Mornings

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Remember, there's still some time to comment on both my Monday post and Mike Nettleton's Tuesday post to enter to win books. Winners will be picked this evening and announced over the weekend, so be sure to check to see if you're a winner. We've had some glorious sunrises recently. Thanks to Jason and Hubster for these pictures. Some are mine, but I'm sure you can spot the ones taken with good cameras. (Not to mention they put their names on their shots)   Like this post? Please share by clicking one of the links below.

• Whose Story Is It?

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  What I'm reading: Contest entry #4 of 8; The Affair, by Lee Child. Remember, there's still plenty of time to comment on both my Monday post and Mike Nettleton's Tuesday post to enter to win books. And another reminder about my POV workshop at Savvy Authors. I'll be giving books away there, too. If you know someone who might benefit from a basic craft workshop, point them that way. (Link in the sidebar) In the world of romance fiction, reader expectation dictates that you have (at least) two Point of View characters: hero and heroine. They both must have complete story arcs, almost equally…

• What's Cooking Wednesday - Tomato-Spinach Soup

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  What I'm reading: Contest entry #3 of 8 Thanks to Mike for his great post yesterday. Remember, there's still plenty of time to comment on both my Monday post and his Tuesday's post to enter to win books. And another reminder about my POV workshop at Savvy Authors. I'll be giving books away there, too. If you know someone who might benefit from a basic craft workshop, point them that way. I'm blogging about it today at their site. Please pop over. And, I'm still open to more easy gluten-free desserts for our neighbors. I live in the boonies, so fancy ingredients, like gluten-free flours, are…

• A Pacificist Writes About Violence

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Today my guest is author Mike Nettleton, a retired survivor of 43 years in the broadcasting business. Mike's career included stints as a deejay in top-forty, adult contemporary, country and album-rock formats. He's co-written five books with his wife, Carolyn J. Rose. His hard-boiled detective novel Shotgun Start is his first solo effort. Mike will be giving away two autographed copies of Shotgun Start. Winners will be selected randomly from the comments, and announced over the weekend. And I'm giving away a download of any one of my books to one commenter on yesterday's post as well. How did…

• What Do Authors Owe Readers?

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  What I'm reading: Contest Entry #2 of 8 First, a warm welcome to my newest followers. Thanks for coming on board, and I hope you'll stop by often. Next, please check the sidebar. I'm teaching an on-line workshop on Point of View next month, and would love to see some of you there. There's been a lot of heated discussion on the new Amazon Kindle Select program for indie authors. In case you haven't heard, Amazon created a new program which benefits authors. It makes books available for readers to borrow (provided they've paid the $79 to become a member of Amazon Prime), and also gives authors…

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  Mysterious Matters: Mystery Publishing Demystified

• Top 5 List: The Mystery Editor's Challenges

  Agatho

  22 Jan 2012 | 10:25 pm

  Last week, or thereabouts, I blogged/opined on the mystery novelist's top 5 challenges. I have been giving some thought to what my top challenges are as an editor/publisher, so here goes: 1. How do I find the heart or core of this book?  Like many editors, I take particular pleasure in finding and developing new talent. This requires no small amount of patience, which is why I'm fortunate to be at an independent publisher. If I find a manuscript I really like, or in which I see a lot of potential, I can work with the writer on both a micro and macro basis.  At the micro level,…

• Top 5 List: The Mystery Novelist's Challenges

  Agatho

  14 Jan 2012 | 8:18 pm

  Most of the time, I blog about the editing and publishing of mysteries/crime fiction, rather than the writing thereof. But over the last few months I've been having conversations with writers from my list, and the talk has sometimes steered toward writing process, revision, audience considerations, and so forth. So, based on those discussions, I thought I might list what I see as writers' (or at least MY writers') top challenges as they write. 1. How do I balance plot and character?  I find that many writers worry about finding this balance. Given length constraints, how do…

• John Grisham and the "Book Per Year"

  Agatho

  4 Jan 2012 | 9:47 am

  I recently read an interview with John Grisham in the London Guardian. I'm not sure I'd include Grisham in my list of "mystery writers" - I think most would agree that he falls into the category of "thriller" writer. For me, the blockbuster mystery writers are Laura Lippman, Harlan Coben, Janet Evanovich, Patricia Cornwell, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell .... In the article, Grisham discusses one of his secrets of success, a tip shared with him early in his career. An editor said to him, "The big guys come out every year." By that, he meant that Stephen King,…

• Predictions for 2012

  Agatho

  26 Dec 2011 | 4:36 pm

  So, another year has come and gone. Hard to believe. And it's nice to see that, despite the constant threats/warnings/gleeful prognostications of the "death" of traditional publishing, a lot of us are still here. In fact, a recent news report indicated that, contrary to expectations and predictions, some people are willing to pay the same amount for an ebook as they would pay for a print book (the Steve Jobs biography was the example given). Because 2011 was the year of prognostications (including several for the impending end of the world), I thought it might be fun to close…

• Viva Mystery Scene!

  Agatho

  17 Dec 2011 | 12:28 pm

  One of the nice things about blogging is the ability to share thoughts on great books, organizations, and talented folks within our industry. I generally am not open to writers using Mysterious Matters as a publicity device; there are plenty of other places to engage in self-promotion. When I recommend something here on MM, it's because I have personally read or experienced it, and I feel that I can testify to its quality. This week I have to put in a plug for one of my favorite magazines, Mystery Scene. (This month's issue is pictured at left.) I've mentioned my enjoyment of…

• 

  In Reference to Murder

• Friday's "Forgotten" Books - The Grey Flannel Shroud

  BV Lawson

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:11 am

  Henry Slesar (1927-2002) was an American author, playwright, and copywriter, and I think it's say to say he was prolific. Around 1955, he started to write short stories while working as a copywriter and eventually created 500 stories for magazines like Playboy, Imaginative Tales, and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. The latter was particularly appropriate, becasue Slesar went on to become a frequent contributor to the popular Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV series. He also served as head writer for CBS Daytime's The Edge of Night, for which he won an Emmy in 1974, and penned scripts for The…

• Mystery Melange

  BV Lawson

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:12 pm

  The CBC radio program Day 6 is sponsoring "The Elmore Leonard Rule-Breaking Contest," in which they want you to submit a sentence that breaks as many of Leonard's famous Rules for Writing as possible. Winners will have their rule-breaking sentences featured on the Day 6 website and published in The National Post, plus they'll receive three Elmore Leonard books courtesy of HarperCollins. (Hat tip to Shots Mag.) Here's another interesting contest (brought to my attention by Crimespree Mag), the "Queen of Crime" sweeptstakes. Acorn Media is offering a Grand Prize package with a trip for two to…

• IMBA Bestsellers for December

  BV Lawson

  22 Jan 2012 | 10:56 am

  Here are the top selling crime fiction book titles for December from Independent Mystery Bookseller Association (IMBA) member store Mysterious Galaxy: Hardcovers: 1. The Drop by Michael Connelly 2. The House Of Silk by Anthony Horowitz 3. ‘V’ Is For Vengeance by Sue Grafton 4. Murder Season by Robert Ellis 5. Family Legacy by Jack O’Halloran 6. Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich 7. Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell 8. Death Comes To Pemberly by P.D. James 9. The Boy In The Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis 10. The Litigators by John Grisham Paperbacks: 1. Trashy Chic by…

• Media Murder for Monday

  BV Lawson

  22 Jan 2012 | 9:51 am

  MOVIESDirector Lawrence Kasdan is teaming with author Harlan Coben for a film adaptation of Coben's latest thriller, Stay Close, reports Deadline. The novel, due in bookstores March 20, deals with a past crime returning to "devastate the lives of a photojournalist, a suburban mother with a hidden past, and a homicide detective obsessed with a series of unsolved disappearances." George Clooney is looking to co-write, produce and star in an adaptation of the true-crime book 2009’s Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and…

• A Back Alley Goes Dark

  BV Lawson

  21 Jan 2012 | 1:29 pm

  Sad, but understandable, news today from the editor of Back Alley Webzine, Richard Helms. He sent this note out to the crime fiction community: This decision has been a long time coming, but I've decided to shut down The Back Alley Webzine.We've had a great almost-five-year run.Well, four of the five years were great. 2011 didn't really exist.After the deaths of my mother and stepfather, within five weeks of each other in 2010, I sort of lost motivation to do a lot of things, and The Back Alley was one of them. 2011 was an amazing year for me personally, with four major award nominations and…