#Ask Me Anything – Kellye Garrett
It’s time for another edition of #AskMeAnything, where we put one Chick on the hot seat and pose the questions we’ve been dying to ask her. Today, it’s the inimitable Kellye Garrett’s turn…
Author: Ellen Byron
What’s Martha Stewart really like?
Notice a familiar face standing next to Martha Stewart? That’s right, I worked for Martha. Continue reading What’s Martha Stewart really like?
Good Mourning
When you write mysteries, you tend to gravitate toward the macabre, which is how I ended up on the Creole Mourning Tour offered by St. Joseph Plantation in Louisiana. Continue reading Good Mourning
The Tumor That Changed My Life
Social media promotion, which all authors have to do these days, means we spend a lot of time sharing about our lives as well as our books . But this is something I haven’t talked about in years. When I was twenty-five, I had a cramp that refused to go away. I thought it was a bladder infection. It turned out to be a tumor … Continue reading The Tumor That Changed My Life
The photo they didn’t want you to see.
Contrary to my ubiquitous jabbering on Facebook, I’m a little uncomfortable when it comes to actually trying to get people to buy my books. A CAJUN CHRISTMAS KILLING, the third in my Cajun Country Mystery series, launches October 10th. I want to make my publisher happy with decent sales, which means I need to promote the hell out of the book. So I decided to … Continue reading The photo they didn’t want you to see.
Happy 90th, Governor Edwards
Legendary – okay, some would say infamous – Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards turns 90 today. He was the state’s governor when I was in college. He was actually governor when a lot of people were in college, considering that he served four terms and had one of the longest tenures of any governor in American history. Whatever you think of his politics and corruption … Continue reading Happy 90th, Governor Edwards
The Zen of Picking up Dog Poo
Yes, you read that post title right. And no, this isn’t an Onion article. I love dogs. I mean, LOVE them. A guy’s lack of interest in canine parenting was the potential deal-breaker in any relationship. “You don’t see a dog in your future? Then we have no future. Buh-bye.” But with dogs comes responsibility for their care and feeding. They need vet visits. Grooming. … Continue reading The Zen of Picking up Dog Poo
Side by Side… with Sondheim
Our last post about Broadway triggered this trip down memory lane for me… In the nineteen-eighties as I was transitioning from performer to playwright, my friend Jenna who worked at The Dramatists Guild helped me get a job as the assistant to the assistant to the Executive Director (no joke, that was my title). The DG is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists … Continue reading Side by Side… with Sondheim
The dad with the gun.
When I was ten, we moved from Queens, NY, to Scarsdale, NY, as those of you who read my post, My Parents Almost Bought the Gatsby House, may remember. Our street in Queens was familial. Everyone knew each other. Parent socialized, kids played on the street, and ran in and out of each other’s houses. Scarsdale was the polar opposite. The streets were quiet and … Continue reading The dad with the gun.
Malice Bound! Or Unbound???
On Thursday, I take off for the Malice Domestic mystery convention. Four years ago, I didn’t know what the h-e-double hockey sticks Malice was. This year, I’m a nominee and a mentor – along with author Susan Van Kirk – to some poor, unsuspecting author. (Hi, Mary Feliz!) As my mother would say, “Go figure.” Now that I’ve discovered mystery conventions, I’ve been traveling so … Continue reading Malice Bound! Or Unbound???
My parents almost bought “The Gatsby House”
(gratis image courtesy of Pixabay) When I was nine, my parents decided to move from the NYC boroughs to the ‘burbs for a better school system. This is a migration as common to New York as the wildebeast migration is to the plains of East Africa. The search began in a Long Island suburb called Great Neck, which was next to our Queens community, Little … Continue reading My parents almost bought “The Gatsby House”
Mardi Gras Memories
I went to school in New Orleans for a couple of reasons. One, I was a huge Tennessee Williams fan. And two, well… it was New Orleans. Beautiful, atmospheric, a culture unto itself. And a big part of that culture revolves around Mardi Gras. My first Mardi Gras was memorable mostly because a guy friend from SUNY Binghamton, which I’d left only a month before, … Continue reading Mardi Gras Memories
Chicks on the Case 