So what happens when a mystery author (me) attends an Agatha Christie-style dinner in an actual mansion? Does she solve the crime and command everyone to gather in the drawing room for the astonishing reveal? Let’s just say I may never get a shot at that guest star role on Murder, She Wrote… Continue reading Whoddunit? No Clue.
T.S. Eliot was wrong. April isn’t the cruelest month. It’s November, and for good reason: Everyone is so crazy busy. For me, it brings the Crime Bake writers conference, last call for NH real estate before the snows, multiple sets of house guests, two Thanksgivings, and…my annual attempt to jam out 50,000 words on a brand new manuscript for NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month). Continue reading National Novel Writing Month: We Switched to Sprint
This past week hasn’t been the greatest. I somehow came down with a miserable cold, just when I had Very Important Things to Do. I’ll admit, I am not ordinarily the most patient of patients, and I usually try to power through my regularly-scheduled programming, but this time all efforts were futile. Continue reading You’ve Got Kleenex
Newsflash! There’s an extra-special bond between writers and their pets. But maybe you knew that already. Just click on practically any author’s Facebook page, and there’s a good-to-excellent chance you’ll see plenty of pics featuring their loyal keyboard companions. Continue reading Farley and Me: A Writer and her Anti-Muse
Okay, so maybe my first couple of days at writer’s boot camp–cleverly disguised as an idyllic online summer camp, with cabins and marshmallows and a lake–didn’t start off with a bang. But it wasn’t exactly a whimper, either. Continue reading Off With a Bang: Camp NaNoWriMo 2017
This past week brought two semi-miracles for me: I handed in final edits on my latest manuscript and submitted my first short story (well, second, actually, but we won’t count that one). And then I found myself faced with an unusual dilemma: What to Write Next? Continue reading Crossroads
Okay, mystery fans, raise your hands if you’ve seen that meme of a hot beverage mug that says, “Please do not annoy the writer. She may put you in a book and kill you.” Yep, that’s just about all of you. And you thought the quote was clever and adorable, right? Of course you did. Maybe you bought the very same mug for a favorite writer … Continue reading Big Little Writer Lies–and Truths
Of all us Chicks, I seem to be the one who’s always under the wire, holding on for dear life by one claw. Sure, I do plenty of chirping, but it takes a while sometimes for me to work up to the flying part. And of course that includes the business of writing a manuscript, typing “The End,” and sending it winging its way to … Continue reading Hoping for Feathers
By now we’re two weeks into the New Year. The balloons have deflated and the party hats and horns and champagne glasses are packed up or recycled. Every other writer I know is officially back to work, committed to ambitious daily word counts. But me? I have to wait until January 28th, the dawn of the Chinese New Year. Here’s why. Long before the popular call to abolish 2016, it … Continue reading Writer vs. Muse: A Twisted Tail
If you’re reading this post on actual Black Friday, you’re probably already done with that holiday shopping. Maybe in more ways than one. Here’s what the Chicks are up to today…
Continue reading “Black Friday? Bah Humbug!”
New England Crime Bake, the small but mighty writers conference held each year around the second week in November, is now in the books for 2016, and I’m feeling a little sad. Author Dale T. Phillips posted that the Bake is “like Brigadoon—this magical kingdom that appears for a short time, changes lives, then melts into the mists of time.” He’s so right. I’ve attended … Continue reading Secrets of Crime Bake
Sick of negative election vibes? Dragging yourself to the polls like Charlie Brown to the pitcher’s mound? Cheer up, the Chicks have some fun write-in propositions for you!
Continue reading “Vote YES on Proposition GR8!”
Chicks on the Case 