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
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.
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
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
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
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.
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???
(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”
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
Kathleen Costa is the lucky winner of Leslie Karst’s terrific new mystery, A Measure of Murder, the second in her Sally Solari Mystery series. Congratulations, Kathleen! Email your contact information to ellenbyronla(at)outlook(dot)com. Thanks to everyone who commented on Leslie’s post. And thanks to Leslie for sharing a fun story and delicious recipe! Continue reading And the winner is…
As I scrolled through celebratory messages on my birthday, I noticed an email forwarded from my website. Usually people getting in touch this way are readers letting me know they enjoyed my books or asking for travel advice on an upcoming Cajun Country vacation. Figuring this email fit into one of those two categories, I opened it. The reader – I’ll call her Betsy – … Continue reading I Hated Your Book.
(gratis image courtesy of Pixabay) One thing I’ve learned in L.A. is that certain cars reflect and even possess certain personalities. I can pretty much count on BMWs to zoom in and out of freeway lanes like a soccer forward moving down the field. Pickup trucks seem to revel in exceeding the speed limit and bullying people out of their way by tailgating. (Hence my … Continue reading My Love Affair with a Vintage Car
Chicks on the Case 