Cynthia Kuhn, Ellen Byron, Guest Post, Leslie Karst

Who Are the Lefty Award Nominees’ Most Humorous Characters?

Today, we welcome the five finalists for this year’s Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery (three of whom just happen to be Chicks on the Case). Congrats to all! The winner won’t be announced until the Left Coast Crime banquet on March 14th, but in the meantime we thought it would be “humorous” to find out from the nominees which of their characters from their … Continue reading Who Are the Lefty Award Nominees’ Most Humorous Characters?

Chicks on the CaseJanuary 31, 2020February 3, 202047 Comments

Leslie Karst

Flesh and Bones

Given today’s title, I’d forgive you if you thought this post was going to be about murder and mayhem in the mystery novel. But no, it’s about the writing of mysteries. Those flesh and bones, you see, are a metaphor. A host of ingredients are required to make up compelling novel (slipped in another metaphor—and a cooking one this time!): among them, plot and subplot, … Continue reading Flesh and Bones

Leslie KarstJanuary 13, 2020July 27, 202018 Comments

Leslie Karst

The Different Sounds of You

Last week, I received the good news that the audiobook for my most recent Sally Solari mystery, Murder from Scratch, had finally been completed and was now ready for purchase on Audible. Yippee! (You can find it here.) The previous three books in the series will also soon be made into audiobooks but, because of its subject matter, I’m delighted that the company chose to … Continue reading The Different Sounds of You

Leslie KarstDecember 9, 2019July 27, 202032 Comments

Leslie Karst

Carving Out Your Words

It’s a well-accepted tenet of fiction writing that you should get through your first draft quickly, not stopping to edit yourself, before you go back and start on the revisions. Otherwise, the reasoning goes, you’ll become mired in the details and lose track of the overall story. Well, I guess I must be a rebel, because that’s just not the way I fly. After coming … Continue reading Carving Out Your Words

Leslie KarstNovember 4, 2019August 1, 202021 Comments

Leslie Karst

Nothing Better Than Butter!

Given my adoration of all things culinary (which sentiment is shared by my restaurateur protagonist, Sally Solari), I thought it was high time for another food-related post on the Chicks. So here’s a little love letter to butter: I’ve been in love with butter from as far back as I can remember. When I was a kid, my mom used to leave a stick of … Continue reading Nothing Better Than Butter!

Leslie KarstSeptember 30, 2019January 24, 202022 Comments

Leslie Karst

Cheers, Leslie!

Join the Chicks in wishing the most fabulous of birthdays to fab Chick and talented author, Leslie Karst! Continue reading Cheers, Leslie!

Chicks on the CaseSeptember 21, 2019July 27, 202016 Comments

Leslie Karst

Learning, Working, Resting

Bob Dylan famously proclaimed to the world that “he not busy being born is busy dying,” thereby dividing life into two segments: the period when we consistently make the most of our life and move forward, after which we merely exist and begin marching towards our grave. But now that I’m in my sixties, and thus entering the last third of my existence, I’ve been … Continue reading Learning, Working, Resting

Leslie KarstAugust 26, 2019January 24, 202021 Comments

Leslie Karst

Music in my Blood

Those of you who’ve read any of my Sally Solari mysteries know that, in addition to food and cooking, there’s a fair amount of music in the books: from Mozart and Puccini to Ella Fitzgerald and the Beatles. Music has been a part of my life since childhood, when I first started playing the clarinet in my elementary school band. I studied clarinet through college, … Continue reading Music in my Blood

Leslie KarstJuly 22, 2019July 27, 202030 Comments

Leslie Karst

California Crime Writers and a Long-Awaited Meeting

A little over a week ago, I had the pleasure of attending and participating in the bi-annual California Crime Writers Conference in Culver City, Los Angeles. Culver City is soaked in movie-making history, with its MGM lot dating back to 1924 and Sony Pictures taking up multiple acres of the now uber-trendy city. So it was appropriate that this year’s CCWC highlighted movie and television … Continue reading California Crime Writers and a Long-Awaited Meeting

Leslie KarstJune 17, 2019January 24, 202017 Comments

Leslie Karst

Cycle-logical Health

I have no problem with people knowing how old I am (62). I’m actually quite content being a woman of “a certain age,” as the French like to say. After all, the longer you’ve lived, the more you’ve experienced and learned in life. As a result, us older folks tend to see things in more nuanced shades of gray, rather than as simply black or … Continue reading Cycle-logical Health

Leslie KarstMay 13, 2019January 24, 202030 Comments

Leslie Karst

Murder from Scratch, and My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Tomorrow, April 9th, marks the official release of the fourth book in my Sally Solari series, Murder from Scratch. Yes, you could say I’m pretty darned excited. But it’s been a tough few days leading up to this point. Last Thursday, I awoke to learn that my 89-year-old father, Kenneth L. Karst, was being assigned hospice care. The news didn’t come as much of surprise, … Continue reading Murder from Scratch, and My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Leslie KarstApril 8, 2019June 11, 202036 Comments

Leslie Karst

Conflicted About Conflict

One of the notes I got from my editor after turning in the manuscript for my very first Sally Solari mystery, Dying for a Taste, was this (paraphrased): “I want to know what Sally feels about the conflicts she’s facing. You need to show us more of the emotions she’s experiencing, especially with regard to her father and her ex-boyfriend, Eric.” Right. More emotions; bring … Continue reading Conflicted About Conflict

Leslie KarstMarch 4, 2019August 1, 202029 Comments