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
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
Lisa is still (yes, still) in book jail, but she’s going to be sprung very soon (and she means it this time!). Hope you’ll enjoy this encore presentation on one of her favorite subjects: Nancy Drew. Nancy, of course, always finishes her assignments ahead of time. But someone else might be just a teensy bit slower… I’m no expert on Nancy Drew—but in the early 90s, it was (literally) … Continue reading Bess Marvin Lives! (Again.)
Whenever anyone called me “young lady” as a kid, I knew I was in trouble. Mostly for not acting like a lady—whatever that meant. From what I understood, ladies smiled a lot and never interrupted. They wore pearls and perfume and little black dresses. They kept their legs crossed at the ankles and ate a lot of salad. It also helped if they were dead ringers … Continue reading How NOT to Get Away with Murder: 8 Perfect Ladies You Don’t Want to Mess With
Dear Mom and Dad, How are you? I am okay but I want to go home. Can you please come get me soon? Every time I ask you keep telling me that writing camp will be good for me. But you are wrong. I would rather be doing something more fun like reading or cleaning my room. This will be a short letter, because it’s … Continue reading This Summer, at Writing Camp: A Letter Home from NaNoWriMo
Everyone loves book club, right? Sharing your favorite titles with friends, great refreshments, and woohoo, a night out! Sometimes, though, things can go awry. My co-sleuths Summer and Dorothy found that out the hard way when they started their own book club to catch a librarian’s murderer on their second case, Permanently Booked. Here are a few potentially sticky book club “situations”—and a little advice—from the Ladies Smythe … Continue reading There’s No Crying in Book Club
Ask any mystery author what books she read as a kid, and there’s a 99.79 percent chance she’ll answer, Nancy Drew. But after everyone else grew up, I was still hanging out—every day—with the intrepid girl detective and her chums. It was my job, because I was a Nancy Drew book editor. Nancy was the perfect crime solver. Maybe a bit too perfect: uber-intelligent, brave, … Continue reading Partners in Crime Solving
I promised my fellow Chicks a recap of my first “live” author promo event on Saturday, and since it’s my turn to blog, I thought I’d share my experience with everyone. Maybe it will be helpful to some newbie authors out there, especially those with e-book series. If not, well, there is a cute animal pic at the end. This was the eighteenth New Hampshire … Continue reading Adventures in Promo Land – Part 1
Gentle readers, this post may be a bit short, and bittersweet. But I promise there will be something warm and fuzzy at the end. A little more than a week ago, my husband and I were cozily binge-watching Longmire on the couch with our Golden Retriever, basking in the glow of a recent holiday season spent with friends and family. My latest manuscript was safely … Continue reading Going to the Mattresses
November has been a big month for me. My first book CARDIAC ARREST was published and—miracle of miracles—Book Two is safely in my editor’s hands. So now I’ve turned my attention to a few things I may have neglected for a while. Like my closet. But before we get to that (I’d rather not), I should tell you that I am, by nature, a Pantser. We’re … Continue reading Confessions of a (Closet) Pantser
I’ve always secretly shared in that special thrill when a new author officially starts her countdown-to-publication clock. She may not know me, or think anyone’s noticed other than a few Facebook “Likes,” but I’m rooting for her and her first book baby all the way. Yep, I watch those ticking clocks on blogs and websites and Twitter more closely than Jack Bauer and Chloe O’Brian. … Continue reading Notes From the Panic Room: Debut. Author. Battles. Clock.
Chicks on the Case 