It’s been hard to watch the news lately, so when I was thinking about what I wanted to write about this week, I decided I wanted to tell a story with a happy ending.
Last year, my dad passed away. (Don’t worry, despite the way it starts, this is a happy story!) He was 89 years old, and he lived on a ranch in Oklahoma. Part of his daily routine entailed taking care of a whole slew of dogs and cats, as well as eight horses.
We Chicks always write books. But when we don’t, we choose all kinds of other ways to channel those artful passions. Are they the most interesting creative outlets in the world? Well, you be the judge–but they work for us!
Continue reading “Creatively Speaking: Playtime for Writers”
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
We’re in full celebration mode. Our very own Chick Kellye announced this week that her Pay Day series will be published by Midnight Ink starting next year! To honor the occasion, the Chicks are offering her advice from their own experiences publishing their first novels! But first, a word from Kellye…
Continue reading “Kellye has a book deal! The Chicks offer advice.”
Summer’s officially here, and students everywhere are out getting their feet wet in the job pool, earning valuable job experience—or at least a few good stories they can tell their grandkids one day. This week at Chicks on the Case, we’re reminiscing about our early employment, from first jobs to summer internships.
Continue reading “Before we were writers: our first summer jobs”
Yesterday was Father’s Day, which got me to thinking about my stepdad, Jim. We got stuck with each other when I was in eighth grade, and I often tell people how grateful I am that he didn’t smother me with a pillow. (I mean, come on, you were all eighth graders once; you know what I’m talking about here.) Not only did he not smother … Continue reading An Author’s Father Comes Around—Eventually
I was getting ready for work this morning when I got a telephone call. In a hurry, I didn’t check Caller ID. Here’s the conversation: Me: Hello? Woman on the other end: Ellen?(Tinkly laugh) Hi, wow, you’re harder to reach than the last cookie in the cookie jar. Me: (Confused) Who is this? Woman: Oh, it’s Jenny and I’m calling from the – Me: CLICK! … Continue reading A Telemarketer Gave Me a Character
So what if our sleuths went off on vacay (hey, even fictional detectives deserve a break every now and then) and left another character in charge of their cases? It’s Freaky Friday at Chicks on the Case–read on to find out who’s saying, “I’m the crime solver now!”
Continue reading “The Protagonist Trap: Our Sleuths Trade Places”
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
We’ve already shared our not-so-checkered pasts when it comes to the history of our own names. For this go-round, we decided to share how we came up with the perfect names for our beloved characters. Hint: It’s sometimes more complicated than just picking a name out of a hat.
Continue reading “The Name Game”
There’s a lot going on in Chick Land right about now, so we’re taking the week off. But rather than just skip one of our beloved Friday group posts, we thought we’d go deep into the vaults and offer up one of our favorite early posts, from around our second week of blogging when we had approximately four readers. We hope you enjoy this Special Edition Rerun!
Chicks on the Case 