I’ve always been an avid reader. I have a small scar on my forehead from where I walked into a tree as a kid while I was deep into a book. When I gave birth to our daughter, I promised myself two things: she would never be a bully and she would always be a reader. These days, the former is easier than the latter, … Continue reading My daughter the reader.
We Chicks are a hardy bunch–but our plant companions, maybe not so much. Read on for our withering tales of horticultural woe…
Continue reading “Writes of Spring: In the Green or Black Death?”
What happens when three (out of four) Chicks meet up for the first time at one of the biggest traditional mystery conventions in the country? Read on for a recap of this year’s Malice Domestic convention!
Continue reading “What Did Happen At Malice Domestic…”
Pulling together outfits is half the fun of going to a mystery convention or conference… at least for us authors. But do our characters feel the same way? Read on to find out! Ellen Byron After much outfit sturm und drang, and some seriously embarrassing choices – ill-fitting jeans and a Tulane Green Wave tee shirt, anyone? – I’ve landed on a theme suggested by … Continue reading Fashion Police: What Would Our Characters Wear to a Mystery Convention?
We invited this year’s nominees for the Agatha Best First Novel award to fantasize about what film or TV stars they’d cast in their mysteries should Hollywood come calling. TESSA ARLEN: Aha, I have already done this exercise with the wonderful Marshal Zeringue over a year ago. It is such a great question. So, for Clementine Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Montfort -my amateur sleuth, who … Continue reading Casting Call for Agatha Best First Novel Nominees
It can be kind of exciting when you meet a celebrity in real life (as long as they don’t give you the old “Do you know who I am?” attitude). But even more fun is when you bump into them in an unexpected place and have a totally random encounter. Today we’re spilling all on our favorite celebrity sightings — and we want to hear about yours in the comments!
Continue reading “Random Star Sightings”
What happens to old books that nobody wants to read anymore? If they’re lucky, they get turned into works of art. Continue reading For the Love of Books
I’m going to keep this short and sweet this week, because my mind is on the task ahead of me: Book Two Revisions. (Dun, dun, DUNNNNN!!!) (That’s a dramatic musical vamp in case my attempted onomatopoeia wasn’t clear.) Continue reading “Writer’s retreat? Yes, please!”
Let’s be honest. We don’t always follow every gem of literary advice we’ve been given, even if we probably should. Today we’re talking about the rule we Chicks break on a regular basis—and we invite you to join the conversation in the comments below!
Continue reading “Which Writing Rules Are Made to be Broken?”
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
Happy Book Birthday to PERMANENTLY BOOKED by our own Lisa Q. Mathews! In Book #2 of The Ladies Smythe & Westin series, odd-couple co-sleuths Summer and Dorothy start a book club to lure the killer of a dedicated librarian. To celebrate its release, we’re sharing our own book club experiences, which thankfully don’t involve murder!
Continue reading “Better Read Than Dead: Our Book Club Stories”
Weddings: Love ’em or hate ’em, they often make for a good story—especially when things go wrong! To celebrate Marla Cooper’s entertaining debut mystery, Terror in Taffeta (in which things go really, really wrong) we’re sharing a few of our favorite real-life “I do’s.”
Chicks on the Case 