How was your 4th of July? I’m not much of a fan, to tell you the truth. As a kid, I was riddled with anxiety watching my dad light fireworks in the backyard. One time, as part of the arsenal, he bought some of those pinwheels that shoot out sparks as they twirl around. Yep. Nailed ‘em to the wooden fence. Yep. Caught on fire. … Continue reading My Summer Vacation Essay
The Chicks are thrilled to have Valerie Burns (aka VM Burns aka Kallie E. Benjamin) visiting us today! Valerie writes multiple wonderful series, so she has to come up with many interesting things to write about. If you’ve ever wondered how authors manage to generate plotworthy ideas, here is your answer! Where do Authors Get their Ideas? I’m often asked where I get ideas for … Continue reading Guest Chick: Valerie Burns
My husband and I will likely drag our camp chairs down the side of our block and stake out a spot to watch Marquette’s annual July 4th parade. I love a parade as much as the next guy. I especially love marching bands. It’s hard not to admire someone playing an instrument that weighs as much as a tuba. This year the city of Marquette is … Continue reading A 25 buck memory is priceless
I was meeting a fellow writer friend for lunch, someone I’d only previously interacted with online. When she showed up, she said, “You look exactly like your author photo!,” and she meant it as a compliment. This led me to wonder: How accurate should author photos be? I mean, I have friends who hate having their pictures taken. I know people who opt for … Continue reading Authentic Author Photos
The Chicks can bearly stand the flood of excitement that Linda Norlander is visiting today. Not only is she sharing some cautionary tails, she’s also giving away one of her ebooks to a lucky commenter! Floods and Bears and Other Lessons When it’s New Year’s Eve, you’ve worked all day and have guests coming for dinner, it’s never good to be greeted at the door … Continue reading Guest Chick: Linda Norlander and a Giveaway
Through the years since my first mystery was published in 2015, I’ve developed a finely honed approach to marketing my books, something we are all tasked with these days. Let me bullet-point my approach for you: Yup. That’s it. One poor, lonely bullet point. Like all authors, I’ve blogged, guested on podcasts, and done in-person and virtual appearances at bookstores. My overall goal is to … Continue reading The “Throw Spaghetti at the Wall and Hope Something Sticks” Approach to Marketing
As mystery readers and writers, our minds often turn to things that go bump in the night. However, I’d like to talk about a terror much more immediate and acute: things that creep in the day and night. I’m, of course, talking about spiders. We all have our phobias or the lesser, non-clinical version, phobiettes (yes, I made that up). Conventional wisdom places public speaking … Continue reading The Creeps
We’re delighted to have author pal Thomas A. Burns Jr. visiting with the Chicks today. It’s nice to have a fella on deck, since we have more authors of the female variety that hang out with us on the blog. Tom writes the Natalie McMasters Mystery and also writes stories about one of the most beloved detectives of all time —Sherlock Holmes. Today he will … Continue reading Guest Chick: Tom Burns
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about difficult long-term projects: how much endurance they require, how there are points where the desired outcome seems impossible, and how giving up may actually seem like the logical (and more attractive) option. For example, in my teaching job, it has been necessary to produce scholarship. Here’s how that process has tended to go. Have jolt of awareness that … Continue reading a marathon, not a sprint
My Crossword Puzzle mystery series has a lot of moving parts. It has the crossword puzzles, for one thing. I got my love of crosswords from my dad—and made him so proud when I began doing them in ink. I learned how to construct them before I wrote these books which was as fun as it was maddening. I won’t go into all the rules … Continue reading Behind the Books: Becky’s Crossword Puzzle Mysteries and a Giveaway
Today we Chicks are delighted to welcome back fabulous author Lois Winston and celebrate the lucky-13th title in her Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, SORRY, KNOT SORRY. Join us as she gives the scoop on the origins of some of her most hilarious titles… Continue reading Guest Chick: Lois Winston
“You spend half the year in California and half the year in Hawai‘i? What a perfect life that must be!” Such is the response I tend to get upon people learning of my dual life in Hilo, Hawai‘i and Santa Cruz, California. They’re right and they’re wrong. Yes, it is marvelous getting to live in two such beautiful locations. I’ve been in Santa Cruz since … Continue reading Home Away From Home
Chicks on the Case 