I’ll Take ‘What’s Annoying Becky’ for 500, Alex

I’m normally a very sunny person. No wild mood swings. Ridiculously optimistic. Annoyingly chipper very early in the morning. Able to see humor in everything, mostly myself. But like any sapling nibbled by beavers, sometimes I just have to yell, “Dam!” So, forget politics, genocide, racism, misogyny and all the rest. Let’s talk about important stuff … the things that are currently annoying me. The … Continue reading I’ll Take ‘What’s Annoying Becky’ for 500, Alex

BeckyJune 21, 2019January 24, 202040 Comments

Guest Post

Guest Chick: Edith Maxwell

We’re so happy to welcome back Edith Maxwell, she of the numerous award nominations and books too numerous to count. Read on for a fun post about her latest entertaining Country Store Mystery… Robbie Jordan: A Chick on the Case Recently, there was a discussion on an author list about the term “chick.” When I was thirty, I would have been offended at a man … Continue reading Guest Chick: Edith Maxwell

Chicks on the CaseJune 19, 2019July 29, 202024 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

Guest Post

Guest Chick: Jodi Rath

We’re so happy to host Jodi Rath, author of the Cast Iron Skillet Mysteries, for the first time. And she’s sharing a tasty recipe… Spicy Plots and Twists Book one of The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series was a bit sweet. How could it not be with a title like Pineapple Upside Down Murder! For book two, coming June 21, 2019, I wanted to spice … Continue reading Guest Chick: Jodi Rath

Chicks on the CaseJune 14, 2019July 22, 202336 Comments

Giveaway, Guest Post

Guest Chick: Elizabeth Wilkerson

We are thrilled to welcome Elizabeth Wilkerson, author of Tokyo Firewall–and she’s offering a wonderful giveaway! Read on for more… Poisoning my dinner party guests wasn’t my intention… I moved to Tokyo in the late ‘80s to study butoh dance. I didn’t speak Japanese, but I figured I could learn the language by osmosis just by being in the flow of everyday life. I was … Continue reading Guest Chick: Elizabeth Wilkerson

Chicks on the CaseJune 12, 2019June 9, 202148 Comments

Ellen Byron

Thoughts from a Second Class Citizen

Recent news in the mystery community has sparked a conversation about male authors using female pseudonyms for books specifically targeting women readers. While pseudonyms have been around for years – I’ll be using one myself on my next series – using them to lure a specific gender of reader is a textbook case of false advertising. Worse, though, is the message it sends… Women aren’t … Continue reading Thoughts from a Second Class Citizen

Ellen ByronJune 10, 2019August 1, 202040 Comments

Guest Post

Chicks Check in with Virtual Assistant Marie McNary

Pretty much all of us know Marie McNary re: the terrific Facebook parties she plans and throws for mystery authors. But did you know she’s also a virtual assistant? If you’ve ever wondered what exactly a virtual assistant does, read on… Marie’s desk What is a virtual assistant? A virtual assistant is a person who provides support services and performs tasks from a remote location. … Continue reading Chicks Check in with Virtual Assistant Marie McNary

Chicks on the CaseJune 7, 2019June 9, 202134 Comments

Guest Post

Guest Chick Katherine Bolger Hyde: Whither the Weather?

Today the Chicks are pleased to welcome Katherine Bolger Hyde, whose newest book in the Crime with the Classics series, Cynanide with Christie, was just released. Katherine is a member of the Santa Cruz Women of Mystery, along with Chick Leslie Karst—who wholeheartedly agrees that it’s about time for summer to finally come to Northern California. The weather has been odd this spring in my … Continue reading Guest Chick Katherine Bolger Hyde: Whither the Weather?

Chicks on the CaseJune 5, 2019July 29, 202031 Comments

Vickie Fee

So, what’s it like to be a mystery writer?

(The answer to that question today is: stressful! Vickie’s on deadline with the manuscript for My Fair Latté, the first book in her new Café Cinema series, due tomorrow! So, here’s one of her posts from the Chicks’ archives we believe is worth a repeat.) I get asked this question and related questions —Why did you become a mystery writer? How did you end up being … Continue reading So, what’s it like to be a mystery writer?

Vickie FeeJune 3, 2019July 31, 202024 Comments

Becky Clark

The World is a Book

My husband and I just returned from an excellent Danube River cruise. (This is a picture of us when we saw our free minibar in Amsterdam, stocked with beer and wine, perhaps some other stuff, too.) We started out with a few days in Budapest, then sailed to Vienna, Durnstein, Passau, Regensburg, and Nuremberg, where we disembarked and headed to Prague for a few days. … Continue reading The World is a Book

BeckyMay 31, 2019July 27, 202039 Comments

Guest Post

Guest Chick: Mollie Cox Bryan

We are delighted to welcome back our friend Mollie Cox Bryan, whose new book, The Jean Harlow Bombshell, is out this month. We Chicks can’t wait to read it, especially since Mollie told us an incredible story about her connection to Jean the last time she was here. Welcome back and congratulations on the book, Mollie! Chances are, if you’ve heard of the movie star … Continue reading Guest Chick: Mollie Cox Bryan

Chicks on the CaseMay 29, 2019January 24, 202036 Comments

Ellen Byron

Pie not?

My Cajun Country Mystery series contains recipes, but I’ll be honest. Sometimes coming up with them, whether as originals or adaptations, is the hardest part of writing the books. Still, when KCRW, our local public radio station, announced their tenth annual Good Food Pie Contest, hosted by Good Food‘s Evan Kleiman, I decided to be adventurous and enter a recipe I’d created that I like … Continue reading Pie not?

Ellen ByronMay 27, 2019August 1, 202046 Comments