Our Most Embarrassing Online Moments

The internet makes it all too easy to act in haste, whether it’s a careless “Reply all” or a click of a button that wasn’t quite ready to be clicked. (Perhaps it’s even a premature blog post… if you’ve ever gotten an email alert from us, then clicked to find there was nothing there, odds are, that’s exactly what happened!) We’re sharing our most embarrassing online moments—and we want to hear yours, too!
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Before we were writers: our first summer jobs

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. 

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Fashion Police: What Would Our Characters Wear to a Mystery Convention?

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?

Casting Call for Agatha Best First Novel Nominees

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

Random Star Sightings

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!
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Partners in Crime Solving

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

Better Read Than Dead: Our Book Club Stories

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!
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So many author friends, so little time.

A wonderful  benefit of becoming a mystery writer is that you’re exposed to new books in your favorite genre all the time.  You meet so many other authors, talented men and women who write books you really want to read. And so you buy them. And buy them. And buy them. And your TBR pile grows. And grows. And grows. (TBR means Too Be Read. … Continue reading So many author friends, so little time.