Guest Chick: Denise Swanson

Jennifer here, offering a warm welcome to Denise Swanson! She’s here to share about the fascinating hunt for great names. Thanks, Denise! The Name Game I’ve always been fascinated with names. Maybe because I always hated my first name. Granted, Denise is better than the one my parents first considered—Ernestina after my father. But I would have much preferred a more elegant name like Kathryn … Continue reading Guest Chick: Denise Swanson

Guest Chick: Cherie Claire

Ellen here, and I’m thrilled to welcome my friend Cherie Claire to the Chicks for the first time. Cherie, who also writes as Chere Coen, has become a good friend through our mutual Louisiana appearances and fascination with the state. (She gets to live there; I only get to visit.) Today, she shares some wonderful words of writing wisdom. A Few Words on Writing I … Continue reading Guest Chick: Cherie Claire

Three Hauntings

Please welcome special guests Cindy Brown and Alexia Gordon! Last year, unbeknownst to us at the time, all three of us were writing books set in theaters. Not just theaters but specifically opera houses. And not just opera houses but haunted opera houses. We must have been plugged into the same cosmic channel while we were drafting…or perhaps the spirits had a little something to … Continue reading Three Hauntings

Magnolia Marie Doucet, Vampire Slayer?

On a recent trip to Louisiana, I toured several plantations and saw some fascinating nineteenth century artifacts. There was a flycatcher that lured flies with a mixture of sugar and arsenic. (Why-oh-why didn’t I know about this before I used arsenic as a murder weapon in my debut mystery, Plantation Shudders?) A parlor in Houmas House featured extraordinary tapestries that took Ursuline nun novitiates years … Continue reading Magnolia Marie Doucet, Vampire Slayer?