A wonderful start to the New Year…

It takes some effort to drag oneself out of bed on the first workday of the new year. But an e-blast from Left Coast Crime made it much easier for a few of our Chicks. Congratulations to Ellen and Jen for Lefty nominations in the category of Best Humorous Mystery and Leslie for a Best Mystery Novel nomination! And congratulations to all the nominees… For … Continue reading A wonderful start to the New Year…

Guest Chick: Michelle Chouinard

Marla here. I’m thrilled to welcome Michelle Chouinard to the blog today as she celebrates the release of book two in The Serial-Killer Guide to San Francisco series, starring Capri Sanzio, the fictional founder and co-owner of SF Killer Crime Tours. I recently caught up with Michelle at Bouchercon in New Orleans, and, yes, we took a ghost tour together! Hello, my name is Michelle, and … Continue reading Guest Chick: Michelle Chouinard

Behind the Book: Ill-Fated Fortune

Welcome to “Behind the Book,” our fun new Chicks on the Case feature! Join us as we Chicks share the real stories behind our stories: Inspiration, motivation, frustration, jubilation– research, rewrites, tidbits– you’ll find them all right here…  I visited a fortune cookie factory for book research. With a new series called Magical Fortune Cookie novels, I had to. Yeah, it’s a tough job, but someone’s … Continue reading Behind the Book: Ill-Fated Fortune

Kill your darlings? Yikes!

Authors always love it when readers tell us how realistic they find our characters to be. But at the same time, we’re well aware that they are, in fact, fictional. Or are we? Something that happened a while back makes me wonder about that. A mere two-dimensional figure My sister, Laura, and I were at the beach in Santa Cruz, California—the same beach featured in … Continue reading Kill your darlings? Yikes!