So I wrote this post for Chicks a couple of years ago. But it seems wildly appropriate for our current times, so I thought I’d bring ol’ Murphy back for a spin. He’s hard to get rid of, as it turns out. Don’t say I didn’t warn you… Continue reading When Write Goes Wrong: Blame Murphy
My law professor father used to like to say, “There are only two times I’m miserable—when I’m writing and when I’m not writing.” And I have to agree. Because when you’re in the middle of a book, you’re nervous about getting it right and angsting that you should be working on it whenever you’re not. But when you’re not in the middle of a book, … Continue reading Starting From Scratch
All the fiction I’ve written to date—unpublished things, as well as my Sally Solari novels—has been in the first person. However, when I started book one in my mystery series, Dying for a Taste, I actually did so in the third person. There was no particular reason for this choice, other than the fact that most novels seemed to be written that way. But about … Continue reading Which Person is Which?
A couple of years ago, I was in a doctor’s office waiting room doing what I usually do: reading the true crime section of People, perusing Us Weekly to see if stars really are just like me, and considering what height I should claim to be. I was taking a reading pit-stop, thumbing through a piece about the royal family, when I heard the nurse … Continue reading Where the Armenians Are
Kathleen here, and I’m so pleased and honored to welcome Gabriel Valjan today. Gabriel is not only a wonderful, Agatha (and other!) award-nominated author, but also one of the biggest champions of the writing and reading community, continually promoting, encouraging, and cheering on his crime fiction brethren. But enough fan-girling from me. Let’s get into what Gabriel has to say about comedy and crime. Crimes … Continue reading Comedy is Crime Plus A Cat
Kathleen here, and I’m SO thrilled to welcome the talented, award-nominated and all-around amazing author of the Maeve Malloy Mystery series, Keenan Powell. Take it away, Keenan! Day Trip to Seward: Trains and Whales Before I started writing Hell and High Water, I had a clear picture of the first scene. Maeve’s fed up with law, so she decides to take a summer job in … Continue reading Guest Chick: Keenan Powell
Lisa here, with my annual St. Patrick’s Day post–because ’tis all life as usual, right? I had planned to fly straight from Left Coast Crime in San Diego to celebrate with my sister in Florida, where she is renting a house near the beach for a month. Things didn’t quite turn out, though, so here I am, lifting a cold mug of badly-brewed coffee to you from a very sober New England. We could all use a little levity right now, so here’s to you and here’s to me– let’s get the party started! Continue reading Cheers, It’s Virtual Almost-St.-Paddy’s-Day!
Yep, it’s cold, brutal, boring February. But there is one bright spot, in addition to watching Groundhog Day on endless loop: It’s International Typewriter Appreciation Month! Maybe you already know that, because I first wrote this post many Typewriter Months ago. But because I owe a lot to typewriters–in fact, I might not even be here on this earth without one–I thought I’d share it again.
Authors often get asked how much research we have to do for each book. So, I thought I’d share a peek into a bit of the research for MY FAIR LATTE, which comes out March 3 – one month from today. (Think *pre-orders*!) Halley Greer, my unemployed barista protagonist, unexpectedly inherits a timeworn movie theater, which after some renovations, she reopens with a coffee/wine bar … Continue reading Research, or suffering for my art
Whether you’ve already seen Greta Gerwig’s new Little Women movie, or you’re still planning to, I promise: No real spoilers here. Of course, the book has been out for about a century and a half, there have been multiple previous film versions, and if you weren’t exposed to the general storyline through those, you probably saw the Friends episode where Rachel spills the beans about one sister’s fate to a devastated Joey. Continue reading Chasing Amy March
For most people, the holidays call to mind shining lights, steaming mugs of cocoa, gingerbread humanoids, and feasts that call for elastic waistbands. For me, they conjure up the memory of my friend sailing out of our second-story window. Let me explain. A few days after Thanksgiving, my mom left 12-ish-year-old me and my best friend alone for a couple of hours. She instructed us … Continue reading The Power of Imagination
Leslie Karst here. I’m pleased to welcome today Nancy Lynn Jarvis, one of my fellow members of Santa Cruz Women of Mystery, whose new book, The Glass House, has just been released. And I’m also tickled that, back in my days as a research and appellate attorney, while spending long days researching cases at the county law library, I too became friends with the fabulous … Continue reading Guest Chick Nancy Lynn Jarvis: Sometimes Characters Surprise Their Creators
