by Douglas Corleone If you’ve seen the new Hawaii Five-0 on CBS, you know that Hawaii, for all its beauty, can still make an effective setting for a gritty crime series. In fact, the contrast of horrible happenings in paradise inevitably adds another dimension to the stories. Readers often experience an enhanced sense of dread […]
I had the pleasure of spending the weekend in Bethesda, Maryland, at the Malice Domestic convention this past weekend, where authors and fans alike gather to talk books, meet each other, and yes, down a glass of wine or two. It was fantastic. I got to meet and see people who I have only known […]
Like many mystery authors I often attribute my love of mysteries to Nancy Drew, but thinking back it was really something else. Back in my childhood we didn’t have a TV until I was in junior high. Our entertainment came from the radio. We had our big standing radio in the living room, and my […]
I got up at 4:30 in the morning, which isn’t all that much earlier than I usually arise, went downstairs to avoid waking my husband who had made it very, very clear that he didn’t care if it were his own daughter who was getting married, he wasn’t watching it at “that” hour. I clicked […]
by Maria Geraci There is one thing above all others that makes a writer’s work stand out. It’s not great grammar, or great story structure, or even a unique story line (because let’s face it, pretty much every story has been done before in some form or another). What makes a writer stand out is voice. Voice is what makes […]
There came a time, around my junior year of college, when I realized I had enough credits to qualify as a French minor to go along with my English major. There also came a time, when I realized I really, really liked this guy in my French pronunciation class, that if I continued to take […]
Yep, that’s what I’m doing here. When I read some of your posts I know I’m truly over the hill. Oh, don’t get me wrong, some of the blog posts are truly heart-rending when you talk about your bouts with life-threatening diseases. I can remember what it was like when you talk about challenges you’re […]
I’ve watched with fascination the growth of The Pioneer Woman empire. PW is Ree Drummond, whose website (http://thepioneerwoman.com/) is a smart and sassy mix of delicious recipes, incredible photography, and homespun stories. I like her easy-breezy writing style and have enjoyed her step-by-step instructions to making yummy dishes. Essentially Ree Drummond has parlayed a blog she […]
The winner of the signed copy of MY JANE AUSTEN SUMMER by Cindy Jones is…Susan L.! Congratulations, Susan, and thanks to all who commented and entered. (And thank you, Cindy, for your wonderful guest post and the book give-away!) Susan, you’ll be hearing directly from Cindy via email re. mailing your book. Enjoy!
By Cindy Jones I’m thrilled to be a guest of the Stiletto Gang today. However, now that I find myself in the bosom of mystery writers, I feel the urge to confess a crime. I stole a house. What can I say? I needed a house for my novel. An English Country House to be […]