By Kay Kendall Never before have I imagined I shared anything with Stephen King. STEPHEN KING He is very famous. I am not. His mind spins out inventive books in record time. I am a slow writer. King has published 54 novels and nearly 200 short stories. Kendall has published two novels and one short story. […]
By Kay Kendall I know, I know. You may be asking yourself right now…”What in heck is a Bouchercon?” When I was new to the mystery-writing scene, I asked myself that too. Now I know it’s the world’s largest mystery fan-and-writers conference, held yearly in different cities, and offering one fattening feast for the mystery-lover’s soul! Actually […]
By Kay Kendall When USA Today bestselling author Lois Winston invited me to participate in her new cookbook adventure, I jumped at the chance. After all, the title captured my feelings exactly—WE’D RATHER BE WRITING, subtitled 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips. You can pre-order the eBook for 99 cents and receive […]
By Kay Kendall Donna Leon is the author of 24 books in her mysteries series set in Venice, Italy. They feature an Italian policeman, Commissario Guido Brunetti , as he maneuvers among governmental corruption on all sides and tries to bring justice to a land where few people expect it. Although Leon is American by […]
By Kay Kendall Jacqueline Winspear is a marvelous author whose books have been inspiring me for more than a decade. Most of the stories in her Maisie Dobbs mystery series are set in England, and the series begins after the War to End All Wars, which is alas now called World War One. The eleventh […]
By Kay Kendall This is the second of two installments about reading. Previously I described how much I enjoy reading and tried to figure out how that came to pass. I am guessing most of you also feel reading is enjoyable. For many people, however, reading is not a pleasurable pastime. Reading is similar to […]
By Kay Kendall I can’t recall a time when I didn’t love to lose myself in books. Reading is so much a part of me that I take it for granted—like breathing, sleeping, eating. If you take something for granted, then you usually never stop to question why you are doing that activity. Certainly that […]
By Kay Kendall Many differences make ThrillerFest stand out from other conferences that are offered to crime authors. This annual conference of International Thriller Writers is held at the same time every year and in the same hotel. It begins right after Independence Day at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City and includes […]
By Kay Kendall Today I’m sitting in for Stiletto Gang colleague and friend, Marjorie Brody. A sudden death in her family has left her with an unbearable list of things to do. Pinch-hitting for Marjorie gives me the chance to make back-to-back posts exploring the burgeoning phenomenon of conferences designed both for readers and for […]
By Kay Kendall Author Kay Kendall and bunny Dusty When I conceived of my mystery series featuring Austin Starr, amateur sleuth, I knew she would become a mother by book two. My heroine would have the temperament of Nancy Drew, if only she had grown up, gotten married, and—wait for it—had a baby. And so […]