A writer on one of the loops I follow recently asked how long a chapter in a mystery should be. It was a topic that generated a surprising amount of discussion. Someone cited James Patterson and his two page chapters. Another writer cited PD James, who has long chapters. Still another writer said she wrote […]
Looking for a book? Truth is the back up of e-books on my reader boggles the mind. Thank heavens I bought all those as yet unread books digitally. If they were in print, there would be no room in our house for people. That said, I continue to buy books. Friends’ books. Recommended books. Books […]
Not too long ago, an author friend and I sat down for lunch. He was kind enough to tell me about the book he was working on. A book about war and his heroine’s descent into evil. He finished speaking and looked at me expectantly. I sat in stunned silence. He waited. I stalled with […]
On Friday, my first book, The Deep End, will turn two. There it is toddling around Amazon and Barnes & Noble! Two years ago, I eagerly anticipated being launched to the top of the New York Times list. Hollywood would call. I’d be coy (not really). Two years ago, I knew nothing about publishing. I […]
I admit it. I am the kid who put her homework off till Sunday night. Not much has changed. Here it is Sunday night and I am typing away… The hardest thing about blogs? What to write. So this Sunday I asked for help. Thanks to my wonderful Facebook friends for their input—they had wonderful […]
There are writers who love to blog. I envy them. Deeply. Theirs must be a bottomless well of creativity. Me? I struggle to come up with something even mildly entertaining once a month. This month I have failed. Badly. I got nothing. Still reading? Bless you, because all I can think about is clowns. I […]
Where do your ideas come from? Hands down, the question I’m asked most often. I have a vision of an old School House Rock song. I can’t remember which one…Get your Adverbs Here, maybe. There are shelves stocked with words. Wouldn’t it be lovely if ideas worked the same way? “I’d like a murder, a […]
Love at first sight. It happens. It happened to me. I fell in love with New Orleans almost as soon as the plane landed at Louis Armstrong Airport. I fell in love the moment I spotted someone walking through the terminal with a hurricane. Laissez les bons temps rouler! Then came Jackson Square and Royal […]
I write a mystery series set in 1974. In 1974, I was seven. Don’t do the math. Please. Readers frequently ask me how I get so much right. There are several answers. The first is that I bought myself more magazines from 1974 than anyone in 2016 should own. The second is that MeTV is […]
There are so many blogs with excellent advice on structure and character. I cannot hope to offer anything new or exciting or insightful. Besides, the way I plot a book is so simple that a first-grader could do it. There are fewer posts about actual words and how to string them together. I, for one, […]