Tag Archive for: #readers

Close-up on Gay Yellen

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By Kathryn Lane

Texas author Gay Yellen came to writing with an extraordinary
background. She began working life as a stage and TV actor, then moved behind
the camera at The American Film Institute (AFI) as Assistant to the Director of
Production. She moved on to become a magazine editor and national journalism
award winner. As contributing book editor for Five Minutes to Midnight
(Delacorte), an international thriller, she was convinced writing was in her
blood. Her award-winning Samantha Newman Series of romantic mystery novels
includes The Body Business and The Body Next Door.
Book 3 in the series arrives this summer.   

1.   KL: Early in your career, Gay, you traded your Screen Actors
Guild membership in Hollywood to work on the other side of the camera at The
American Film Institute (AFI). Part
of the AFI mission is to ‘celebrate
excellence in the art form’. Your simple yet elegant book cover designs reflect
the beauty of simplicity you must have learned at AFI. Is this assumption correct?

GY: I’m
glad you like the covers, Kathryn! As Assistant to the Director of Production at
AFI, I was involved in almost every facet of filmmaking, from casting to
location scouting, to procuring costumes and props from the major studios, acquiring
locations for the shoot, organizing transportation to the set, arranging
catering services, scheduling, and post-production services, too. That said, it
was my magazine career that taught me the importance of a cover. As a managing
editor, one of my most critical responsibilities was to oversee the cover
design, which can make or break the success of newsstand sales. The same could
be said of a book cover, too.

2.   KL: Did AFI influence you as a writer? One of
their stated values is ‘A Belief in the Power of Storytelling to Change the
World’.

GY: Such
a good question, Kathryn! While story can be important in filmmaking, it was my
theater background that helped me understand what a good story is made of. Plot
structure is important, and character motivation is paramount. As an actor, I learned
that our everyday human struggles are universal. Reading stories with
characters who are both very different and very much like us can put us in
touch with that universality and make us more empathetic. I suppose in that
way, storytelling in any form does have the power to change the world.   

3.   KL: In the Samantha Newman Series, set in Houston
and the Texas Hill Country, you cleverly use a few Spanish phrases. What
prompted you to do this?

GY: Wow,
I didn’t realize I had any Spanish words in my books! I may have used a Spanish
word or two because in Texas, where I live, people of Spanish heritage are a
large segment of the population, and their diverse cultures are integral to the
fabric of life here. A Texan saying adios instead of goodbye can
be quite natural, even for an English speaker like me.

 4.   KL: In The Body Next Door, the
widow of a murdered neighbor is hiding in Samantha’s apartment. I love that
plot, but I’d also like to see Sam and Carter stay together. Any chance of that
in book three?

GY: I
love this question, because it speaks to one of my favorite things about being
an author. When Samantha and Carter meet in The Body Business, I wasn’t
planning to write a series, and thus, had no plan for their future. While the publisher
wanted me to extend that book into a series, it was my readers’ interest and
enthusiasm that encouraged me to continue their relationship. Carter is a man
of mystery in more ways than one, so he is definitely in Book 3. And Samantha
is as headstrong as ever.

5.   KL: You’re launching your third Samantha Newman
novel this summer. Can you give us a preview?

GY: As
readers may remember, Samantha has trouble staying employed, due to
circumstances beyond her control.  As
Book 3 opens, she’s starting a new career at a local TV station. But things are
not going well with the man who is supposed to be teaching her the ins and outs
of investigative journalism. And because Sam’s life never runs in a straight
line, complications ensue, with humor and suspense in equal measure. Here are
the working titles: The Body in the News, The News Body, The Body Reports, The
Body Breaks the News… I’m still taking suggestions, so to anyone who offers a
better one, a free copy of the book is yours if I use it.

6.     KL: Besides an historical novel you’ve done
research for, have you thought of doing a memoir of your days as an actress? Or
autofiction based on your Hollywood experiences?

GY: Actually,
the first novel I ever attempted to write was on that subject. Two chapters in,
it felt like I was telling the same tired Hollywood show biz tale that had been
told too many times already. While I did reach the upper membership echelon in
the Screen Actors Guild before I quit, the high points were outstripped by too
many frustrating disappointments. However, a few memories have become hilarious
in retrospect. Perhaps one will inspire a short story someday.

Thanks, Gay, for sharing your fascinating life with us! I can’t wait to read Samantha #3!

***

Places to find Gay Yellen and her Samantha Newman Series:

WEBSITE: https://gayyellen.com/

 AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Q8P1RNP?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

BOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gay-yellen

Untitled Post

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Literary Tapas and Readers

By Saralyn Richard

 

There are 124 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI) in the U.S., where learners aged
fifty-five and older can experience higher education without grading or course
credits. One of the classes I’ve taught at the local OLLI is entitled, Literary
Tapas. I began teaching this literature class more than ten years ago, and it’s
been a highlight of my life every single semester.

As the course title suggests, we read small pieces of
literature and digest them using Socratic questioning. Over the years, the
course rosters have changed, but there is a core group of loyal learners who
have been with me for a long time, almost like family. Being over fifty-five and living in the
local area are the only two demographics we all have in common. The class is so
diverse in gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, first language
spoken, profession, economic class, hobbies—we are a veritable melting pot of
society.

That makes for extremely interesting class discussions. In
fact, one of the learners calls the class “group therapy with literature.” The
stories, poems, essays, short plays, first chapters of books, quotations, and
song lyrics that we read are simply the diving boards that catapult us into
deep discussions about our life experiences. Our own personal stories are at
least as compelling as the ones we read. Sometimes we have guest authors
attend class when we are discussing their works. Often, we have visiting doctors
from the local medical branch with whom our OLLI is affiliated. Anyone who
visits must follow our cardinal rule of active participation in the discussion.

As the leader, I’m not allowed to answer any questions. All
I can do is ask open-ended, thought-provoking questions to lead the discussion
into the realm of higher-level thinking. There are no wrong answers, and
through divergent ideas and opinions we all learn a lot about the literature,
about the world depicted therein, and about ourselves.

As an author, I’m fascinated by the discussions we have in
class. I could write a whole book on what I’ve learned from my fellow learners,
but here are a few highlights:

  • ·        
    While it may be useful to analyze the author’s
    intent in writing, what’s more important is the reader’s response. What the
    reader extracts from a piece of writing is the true measure of its worth.
  • ·        
    Different readers bring different eyes to bear
    on the piece of writing. No one reader sees it the “right” way or the “wrong”
    way. All ways are good.
  • ·        
    A reader’s positive evaluation of a piece of
    writing is often subjective and may depend on variables such as how many times the
    reader has seen the selection, what mood he is in that day, how much time he
    has to interact with it, what others in the group think of it, or even how
    legible the copy is. None of these things are in the control of the author.
  • ·        
    Some of the best discussions come from pieces of
    literature that no one in the group particularly enjoys.

These things show me, as an author, that once I’ve told my
story in the best way that I can, and the story has left my hands and been sent
out into the world, it belongs to the readers. They can consume it, lap it up,
chew on it, swallow it, or spit it out, as they see fit. They can analyze and
interpret to their hearts’ content, and they can provide feedback through
reader reviews. Whatever they do with it, it is theirs. At that point, I’m just
a person whose name is on the cover of the book.

Like the teacher at OLLI, my job is not to answer questions,
but to ask them. But as an author, I’m
also that person who stands behind the curtain, holding her readers in her
heart and mind, wishing them a delightful and meaningful reading experience. If
you are one of my readers, you are the star of the show!

Saralyn
Richard’s award-winning humor- and romance-tinged mysteries and children’s book
pull back the curtain on people in settings as diverse as elite country manor
houses and disadvantaged urban high schools. Saralyn’s newest release Bad Blood Sisters is available for pre-order now. A
member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America,
Saralyn teaches creative writing and literature at the Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute, and continues to write mysteries. Her favorite thing about being an
author is interacting with readers like you. Visit
Saralyn here, on her
Amazon page here, or on Facebook here.

Serendipitous Discovery!

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By Kathryn Lane

A week’s’ worth of newspapers, yes,
old-fashioned printed versions, beckoned me on the coffee table. I confess that
in the midst of downsizing and moving, I’d been too busy to read them.

Working my way through
the papers, I hit serendipity! An article about the changing car culture.

Ford’s 1896 Quadricycle

What was serendipitous
about that? It covered a topic I’d mentioned in my May newsletter.

First, I should explain
that I ask my newsletter readers to submit their favorite quote to me,
promising that I will use it in a future newsletter.

This month’s quote was:
“My friends are my estate”, submitted by Ann McKennis, a fabulously supportive
fan of my work. Instead of analyzing why an introvert like Emily Dickinson would
write these words to a friend in a letter, I explored the idea of friends.

So I wrote about the
lifelong friendship of inventors Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. In 1896, Ford
introduced his quadricycle. It ran on gasoline. Edison congratulated his
friend, but told him to “keep at it”, predicting electric cars were the wave of
the future. It also inspired Edison to work on an electric version.

Thomas Edison and Henry Ford 

As a writer, why are
cars important to me? Authors use them in novels all the time. Think getaway cars
in a robbery, luxury vehicles villains use to impress women, and forensic
investigators recovering evidence from cars involved in homicides. Vehicles often
break down on dark, isolated roads in crime stories. The list goes on.

Cars are important in real
life crime as well. John Dillinger, the infamous criminal, made the Model A
Ford synonymous with a gangster’s choice in driving during the 1930s. Then
Bonnie and Clyde used a 1934 Ford 730 Deluxe Sedan, a car later riddled with
bullets when they were killed.

The Bonnie and Clyde Car

I marveled at the
coincidences of stumbling upon a great article about electric and gasoline
cars, especially since Edison and Ford were mentioned. Plus, I learned
something new: in the early 1900s in New York City, there were more electric
cars than those that ran on gasoline.

So what happened?
According to Daniel Yergin, Edison put money, effort, and his personal prestige
into developing an electric vehicle, but Ford’s gasoline Model T won the hearts
of car buyers. Almost a century later, General Motors introduced a mass-market
electric vehicle. In 2008, Tesla introduced the stylish Roadster.

Fiction writers will
follow the trend. Electric cars are here to stay. The infrastructure to support
self-driving vehicles is under construction. I’m anxious to see authors using self-driving
cars for getaways. Of course, institutions that villains can rob may be all
online, making the getaway car obsolete.

***

Are you using electric cars in
your novels?

Kathryn Lane started
out as a starving artist. To earn a living, she became a certified public
accountant and embarked on a career in international finance with a major
multinational corporation. After two decades, she left the corporate world to
plunge into writing mystery and suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn
draws deeply from her Mexican background as well
as her travels in over ninety countries.

https://www.kathryn-lane.com

https://www.facebook.com/kathrynlanewriter/

The
Nikki Garcia Mystery Series: eBook Trilogy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GZNF17G

 Photo credits:

Quadricycle: “1896 Ford Quadricycle
Runabout, First Car Built by Henry Ford” by The Henry Ford is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
2.0

Thomas Edison and Henry Ford by Tom Raftery is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND-SA 2.0

The Bonnie
and Clyde Car “DSC_0081” by Jay Bonvouloir is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
2.0

Newspaper
Article: Wall Street Journal, Weekend Edition ─ April 24-25, 2021; “The
New World of AutoTech” by Daniel Yergin.

Kathryn’s books – designs by Bobbye
Marrs

Priceless: The Author-Reader Bond by Barbara Kyle

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Priceless: The Author-Reader Bond 

by
Barbara Kyle 

 

Most
of us vividly recall a book that touched our lives, whether as young adults or
at a crucial moment later in life. The moment makes us feel a special kinship
with the author. It’s a meeting of minds, even of souls. It’s a bond, and a
potent one. (Painting above by Daniel F. Gerhartz.)


Any author will tell you it’s a happy day when a reader gets in touch to say
how much the author’s book has meant to them. Sometimes the message is moving,
like the museum curator in Yarmouth, England who wrote to tell me that The
Queen’s Lady helped him as he mourned the death of his father. 

 

 

Sometimes the message brings a laugh, like the lady
who cheerfully told me she got The Queen’s Captive from the library
because she remembered having loved a similar book – and then realized, as she
was enjoying The Queen’s Captive, that this was the very book she had
read and loved!

 

 

Here are three readers whose messages about my historical thrillers were
very special.

 

The Colonel

Years ago I was in England researching The Queen’s Lady and spent a day
exploring Hever Castle in Kent. This was the home of the Boleyn family, and
Henry VIII came here to court Anne. That tempestuous affair changed the course
of England’s history. 

 


 As
I strolled the grounds in a happy haze of imagination, I picked up an acorn.
What a lovely feeling to hold in my hand something living from the so-called
“dead” past. I squirreled the acorn away in my pocket and brought it
home to Canada, and it sat on my desk beside my computer, a sweet reminder of
its place of birth as I wrote The Queen’s Lady. The acorn was still on
my desk when I wrote The King’s Daughter. It had become a touchstone
that spirited me back to the Tudor world. I was very fond of it.

Then my husband and I moved, and in the shuffle the little acorn got lost.

A few months later I got a cheery email from a reader telling me he was on his
way to England for an Anne Boleyn Tour during which he would be visiting Hever
Castle. There would be dinners in the Great Hall where Henry and Anne ate, plus
lectures, plays, and demonstrations – “A once in a lifetime experience,” he
said. I replied to wish him a happy trip and told him about my acorn. He is a
retired air force colonel and lives in Tennessee.

Four weeks later a small package arrived in my mailbox. It was from the
Colonel. Inside was a note: “I looked for an acorn to replace the one you lost
but couldn’t find one. I did get you this.” Nestled under the note was a pine cone.
He had scoured the Hever grounds for it. “It’s from the area where Henry
courted Anne, according to the castle staff,” wrote the Colonel. 


I
was so touched. In the following years the pine cone had pride of place on my desk beside my computer
as I wrote six more books in the “Thornleigh Saga” series. Thank you, Colonel, for what you gave
me. A once in a lifetime experience.



 

The Embroiderer

 

A music educator in Ontario emailed me
with praise about my books and told me she was part of a sewing club of about
three dozen ladies who get together at a shop with the delightful name The
Enchanted Needle. She said they were working on Tudor period sewing techniques,
and she attached images of historic Tudor-era embroidery. Now, I know little
about sewing, but I know beauty when I see it, and these works were stunning.

 

As she waxed lyrical about bygone sewing techniques like “stumpwork”
and “Assisi,” “blackwork” and “bargello,”
“cross-stitching” and “the morphing power of color,” I
could only, in ignorance, try to keep up, but when she said my books inspired
her in this Tudor-era needlework I was moved again by how glorious and various
are the connections between author and reader.

The Boy

That’s what I’ll call him, the gangly kid who showed up at a public
reading I did from The Queen’s Gamble and listened so intensely. He
looked about fourteen, the only person there who was so young. After the
reading I saw him at the edge of the knot of people I was chatting with. The
others all asked lively questions, but he said nothing. He looked like he
wanted to, but he never took a step nearer. When I finished talking to the
people, I noticed the boy was gone.

About a week later I found a package in my mailbox: a slender book and a note.
The writer of the note said he’d been at the reading, and was a high school
student who loved history, and he hoped to one day be a history teacher. My
novels were his favorites, he said. The book he’d enclosed was The Bloody
Tower by Valerie Wilding, a young adult novel in the form of a Tudor girl’s
diary. It had meant a lot to him, he said, so he wanted to
share it with me. 

 

 

There, now I’ve shared it with you. That’s what the writer-reader bond is. We
share what moves us. And that connection is what makes the writer’s work a joy.

 

___________________________________________________________

 

 

Barbara
Kyle is the author of the bestselling Thornleigh Saga series of
historical thrillers (“Riveting Tudor drama” – USA Today) and of acclaimed
contemporary thrillers. 

 

Over half a million copies of her books have been sold. 

 

 

Her latest book
is The Man from Spirit Creek, a novel of suspense. 


 

 

Barbara has taught
hundreds of writers in her online classes and many have become award-winning authors.  Page-Turner, her popular how-to book for writers, is available in print,
e-book, and audiobook. Visit Barbara at www.BarbaraKyle.com  

 

 

Stormy Candlelight Dinners

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By Kathryn Lane

My husband and I did not celebrate
Valentine’s this year. Yet we made up for it the following night with a romantic,
candlelight dinner. Not exactly to make up for Valentine’s but as a consequence
of the deadly snowstorm that hit Texas. When our power failed, we started
lighting candles. 

Donning a headlamp, I cooked a “prepare in a
pinch” dinner of Spanish-style scrambled eggs with Spanish chorizo, cherry
tomatoes, black olives, and a hint of hot paprika on my faithful gas stovetop. 

The Valentine storm came a
little more than two months after half our house flooded during the first week
in December. A pipe broke in the master bathroom (CLEAN water, mind you!).
Nothing to do with our balmy early December weather – a pipe joint simply came
undone behind the toilet after we’d gone to bed. I awakened at 1:30 in the
morning, heard a hissing sound, got out of bed, and stepped into 4 inches of
water. Bob and I cleaned up what we could. Later that morning, he called the
insurance company. They sent out a cleaning crew that afternoon. For two months
we’ve had workers every single day except for holidays. And the storm gave them
a six-day break. The workers are becoming part of the family!

With the sadness so many
people have endured through the pandemic, I keep reminding my husband (and
myself) that our flood issues are merely an inconvenience, not a tragedy. Add
the snowstorm, blackouts, and lack of water to an already royal mess in our
house, we kept our sanity in the face of the storm’s fallout by calling friends
to make sure they remained safe. The power outages created a dangerous
situation for millions of people.

For lack of water, well, we bypassed bathing. I was thankful all
our bathrooms were functional again after the flood, at least until the winter
storm knocked out the water supply. But I won’t go there! 

In the past two months, our house has either had too much water
or none at all. But hey, we live in Texas and Texans are tough!

Below is my simple, easy recipe to
use in a pinch. What’s your “use in a pinch” recipe?

Spanish
Chorizo/Cherry Tomato Eggs

2
tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6
slices cured Spanish chorizo ham, cut into pieces – (substitute Mexican
chorizo, omitting the paprika)

1 cup
cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1
tablespoon finely chopped green onions

¼ cup
chopped black olives

4 large
eggs beaten

Salt
and pepper to taste

¼
teaspoon hot paprika (optional)

1
tablespoon cilantro, chopped

¼ cup
shredded manchego or gouda cheese

Heat olive oil in a
skillet over medium heat. Add chorizo and onions. Cook until chorizo begins to
crisp, about 2 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes. Season with a pinch of salt. Cook
and stir until tomatoes soften and release their juices, about 4-5 minutes.
Beat eggs with salt, pepper, and paprika (if using) in a small bowl. Stir
seasoned eggs into tomato mixture in the skillet. Add olives. Reduce heat to
medium-low and cook and stir until the eggs are set, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle
with cilantro and cheese. (2 servings)

Bon Appetit.

                                                                                ***

Kathryn’s books – The Nikki Garcia
Thriller series and her short story collection – Backyard Volcano.
All available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082H96R11

About Kathryn

Kathryn Lane started out as a starving
artist. To earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked
on a career in international finance with a major multinational corporation.
After two decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery
and suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn draws deeply from her Mexican background as well as her travels
in over ninety countries. https://www.kathryn-lane.com

Photos: Wine and Rose, and Chorizo and Tomato Eggs – Public Domain

Kathryn cooking with a Headlamp – Bob Hurt

The Nikki Garcia Thriller series, book covers by Bobbye Marrs


Gay Yellen: A Writer’s Thanksgiving

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The twining path…


Like a double helix, a writer’s journey can follow a twisty trail. One strand—the rational, professional one—involves studying the works of others, honing your own craft, unlocking a door to publishing, and eventually (hopefully) connecting with readers.

The second strand can be an emotional mind-trip filled with unsettling questions. Is my work good enough? Why is that writer so successful? How can I be successful, too?

This emotional trip is the tricky one. It’s easy to find lists of writers deemed better or more successful by certain measures. What should matter to a writer is how they respond to such information. With admiration… or envy? 

Author-envy can eat a writer alive and stifle creativity. On the other hand, clear-eyed respect for another’s success may lead to the discovery of what it takes to improve. Heartfelt admiration—and gratitude—can move us closer to our own dreams.

What makes writers so special?

When I became a full-time author, I was overjoyed to find the camaraderie and the willingness to help one another that thrives in abundance in the writing community. It feels like family here.

Successful writers form personal bonds, share professional tips, read and critique each other’s books, and genuinely root for one another. The Stiletto Gang is an example.

Here, authors come together to trade insights, bits of book news, and offer glimpses into our personal lives, as well as our professional wins and woes. And we introduce our own followers to the rest of authors in the Gang. Countless other bloggers do the same in other spaces.

It’s hard to find a profession that embodies such an open and welcoming ethos. Can you name another enterprise whose members so willingly share their secret sauce with the competition?
Gratitude.

I deeply appreciate my writing community, from the veterans who teach to the newbies who are eager to learn. I’m grateful to the people who manage our writers’ groups and who continue to support their members.

This year, when Thanksgiving celebrations may not be like those we know, there’s all the more reason to appreciate the things that continue to sustain us. So, here’s a huge thank-you to writers everywhere who generously share their knowledge and platforms and public spaces with colleagues.
And special thanks to readers…

Dear readers, please know that you are the most important part of our community. Thank you for reading our books, for leaving your reviews on our book sales sites, and for recommending them to your friends. We could not keep our writing spirits up without you. You brighten our lives.

What about you? What are you thankful for this year?

Gay Yellen was a magazine and book editor before she began the award-winning Samantha Newman Mystery Series, which includes The Body Business and The Body Next Door. Book #3 in the series is slated for release in 2021.


Gay would love to hear from you, here, on Facebook, or at her website, GayYellen.com.


Mystery and Romance Authors – How Many Books Should You Publish?

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Antique Underwood Typewriter and Calla Lilies

Social media has swept instant and fleeting tidings over
us – the expectation of continuous news snippets. I wondered how this impacts the work of authors. In doing research, I found
an interesting quote from Donna Tartt, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The
Goldfinch:

“There’s
an expectation these days that novels – like any other consumer product –
should be made on a production line, with one dropping from the conveyor belt
every couple of years.”

Every couple of years? I was astounded. Quite a few authors, including New York
Times bestselling ones produce at least one book a year, such as Stephen King, Danielle
Steel, Harlan Coben, and Jeffery Deaver. I also know writers who publish four
books a year – and happen to be USA Today bestselling authors. Probably none of
the ones I’m thinking of will be honored with a Pulitzer, but they are
satisfying their fan base by penning multiple novels per year.

 ca
Antique Printing Press

It gives the aphorism “publish or perish” a whole new
meaning. The impact on genre authors to keep
publishing new books increases
their fan base, improves their rankings on Amazon, and sustains their
visibility among readers within their genres.

Yet The Goldfinch author takes ten years
(that’s right – a full decade!) to write a novel. A literary genius, Tartt has
fans across the globe. Plus, she’s backed by big publishing houses and their
gargantuan budgets, here and abroad.

Most of us who write genre would “perish” if we only produced
one novel every ten years.

Selling novels boils down to two basic issues:

A. Storytelling ─ writing a compelling and fascinating
story.

B. Markets ─ how these “consumer products” that Tartt
mentions are advertised and distributed.

In 2018, more than 1.6 million books (both print and eBook
with registered ISBNs) were published in the US alone. You can dismiss a
portion of these as coming from aspiring writers or people doing a memoir for
family purposes. But the point is made ─ the diversity of choices for readers
contributes to the difficulty new authors encounter when trying to distinguish themselves
in a crowded market.

Despite the intense competition, I would not for a minute give
up my writing! It’s the most satisfying, and craziest, endeavor I’ve ever done.

Care to
share how you distinguish your novels in the crowded market?

***

Photo
credits: Kathryn Lane for Antique Underwood Standard Typewriter, Printed page
flying off antique printing press; Bobbye Marrs for Nikki Garcia Trilogy

Kathryn Lane started out as a starving artist. To earn a
living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked on a career in
international finance with a major multinational corporation. After two
decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery and
suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn draws deeply from her Mexican background as well as her travels
in over ninety countries.

https://www.kathryn-lane.com

https://www.facebook.com/kathrynlanewriter/


Readers Under the Magnifying Glass

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by Sparkle Abbey

A topic that’s endlessly fascinating to those of us who write is you – our readers.

That’s right, we’re curious about what makes you tick. Why do you choose a particular book. Was it the cover? The back cover blurb? That catchy title? Did someone recommend it?

Did that first line we worked so hard to get just right, pull you in? How did you feel about the main character? Did you love them right away? Did we tell you enough to make you care? Or was that too much information? 

What keeps you reading? And those special books…
You know, the ones you keep to read again and again. The ones you always recommend to friends. What is it that makes them keepers?

So many questions, right?

We recently read an article about how fiction readers choose their next read. A poll had been conducted and below is what was found to be the top five criteria.
1. The book was written by a favorite author.
2. The book was classified in a favorite genre.
3. The book sported an attractive cover.
4. The back-cover copy was appealing.
5. The book was recommended by reviewers and bloggers.

So, what do you think? Would you agree or disagree? How do you choose your next read?
We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets mysteries which are set in beautiful Laguna Beach, California.

Downton Tabby, the 7th book in the series, is currently available for only 99 cents in all ebook formats for a limited time.

The authors are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the neighbors.) They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites.

Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

Thanksgiving Giveaway

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by Bethany Maines


In my recently released novel High-Caliber Concealer, #3 in the Carrie Mae Mystery series, the heroine Nikki Lanier returns to her childhood home for what she hopes will be a nice, quiet visit.  Of course, since she’s a covert agent for an espionage agency, her hometown appears to be harboring drug dealers, and her mother is clearly hiding something, a quiet visit is probably not in the cards.  But a girl can dream right?

And I’m pretty sure that’s what we all dream of for Thanksgiving. A nice quiet meal where everyone gets along and the food is delicious.  We all want it, but judging by the amount of letters to Dear Abby requesting advice about dealing with crazy relatives, we’re not all going to get it.

As we approach the season of counting our blessings and remembering what we’re thankful for, I will say that among my blessings is lovely readers such as yourselves. And if I can’t guarantee you a peaceful meal, the least I can do is giveaway some escapist fiction that can be used to avoid your relatives.  Leave a comment here or on the Stiletto Gang Facebook Page to be entered to win a digital copy of High-Caliber Concealer.  Winners will be announced on Black Friday (the day for free stuff).  Winner will be chosen by random number generator or my dog if I can get him to wake up from the tryptophan coma.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie
Mae Mysteries, Tales from the City of
Destiny and An Unseen Current.
 You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video
or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Give Yourself a Holiday Gift

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Frankly, I don’t really want anything for Christmas. I love the holiday season and everything about it, but the older I get the less I like to shop for and receive presents. I have way too much stuff already. For my kids, grandkids, and greats I’ve decided to just give money rather than spending money on something they don’t really want.

For myself, I’d rather use the money for a trip. In fact, that’s more or less what I’ve been doing the past few years. Of course money isn’t as easy to come by nor does it goes as far as it used to.

When I go on a trip, I like to somehow combine it with promotion if at all possible.

What I’d like to suggest is whether you are a mystery reader or writer, that you consider giving yourself the gift of attending a writers conference or mystery convention. There are plenty out there to choose from. Last year hubby and I went to Love is Murder in Chicago and had a great time. We’ve already signed up for EPICon which is for electronically published writers. Mayhem in the Midlands is another favorite–we love Omaha and we’ve made lots of friends who come to that convention regularly.

Another, much smaller conference, is the Public Safety Writers Conference. I’m in charge of the program for this one and I’m proud to say we have a wonderful line-up of speakers. I won’t bore you by going over the whole list, but mystery author Betty Webb will be there, Steve Scarborough who is a forensic expert, used by both the Las Vegas Police and the FBI will tell us how to write it right, we’ll have a forensic handwriting expert, a retired arson investigator and many others.

Everyone who wants to will participate on a panel if they sign up before May 1. It would be best to sign up before May 30th March 31 when the price rises. If you have a book, you may bring it to sell at our bookstore. (10 % of all sales go to PSWA.)

Because a great number of our members are or were in law enforcement, there are a wealth of people to ask all your questions about crime and crime solving. Networking is definitely encouraged.

If you are interested and would like to learn more, go to http://www.policewriter.com/ and check it out. The conference is held June 18-22 at the Sun Coast Hotel in Vegas. If you want to bring the kids, there’s lots for them to do at this hotel–swimming pool, movie theaters, and video arcade, flat screen TVs in every room.

On the Sunday afternoon that the conference concludes, those who would like to will meet at Cheesecake and Crime Bookstore in Henderson from a booksigning.

Since I’m the program chair, naturally I’ll be at this conference. From having attended this particular conference for about five years, I can tell you that it is indeed one of the friendliest around. Hubby and I manage to have fun at everything we do–but this one is right up there at the top when it comes to a good time.

For me, this is the best kind of holiday gift there is. I hope that some of you will consider this for a gift for yourself.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com