When my husband and I retired and left Florida, we selected half a dozen cities to visit across the United States before making a final decision. We knew we wanted to live in a college town, and preferred a population of 100,000 to 125,000. After eleven years in South Florida, we also wanted interesting terrain …Read More
Killer First Sentences — June 3, 2009
First sentences are hard. Agents and editors give all kinds of conflicting advice on panels and in workshops, on their websites or in books. One says a novel should never open with dialogue. Another says she loves a book to jump into dialogue from the get-go. A writing manual tells us the first sentence should …Read More
A Tough Day
Monday was a lousy day for a lot of people. An Air France flight was lost somewhere in the Atlantic. Turbulence and lightning don’t usually knock airplanes out of the sky. The General Motors bankruptcy was distressing, even though we knew it was inevitable. Another 20,000 workers to lose their jobs. Dealerships to close. More …Read More
Colorado Author — Beth Groundwater
I’ll put the full disclosure information right up front. I know Beth Groundwater very well and consider her a good friend. In 2007, we were two of the mystery authors on the Mystery Through the Ages panels (with Mike Befeler, Linda Berry, and Robert Spiller), and also enjoyed presentations and signings with thriller author Bonnie …Read More
And the winner is…
The Practical Preserver (Karen Brees). You can read Karen’s great tips on preserving food at: http://practicalpreserving.blogspot.com/. Please note her new book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Preserving Food, is now available for pre-order at online booksellers. I’ll be sending Karen an advance reading copy of The Desert Hedge Murders for her reading pleasure. This drawing …Read More
I’m Ready to Write
Since I’m writing this blog Saturday night and pre-scheduling it to publish Sunday morning, I won’t hold the drawing for the advance review copy of The Desert Hedge Murders quite yet (just in case someone in the Pacific Time Zone squeezes in an entry at the last minute). Sometime today (Sunday), I’ll post the winner’s …Read More
Once a Bookworm, Always a Bookworm
One of the worst moments of my life happened the day I realized I would never be able to read all the books in the world. Don’t laugh. I was devastated. I’m seriously addicted to the written word. I’ve always needed scores of unread books on hand, just in case. Even with hardcovers and paperbacks …Read More
Self-Editing — Adjectives and Adverbs
I know what you’re thinking. Ouch. Self-editing. Boring! I’ll skim this blog, drop in a quick comment, and run. Please don’t. Stick around. I have a surprise for you. Each visitor who comments on this blog today or tomorrow will be entered in a drawing for an advanced reading copy of The Desert Hedge Murders. …Read More
Today I Will Kill Thistles
I’ll bet you’re thinking Thistles is the name of my neighbor’s cat, the one that uses my flower bed as a litter box. But no, I’m talking real thistles. They began taking over my garden in 2007. I was too busy promoting my book to plant anything. I instructed my husband to keep the weeds …Read More
Speaking of Books…
Yesterday I mailed eleven advance review copies of The Desert Hedge Murders to newspapers and online book review sites, looking for those extra opportunities for publicity. I still have more to send. The book’s official release date is August 19th. The next three months are for planning–scheduling promotional events, designing and ordering bookmarks and/or postcards, …Read More