Tomorrow’s the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Week Symposium in New York City. I sent in my check back in February, especially because the cocktail party that follows the day of talks and panels is limited in size, and I wanted to be sure to snag myself a reservation in plenty of time. I’m ambivalent… [Read More]
Archives for April 2010
Getting the call from Ruth Cavin – Gerrie Ferris Finger’s story
Today I’m excited to welcome guest blogger Gerrie Ferris Finger, the latest winner of the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition for The End Game, scheduled for release on April 27th. I just finished reading the advance review copy she sent me. The novel’s thoroughly engrossing, and much edgier than I’d expect from… [Read More]
Outliners, blank-pagers, and the challenge of series writing
As a writer, are you an outliner or a blank pager? This is one of those perennial questions that comes up time and again at writers’ conferences, and I’ve heard countless twists on the topic, but never have I heard of a spreadsheet system as elaborate as what Donna Andrews described at the Empire State… [Read More]
Blogging trumps poetry: I’m so much cooler online
Tonight I’ll be reading my poetry at the Albany Word Fest, an annual event that’s a virtual orgy of the spoken word. I thought I should come up with at least one new poem for the event, but instead I came up with a severe case of writer’s block. I managed to confront it in… [Read More]
Empire State Book Festival – so many authors, so few book sales
I spent last Saturday in the bowels of Albany’s underground Convention Center, listening to authors talk about their writing at the Empire State Book Festival. This first-ever event was sponsored by the New York Library Association and billed as “A Celebration of New York State Writers, Books and Literacy.” But how celebratory was it, really?… [Read More]
Five reasons I’d rather write than paint
A new gallery, the River Front Art Coop, is opening in downtown Troy, and I’m schlepping some of my work down there this afternoon with a view to showing it on consignment even though when it comes to the visual arts, I’m feeling pretty rusty. I did the cover illustrations for both my mystery novels,… [Read More]