Back in August, I threw a TGIF blog party, and lots of folks stopped by, so I decided to throw another one. The view from my window is wintry, but not in a good way – cold, gray, and windy, with the limbs of the dead tree outside my window threatening to crash down on… [Read More]
Julie & Julie & Julia Part III
Ten days ago my blog scored a record number of hits – 451 in one day. Trying to figure out why, I discovered that 319 of these visits were racked up by a single post – “Julie & Julie & Julia Part II” from September 2nd. My family and friends would find this ironic in… [Read More]
For introverted writers: Can you find success by tapping into your inner extrovert? Take a free online test and find out!
I’ve always considered myself an introvert, and I suspect the majority of writers would characterize themselves the same way. How else could we spend countless solitary hours at the computer, spinning tales from our imaginations? Yet sending our creations out into the marketplace in hopes of finding an audience requires a radical change of… [Read More]
Was Jane Austen a professional author? Not according to the Mystery Writers of America!
This past Wednesday, December 2nd, both literally and figuratively, I suffered through my crappiest visit ever to New York City. I’d been looking forward to a day in Manhattan, culminating in the gala holiday party held by the Mystery Writers of America at the National Arts Club. I caught Amtrak’s 8:05 Empire Express from the… [Read More]
Support a struggling author – buy my books for the holidays!
For my recent Blog Book Tour, Maryann Miller invited me to post on her blog, It’s Not All Gravy, about why my mystery novels would make good holiday gifts. I decided to quote my own reviews. As a self-published author in the early phase of building my career, I treasure each and every sale, and… [Read More]
Burying the lead and cutting some ties
Whew, my Blog Book Tour’s over at last. Ten stops in two consecutive Monday-Friday work weeks. Today I was planning to wrap it all up with a summary, including links to all the sites I visited, but I’m simply too frazzled, so I’ll do it early next week. Today’s illustration, incidentally, is a more up-to-date… [Read More]