Today I’m delighted to welcome Jean Henry Mead, whose Mysterious People blog has given birth to a brand-new book with Poisoned Pen Press. *The Blog That Became a Book* *By Jean Henry Mead* When I first began interviewing mystery novelists for my blog site, Mysterious People, I had no idea they would wind… [Read More]
Writing the Breakout Mystery: Donald Maass’ Quickie Version
How do you write the breakout mystery, the novel that transcends genre and takes your work, and perhaps your career, to the next level? Literary agent Donald Maass gave a condensed workshop on the topic at the Mystery Writers of America’s recent Edgar Symposium in New York City. I picked up lots of good pointers… [Read More]
Laura Lippman and Lee Child share the view from the top
Early in your writing career, you have to believe you can reach the top of the best sellers lists even if you never confide that conviction to anyone else, according to Laura Lippman. That was one of the tips she shared at the Q&A session with fellow best-selling author Lee Child at the Mystery Writers… [Read More]
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]
ANNOUNCING AUTHORS AVANT GARDE!
I’ve just registered two new domain names for my latest blogging brainchild, Authors Avant Garde. One is a dot-com and one is a dot-org. I’m not posting the links, because there’s nothing there yet, but Go Daddy assures me that courtesy of my Visa Gold card, I now own the domains for two years. I’m… [Read More]