Olen Steinhauer, well known among those of us that like our crime fiction bleak and real, is mostly linked with his series of Cold War novels set in a fictional Eastern European country that remains nameless. I'm guilty of only having read the first novel, but the second and third are already in waiting.

Why am I mentioning all this?

Word…

To the zillions of bits of advice for new authors, add one more: Make friends with librarians. These people are amazing despite the somewhat stuffy reputation they have.

First, they love to help you find things. Tell a librarian you want to know when a certain bridge was built, and he takes it as a challenge. I heard two of them discussing it only yesterday, and one guy said to the other, "I referred her to the Chamber of Commerce, but I want to find out now too, just so I know." Just…

One of the problems with writing a non fiction crime book is knowing when to stop. It seems as if there is always just one more piece of information just over the horizon. Then, of course when you do finish, these bits of information show up, too late to be included. I was reminded of this fact of life at the recent event in New Jersey.

The Ellis Parker book event and historical site tour was held on September 22 in Mt Holly, New Jersey, scene of much of the action in Master…

posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken

I probably should have been a travel agent. I spend a lot of time planning our trips. I had Alaska guidebooks, maps, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and website printouts scattered all over the house for many months.

Of course we couldn't experience all of Alaska in three weeks, but we could sure take a good big bite out of it. Which is why we were up one morning at 5:15 to make a 6:30 departure for a van trip up the Dalton Highway…

I mentioned a while back that driving is conducive to plotting for me. I particularly like long trips alone, where my conscious mind is focused on driving while those little beta waves are free to roam where they will. I keep a tape recorder in the car and talk to it, trying out plotlines and honing characters' fine points. I'm often surprised when I transcribe them later and find forgotten nuggets of creativity that are pure gold.

It's also kind of funny to listen to them, because…

I’m between books at the moment, and I wouldn’t wish it on Kim Jong-Il.

Yesterday I finished the (presumably) final editing pass on The Fourth Watcher. The copy edit and galley review are still hovering spectres in the future, but those are mainly mechanical exercises, rather than

creative. The world I was inventing in The Fourth Watcher has moved into the past tense now, and I haven’t begun the next…

Lately I've become a fan of flash fiction. I find it the perfect format to read online and it's often a good introduction to an author's writing style.

I've posted flash stories on Muzzle Flash, Powder Burn Flash and Shred of Evidence, they're all good.

Today's author can get buried in "how-to" advice, to the point where she just wants to scream and hide under the covers. Build a website, and don't forget to update regularly. Do a blog -- no, do half a dozen. Make a trailer, put it on U-Tube. Get radio interviews, better yet, do television. Go on tours. Write the sequel. No, do some short stories to get your name out there. Send out postcards. Or bookmarks. How about funny t-shirts?

What happened to my dream of creating entertaining…

posted by Doranna Durgin

Or, to start from the other end of things...this is the tale of the awakening of an Earth Child.

I clearly remember the first Earth Day--my participation, my school's strong participation--and the way I took for granted, even at that age, that being an Earth Child was a groupmind understanding of the way Things Needed To Be. I participated annually in the twenty-mile Walk for Water, as well as environmental bike-a-thons.…