All Blog Posts (12,730)

True crime and Whale Song, a novel that is making a difference

The following article recently appeared on Grow Mercy, a wonderful blog by a wonderful and caring person--Stephen Thomas Berg. Stephen invited me to share how Whale Song, my recent novel about love, lies, sacrifice and…

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Added by Cheryl Kaye Tardif on October 10, 2007 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Review - Torch, Lin Anderson

I've just published a review of TORCH from Scottish Author Lin Anderson. Her website is at: http://www.lin-anderson.com/ and the website for the main character in her books Dr Rhona Macleod (Forensic Scientist) is at http://www.rhonamacleod.com/

Added by Karen from AustCrime on October 10, 2007 at 1:05pm — No Comments

Tanka 5.0

Cold merciless rain

strips the shapely…

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Added by Karyn J. Powers on October 10, 2007 at 12:35pm — No Comments

Book Review Web Sites

Another great review of Antler Dust was posted today on www.frontstreetreviews.com. One wonderful sentence went like this:

"Antler Dust is a first-rate thriller. Though you know from the early

pages 'whodunit' the excitement is in the chase, which doesn't let up

until the very end."

And near the end, another nice one:

"Tight, straightforward writing and a never-let-up pace make Antler Dust

a superb debut novel for Stevens."

Hey, I love… Continue

Added by Mark Stevens on October 10, 2007 at 12:29pm — No Comments

Cajun Kickoff Contest

CAJUN BASKET GIVEAWAY

CONTENTS:

Set of 4 plates from Old Navy,

alligator soap,

misc crawfish stuff,

stuffed alligator,

gumbo mix,

Cajun seasoning “rub”,

jambalaya mix,

Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning,

Tony Chachere’s Creole Roux mix,

red beans & rice mix,

and Louisiana Hot Sauce, of course!

See my website on the CONTEST PAGE for details on how to… Continue

Added by Robin Caroll on October 10, 2007 at 5:34am — No Comments

The Wire

As

in getting down to it. There’s a week left until my latest deadline.

Six days, actually, since I will be shooting my book trailer on

Saturday and probably won’t get much else accomplished that day. This

deadline’s for another ghost project. Literary Black Ops. If I told you

about it, I’d have to kill you. You know the drill.

Anyway, today was a nice solid 4K day. Normally I take Mondays off, if by “off” you mean using the time to do all those…

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Added by Christa Faust on October 10, 2007 at 3:00am — 4 Comments

Double Teamed

Posted by Lorraine (L.L.) Bartlett

All summer long I waited to receive the copyedits on my upcoming books. One has a longer lead-time, so I figured that one would come sometime this fall. Well, it didn't. It came first!

That's okay, I had plenty (two weeks) of time to complete it ... until the other one arrived. And that one only had a one-week turnaround deadline.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Comparing the edits has been an eye-opening experience. What one…

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Added by Writers Plot on October 10, 2007 at 1:21am — No Comments

outsourced libraries

I should update a previous blog post on the libraries in Jackson County, Oregon that were closed last April. They're going to reopen now that the county has outsourced them to a for-profit library management company. They'll be open fewer hours (from 40/week to 24), have fewer employees with no union contract and much-smaller salaries - and the books will be chosen,… Continue

Added by Barbara Fister on October 10, 2007 at 1:02am — 1 Comment

I Have to Disagree

We don't all like beets. I, for one, despise them. My husband, however, spends months growing them, then digging, peeling, chopping, and boiling, all to have a few helpings of one of the few purple foods available (which to my mind is nature's way of saying, "This is not normal").

That's why I seldom buy books based on reviews. I enjoy reading reviews, have even written them, but I don't make my read-or-don't-read decisions based on someone else's opinion of a book or…

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Added by Peg Herring on October 9, 2007 at 11:11pm — No Comments

Oh Goodie - Blubber for Dinner

This is a picture outside the back of Emily's house. I could see both ends of this rainbow - it was beautiful.

Today I was on familiar territory - back in Aniak in the Elementary School where I…

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Added by Donna Moore on October 9, 2007 at 10:46pm — 3 Comments

Ten items or less please

It's after 8pm and I'm in a Wal-Mart store. Generally, I try to avoid the chain since I can't stand so many things about them, but that's beside the point. Anyway, I grab the three or four things I came in to buy and head up front to find a short line to get in. Ha. Short line and Wal-Mart just don't play ball together. There is never such a thing as a short and fast line in a Wal-Mart. At least that has been my experience.

Like I was saying, I was in search of a register to purchase my… Continue

Added by Shannon Chenoweth on October 9, 2007 at 1:23pm — No Comments

Missouri Man Faces Prison for Doughnut Theft

FARMINGTON, Mo. --

It's a hefty price for a pastry: A man accused of stealing a 52-cent doughnut could face time in jail.

Authorities said Scott A. Masters, 41, slipped the doughnut into his sweat shirt without paying, then pushed away a clerk who tried to stop him as he fled the store.

The push is being treated as minor assault, which transforms a misdemeanor shoplifting charge to a strong-armed robbery with a potential prison term of five to 15 years.… Continue

Added by Shannon Chenoweth on October 9, 2007 at 6:52am — No Comments

Dexter loses his rock 'n' roll...

At least, that's more or less the premise of Jeff Lindsay's wonderful new Dexter in the Dark, which I reviewed in today's Boston Globe. Is it a departure from the previous Dexter books? Well, yes, but what would you expect in the third of a series?

There's been much talk about serial killers as super heroes, but I think that Lindsay's jovial protagonist… Continue

Added by Clea Simon on October 9, 2007 at 5:29am — 4 Comments

A New Year

On the last day of Bouchercon, in Anchorage, Alaska, a group of Sisters and Brothers in Crime joined together for breakfast and for hailing in a new year of work. Reports were given on the various aspects of the organization (treasury, special projects, PR, Forensics U, and more) and a new Board of Directors was voted in. The new Board is as follows:

Roberta Isleib, President

Judy Clemens, Vice President

Marcia…

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Added by Sisters In Crime on October 9, 2007 at 12:00am — No Comments

Art & Entertainment

Posted by Sheila Connolly

I'm writing a mystery series featuring Tucson glassblower Em Dowell as my protagonist. The "hook" was handed to me by an editor, and, in the interests of full disclosure, I told her "I don't know much about glassblowing." Apparently that wasn't a problem for her, and I hope that meant she had faith in my ability to bone up on a subject, even though she had never met me and had seen only fifty pages of my writing.

I had taken…

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Added by Writers Plot on October 8, 2007 at 11:56pm — No Comments

Sleetmute - Part 2

So, after the High Schoolers in the morning, it was the Elementary

children in the afternoon. We drew pictures, told stories, and I read

them one of the books I had brought for them from Scotland. We had fun

and, again, I came away with loads of pictures of all sorts of things -

bears, fish (the boy who had over lunch told me how to… Continue

Added by Donna Moore on October 8, 2007 at 11:07pm — No Comments

Saw Hostage last night

I'm not too eager to seek out new crime thrillers and blockbuster movies, but as I was tired last night I decided to watch Hostage from the Finnish tube. Based on Robert Crais's novel, the movie is fast-moving and gripping, but the finale was way too much for me. Too conscious of the fireworks, if you know what I mean. The bad guy was also too bad - he became one-dimensional in the end (especially when he moved like Alien in the tunnel system of the house!). Bruce Willis was also a bit…

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Added by Juri Nummelin on October 8, 2007 at 10:53pm — No Comments

Scottish Outlaws, Deformed Vikings and Mystery Writing

When I came across the tale of Kinmont Willie, I knew he had to become a character in one of my books. Likewise Ivar the Boneless; who could resist a character with a name like that?

One of the reasons I love fiction is that it can be based on fact. History is fascinating, stuffed with characters who are unusual, colorful, and unbelievably evil. In novel writing you can take these footnotes of history and make them yours, creating a similar character to suit your plot requirements. If…

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Added by Peg Herring on October 8, 2007 at 10:11pm — No Comments

Off-duty Wisconsin Deputy Kills 6 People

An off-duty sheriff's deputy went on a shooting rampage early Sunday at a home where seven young people had gathered for pizza and movies, killing six and critically injuring the other before authorities fatally shot him, officials said.

It's things like this happening that make me shake my head in utter disbelief. Incidents such as this do nothing to strengthen the publics view of law enforcement officers. It only provokes further doubt and uncertainty.

This young… Continue

Added by Shannon Chenoweth on October 8, 2007 at 2:43pm — No Comments