posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken, in Anchorage, AK

Ever since I was a toddler listening to stories being read to my two-years-older sister, I have loved books. Reading was my refuge from a family so dysfunctional that I (the honor student Girl Scout goody two-shoes) was the black sheep.

I read everything, from cereal boxes to the three newspapers (tabloids all) that my parents bought every Sunday. My avid attention to the salacious true crime stories got me banished from…

I have two places conducive to thinking, and they are as different as can be. First, I think in the car, preferably on a long trip and preferably alone. The automatic process of driving seems to calm my conscious mind and let the deeper thoughts arrange themselves into viable plots and possible characters. I particularly like the drive across Michigan's Upper Peninsula, which is both beautiful and remote, allowing lots of time to work out plot knots. I carry a small recorder and talk to…

Okay

We're probably bats, but

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Ever wanted to have a go at a themed short story?

Ever wanted to participate in a serial novel online?

Ever wondered what the hell she's talking about this time....

http://novel.austcrimefiction.org/

Come and play.... it could be fun you…

I just returned from my high school reunion. Yes, forty years is a long time, and I'd been feeling old and fat in anticipation. I've gained fifty pounds since my skinny high school years, along with wrinkles and sags. I tried dieting this summer in preparation for the reunion, but lost about nine pounds, total. Oh, well, I wasn't deterred. After all, many I'd be seeing were life-long friends. Surely they wouldn't comment on the deteriorated state of my body,…

The big green blob who looks like Darth Vader really gone to seed is me on my ATV.

posted by Doranna

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you've been missing out--both as a reader and a writer! Over at my online hang-out (SFF Net, which hosts my newsgroup and a ton of others), writers--both published and unpublished--occasionally post short--really short--excerpts of their work--ie, "snippets." (This in turn has led to the development of snippet hounds, who go sniffing for snippets, and who howl in glee upon finding them, but that's a…

Today's a library talk day, and that means getting those ducks in a row. Do I have enough cards, books, handouts, and such? How will I look after a long drive on a hot day? And worst of all, will anyone care enough to show up?

First-time authors aren't exactly hot properties, and while libraries are usually willing to let me do my schtick, there's no guarantee patrons will show up to watch. I combat the no-name problem by approaching with a theme rather than just "Come Here and Buy My…

I occassionally blurt out statements without thinking. So I'm compiling a list of my observations, comments and personal sayings along with the meaning (if needed):

1. Roberts Rule #1: How does it affect Jim Roberts? If it doesn't, so what? Meant to defuse discussions about those things which really do nothing more than inflame passions and rile dispute. Frequently used to defuse senseless arguments.

1a. Roberts Rule of Redundancy: When called upon to speak at a public event --…

I'm off to Alaska in the morning--heading for Bouchercon and looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones.

The great thing about the mystery world is the friendships I have made. I would not have believed, when I wrote my first mystery 11 years ago that I would have a circle of wonderful friends who are important in my life. Any of you who have not been to a mystery convention, I really recommend trying one--they are all over the place and at various times of year. We…

Creativity, like love, life, and the circulatory system, is a river. It flows where it likes, sweeping with it everything in its path when it is at its strongest. It never fails that when I have a great idea for a story, I have two, sometimes three, and that can be hard to handle. On which one should I spend the time and energy that it takes to make an idea into a finished project?

I imagine Lewis and Clark, coming to a fork in some river and wondering which one to take. Will it lead…