Out of New Orleans before the catastrophe that was made by a hurricane and, as Dante wrote, “of false…

Gosh, great title, eh? That'll have 'em lining the bookshops ... Anyway, after last night’s book club joy, I came down to earth very rapidly at getting yet another rejection for Maloney’s Law. Deep sigh. Admittedly, it was from a publisher I assumed had already rejected it, but there you go. So, it’s now only out with one US publisher – if they say no, I’m throwing in the towel on the commercial front, I think, as it’s coming up to two years in the market for that one now. Shame…

Click here to read chapter one.

Click here to listen to chapter one.…

The 6th Annual Gumshoe Awards are given by Mystery Ink to recognize the best achievements in crime fiction. This year's nominees were chosen from books first published in the United States in 2006.

Best Mystery:



Julia Spencer-Fleming - All Mortal Flesh

The Nominees:

Ace…

Posted by Lorraine Bartlett

Of course everyone here at Writers Plot wants you to buy OUR books. (They are quite wonderful, after all.) But today we're asking you to support one of our fellow authors.

Several weeks ago, author Elaine Viets (a friend of Leann's) had a devastating stroke. Emergency surgery has given Elaine a good shot at recovery, but not in time to promote her newest book, which…

For years I've hesitated to add to the blogosphere. There's no denying that there's a lot of amusing, entertaining, informative, heart-rending, compassionate, committed, useful (etc., etc.) stuff there but there's also so much garbage. It can be quite depressing reading the inarticulate ramblings of people with nothing to say. But, of course, none of my minor gripes is relevant when placed against the democratisation it represents. Voices are heard nowadays. Blogging may have recreated the…

Hi guys,

My first blog on Crimespace and it's a biggie!!

Cue the drum roll and clash of cymbals - THE NIGHT FERRY has hit the bookshops…

Was it just me or was last night's offering of "Kingdom" on TV slightly better than the week before? More jokes and sharpness, thank God. If they could only shake off the trappings of ruddy "Heartbeat", they'd be laughing. Oh and get rid of the irritating sister - a waste of space in my opinion. There, rant over. Phew



Have taken my calming pills to work today due to this evening’s University book circle discussion of A Dangerous Man (…

Well, of course, I left my camera in New York--it's supposed to be on its way back to me today, but in the meantime, I thought that I'd post this photo provided to me by New York Japion, a weekly publication. I'm not quite sure how to make in vertical, so here we are, sideways.

Edgar Week was great; I'm indeed walking on air. Of course, the house is a mess,…

Why wasn't I hanging out around Backspace months ago? The multi-talented Karen Dionne has an amazing site there--everything the budding or even recently budded writer needs. I visited by way of Susan Henderson's blog and cool writer hangout, LitPark, where Karen will be featured this week.

This is what I picked up today: J.A. Konrath's great list for preparing for a booksigning. This man knows how to handsell books--and he's sold a lot of them. I've attended many signings, and sat…

Posted by Sheila Connolly

Frank Bidart likes cake.…

It's never been a secret that Benjamin Black is really Man Booker Prize winner John Banville. Even the copy accompanying the author's photo on the inside-back flap of the dust jacket proclaims, "Bennamin Black is the pen name of acclaimed author John Banville..." So why bother with a pen name?

Some might see it as a literary author's defense against accusations of slumming. (How dare he write something as common as a "crime novel!") But those who follow Banville's various articles and…

It has been a great institute so far. I snagged a parking spot right behind the hotel and haven't been that lucky in three years. I thought that would be the highlight ntil Friday when a poem I submitted placed third in the institute contest. That was great. The opening agents' forum addressed the roll that "platform" plays in branding your name. There was a good discussion of the rise and fall of certain genre, but the agents reassured the audience that good writing, in the hands of a good…