April 2007 Blog Posts (377)

Deadman's Switch

When Barbara Seranella died, the world lost a gifted writer. In Deadman's Switch, she even makes the investigation of a train derailment fascinating.

Charlotte Lyon has been widowed for nine months. It's only her successful business in disaster-planning crisis management that keeps her going. When the Sunliner passenger train derails on the way to an Indian casino in Palms Springs, CA, Charlotte is called in. She'll not only do story control in time of crisis, but she'll… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on April 16, 2007 at 3:39am — No Comments

UK crime readers

Why is it that UK publishers believe that UK crime readers are not interested in detective stories based in continental Europe? Reason I ask: not long back, I wrote two detective stories set in present-day eastern Germany (with its Communist and its Nazi past). My London agent sent them everywhere in London. The consensus was that the publishers liked the writing, characters and plotting, but didn't think they would sell. Could this be because UK readers are believed not to want anything set in… Continue

Added by david boggis on April 16, 2007 at 1:46am — No Comments

Last day of Easter holidays ...

... sigh. Work tomorrow - groan! I always hate the last day of any holiday (even if it's just a weekend and a normal Sunday) but this one's worse; what with conferencing and Easter university closure days, I haven't been in for a lifetime, so tomorrow morning is going to arrive like an unwelcome visitor. With a case. Thank goodness the boss isn't in, so it gives me time to get used to it all again without the need for a false professional face. Not that the boss is horrible - it's…

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Added by Anne Brooke on April 16, 2007 at 1:12am — No Comments

"Disposal" - an excerpt from <i>Contract</i>

Disposal of a Corpus Delicti, if you want to know, is not as easy as you’d think.

The stink of decomposing meat is the biggest problem. Time, forensic traces, bone-digging dogs, dental records,…

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Added by Simon Spurrier on April 15, 2007 at 11:49pm — No Comments

The Curative Power of Rankin and Bruen...

When I start writing a book, I have this habit of picking up an Ian Rankin or Ken Bruen novel and paying some close attention to their prose styles. I loved the terseness of their prose. The cadences. Bruen can write like an expert at a machine gun. Picked up THE DRAMATIST at The Black Orchid the other day. I was told about the ending (not what happens, but that I'll be dazzled by it, though Joe used a less polite term if I recall correctly). I haven't gotten to the ending. In fact, I just…

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Added by Steven Torres on April 15, 2007 at 2:01pm — 1 Comment

Invisible Shield

Scarlett Dean's Invisible Shield is a fascinating police procedural with an intriguing premise. Homicide Detective Lindsay Frost didn't believe in the paranormal at all. It's a good thing her sister, Kate, did. When Lindsay was murdered at home, she had no clue as to who killed her. She has to convince Kate, a police officer, to team up with her to find her murderer.

Lindsay is in for a shock, though. She has to learn all about her new role in the afterlife, and she's… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on April 15, 2007 at 9:54am — No Comments

Blake, Victoria – CUTTING BLADES

CUTTING BLADES

(Private Investigator-England-Cont) – G

Blake, Victoria – 2^nd in series

Orion, 2005- UK Hardcover – ISBN:

0752860585

First Sentence: In the grey morning

light, he looks like a giant standing on Putney Bridge in softly falling snow.

At four-years old, PI Sam Falconer had been told her father had died a hero. Now she finds not only that he is

alive… Continue

Added by LJ Roberts on April 15, 2007 at 9:30am — No Comments

Noirathon - LA vs NY: Round 2

The Champ: ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (NY)

ODDS is a movie that is bigger than its genre. A tight little caper film on the surface but more complex and layered with meaning. It deals primarily with racism as a theme but that’s not all there is to it. Far more than a simple morality fable, ODDS is filled with flawed and driven men who grow increasingly more desperate as things start to fall apart around them. Harry Belafonte plays a… Continue

Added by Christa Faust on April 15, 2007 at 4:51am — No Comments

Anatomy of Fear by Jonathan Santlofer

Anatomy of Fear

By Jonathan Santlofer…

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Added by QualityBookReviews on April 15, 2007 at 4:00am — No Comments

The Apple...?

I've been hearing from some, not many, that their computers are having problems with crimespace. Not sure what they are using, computer wise or access. Tales of crashing, etc. while accessing crimespace.

Yesterday morning, I was on the apple imac, reading the forums. Toodling along on crimespace and all of a sudden, everything froze. Cursor would move, but I couldn't click on anything.

With windows XP, this has happened, but never like it was with 98. But the apple? What… Continue

Added by Rose on April 15, 2007 at 3:27am — 2 Comments

Quatre-Vingt-Quinze Pour Cent

Quatre-Vingt-Quinze Pour Cent

A humorous translation from French to English

In 2001, my friend Delphine sent me the lyrics to

a French song about the hard time men have in pleasing women. I decided

to "translate" it into English using a method that tried for humor over

accuracy.

Quatre-vingt-quinze pour cent

1/4 of a pint of quince wine… Continue

Added by Newt Love on April 15, 2007 at 3:05am — 2 Comments

Back to Nature: A THRILLING trip to the library

Yup, I hit the library every day. I check out audios and DVD's. Normally a very uneventful trip, to be sure, but Friday was a whole nother kettle of fish. Well, not really fish. One never thinks that the library is a place closely associated with the creatures of nature, but let me tell you a story.

I'm in the back of the library (DVD section) and all is peaceful--as it should be in the library. All of a sudden, I hear this incredible pounding at the front of the library.…

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Added by Karen Syed on April 15, 2007 at 1:45am — 3 Comments

In at the deep end, surrounded by sharks, wearing raw-meat trousers.

People keep acting like I'm mad when I mention how Green I am. Why deny it? I'm a newbie, a n00b, a wannabe, a tryhard. My first novel is published next month - by a decent-sized and perfectly respectable publisher, no less – so I'm permitted, I think, a little quiet smuggery. Fine. But I try to temper that, always, by inserting a thick vein of cynicism into conversations, and people just Don't Like It.

"Yes," I'll say, nodding politely. "I…

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Added by Simon Spurrier on April 15, 2007 at 1:40am — 6 Comments

Second Amazon review and A Stranger's Table request

Great joy this morning to discover a second five-star Amazon review (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dangerous-Man-Anne-Brooke/dp/0954594568/ref=sr_1_4/202-0915331-5590251?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176559428&sr=8-4) for A Dangerous Man (thanks, Sue! Great pseudonym too!...), which I reproduce…

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Added by Anne Brooke on April 15, 2007 at 1:29am — No Comments

Masters of the Craft (World Horror, Part II)

(cross-posted from Murderati.com)

Writing conventions are always invaluable on so many levels it’s hard to quantify. But there’s often, or maybe always, one particular thing that happens that is worth the whole cost and effort of attending – that may actually cause a paradigm shift in the way you approach your writing and/or your career.

I was at the World Horror Convention in Toronto last weekend and for me that life-altering event was the “Masters of the Craft” panel,… Continue

Added by Alexandra Sokoloff on April 15, 2007 at 1:23am — No Comments

Noir Cats

Daniel Hatadi climbed the last flight of stairs and paused at the

office door. He'd heard that this guy was supposed to be shit hot as a

PI, but the unprepossessing building, the dingy stairway, the battered

door that looked as though it had been kicked by a herd of angry

buffalo, and the all pervading aroma of cheap whisky, cheap cigars and

even cheaper women made him wonder if his source had been mistaken.

He turned the handle and entered the… Continue

Added by Donna Moore on April 14, 2007 at 11:01pm — 5 Comments

Words of Wisdom or Encouragement

I've had a request for the novelist-related quotes I collect from authors and sometimes artists. So here they are below. I've got 68 now, which I've been collecting off and on for the last few years, grouped into a few topic areas. A close reading will reveal that some of the quotes contradict, while some reinforce others. Hope you find something useful ...

ON DEDICATION…

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Added by Eric Christopherson on April 14, 2007 at 5:26pm — 2 Comments

More words

Not that I think anyone is reading this!

But the last three days I've done my 1,000 words, and today I tweaked my agent query and sent one out.

I guess I should mention I was nominted for a Derringer which sure

goosed, I mean encouraged me. I have been reading the

nominations, and they are all so good! Wow. It's going to

be hard to vote.

The weather has improved down here in Port Aransas, and the birds have

been coming to the pond outside… Continue

Added by Jan Christensen on April 14, 2007 at 2:27pm — No Comments

Friday the 13th: By the Numbers

I would never name my child Jason Voorhees.

Wooded lakeside camps have always been forlornly creepy.

Silent giants wearing hockey masks out of context is now nightmare-inducing.

But calendrically there's nothing inherently scary about Friday the 13th. The date is arbitrary. It could have been "Tuesday the 27th."

[insert Wilhelm scream here!!!!].

Some fun facts, courtesy of the one-stop depository of all… Continue

Added by Tiffany Leigh on April 14, 2007 at 2:02pm — No Comments