June 2008 Blog Posts (161)

The Blood Detective

"The past is a living thing; it's always present." It's the comment that haunts Dan Waddell's debut mystery, The Blood Detective. Nigel Barnes, a genealogist, knows that the keys to a modern murder spree are found in the past.

Detective Chief Inspector Grant Foster and Detective Sergeant Heather Jenkins are puzzled by the bizarre series of letters and numbers carved in the chest of a dead man found in London. It takes a genealogist to recognize them as numbers referring to… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on June 10, 2008 at 2:13pm — No Comments

Plots with Guns is up, son!

Yes, it's true. Go to Plotswithguns.com right now to read a story by me and other, more talented (if slightly less sexually attractive) writers, and then tell a friend.

And then somebody give PayPal a neck so I can wring it.

Added by Jimmy Callaway on June 10, 2008 at 11:08am — No Comments

I Know Somthing You Don't Know

Spent the weekend at KILLER NASHVILLE. It is a great conference with some of the friendliest people I have ever spent time with. If you have the chance to wander that way at about this time next year do so. Tennessee is a lovely state, and your hosts will do anything in their power to make you feel at home. The list of talented panelist grows each year and if you don't learn something there, check to see if you haven't already passed away.

Added by Allan E. Ansorge on June 10, 2008 at 8:00am — No Comments

Latest appearance - live and on line

Saturday I braved 97 degree heat to journey to my first book signing at a Books-A-Million store. The store, at Potomac Mills, is a huge one, and because we are still learning each other, Books-A-Million ordered only one title, my flagship book, Blood and Bone. But even without multiple sales, I met a great number of new friends and signed quite a stack of books. I think that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Sunday it was back to Borders, this time in Waldorf,… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 10, 2008 at 4:20am — No Comments

New Story Up at Muzzle Flash

Twenty-Five Grand by Crimespace's very own Julie Morgan is now posted for your enjoyment at www.muzzleflashfiction.net.

Added by DZ Allen on June 10, 2008 at 3:50am — 1 Comment

William the Conqueror's Arches--I Mean...

Guess I might have called this "The Hazards of Spellcheck."

I talk to so many writers who are chomping at the bit to get their work out there. Enthusiasm is great, but wisdom is better. You should NOT send your work out the week, month, or maybe even the year after you finish it.

I know, you think it's done. But listen to good writers, and they'll tell you that nobody's done just because he's written the final period. Concentrating on the story, you've made mistakes that… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 9, 2008 at 10:38pm — No Comments

What's New for June

Hi, everyone. Just a reminder that SCAVENGER is now available in paperback. My June WHAT'S NEW page is now on my website http://www.davidmorrell.net. This month I talk about the recent death of Sydney Pollack, who was one of my five favorite film directors. He was originally scheduled to direct FIRST BLOOD when Steve McQueen was scheduled to play Rambo. Pollack was a terrific man. I hope you enjoy reading about him. David

Added by David Morrell on June 9, 2008 at 10:24am — No Comments

Weekly Blog - 9th June

I spent most of last week working on the sequel to my debut novel, Justice For All. The sequel now has a title – Blood Law – and I received my second (and hopefully final!) set of editorial notes from my publisher on Monday. The editorial process is always challenging. After working on a novel for a number of months, all you really want to hear from everyone that reads it is how perfect it is – to receive any comment other than ‘don’t change a thing’ is in truth a bit of a… Continue

Added by Steven Hague on June 9, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

With Apologies to Nora Charles

So someone brought one of these goofy tests to my attention. It's the 1930s Marital Scale.

Basically, you take a quiz and see where you rank on the 1930s scale of desirable spousity. It takes maybe...four minutes.

As a 1930s wife, I am

Very Poor (Failure)…

Continue

Added by Diana Killian on June 9, 2008 at 9:30am — No Comments

SUNDAAAAAY! Part 2

Short day. Came home from work and canceled my subscription to the Yahoo/rara-avis list. I didn't find the chatter very interesting or useful and for the most part, the participants come across as a bunch of f'in blowhards. They have a lot of people on the list but I think the majority are afraid of commenting for fear of getting the verbal equivalent to a forearm smash to the head if they say the wrong thing. There are the exceptions and occasional gems that come your way like Allan Guthrie's… Continue

Added by Paul Greenberg on June 9, 2008 at 9:09am — No Comments

Bloody Words Toronto, the most Bloody Fun a Bloody Writer can have!

Bloody Words 2008, Marriott Hotel, Toronto Eaton Centre

It’s Sunday afternoon, and another Bloody Words Conference has come to an end. For the uninitiated, let me explain what Bloody Words is all about. Founded in 1999, Bloody Words is the annual crime writers’ conference for readers, writers, literary agents and publishers – in short, anyone interested in true crime or crime… Continue

Added by Donna Carrick on June 9, 2008 at 8:50am — No Comments

SUNDAAAAAY!

Made some changes to my Librarything page. Found a vintage paperback copy of Anatomy of a Murder at a yard sale. TVO'd Nightmare Alley which is playing on the Retro Channel. Off to work.

Added by Paul Greenberg on June 9, 2008 at 1:27am — No Comments

The Backspace Book Promotion Network

A few months before the release of my debut thriller, FREEZING POINT, I decided I was going to use the Internet to promote my novel as much as possible.

From talking to other writers, I knew there were plenty of promotional opportunities available - blog tours, online book clubs, book review sites, video sharing, and social network sites where people who might be interested in the topic of my book gathered.

I heard words like… Continue

Added by Karen Dionne on June 8, 2008 at 11:30pm — No Comments

Housewife hindsight

Been kicking myself recently. I realized a few things are missing from my latest novel, When the Shit Hits the Housewife:

1) The character that goes missing, Matthew Dougherty, was in AA. His wife, Marie, should have gone to an AA meeting to talk to his friends and acquaintances there.

2) Nick Marsh, who is helping Marie track down Matthew, is a bass player. He should have at least once pined for his bass, since he didn't bring it along on their travels.

3) On the… Continue

Added by Johnny Ostentatious on June 8, 2008 at 10:51pm — No Comments

Plots With Guns

Don't let me be the one to stop you from going over to plotswithguns.com to partake of my new story "The Southwest Chief," or any of the other excellent pieces that appear in the current issue. It's probably best that you get it out of your system. Like now.

Added by Josh Converse on June 8, 2008 at 8:36pm — No Comments

Hammett Prize winner announced

The Gumshoe site just reported that Gil Adamson's The Outlander won the Hammett Prize 2007.

There is a certain consequence to it: If they nominated it, they could let it win. It is definitely a fine book.

My congratulations to the winner.

The other nominees could be seen -> here.

Added by Bernd Kochanowski on June 8, 2008 at 4:25pm — 2 Comments

Another day at the cell phone store

Working in retail is periods of busy-ness surrounded by longer periods of boredom. Plenty of time for reading. Finished, A Touch of Death. Excellent noir story of a man's spiral into hell. No wonder I'm always depressed. Some how uplifting books just don't appeal to me. Started Robbie's Wife by Russell Hill.

Added by Paul Greenberg on June 8, 2008 at 10:34am — No Comments

The Failed War On Drugs

Tatum O’Neal’s recent arrest for drug possession is another sad reminder of America’s failed war on drugs.

The drug market today in the United States is estimated at $150 billion a year. We have the highest incarceration rate for any Western nation at a cost of $30 billion a year. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 81% of these dollars are spent on substance-involved offenders. One in three African-American males are in prison on drug-related charges. Gang and gun violence… Continue

Added by Christopher Valen on June 7, 2008 at 1:04pm — 4 Comments

Forgotten Books Friday

Let's hear it for Tubby Dubonnet! I first met this charming New Orleanian bon vivant under less than ideal circumstances. He'd chosen to stay in his Garden District home despite dire weather warnings about an oncoming hurricane, and soon enough he was stranded. That hurricane turned out to be Katrina, and following the breakdown of the New Orleans… Continue

Added by Clea Simon on June 7, 2008 at 1:30am — No Comments

Big thank you to everyone - now please can we do it again?

I wanted to say a big thank you to eveyone on the Ning network who placed a vote for my novel 'A Study in Red - the Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper' in the recent Authors Lounge Cover Illustration Award Poll. Thanks to the wonderful response I received after showing the cover here, the book was successful in winning the May award.

Now I have to ask if we can please do it again, as my cover for 'Purple Death' has been nominated for the June award in the same contest. If anyone is… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on June 7, 2008 at 1:00am — No Comments