My husband has been going nuts lately with doing the cover art; just nuts .He won’t let me alone:  do you like this font? What about this for artwork? Do you think this grabs the essence of the story? Does this jump out at you? He has a hundred of them, questions I mean. You have to watch what you say around the guy, he turns very innocent things into things that you thought they could never be. The bocce ball thing for example,” I Have Chrome Balls, Don’t You?”. Did you really think of…

My tough and driven heroine, Emily Stone, from my two novels (Compulsion, Dead…

One of my favorite authors, although before I was just getting hit with one novel a year from the guy, Brett Battles of “The Cleaner” series has gone all YA on us and dropped in an exciting new novel, “Here Comes Mr. Trouble”  . You do not have to ask me twice if I liked or not, “Loved It”. Okay I have been watching the DVD’s of “In Living Color” too much lately; remember the Men in Film skits? To get back on point here, I have had the pleasure and…

 I image this has happened to most writers. The glow of the computer screen keeps you company as you stare dully at the blank slate that is supposed to be your newest work. I know I have spent many hours wondering why my fingers won’t quite move like they need to. How do you get over this? There are many tactics I have tried. First I try to force it out, just to end up erasing every last word I have typed. Next I have tried writing at a different time of day, hoping to void…

I was recently invited to Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA, to speak to aspiring writers about the world of publishing. Mt. SAC, as it is commonly called, is the largest community college in the United States. I wasn't there just to lecture at the weekend writers' conference, but also to represent Oak Tree Press in my role as acquisitions editor and scout for talent.

To be 60 and sitting in a classroom with people barely in their 20's listening to teachers half my age…

Once, back in the dark ages, like about five years ago, if you wanted to be an author, you’d write a book, scour around for an agent, and, if the stars aligned, get one and sign with a big-time publisher. That’s how it worked – there was one path, one key to the literary castle. If you couldn’t follow the path, you didn’t get the key, and all you got to write were cranky letters home.

If you did land one, the agent would have to find a publisher. If not, that would be the…

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"It is a time for champions, little brother.  It is your time." (Mycroft Holmes, WHITECHAPEL)

"My Sherlock Holmes…

I often wonder how most people tour a big foreign city. How do they prepare? Is everything left to the tour company, with that extra half day on their own? Or do tourists venture out on their own?

I'll be in Rome in four months and have already selected specific sites I do not want to miss. I've visited Rome but it was many, many years ago and I want a refresher course.

I've selected three walking tours, my favorite way to see a city and not get lost.  A map…

A complex and growing problem among our civilized society has been the cause and effect of crime.  Three basic issues have been addressed and debated: how to prevent crime, how to combat crime, and how to punish for the criminal act.  Extensive research and tactical techniques have been the outcome to address such issues to protect the quality of life. …

This seems to be not isolated to my experience, since there are scores of threads online about how facebook is mismanaging its ad system. Once you open an ad account, it requires you to enter a billing method. However, I cannot close my ad account or remove that billing method. I've tried a million ways. I can't.

Seems scammy.

They also billed one of my advertising campaigns to my credit card when they should've done it to a coupon they e-mailed me. I sent no…

This collection of short stories from twenty writers (no fewer than ten are members of CrimeSpace) is the brainchild of our own Tim Hallinan.  He has worked on this project for several months now, as our contribution to the Japan disaster relief.  The book contains mysteries, articles, and Basho's haikus and is an altogether lovely thing.

The…

Frenzied news reports that were coming out of Texas earlier this week led many of us to believe that a serial killer’s victims had been discovered in the Lone Star State.  A woman, who later identified herself as a psychic who goes by the name of Angel, called the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office to report that there was a mass grave of…

This blog is now appearing at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/2011/06/flawed-pis-gotta-love-em-guest-post-by.html?showComment=1307713550519#c4287546784410641304

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B.R. Stateham is a talented and gifted author. His writing style is distinct yet he is able to write in many different genres. In “Hotel Beaumont” he decided to go the action/thriller route with yet another character that seems to be the perfect human weapon. There is a high body count in the digital short story, but he makes it all sound good, it flows, and has the right sense of judgment and execution. His narrative as usual seems to be right on…