August 2007 Blog Posts (308)

To Macbeth or Not to Macbeth

I have a book coming out in January called Macbeth's Niece. I don't know where my idea for the story came from, but most writers don't, I suppose. We don't choose to write about a particular subject. A plot forms in your head and you can't stop thinking about it until you write it down.

Anyway, Macbeth's Niece sold, so now I'm asked all the time, "What's the name of your book?" The first thing I noticed is that "Macbeth's Niece" is very hard to get across verbally…

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Added by Peg Herring on August 31, 2007 at 10:43pm — 1 Comment

Day 30 of Cheryl's VBT: contest reminder and racial acceptance interview

Two days to go on my 'Touring the World' virtual book tour. Today, I have to remind those of you who ordered Whale Song on August 12th as part of my 44 Prizes contest to remember to email me with your Amazon shipping confirmation. The first 44 emails I receive will WIN FREE BOOKS! For more info, please check my contests page.…

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Added by Cheryl Kaye Tardif on August 31, 2007 at 5:39pm — No Comments

Bangkok

It is a hazy morning in Bangkok. More likely than not it will rain this afternoon and flood the streets for about an hour. That happens on Friday afternoons this time of year especially just as a massive weekend traffic jam is building up. I work out of where I live so I can look out at the traffic and try and understand the depth of the misery that comes from being stuck 2 hours a day behind the wheel.



I am putting together my stuff, and loading up the laptop as I prepare for a one… Continue

Added by ChristopherGMoore on August 31, 2007 at 2:34pm — No Comments

Spinetingler Awards

After much debate, we've decided to implement an annual award through Spinetingler Magazine. Two things were paramount in my mind when considering this:



1. I didn't want us to just duplicate what others were doing. 2. I wanted the awards to invite the participation of readers and authors.



As a result, October 1, 2007 we'll open up the nominating process. I will have information about this on our site and post more (assuming that's okay with the moderators) when the…

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Added by Sandra Ruttan on August 31, 2007 at 10:52am — 3 Comments

Thursday Thirteen #1



Dumb Utah Laws


It is illegal to detonate any nuclear weapon. Apparently, you can have them (is this true?) but you just can't detonate them.


Birds…
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Added by Sammi Carter on August 31, 2007 at 10:10am — No Comments

Writing vs. Homework

Hello -

I'm Amy Alessio, the Teen Coordinator of the Schaumburg Twp. Library and a writer. I've been lucky enough to be a panelist the past two years at LIM and was a participant before that. I'm going to be blogging about writing, mysteries and more over the next few months to help tide us all over until the big event. I look forward to good discussions and comments on this blog!

Obviously, in addition to my own pleasure reading of mysteries and non-fiction, I read a great…

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Added by Love Is Murder Conference on August 31, 2007 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

Extreme makeovers

I'm straddling publishers at the moment: Grand Central Publishing will put out my second Annie Seymour book, SECONDHAND SMOKE, in paperback in November, and NAL/Obsidian will be publishing the third in the series, DEAD OF THE DAY, at the same time.

But their covers will make them look like they're from two different series.

My editor told me that my new book covers were going to get a makeover because of the publisher changeover, and I was pretty excited about it. And…

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Added by Karen E. Olson on August 31, 2007 at 7:00am — 3 Comments

THROWING RICE Flash Fiction by E.A. Cook

Troy didn't like to be rushed. Didn't like that the paparazzi was all over the place on this one. But he was a free-lancer, so it came with the territory. He prefered close-up work, but his employer wanted a distance shot at a celebrity wedding. So he waited from his balcony.

He'd been enjoying the purrs and moans of a raven-haired, well endowed beauty when the call came in to his Manhatten apartment. They needed the shoot done today. In Malibu. He had three hours to catch a flight,…

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Added by E.A. Cook on August 31, 2007 at 6:57am — No Comments

Didn't get the job!

I'd applied for a job recently that I thought would be right up my street; alas after several weeks of waiting, an interview and several phone calls, I received a letter today stating that I had been unsuccessful. Aahh well... just have to keep trying I suppose!

Added by Roger Newbury on August 31, 2007 at 2:59am — No Comments

Unchain My Heart

posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken

Back in the Old Days, before the internet brought us "instant communications" and the ability to distribute "mail" with the drop of a hat, I received an occasional chain letter.

All I had to do was copy a letter so-many-times, which wasn't all that easy either by hand or typewriter, and send it to so-many-friends, which wasn't all that cheap, either, and usually required a trip to the post office for stamps. Then I was instructed to send some…

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Added by Writers Plot on August 30, 2007 at 10:53pm — 1 Comment

Oh, So You're an Author!

I was pretty quiet about wanting to publish until I got my first contract. In a small town, announcing that you've written a book is an invitation to "Who does she think she is?" comments behind your back. Once I got that contract, however, it became necessary to come out of the book closet and start down the endless road of marketing and promotion.

The most surprising thing is how many phone calls I've gotten from people who have also written a book. They want to know how I got…

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Added by Peg Herring on August 30, 2007 at 9:24pm — No Comments

Richard S. Prather's final novel

Earlier this year I became hooked on Richard S. Prather's series about detective Shell Scott. These books were extremely popular in the 50's and 60's, selling somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 million copies. Obviously Prather isn't as well known now as he was in his heyday. It may be that his books were simply too lighthearted to be taken as seriously by critics as the works of many of his pulp contemporaries. But I think the Shell Scott books are great fun, and a few of them contains some… Continue

Added by Bryan Smith on August 30, 2007 at 3:51pm — 2 Comments

CAN YOU SPOT HER?

spot-her.JPG

The grouse stands dead still as I approach, banking on the notion I haven't seen her, her feathers resembling the pattern of bark on the tree.

I love the sound these grouse make in the woods. I must find a way to explain it -- it's more like a soft pressure on the eardrums, the sound an owl…

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Added by Loreth Anne White on August 30, 2007 at 3:02pm — 1 Comment

PATRIOT ACTS by Greg Rucka

On sale August 28 is Rucka's first book in six years about

deep-thinking bodyguard Atticus Kodiak. In trademark fashion, Rucka

lands fans in the middle of the action, picking up fifteen minutes

after Atticus and his assassin lover Alena have dispatched their enemy,

Oxford.



Atticus intends to leave Alena at a safe house in upstate New York, but driving away, he is ambushed. Narrowly escaping,

he returns to the safe house to find several guards killed,… Continue

Added by Gerald So on August 30, 2007 at 1:42pm — No Comments

Woke up, Got out of Bed, Dragged a Comb Across my Head...





By Cornelia



I couldn't think of anything even barely approaching wit or profundity this morning, and as it's getting on in time here without inspiration, I thought I'd share a typical day's schedule of life here at the Chateau Ultra-Trashy.



4:17 a.m. Lila, who fell asleep in my bed the night before, wakes up and starts laughing in the dark for no…
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Added by Cornelia Read on August 30, 2007 at 8:33am — 1 Comment

Whose book is it, anyway?

(Cross-posted from Poe's Deadly Daughters <www.poesdeadlydaughters.blogspot.com)



Writers hear a lot about their “contract with the reader” -- the obligation to deliver a good story and to follow through on the expectations they’ve created.



For mystery writers, that unwritten contract requires that we obey the conventions of the various subgenres. Readers of humorous cozies would feel betrayed and angry if their favorite writers shoved their noses into the realistic gore of… Continue

Added by Sandra Parshall on August 30, 2007 at 6:48am — No Comments

On the road again - Cross posted from Type M for Murder

P.S. What do you think of that photograph? Isn't it just perfect. The colours! That's me at Tofino on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. What the picture doesn't show is that I'm about to be in incredible pain, as I pulled my back out getting into the boat.

On The Road Again

I'm on holiday right now - having a vacation from my retirement. I drove out to the B.C. coast, visited Salt Spring…
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Added by Vicki Delany on August 30, 2007 at 5:58am — No Comments

Day 29 of virtual book tour: a peek at Children of the Fog by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Bestselling author Cheryl Kaye Tardif is nearing the end of her 'Touring the World' virtual book tour, so she decided to do something she doesn't usually do. She is giving you a sneak peek at an UNpublished novel, one that she is very excited about and one that Kunati Books is currently considering. If you enjoy it, please sign Cheryl's guestbook and tell her (and her publisher).…

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Added by Cheryl Kaye Tardif on August 30, 2007 at 5:11am — No Comments

Remembering Katrina

Hi folks,

It's a gorgeous, sunny, not-too-hot day here. But I'm listening to the New Orleans community radio station WWOZ online, and with the wonderful music they are playing, they are commemorating the hurricane and subsequent flood of two years ago. As a New Englander, I can only imagine what they're all still going through, but as a frequent visitor I know that the city is vibrant, strong spirited -- and still struggling. New Orleans needs our help more… Continue

Added by Clea Simon on August 30, 2007 at 3:32am — No Comments

NIGHT WORK by Steve Hamilton

Juvenile probation officer Joe Trumbull has spent the past two years

mourning his fiancee Laurel, murdered the night of his bachelor party&mdash;a

case that remains open. When the first woman he's dated in two years

turns up dead, memories come flooding back. When the details of her

death match those of Laurel's, Joe begins to wonder if there might be a

connection, improbable as it seems. When other women with whom Joe's

had the briefest contact are killed in… Continue

Added by Gerald So on August 30, 2007 at 12:44am — No Comments

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