I'm about to start a series of talks at local libraries on mystery sub-genres, and it's led me to some interesting people. I wanted to offer my audiences two authors' work as representative of each sub-genre: one very successful author and one who is just getting started but is promising. Since my reading within the mystery genre as a whole is pretty eclectic, I thought finding enough examples would be easy. I advertised for nominations in the sub-genres I'm less familiar with, meaning to…

YA author Scott Westerfeld is this week's guest, chatting about his Uglies series and more.

Click here to read the interview.

posted by Doranna Durgin

These days, writers have different ideas about what they want done with their work. Those of us who write for a living tend to want control over how the work is displayed--and so do our publishers. Others of us sometimes want their work freely available, as widely as possible. The nice thing is, we can each make that choice for our own work, and proceed accordingly.

The not-so-nice thing is when others try to make that choice for…

Okay, fellow mystery writers, confess: Have you begun to see possibilities for murder in everyday situations? Does the idea cross your mind in certain instances that the world might be better off without _____, and you have just the method to accomplish it? Oh, it's only idle thought, and you'd never act on it, but it's the tiniest bit satisfying to realize that if you had to, you could make the world a better place and never get caught, right?

I thought so. Writing about murder…

R-rated trailer for No Country for Old Men online.



Latino Review offers their thoughts on the screenplay for Get Smart.



Trailer…

Mother Teresa’s rough face, aged with lines and colored from outdoor living, stared from the front of TIME’s Sept. 3, 2007, issue. I half expected to read she had received sainthood from Rome, but large white letters screamed "The Secret Life of Mother Teresa" and small white print whispered "Newly published letters reveal a be loved icon’s 50-year crisis with faith."

Last week, Bill Maher, host of "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO, showed off the magazine and even kissed it,…

Hi, everyone. I posted September's WHAT'S NEW at my website http://www.davidmorrell.net. This month, I've written a personal essay about my 6-part comic-book series CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN, which debuts this month. I also have a page of Mitch Breitweiser's amazing artwork. I can't describe how excited I am by this chance to work in a totally new medium and to try to say something meaningful in it.

Here are two interesting articles about…

SILENT COUNSEL Tour – September 4

Partners & Crime

New York, NY

www.CrimePays.com

We had a wonderful launch at Partners & Crime in Greenwich Village, in New York. There was a great turn out—upwards of 70 people, which pleased me no end. (And…

We had a fabulous teen author, Jack Gantos, at the Schaumburg Twp. Library not too long ago. He is class personified as well as funny, a very skilled writer for different ages, and an artist. On the days we took him to the high schools and grade schools, he got up at 3:30 to do his writing for the day. Yes, I mean A.M.

I know I do not have that kind of discipline, yet I handle many freelance projects and my library deadlines professionally. I suppose I am then the type of person who…

Mystic Skies is an occultish type of genre' with some twists on a young boy named Frank. He discovers that his family is into the occult, but the twist is, who actually is his father? After finding out his heritage, he comes against some heavy duty questions on life, as well as, what is in this world... seen unseen.

I plan on making this into a series of books and possibly making it a 60,000 word books. Will work out what comes up.

Mixed Identity is about cloning and the consequences. A thriller based novel in rough draft at the moment. Cloning has been going on for years as they have been cloning various things... now it has come to the minds of men to clone people. Some scientist say they've done it already! My novel is about society, clones, the mistakes that happen with cloning and the "What ifs" questions that occur.

Mixed Identity is now in the "editing" process and getting ready for publishing. I…

Posted by Lorraine (L.L.) Bartlett

We were headed off for the Labor-Day weekend. At the last second, Frank decided we should deliver the wire I’d promised my Dad--not just leave it for him to find when he came over to feed the cats. That short trip delayed our departure by no more than three minutes. As we pulled out of Dad’s driveway, I saw a UPS truck pull up ours.

We stopped at the end of our yard and I hollered to old Brown Shorts, asking if he was making a delivery.…