October 2007 Blog Posts (215)

Between Books

I’m between books at the moment, and I wouldn’t wish it on Kim Jong-Il.

Yesterday I finished the (presumably) final editing pass on The Fourth Watcher. The copy edit and galley review are still hovering spectres in the future, but those are mainly mechanical exercises, rather than

creative. The world I was inventing in The Fourth Watcher has moved into the past tense now, and I haven’t begun the next…

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Added by Timothy Hallinan on October 11, 2007 at 4:08pm — No Comments

'Create a Corpse' Contest

"I kill people off for a living." That’s what I like to say when someone asks me what I do for a living. You don't want to miss reading the rest of this tongue-in-cheek post about mystery, murder, messages...and corpses. Author Karen Harrington invited me to share a bit about my mystery/suspense novels and while visiting Karen's blog A Writer's Diary, I…

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Added by Cheryl Kaye Tardif on October 11, 2007 at 2:52pm — No Comments

Hatadi Caught In Podcast Heist!

That mad Hatadi has done it again: his voice has been captured for all eternity in a digital form. To be replicated and distributed through millions of small boxes with clicky wheels on the front.

(switch to first person)

And it's all thanks to that bold criminal of the podcast universe,… Continue

Added by Daniel Hatadi on October 11, 2007 at 2:20pm — No Comments

Last Day In The Bush

Friday was spent at the High School in Aniak, doing writing exercises

with several classes of the older children. I varied the exercises

depending on the class. It was a fun day. I found that the High

Schoolers in general during my visit were some of the most difficult to

get through to, but also some of the most rewarding. You could just

tell when they got it, and the light went on, and they started to enjoy

it. There are some very intelligent and creative… Continue

Added by Donna Moore on October 11, 2007 at 9:48am — 2 Comments

Flash Fiction

Lately I've become a fan of flash fiction. I find it the perfect format to read online and it's often a good introduction to an author's writing style.

I've posted flash stories on Muzzle Flash, Powder Burn Flash and Shred of Evidence, they're all good.

Added by John McFetridge on October 11, 2007 at 7:38am — No Comments

NYC MOODS

I will never kill a cab driver in one of my books. I promised Preston.

He was my hack yesterday, here in New York City. He was one of those

taxi drivers who really make you feel good about being here: bright,

funny, opinionated, knowledgeable, an excellent conversationalist. So

when he asked what I do and I told him, and then he asked if I'd ever

killed a cabbie in one of my books and I told him I haven't, he asked

me to promise I never would. And I… Continue

Added by Eric Stone on October 11, 2007 at 12:12am — No Comments

But Will It Sell on U-Tube?

Today's author can get buried in "how-to" advice, to the point where she just wants to scream and hide under the covers. Build a website, and don't forget to update regularly. Do a blog -- no, do half a dozen. Make a trailer, put it on U-Tube. Get radio interviews, better yet, do television. Go on tours. Write the sequel. No, do some short stories to get your name out there. Send out postcards. Or bookmarks. How about funny t-shirts?

What happened to my dream of creating entertaining…

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Added by Peg Herring on October 10, 2007 at 10:58pm — 2 Comments

The Gimme Children

posted by Doranna Durgin

Or, to start from the other end of things...this is the tale of the awakening of an Earth Child.

I clearly remember the first Earth Day--my participation, my school's strong participation--and the way I took for granted, even at that age, that being an Earth Child was a groupmind understanding of the way Things Needed To Be. I participated annually in the twenty-mile Walk for Water, as well as environmental bike-a-thons.…

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Added by Writers Plot on October 10, 2007 at 10:50pm — No Comments

Some Like It Hot-Buttered

How can one author come up with someone as loveable as Aaron Tucker for one mystery series, and then another one just as sweet in Elliot Freed? Jeffrey Cohen introduces Elliot in Some Like It Hot-Buttered, the first Double Feature Mystery. I'm projecting great success for this series, since the first book manages to be fun and witty, and… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on October 10, 2007 at 3:01pm — No Comments

Bones to Ashes

Kathy Reichs' tenth novel, Bones to Ashes, takes forensic anthropologist Temperance "Tempe" Brennan into her own past. It's a troubling, but fascinating, examination of Tempe's troubled childhood, and that of other young women who lost their innocence, childhoods, and sometimes, their lives.

Following her brother and father's deaths, Tempe's mother… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on October 10, 2007 at 3:00pm — No Comments

True crime and Whale Song, a novel that is making a difference

The following article recently appeared on Grow Mercy, a wonderful blog by a wonderful and caring person--Stephen Thomas Berg. Stephen invited me to share how Whale Song, my recent novel about love, lies, sacrifice and…

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Added by Cheryl Kaye Tardif on October 10, 2007 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Review - Torch, Lin Anderson

I've just published a review of TORCH from Scottish Author Lin Anderson. Her website is at: http://www.lin-anderson.com/ and the website for the main character in her books Dr Rhona Macleod (Forensic Scientist) is at http://www.rhonamacleod.com/

Added by Karen from AustCrime on October 10, 2007 at 1:05pm — No Comments

Tanka 5.0

Cold merciless rain

strips the shapely…

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Added by Karyn J. Powers on October 10, 2007 at 12:35pm — No Comments

Book Review Web Sites

Another great review of Antler Dust was posted today on www.frontstreetreviews.com. One wonderful sentence went like this:

"Antler Dust is a first-rate thriller. Though you know from the early

pages 'whodunit' the excitement is in the chase, which doesn't let up

until the very end."

And near the end, another nice one:

"Tight, straightforward writing and a never-let-up pace make Antler Dust

a superb debut novel for Stevens."

Hey, I love… Continue

Added by Mark Stevens on October 10, 2007 at 12:29pm — No Comments

Cajun Kickoff Contest

CAJUN BASKET GIVEAWAY

CONTENTS:

Set of 4 plates from Old Navy,

alligator soap,

misc crawfish stuff,

stuffed alligator,

gumbo mix,

Cajun seasoning “rub”,

jambalaya mix,

Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning,

Tony Chachere’s Creole Roux mix,

red beans & rice mix,

and Louisiana Hot Sauce, of course!

See my website on the CONTEST PAGE for details on how to… Continue

Added by Robin Caroll on October 10, 2007 at 5:34am — No Comments

The Wire

As

in getting down to it. There’s a week left until my latest deadline.

Six days, actually, since I will be shooting my book trailer on

Saturday and probably won’t get much else accomplished that day. This

deadline’s for another ghost project. Literary Black Ops. If I told you

about it, I’d have to kill you. You know the drill.

Anyway, today was a nice solid 4K day. Normally I take Mondays off, if by “off” you mean using the time to do all those…

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Added by Christa Faust on October 10, 2007 at 3:00am — 4 Comments

Double Teamed

Posted by Lorraine (L.L.) Bartlett

All summer long I waited to receive the copyedits on my upcoming books. One has a longer lead-time, so I figured that one would come sometime this fall. Well, it didn't. It came first!

That's okay, I had plenty (two weeks) of time to complete it ... until the other one arrived. And that one only had a one-week turnaround deadline.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Comparing the edits has been an eye-opening experience. What one…

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Added by Writers Plot on October 10, 2007 at 1:21am — No Comments

outsourced libraries

I should update a previous blog post on the libraries in Jackson County, Oregon that were closed last April. They're going to reopen now that the county has outsourced them to a for-profit library management company. They'll be open fewer hours (from 40/week to 24), have fewer employees with no union contract and much-smaller salaries - and the books will be chosen,… Continue

Added by Barbara Fister on October 10, 2007 at 1:02am — 1 Comment

I Have to Disagree

We don't all like beets. I, for one, despise them. My husband, however, spends months growing them, then digging, peeling, chopping, and boiling, all to have a few helpings of one of the few purple foods available (which to my mind is nature's way of saying, "This is not normal").

That's why I seldom buy books based on reviews. I enjoy reading reviews, have even written them, but I don't make my read-or-don't-read decisions based on someone else's opinion of a book or…

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Added by Peg Herring on October 9, 2007 at 11:11pm — No Comments