From now through January 14th. Try western mystery author Gary Vineyard, thriller writers Richard Holcroft and L. A. Starks, and cozy mystery author Nora Barker. Or sample the writing of several StoneThread authors in an anthology.

http://stonethreadpublishing.com/sale/

Are you looking for a way to start promoting your book in the new year? Get a classic publicity package for your book that includes ALL of the following:

-A press release and distribution to an online newswire service and three book related social networks

-A web banner

-A custom book trailer designed for your book and the video will be distributed to ten video sharing sites

-An author interview

-A professional pitch sheet

-An author/book spotlight on DGT Book…

First, I want to thank all of you who have already said your piece, continue to weigh in, or will contribute your ideas for what you think half of our world’s population should be reading fiction-wise. This will be an on-going discussion, so please don’t think you’ve missed the boat.

Truth is, I am on a mission to get men reading fiction again.

Some 80% of fiction…

(Written in September before the move to Carlisle)

Driving to work one night I kept scanning the radio stations trying to find something worthwhile. The AM side of my radio has gone kaput so I don't get to listen to the talk shows like I used to. The one FM station has sports talk during the drive so I usually end up listening to music. Taking Care Of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive…

Festivus really was a holiday this year.

First, Sons of Spade, a web site dedicated to fictional PIs, named A Small Sacrifice runner-up for Best PI Novel of 2013.

Then, before turning in, I learned Woody Haut, writing in the LA Review of Books, has named Grind Joint among his fifteen favorite reads of 2013. Not in the Top Ten, but that was populated by the…

Here is a  round up of the highlights of 2013, videos and photo slide show to come in following blogs.

My thanks to all my readers, my publishers, to the libraries and organisations who have hosted my talks, to the audiences who came to listen to me, to the press, radio presenters and their listeners, bloggers and their readers and to my family, friends and everyone who has supported me throughout 2013 and an special thanks to the hunky DI Andy Horton!

Wishing you all a very…

This week, my featured author said, “We're going on a cruise.”

I was excited. A cruise. The Bahamas, Hawaii, Fiji. Warm sunshine, sandy beaches...

“No, we're going to travel the Bosporus,” she said.

“But I want to go to Tahiti. Come on, you'll love it.”

However, as with some of the more insistent authors I interview, in the end, I don't get a say in…

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but that new novel is so delightful.  Or perhaps, the dreariness of that tome is accentuated by the glimmering sunlight on the winter wonderland of snow outside.  Chances are, the book in somewhere in between.

But whether you think the book shines or whether you can only get through the first ten pages before putting it aside forever, the best gift you can give the author is an honest review.

Of course, all of us who write would…

Muse on Rodeo will explore the world or L.A. crime, mystery, noir and pulp in our next series and are honored to announce and welcome bestselling author Miles Corwinas our guest.

‘Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.’ – Dalai Lama

HOW TO SAY NO – TO NO ME IS TO LOVE ME

Recently, I tuned into an excellent podcast produced by Amy Porterfield called, “How to Set Goals and Create a Plan for the New Year.”

In the podcast, she…

Presto Variations, a new book -- the third in the Ray Tate/Djuna Brown series -- will be released next week by Dundurn. Three strong reviews so far off the ARCs: Good Reads, The Globe and Mail, and the Winnipeg Free Press.

And Glass Pieces, the sequel to The Finger's Twist, the Charlie Tate/Elodie Gray series, is at the formatter's and will go up as an indie ebook in January.

Three completed novels, The Beautiful Policeman, Flowers, and A Murder in Rome, should follow during…

In 1870, much of the American "Wild West” remained unsettled. Seeking a better life, pioneers traveled west in horse-drawn wagons, but they faced many hardships.



Some were ambushed and killed by robbers or Indians. Towns were few and far between. The treeless windswept Kansas prairie was particularly harsh: extreme summer heat, frigid winters, disease and grasshopper…

I've been spending the week working on projects I have unfortunately allowed to go by the wayside, but as a result, I had a brainstorm this morning resulting in something, I hope, will prove to be much better. So in the next few days I'll be researching one idea while continuing on the others. No wonder it takes me so long to complete books.

Best of the year list. At Murder beach Mystery Reviews.  http://billsmedia.blogspot.com

Severn House Publishershas bought World English language rights to the eleventh in the mystery crime series featuring the flawed and rugged DI Andy Horton.

Shroud of Evil will be published in the UK and Commonwealth in April 2014 in…

Decided what to write for the Debut Dagger. Two or three years ago I started a fantasy novel and abandoned it. I revisited it a few times but could never get beyond about chapter 4.

I realised it was the characters I couldn't let go of, whereas the story itself was - poor :D

Then some real-life events and a bit of brainstorming suggested a story that these characters seemed to fit a lot better than they did a fantasy, so I decided to write it. 1800 words in so far and I still…

“Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.”

And I don't even have a DVD collection. I have VCR tapes. I also have movies I download. Yes, folks, I admit, I download movies from the Internet. Illegal, you say? Let's not get into that particular issue. And let's totally stay away from my downloading television shows, about…

Just started a short story to send off for hopeful inclusion in an anthology. They sent the last one back so the hopeful isn't very hopeful. I think the reason was probably that I had (IMO) great characters, interesting dialog and background and NO PLOT AT ALL....

When I thought about it later, it seemed to me that nothing much actually happened. So I think I would have sent it back too :D That's what you get for writing something at the last minute in a big rush.

Coffee is…

A visit to the newly refurbished Sandhurst Library in Bracknell Forest on 4 December was the perfect way to finish a busy year of talks and public appearances in 2013. Not only were the audience lovely and packed with some die hard DI Andy Horton fans but after my talk about murder, crime and bodies there was a gorgeous English tea complete with cucumber sandwiches, scones with jam and cream,…