posted by Leann Sweeney

I have a new release if I haven't mentioned it in the last, oh, thirty seconds. That means promo time--which I am not really fond of. I am a writer not a salesperson, after all. But it comes with the territory. After postcards for one signing arrived too late and some of the people who wanted signed books didn't get them, I…

posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken

I have been thinking about food lately. Heck, I think about food all the time--often what I should eat, what I should not eat (that chocolate cupcake at the baby shower yesterday comes to mind), or (again, the cupcake) what I should not have eaten. In this new year, the four of us who live here are all doing something about food and our waistlines.

Daughter number one is in a wedding this summer and is "doing" low carbs. Daughter number two is…

Posted by guest blogger, Kate Flora

I used to go crazy in February. In order to get the full benefit of my February blahs, I'd start gearing up in mid-January, staring out at all the endless gray days, unrelieved by holidays or feasting or the company of…

Posted by Lorraine (L.L.) Bartlett

The subject of food seems to come up here a LOT here on Writers Plot. Astounding as it may be, I am not the world's best cook. I make edible food, but fancy stuff just isn't in my epicurean repertoire. That's why it's such a surprise that my upcoming Booktown books contain so many recipes. Okay, the publisher LOVES recipes. They put a big red (or gold, depending on which cover they actually use) accent on the cover of Murder Is Binding saying…

Posted by Sheila Connolly

Recently I've been wondering if I have become a writer because I like to work alone, or if it's because I'm a writer that I end up spending a lot of my time alone.

The public mythology holds that…

Posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken

The title words by John Donne, written four centuries ago (I looked it up) have been in my mind lately. We mystery lovers deal with, wallow in, foster death in many ways--with humor, with tragedy, with a certain "he deserved it" hubris.

Real death, though, when it comes, is not usually humorous, is sometimes tragic, and is hardly ever deserved.

Real death has visited me lately. My 67-year-old brother-in-law died just before Christmas…

Posted by Guest Blogger, Kate Flora

I had a plan for January. A bold and exciting plan. Once the tree was down, the bedding that had been hauled out to accommodate the extended family put away, and all the cute tree-shaped candlesticks, reindeer candlesticks, little metal sleighs to hold candles and all the red and green patterned runners and table toppers stowed in their boxes in the basement, I was going to write a book.



Maybe this doesn’t seem like such a bold plan…

Posted by Sheila Connolly

This seems to be a new cyber-form of the old chain letter, and, lucky me, I've been tagged by a writer buddy.Lorraine Bartlett

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you (that's you, Cathy) , and post the rules on your blog (presto, here they…

posted by Leann Sweeney

My granddaughter left today and I don't know when I will get to see her in the flesh again. Not knowing has always been tough for me, so my husband wrapped up a tiny note in several boxes as my Christmas gift that said--"go visit any time you want." Sweet, huh? But having her here, seeing her emerging personality, even though…

posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken

Lots of us have given up making New Years' Resolutions. Not all of us, to be sure, given how crowded the gym tends to be at the New Year. I've been known to make resolutions--get rich, get famous, win the lottery etc.-- but I never followed through. In recent years the only one I really met was the "Fine Human Being" initiative. I vowed that at the end of every day, I would designate one person with whom I'd had contact that day--positive or…

Posted by Lorraine (L.L.) Bartlett

In 2008, I resolve not to lose my Writers Plot posts. That's how I started my day, logging into typepad to find my post for today had disappeared. Poof! Gone! (I shall try to reconstruct--but as most people know, the results are seldom the same/as good.)

Everybody on the Internet seems to be talking about their goals and/or resolutions. I no longer make resolutions. What for? I never kept them. But when January 1st rolls around it does…

Posted by Sheila Connolly

My name is Sheila, and I'm a hoarder.

Following the mad holiday spree when everybody vies to collect the most presents, and then rushes to the local mall to swap them all, it seems appropriate to reflect on my character flaw. For the record, I love stuff. Mind you, I am not a shopaholic. I do not buy things just for the sake of spending money, nor do I bring them home and squirrel them away under the bed without even removing the…

Posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken

I got stuck in snowbanks three times last week, but hey! We had a White Christmas! Being a nostalgic time of year, Christmas reminds us of earlier times--happier or not. Christmas, it seems to me, comes in phases.

Phase I: Parents and their children sitting near the tree. I think our Christmases in upstate New York might…

Posted by Lorraine (L.L.) Bartlett

Back when we were courting (don't you just love that phrase?), my now-husband bought me a Christmas cassette (tells you how long ago THAT was) called Celtic Christmas, harp music by Kim Robertson. I fell in love with one piece called "And Sheep May Safely Graze" by, of all people, Johann Sebastian Bach. (Can you…

Posted (or not) by Sheila Connolly

Oh, please. tell me you're not trolling the blogs today. If you are, stop. Go hang out with your family. If you can't stand your family, go bake something with lots of sugar. Send me a sample.

I'll be back next week, but for the moment you're going to have to settle for this:…

posted by Leann Sweeney

This is a short story I wrote a long time ago, but I thought I'd pull it out of the vault for Christmas. I hope it speaks to at least one of you. Happy Holidays everyone.

posted by Doranna

Any author will tell you...when it comes to book production, there are so many ways to get it wrong. Even in the midst of a striking cover, of layers of copyediting and oversight, of proofing and editorial discussion...

Oh, yeah, the packaging details come out wrong.

Sometimes it's a subtle thing...something only…

posted by Lorraine (L.L.) Bartlett

Movin' On was the name of a TV show (1974-1976) about a couple of long-distance truckers (Will Chandler & Sonny Pruitt, played by Frank Converse and Claude Akins). I loved it. At one time, my ambition was to BE a long-distance trucker. (I was very young.) I used to love to drive, and the idea of driving a…

Posted by Sheila Connolly

Okay, here's the much anticipated report from My Trip to Tucson (no, don't go change the cat litter or take a nap–please! I promise I'll be brief). I went, I saw, I conquered. All my flights arrived on time (two were actually early!), and my luggage arrived too. This alone may qualify for some sort of prize. Oh, wait–that was the prize. I'm not complaining. I attribute the smooth return legs to the blessing I received from a chatty…

posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken

My children will never forget our family vacations. They tended to involve recalcitrant vehicles stuffed too full with people, animals and enough accoutrements to launch a world war. Just going for a daily picnic required enough stuff (high chairs, potty chairs, playpens, etc.) that we looked like Okies rollin' down the highway.…