All Blog Posts Tagged 'mystery' (188)

MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS: A CRUISE TO DIE FOR

I just returned from a trip to the Mexican Caribbean. It was a cruise saluting Veterans, very patriotic (I am a Vietnam Era vet). I was on a panel of authors talking to the vets about writing their memoirs. The cruise was terrific! We got together later with the travel agent who pulled together the trip and pitched the idea of a mystery cruise. I came up with the title: Murder On the High Seas: A Cruise To Die For. I heard today that the travel agent can pull it together by next fall. 7 days sa… Continue

Added by Sunny Frazier on November 23, 2009 at 8:30am — 2 Comments

Christmas Giveaway

My Christmas Giveaway this year is a paperback copy of BLOODY HAM and an eBook PDF copy of CAPABLE OF MURDER. Please specify which one you would prefer. This year you must answer a question! Belinda Lawrence's new mystery takes place in an important town in Kent, England famous for a murder in the Cathedral! Name the town. Sign in to my Guest Book on my Website http://beekayvic.tripod.com Entries close midnight Sunday 22nd November. Fi… Continue

Added by Brian Kavanagh on November 16, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

CRAFTING TWISTS AND DROPPING CLUES

Today I gave a mini version to the Las Vegas Quill Keepers of the workshop I'll be presenting at the Las Vegas Writers Conference in April 2010...in...where else? Las Vegas. The title is "Crafting Twists and Dropping Clues." It was very well received, so I can't wait to present it complete with Power Point and a short interactive workshop. While preparing the presentation, I realized that one of my all-time favorite Twist and Clue movies was "The Usual Suspects." I revisited it and wow---did I… Continue

Added by Morgan St. James on November 15, 2009 at 2:21pm — No Comments

WHY I WRITE MYSTERIES

I grew up in a house full of readers where everyone’s favorite pastime was to gather around the fireplace and read, talk about books, or read aloud from books such as The Hound of the Baskervilles. Gradually I became aware that some of my parents’ favorite books were mysteries, but I didn’t really understand why until I started to write one. Traditional mysteries are layered puzzles, like archaeological digs. The best ones are rich in character and setting, hard to put down but satisfying to f… Continue

Added by Sarah Wisseman on November 15, 2009 at 8:00am — 2 Comments

Writing Funny

I can't do it. I envy those who can. I will admit that as a playwright, I wrote some things that were funny. But in my novels, nobody's going to laugh out loud. I note this because I started reading a friend's MS last night and I did...laugh out loud. She has the knack of being funny without being silly, and entertaining without stooping to farce, which irritates me. I was never a fan of the Lucille Ball-type heroine, so overdrawn and asinine that I wanted to slap her. My friend's small-town h… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on November 13, 2009 at 10:44pm — 4 Comments

The jacket cover for the new Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novel

I've just received the jacket image for the cover of the new Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novel, Blood on the Sand, which is to be published by Severn House on 26 February 2010. I hope you lik… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on November 4, 2009 at 12:53am — 2 Comments

What Hooks a Reader

Though it is actually night here, it's still day ten of my Daughter Am I blog tour. The reference to night and day reminds me of one of those standardized tests I took when I was in second grade. The question was, "How many hours are in a day?" I knew, of course, that there were twenty-four hours in a day's span, but for some reason, I took the question to mean day as opposed to night. I knew that there were variable daylig… Continue

Added by Pat Bertram on October 28, 2009 at 12:26pm — 2 Comments

Snow White and the Seven Old Fogies

Mary stared open-mouthed into the hole in the wall. Instead of the dining room, which should have been on the other side of the wall, there was a windowless room not much bigger than a walk-in-closet. "A secret room," she breathed. "It's like something out of Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys." That brief excerpt from Daughter Am I has nothing to do with my blog today. It's a clue for a Halloween contest at the Second Wind Blog starting on October 26. I hope you will play… Continue

Added by Pat Bertram on October 22, 2009 at 4:51am — No Comments

Following The Quest of 'Daughter Am I'

Again I will be at Malcom's Round Table discussing Daughter Am I, but this time we will be focusing on the quest angle. The hero's path, the mythic journey, the quest -- these are all different names for a particular form of story, though the format is so infinitely changeable, that unless you search for all the elements, you might not see the similarities in such diverse st… Continue

Added by Pat Bertram on October 21, 2009 at 4:59am — No Comments

Some interesting facts -Crime/Mystery Books in the UK

Crime/Mystery Books •In the 52 weeks to 13th September 2009 consumers purchased an estimated 20.5 million crime/mystery books. •6% of these books were bought as Christmas gifts. •Retired people accounted for 23% of crime/mystery purchases. •The average price paid for a crime/mystery hardback was £9.92. •12% of crime/mystery books were bought online. Source: BML's Books and Consumers survey. For more information on this and other genres, contact BML on: +44 0870 870 2345. Make what you wil… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on October 21, 2009 at 12:36am — 3 Comments

THE END - or is it?

I was asked the other day how I feel when I tap out the immortal words THE END at the completion of a novel. The timing of the question was quite eerie because I was just reaching the final pages of the copy edits of my latest DI Horton marine mystery crime novel Blood on the Sand which is being published by Severn House in February next year. It is the fifth in the Inspector Horton series. Reaching the e… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on October 21, 2009 at 12:21am — No Comments

Daughter Am I Blog Tour 2009

Today is the first day of the Daughter Am I blog tour, and frankly, I'm a bit nervous. Although I always intended to post to my own blog every day, I've only managed to average three or four times a week, yet here I have committed myself to thirty-five days of guest blogging, together with at least a brief post here to keep everyone up-to-date on my touring activities. That is a total of 70 bloggeries in 35 days! Do you think I can do it? Of course I can -- I will have to. Today I am h… Continue

Added by Pat Bertram on October 19, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

The Gift of Murder

I've probably mentioned I'm part of this year's Toys for Tots anthology from Wolfmont, titled THE GIFT OF MURDER. Now I can tell you that I recommend it, since I finished in this morning over breakfast. I'm pleased to have been included in the anthology, an entertaining mix of holiday crime stories. A great gift for the readers on your holiday list, since you get 19 chances to please instead of just one, and you support a worthy cause at the same time. Nice work, Tony Burton and editor John Fl… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on October 9, 2009 at 9:56pm — No Comments

WV Book Festival @Charleston Civic Center October 10-11th

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the WV Book Festival. Come on down Saturday-Sunday October 10-11th at the Charleston Civic Center. Panel discussions, book signings, Agents/Publishing, and chat with local authors. Join me and Robert Walker at 2:30 on Sunday as we discuss how to get your book ready for an agent/publishing house, methods on finding agents and publishers, a look into the publishing world, book promotion, and much more. We will have a book signing after the discussion.… Continue

Added by Miranda Phillips Walker on October 9, 2009 at 8:18am — No Comments

Book contract signed for the new DI Horton

I’m delighted to announce that I have just signed a contract with Sutton/Severn House for the publication of the fifth DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery crime novel, BLOOD ON THE SAND, which will be published on 26 February 2010 at the same time as the paperback version of DEAD MAN’S WHARF. For those of you who would like a taste of what is to come for Andy Horton look no further… Blood On The Sand by Pauline Rowson The fifth Inspector Horton Marine Mystery Crime novel Inspector Andy Hort… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on October 7, 2009 at 12:02am — 5 Comments

Guest Appearance at Mayors' Reception

I was delighted to be asked to the Mayor of Havant’s reception and the grand opening of the newly refurbished arts and heritage centre in Havant, Hampshire, called The Spring, on 2 October. The mayor of Havant, Jackie Branson, was entertaining all the mayors from around Hampshire and the… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on October 4, 2009 at 12:58am — No Comments

Mini Book Tour A Success

There was certainly a welcome in the hillside and on the banks of the River Tyne for me in the north of England this week during my mini book tour, which kicked off at Newcastle City Library and ended at The Richmond Walking and Book Festival. I met some fantastic people who made me… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on October 2, 2009 at 11:51pm — No Comments

I See Dead People, Life of an ER Nurse

They say truth is stranger than fiction, I can tell you coming from a nursing point of view this is very true. I am reminding of this at least three times a week while I'm working in the Emergency Room, If I used any of these examples I would have to water them down because most people would think I was really off my rocker if I told the truth. With the release of my new book "The Well Meaning Killer" I'm starting to roll in some reviews, and some reviewers are questioning Megan McKenna's injury… Continue

Added by Miranda Phillips Walker on September 8, 2009 at 2:32am — No Comments

I just signed a new book contract!!

I am thrilled to announce that after my agent, Sandra Bond, spent over a year and a half diligently trying to sell my new mystery series to various publishers in this disastrous economy, she has finally succeeded in finding a home for it at Midnight Ink Books ( http://midnightinkbooks.com/ ), the mystery imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide ( http://www.llewellyn.com/ ). We were getting feedback like "the concept for this series is fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the manuscript" followed by… Continue

Added by Beth Groundwater on September 5, 2009 at 2:40am — 10 Comments

A busy Autumn ahead

It's official, Autumn is here (according to the Metrological office in Great Britain) and it's shaping up to be a lively time with several book signings and talks lined up, as well as the release of The Suffocating Sea (an Inspector Horton Marine Mystery) in Large Print and news (hopefully) when the NEW Andy Horton crime novel, Blood Upon The Sand, will be published. September kicks off wi… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on September 1, 2009 at 7:16pm — No Comments