All Blog Posts Tagged 'of' (244)

Pros at Prose

I'm reading Michael Connelly and James Lee Burke (one upstairs, one downstairs). What do these guys have that makes them so good? Burke certainly has the descriptive prose down, with unique, well-crafted phrases that both describe and lead, so the story doesn't suffer while the author shows off his prose. Connelly's what I'd deem a page-turner; the reader wants to know what's going to happen next, so it's hard to put the book down and do something like, oh, I don't know, write a blog maybe.… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on January 5, 2009 at 9:30pm — 2 Comments

Our Favorite Books of 2008

David S

1. Adiga, Aravind. White Tiger

2. Wrobleweski, David. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

3. Greer, Andrew Sean. The Story of a Marriage

4. Bommersbach, Jana. Bones in the Desert

5. Lamb, Wally. The Hour I First Believed

6. Harrison, Jim. The English Major

7. O'Flynn, Catherine. What Was Lost

8. Estleman, Loren. Frames

9. McMahon, Jennifer. Promise Not to Tell

10. Burke, James… Continue

Added by The Poisoned Pen Bookstore on January 1, 2009 at 5:18am — 1 Comment

How Your Brain Feels about Your New Year's Resolutions

Some of the scariest modern research, at least for me, is the stuff that looks into how the brain works and how it affects the body. The person I thought I was, that creation with Free Will, is largely imaginary. The real me is a mix of chemicals and neural pathways that have little to do with choice and a lot to do with repetition. In real life we don't choose very often, at least not with anything like free will. That makes resolutions sort of superficial, dependent on whether our brains will… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on December 29, 2008 at 10:56pm — No Comments

That Jeremiah Johnson Feeling

What must it have been like to go for months without speaking to another human being? Were the trappers of the old west crazy to choose that sort of life, or were they more sane than most? Thoreau wasn't alone at Walden, but he recommends even that much solitude for those who want to decide what matters. I don't necessarily want to shun the company of others, but I wonder what long periods of solitude might bring.

I'm sure you talk to yourself, but then, I do that anyway. I'm betting… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on December 23, 2008 at 10:42pm — 2 Comments

Research Now or Research Later?

You're whirring along at a good clip, the story is playing out in your mind just ahead of your fingers on the keyboard. Events happen that need to happen, and people act out their fictional lives at your command. Suddenly, you realize that you don't know if Character A could have done as he did. There will have to be research, and the question is, do you do it now, or do you mark that passage and come back to it?

Can't give a definite answer, because I'm of two minds. Sometimes I… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on December 18, 2008 at 9:59pm — 3 Comments

Would You Like to Host a Thriller/Espionage Author on Your Blog?? If so, Read On...

I'd like to talk with you about hosting an interesting author guest on your site. In return, we would promote your blog as part of the tour. Some of the options include:

1 - Send interview questions for the author to answer (related to his book or writing).

2 - Hosts may require a guest post - about their book, writing, the background or a topic in the book.

3 - Post an excerpt from the book.

4 – If you have another idea, let me know. I love promoting – outside the… Continue

Added by Nikki Leigh on December 16, 2008 at 9:03am — No Comments

Choosing the Next Project

I've been stalled lately, and it's not all my fault. Publishing is as scary these days as everything else: will my publisher make it through the hard times? Will they slash their schedule to save money? If they do, will I be a slashee?

The uncertainty makes it difficult to decide what's next on my agenda. I should iron out the wrinkles in the sequel to Book One, but will anyone care three or four years from now when it's done with editing and all the et ceteras? I should work on the… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on December 10, 2008 at 10:24pm — No Comments

The End, Finally

I don't think there is an end to most of my written work. Obviously when something goes to publication, I have to say it's finished, but until that point, I never feel like I'm done with it. However, I made a big step toward the end of my WIP this morning: a rough draft that, in spite of its holes, feels like a complete story.

There is lots still to do. Characters morphed during the course of the story and now have to be adjusted in their entrances. Details have to be added that… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on November 20, 2008 at 10:13pm — No Comments

Latest book news and forthcoming marine mysteries

I’ve just received from my publisher my copies of the Large Print version of Deadly Waters, which is now on sale. It looks really good and I hope it enables people who are visually impaired (sadly a growing number) to enjoy this marine mystery crime novel.

Deadly Waters is already available as a talking book and in hardback and trade paperback and will shortly be published as a mass market paperback in the UK with a new jacket cover in April… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on November 11, 2008 at 3:23am — No Comments

Personal Apperance by Yvonne Mason at Circle Books November 8th

Popular Florida Author Yvonne Mason will be making a personal apperance at Circle Books in Sarasota Florida on November 8,2008 from 11:00am- 1:00pm to sign her lates releases Brilliant Insanity and Silent Scream. She will also have her first release Stan's Story A Touch of Love. A true story of a young man's success at a time when failure was the only option for the challenged. She will take you into Stan's life from beginning to present in such a way you come away with a better understanding… Continue

Added by Yvonne Mason on October 20, 2008 at 3:06am — No Comments

London Calling

I’m off to the Society of Authors AGM in London today. I’ve been a member for almost ten years and although I don’t get to attend every meeting or function I have used the society’s extremely helpful service on publishing copyright and contracts. The SOA has (as its web site declares) been serving the interests of professional writers for more than a century, and has more than 8,500 members writing in all areas of the profession. These include novelists, textbook writers, ghost writers,… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on October 6, 2008 at 8:32pm — No Comments

Literary Festival Buzz

There was a buzz in the town of Havant in Hampshire (England) when I turned up this morning at Havant Arts Centre to give my talk. Not, I hasten to add, because I was speaking, but because of the wide range of interesting events being held. I am really pleased the literary festival is being greeted so enthusiastically because it is the first one to be staged in this area, and I know the organizers have worked tremendously hard to pull it off.

I wasn’t sure how many people to expect.… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on September 28, 2008 at 4:13am — No Comments

Point of View Plus

I have just returned from giving a talk to a local reading circle. It was their fourth anniversary of meeting and they wanted to mark it with the visit of a 'live' author. Think I qualify on those grounds - though sometimes I'm not so sure about the 'live' bit. They were a lovely and lively group of women (sadly their only male member had recently left to go into a nursing home). It was a pleasure to meet them all. I talked about how I write and read… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on August 20, 2008 at 3:24am — No Comments

Forgotten Book Friday

(When Patti Abbott asked me to write a blog about a book I thought had been forgotten, it didn’t take me but a nanosecond to know what book it would be about. When I pulled it off the bookshelf, I realized I couldn’t explain it without going into explanation of the author, because the book affected my teenage years and the author a good part of the rest of my life.)

Writer Dennis Lynds had many claims to fame in his lifetime; being… Continue

Added by Michael Haskins on August 15, 2008 at 10:39pm — No Comments

MEN OF MYSTERY COMING TO ACME AUTHORS LINK NEXT WEEK

Acme Authors Link is happy to host two popular Men of Mystery next week at http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com

On Wednesday, August 13 - Marcus Sakey

Friday, August 15 - Joe Konrath

Stop on by and see what these great authors have to say. Then come back again to read what our regular great bloggers are saying every day!

Morgan Mandel…

Continue

Added by Morgan Mandel on August 7, 2008 at 1:27pm — No Comments

A Study in Red - Another Nomination - Win a Copy of the book!

A Study in Red - The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper has been named as Book Cover of the Week on the website of Erin Aislinn

http://www.erinaislinn.com/index.html

The book will now be included in the poll for Erin Aislinn's Book cover of the month for July and the voting will open very soon. Anyone who places a vote for the book will be included in a free draw with one lucky person winning a copy of the e-book edition of the book. I will of course post the link… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on July 28, 2008 at 3:58am — No Comments

Read 'The Significance of Cherries' (Murder mystery) FOR FREE

One of my longer, previously unpublished short stories 'The Significance of Cherries' has just been published in the summer issue of The Loch Raven Review. It will eventually appear in a print anthology by the Review but for now the story is available to read FREE online at http://www.lochravenreview.net/2008Summer/porter.html

Check out the rest of the journal while you're there. It's a great… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on July 15, 2008 at 1:03am — No Comments

'A Study in Red' is a Book of the Month!

The members of 'The Jack the Ripper Forums' www.jtrforums.com have made my novel 'A Study in Red - The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper, their 'Book of the Month', and have opened a thread for discusssion of the book at http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread.php?p=47100#post47100

I'm flattered that, of all the books on the subject available to them for discussion, they have chosen mine for the first of this new feature on the forum. As the JTR Forum is one of the largest… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on June 30, 2008 at 10:27pm — No Comments

How Literary Are You?

As a reader, I love many types of "literary fiction," which is hard to define (but you know it when you see it). While the genius of some modern writers eludes me, I appreciate the casual brilliance of a Kurt Vonnegut and the simple elegance of a Margaret Atwood. But what about mysteries? How literary can they get, and is it even desireable in a genre-type work?

There are three levels of what I'll call literary-ness in genre fiction, at least according to my personal categorization.… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 26, 2008 at 10:14pm — No Comments

Have You Got That Thing in Your Head?

My worst one is songs. If there's even a vague reference in conversation or on TV to something that is (or reminds me of) a song lyric, the words play in my head for hours afterward, even if I hate, hate, HATE the song itself. Please don't mention low places or Garth Brooks (my least favorite) starts singing to me. And please don't say anything about roller skates, spirits, or flowers in your hair, because certain sixties songs just dominate when you do. I don't even have to hear it aloud. I'm… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 25, 2008 at 10:09pm — No Comments