Norman Jewison has made some of the most influential and popular films of the sound era.

In Toronto this month they are celebrating his illustrious career with a month-long retrospective that includes such classics as In The Heat of the Night, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are coming!, and Moonstruck.

 Having known Norman since the 1980s, I've written an appreciation of him and his movies on my other blog. Please check it out at.

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July 17 was Erle Stanley Gardner's birthday (1889). He studied law on his own and passed the bar at age 21. Working as a lawyer wasn't enough to keep him busy so he began writing detective fiction for pulp magazines. In 1933 he published The Case of the Velvet Claws, his first Perry Mason novel, and went on to write 80 more -- writing 4,000 words a day, even while practicing as a lawyer --…

I just finished three pies for our church ice cream social, held on the Fourth every year. I like making pies. They require a little expertise, they look pretty if they're done well, and they get you all sorts of compliments from people who hope you will make more.

On this Fourth, the pies reminded me of my novels. They, too, take some expertise, and I've worked many, many years, days, and hours to get to the point where I know that I will need to work many more years, days and hours.…

P is for Pacing

Hey you fiction writers out there: have you ever felt the story was running away with you and speeding toward the conclusion or solutions too fast. Slowing things down in a manner the reader embraces is a wonderful tool. Check out today's Writers tricks of the trade: P is for Pacing Part II - Slowing…

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The Case of the Deadly Ring has made the top ten in Hot New Arrivals.…

Today’s Writers tricks of the trade deals with tapping into your own emotions and experiences to write what your characters are feeling. This allows you to make a wide detour around clichés and create dimensional…

I'am putting the finishing touches of Philly detective Alex Steele's newest story Ring of Death. This short story follows the newly released novel BLACKOUT.  It is the prequel to the very successful Case of the Death Dealer which takes place in Philadelphia.

The Case of the Ring of Death will lure our famous Philly detective into the secret world behind the scenes in the Vatican.  Follow Steele as he attempts to solve this baffling case while preserving old traditions and…

It is always a challenge to make characters seem real, but using your own experiences and emotions, like a method actor, takes them a long way.

LINK TO TODAY'S COLUMN:…

Inspired by this interesting post over at B.R. Stateham's blog, I came up with my own responses to the "rules" of crime fiction that Joyce wrote about. Here goes:

1. Whoever your killer is, make sure you let your readers meet him or her early on. You don’t want them to pop up out of nowhere late in the story.

My brand…

I wanted share one of my columns in today’s Las Vegas edition of Examiner.com with you. This one isn’t really about writing. It’s about rock and roll. 

You see, 60s Rock is alive and well in Las Vegas. I was invited to review and enjoy “Echoes of the 60s” at the V2 Theater at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and took a step back in time.…

The pace of a story is critical. It can keep the reader engaged or turn them off. Imagine pace as though you were driving a car. Part I deals with speeding things up.

http://exm.nr/fkqMXI 

Remember, writers should…

Today I am spotlighting Gary Ponzo. His latest novel is called A Touch of Deceit, and it's doing well in the Kindle market. Really well. One of the reasons for this is that I believe his book offers something a little different than many others out there, and the fact that he incorporates his Sicilian background into the story also helps.



The novel opens well with the line, "There was a time when Nick Bracco would walk down Gold Street late at night and young vandals would…