All Blog Posts Tagged 'writers' (184)

Author Holiday Monday: Another Royal Wedding

http://mitziszereto.com/blog/author-holiday-monday-another-royal-wedding/

Added by Mitzi Szereto on January 13, 2011 at 3:50am — No Comments

Good media coverage for the Young Crime Writers Competition which I'm judging for the South Coast of England

I've had some great media coverage for the launch of the CWA Young Crime Writers Competition of which I am the judge for the South Coast of England. I've been interviewed live on Portsmouth Live TV, on Spirit Radio and tomorrow I will be on talking to Julian Clegg on BBC Radio Solent at approximately 7.20 am and then chatting to Darren Gamblen on Express FM 93.7 FM on the same morning at 9.30 am.

There's also been coverage in the newspapers, the book trade and on blogs, so it's…

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Added by Pauline Rowson on January 11, 2011 at 3:55am — No Comments

Location, Location, Location - when writers get it wrong

http://exm.nr/location-LA

This is the link to today's Writers Tricks of the trade in the Los Angeles edition of www.examiner.com. Have you ever read a book set in a location you knew well, only to discover that the author didn’t? Wrong details or atmosphere can be very offsetting to the reader. …

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Added by Morgan St. James on January 8, 2011 at 6:42am — No Comments

A special evening presenting prizes to short story competition winners on the Isle of Wight, UK

Over seventy people attended the prize giving ceremony last night of the Wight Fair Writers Circle, Winter Short Story Writing Competition in Newport on the Isle of Wight.

I was very honoured to be asked to give a short talk at this wonderful event and to present the prizes to the adult category of the competition at the Castlehold Baptist Church and new reception rooms in Newport.

I'm very grateful to Wightlink who generously sponsored my ferry trip across to the Isle of…

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Added by Pauline Rowson on December 23, 2010 at 2:59am — No Comments

Ikea and the Crime Writer

There are many theories as to why Scandinavian crime writers prosper in the bestseller lists. But I know why it is. Ikea.

I just bought a new set of Ikea shelves for my office. I’ll get into exactly how that has altered the configuration of my workspace, but at this point let me just note that it makes my writing room seem a thousand times more orderly, less cluttered. As any feng shui expert would tell you, a disorganized room will yield fractured thoughts and…

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Added by Matt Rees on December 9, 2010 at 7:06pm — 2 Comments

You'll Be a Better Writer!

The MWA Writers' Track topics at LIM 2011 will include: "How to Write and Maintain a Series Character," "Outlining, Do You or Don't You?," "The Ten Things Every Mystery Writer Needs to Know about Publishing in the Marketplace Today," and "Query Letter Writing/Submission Proposal Writing."…

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Added by Love Is Murder Conference on December 3, 2010 at 3:00am — No Comments

Swallow semen, identify penis: Helen Fitzgerald’s Writing Life interview

It will be a long time before anyone thinks of a better way to open their first novel than this: “My best friend Sarah was asleep. Her husband was lying beside her, and I was swallowing his semen.” That’s paragraph two of “Dead Lovely” by Helen Fitzgerald, a fabulous crime novel which manages to amuse, titillate and disturb. Since she published Dead Lovely in 2008, Helen has released three more adult titles and a teen novel. Born in Australia, she lives in Glasgow, Scotland,…

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Added by Matt Rees on November 8, 2010 at 2:43am — 1 Comment

Erotic Writing and Garlic

http://mitziszereto.com/blog/erotic-writing-and-garlic/

Added by Mitzi Szereto on October 20, 2010 at 3:44am — No Comments

Crime fiction’s ‘French porn’: Martin Walker’s Writing Life interview

Martin Walker’s series of crime novels about the chief of police of a small town in the beautiful Perigord region of France are a delight. When we met at a recent “British Crime Fiction Night” in Darmstadt, Germany, he described the books as “French porn – wine, food, women – in a crime fiction frame.” Martin’s bon vivant personality matches the playfulness of his fiction (Though he's a Scot by birth, he divides his time between Washington DC and his vineyard in France). Yet he’s also a…

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Added by Matt Rees on October 16, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Don't Be in Such a Rush

I'm about to give up on an author I know is good, at least on the piece of her work that I'm currently reading. It's pretty obvious that this one was done in a rush, and it suffers. I'm about done suffering along with her.

Someone told me once that a writer's first book is a luxury. She has her whole life to write it, if need be. She doesn't have to send it off until she feels it is ready, and even then, it might take years for someone to notice it. During those years, she can tinker with… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on October 6, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

New arms race--on author websites

I have a new book coming out in the UK next spring. So it’s time to start looking around to see what new web gadgets and gismos authors are expected to shell out for from their meager advances to keep their “web profile” current.

It’s a new arms race. Just as the Soviets bankrupted their (morally bankrupt) regime trying to keep up with US developments in mass destruction, writers have to divert their attention from the writing of books and trawl the…

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Added by Matt Rees on September 26, 2010 at 10:23pm — 2 Comments

Crime writers band together with Forensic and Police in unique Crime & the City- CSI Portsmouth Event

Myself and four of my fellow crime authors, Simon Brett, June Hampson, Graham Hurley, and Peter Lovesey will join experts from the Crime Scene Investigation team and Fingerprinting Bureau of Hampshire Constabulary and experts from the International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology to discuss crime fiction and fact in a unique event, Crime and the City, Portsmouth CSI on 6 November at the John Pounds Community Centre, Portsmouth as part of Portsmouth…

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Added by Pauline Rowson on September 14, 2010 at 1:09am — No Comments

Crime Writing Initiatives for 2011- National Crime Writing Week

The Crime Writers Association of Great Britain (CWA) of which I am a member has announced that it will again run two highly successful initiatives next year, which were first introduced this year.

National Crime Writing Week, formerly National Crime Fiction Week, will run between June 13 and 19, 2011. The name change is designed to encompass both non-fiction and fiction and the nationwide celebration of crime writing…

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Added by Pauline Rowson on September 9, 2010 at 10:43pm — No Comments

Interviewing Witnesses: A Key Skill for Your Fictional Sleuths!

As guests at SavvyAuthors today, we've posted a blog for writers about interviewing witnesses. Having interviewed hundreds of witnesses both in our investigations agency, as well as Shaun in his 17 years as a trial attorney, we offer an overview of interview vs interrogation, rules on interviewing, the myth of "off the record," and techniques for interviewing both talkative and reticent witnesses.… Continue

Added by Writing PIs on September 1, 2010 at 2:41am — No Comments

Mystery at Comic Con

Lots of crime writing related activities at Wizard World Comic Con in Rosemont, Illinois over the weekend. Was treated royally by Jon Jordan and the folks in the Crime Spree Magazine area. They are always promoting writers and fun, too. I was hoping to see Raymond Benson's smiling face, but unfortunately only got to see his posterior side as he disappeared into the crushing throng. Giving chase was futile, blocked as I was by storm troopers and autograph hounds alike. Back at the booth, it was… Continue

Added by Hanley E Kanar on August 24, 2010 at 11:59am — No Comments

Agatha's 120th birthday!

Love is Murder and the Schaumburg Township Library will host "The Body in the Library," (named for one of the grand dame's novels) a free "mini-con" in observance of Agatha Christie's birthday on Sept. 15 from 6:30 to 8:30pm.

The featured event will be a panel discussion on the writing process as it pertains to women balancing housekeeping, raising a family and often a full- or part-time job with writing, as compared the relatively few stay-at-home dad authors, with Chicagoland-based… Continue

Added by Juli schatz on August 17, 2010 at 4:04am — No Comments

Joe Konrath Quoted in Newsweek

Quoted in the annual books issue of (August 9, 2010):

....“It’s an even playing field for the first time,” says J. A. Konrath, a thriller author (Whiskey Sour) who plans to release all his future novels as self-published Kindle

books. “The gatekeepers have become who they should have been in the

first place: the readers.”…

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Added by Juli schatz on August 17, 2010 at 3:30am — 2 Comments

Interview with Featured Guest Carolyn Haines

by Joanna Campbell Slan

“Sarah Booth and Jitty came to me in tandem, arguing just as they do in the books. When such fully developed characters…

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Added by Juli schatz on July 22, 2010 at 12:00am — No Comments

Aging Writers

Young people can write, I will admit that. They can have talent, style, and a sense of story. But one gets a sense of life and living from the older writer that comes only from experience. Sadly, it is often sad.

Look at Mark Twain or William Shakespeare. As they aged, their works became less and less fun, more and more dark. Masterworks, some of them, but no happy endings.

I'm reading Walter Mosley's THE LONG FALL right now, and there's a passage that describes the… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on July 15, 2010 at 9:23pm — 1 Comment