Someone at my last talk asked if the crime comes first to my mind when a book idea is born or whether some other thing comes first and the crime follows. The answer? I don't know.

It's a process a bit like childbirth (sorry, guys). Once I've finished the book, the conception and gestation part gets kind of blurry. I forget the pain, and all I see is that beautiful baby.

I know I wanted Elizabeth Tudor in a series, so I guess character was the seed in that one. And my newest,…

It is stating the obvious to write that Shakespeare was a genius, but every once in a while, that fact is brought home to me with such clarity that I have to do it. As writers, we know about themes and how they enrich a story. In MACBETH, the theme of sleep is handled brilliantly.

At the outset, Macbeths have no idea that murder sticks with a person. They think (although he is less convinced of it than she is) that once the king is dead, everything will be fine. But once it is done,…

No, not weapons of mass destruction. WIP is Work in Progress and for me, that WIP just became a Work Maybe Done. "Maybe" is there because I can always find things I want to fix.

My WIP became a WMD last night, but already I'm thinking that I could tweak a couple of characters a bit so they're more understandable. And the part where the bad guy chases them through the house...maybe a bit more action? I'd better read it again.

Maybe for me there's no such thing as Done. Maybe I…

One gets used to Overspeak in book blurbs. One must. Still, it bothers me, despite lowered expectations, that the term "hilarious" is used to describe the book I'm reading right now. It says on the cover: "This book is hilarious. I laughed till I wet myself." (Okay, I invented that last bit, but you know the sort of over-the-top comment I refer to.)

The book is not hilarious. It isn't even particularly funny. As a matter of fact, I don't think the author MEANT it to be funny. What it…

I've never been much for sob stories. Of course, great literature tends to be tragic, and some of those stories are on my list of all-time favorites. I love reading versions of the King Arthur legend, for example, but I know that I'll be sad at the end because that "fleeting wisp of glory" could not sustain itself in the face of Man's corruption.

The best tragedies offer us some kind of hope, but even so, as I've gotten older, I find myself reading fewer books that I know can't end…

Two big assets: distance and business sense.

First, distance. An editor is (or should be) someone who is removed from emotional attachment to a work. The editor acts as an enlightened reader, reacting to what he/she sees and noting places where more, less, or better is needed. Editors are a bit like teachers, who work with a large number of "children" and therefore can better judge your "child's" suitability for society.

Second, business sense. Editors need to keep their…

I just found my e-book, GO HOME AND DIE, is now available on Kindle. That's so cool.

Now if I just had a Kindle of my very own!

We left Malice after closing ceremonies on Sunday, tired but happy. The traditional farewell tea was lovely, and I'd like to commend those who work so hard to make Malice a success each year. It's an effort-laden thing, making such an event look effortless.

Malice is a con devoted to (but not exclusive to) cozy writers, those who seldom dismember their vicitms and never in detail. Still, we are mystery writers, and death isn't pretty. At Malice one meets authors who include along…

Two days' driving, but it was beautiful all the way. Traffic was okay and the Garmin did the rest. (I love that thing!) So here I am at the Marriott, wishing I could live like this for at least a month. Lots of people who love to talk about books, lots of fancy food and attentive hotel staff (if you tip well), and the chance to see old friends, make new friends, and see my heroes of the writing world.

Cool.

Day Two of Preparing for Malice: Now it's time to be sure I have all the non-clothing stuff covered.

I have packed bookmarks and books, business cards and copies of relevant documents. I have my passport (I know where D.C. is, but we may return through Canada, so there.) I have two suitcases: an on-the-road dufflebag and my official Malicewear suitcase. So what's left to do?

I need to make sure that my laptop has everything on it that I might need while I'm gone. I tend to…

I hope all you mystery readers appreciate the work we writers put into killing people.

For me, a plot has to make sense, be satisfying, and follow logically. I try very hard to avoid TSTL moments (too stupid to live) where a character goes after the killer alone, at night, in a swamp, in high heels or whatever.

I want my readers to have a fair shot at identifying the killer, but I really hope they are surprised, too. In the book I finished reading this morning at breakfast, the…

It's something you should never see, IMHO, but more about that later.

I spoke at a Career Day last week, and the topic of networking came up. The students didn't know what it was, but since I shared the stage with a newspaper reporter, we explained how we reciprocate in helping each other. I give her interviews that hopefully pull in readers. I aslo buy advertising space in her paper. She gives me publicity that should result in name recognition and book sales. Neither of us…

Just finished a book by an author I usually like. The plot was okay. The characters were there, and I knew what I needed to know about them. The ending was a culmination of plot events, and everything added up.

And I felt absolutely nothing.

I might have been reading the phone book or a cereal box for all the interest or excitement I got from the book. There was nothing wrong, not really, but something was just not right. I didn't care about the characters,…