Which leads to the subject of today’s blog (as the wife and I make ready to participate in our first writing conference this week, ThrillerFest, put on by International Thriller Writers every year in New York–of course, the wife never needs an excuse to make at least one pilgrimage a year to (the shops of) New York):

Is it…

I’m having a good time taking the summer off from writing, though I can feel the itch starting to grow behind my right ear. Reading goes on year-round. Here are my favorite reads for July.

Shadow of the Dahlia, Jack Bludis. Bludis is another one of those writers I’ve been aware of for a while. When an interview in Allan Guthrie’s Criminal-E blog activated the Kindle Impulse Purchase section of my brain, I downloaded…

My final book signing for Borders Books was at the store in Fair Oaks Mall. It was so successful, and the store had so many visitors, that it's still incredible to me that the store had to close. As I watch the Borders chain sell off its stock and fixtures I am mourning the loss of a business that supported me as an author, and of good friends who were book lovers as much as book sellers.

Today it seems that we are so careful to be politically correct about some things that need to be addressed from a psychological and clinical point of view.  The thought of a small child or a teenager being diagnosed as a psychopath leaves of us cold and most don’t want to even approach the idea.  I absolutely shudder at the…

As with many things these days, the word “interrogation” has been replaced with “interview”.  I like to call it what it is, an interrogation.  Interrogative procedures are used to obtain a confession, admission of guilt, or illicit helpful information from a suspect in regard to an investigation.

In my…

You know, ALL those books out there, one after another, that CLAIM to be…a bestseller.  This bestseller.  That bestseller.

I recently put that question to Sheridan Simove, best selling author of What Every Man Thinks Apart From Sex, a “novel” the content of which consists of–and only of– 200 BLANK…

The game plan for this series is to drop in a new episode once every three weeks. The schedule is tight; the authors are willing and the franchise moves forward full speed ahead. Paul D. Brazill has to be pleased with the many positive reviews he has received and the rankings he has enjoyed: not just here in the U.S.A. but also in the U.K. He has charted for sales in the Top 100 of Amazon for his category on both. My hope one day is to nail this busy guy down so I can pick his brain on my…

(Cross-posted from Imaginary Friends blog)

This year was the first time I attended the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Conference at Harrogate (so called because it’s named after the beer brewed by the sponsoring brewery), and a last-minute decision to attend meant I got a day pass for the Saturday, even though the conference ran from Thursday to Sunday.…

I run a site called 'Guilty Conscience' and on top of posting reviews, interviews and competitions and will now be hosting your short fiction.

It can be Crime, Thriller, Horror, Noir, Mystery or Supernatural/Science-Fiction.



No fan-fiction. It must be your own work and characters.



I'll accept stories published elsewhere, as long as it was over six months ago.

 …

I was interviewed recently by professional writer/blogger Gina McKnight, who does monthly interviews with authors. It was a fun experience. If any of you would like to read the interview, here it is!

An Interview With Renown Writer Ronald S. Barak

Author of A Season For Redemption

Welcome, Ron, to…

   I may be here under somewhat false pretenses, so let me begin by confessing before you beat it out of me with truncheons. I am not a writer of crime fiction - at least not yet. In fact, until a few years ago, I wasn't a writer of anything besides voice-overs for my numerous travel videos, and nasty and satirical responses to the idiots on various blog sites,usually political.…

Introduction

It’s no secret that every author today has to market. Even the most successful authors today are marketing, big time, one way or another. The most successful may have publicists and marketing consultants helping them, but they all are getting down in the trenches as well. Not yet an established, branded bestseller? Then you may be the only one doing your marketing, but someone sure has to be doing it! It might not be as much fun (at least…