January 2010 Blog Posts (151)

"Foresight" on Mysterical-E

Mysterical-E has posted my flash piece, "Foresight," as part of its Winter issue. Several good stories there. Well worth your time.

Added by Dana King on January 6, 2010 at 3:52am — No Comments

Mysterious Matters Spanks Some, Thanks Others

At Mysterious Matters there is an excellent post that cuts through all the blather and gets to the heart of the state of publishing fiction. It also addresses policies of organizations, review sites, discussion lists and I find that many of the sites they take issue with are ones I've had my own personal concerns about in the past. For every thousand people who recycle the sound… Continue

Added by Sandra Ruttan on January 6, 2010 at 3:06am — 10 Comments

The Glamorous Life

Starting the new year with glitz: invoicing for consignment sales, typing up press releases for HER HIGHNESS' FIRST MURDER, and making a mail-merge directory of every library in the state. Yes, it's mind-numbing work, but think how cool it will be when it's done (she keeps telling herself).

I think the brain/mind/soul/whatever needs these dorky little tasks from time to time. They require no creativity but provide a feeling of accomplishment. Sure, I'd rather be writing the next… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on January 5, 2010 at 10:29pm — No Comments

Chapter 2...kinda

Well, I was planning to blog a little bit today about Chapter 2 of Coming Home – you know, how it was going, what I’d written so far, etc. One problem with that: I haven’t started it yet! I feel like a naughty child confessing to something…well, naughty.

Rest assured, I will finish Chapter 2 this weekend – but it might be a busy weekend!

I’ve had a lot on though…I… Continue

Added by Phillipa Martin (PD Martin) on January 5, 2010 at 3:46pm — No Comments

More Out of the Gutter

The much-anticipated issue #6 has hit the streets. This would be "The Sexploitation Issue," featuring my flash effort "Soymilk" and a spate of other goodies. Get yours at http://outoftheguttermagazine.com If you haven't read Out of the Gutter, well, I don't even know what the hell you're doing here, quite honestly...

Added by Josh Converse on January 5, 2010 at 3:31pm — No Comments

DEAD of KNIGHT is a Psychological Thriller You Can’t Put Down!

Kim decided to head out to the alley to take a few puffs before the diner filled up, but this time she wouldn’t have to work her shift. Her assailant grabbed her by the hair and slammed her to the ground, but not before he began to talk about her life, or more specifically, what she hadn’t done with it. She was a loser and before she met her maker he was going to let her know all about it. He began to recite something she already knew, “Two… Continue

Added by William R. Potter on January 5, 2010 at 1:40pm — No Comments

Review - Torn Apart, Peter Corris

Book Title: TORN APART

Author: Peter Corris

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Copyright: 2010

ISBN: 978-1-74237-139-9

No of Pages: 240

Book Synopsis:

Semi-retired. De-licensed. But Cliff Hardy is once again fighting for justice and tracking down evil when his cousin is brutally murdered - did the shotgun blast find its target, or was it meant for Hardy?

Hardy has never been much of a family man, so when he meets his second cousin Patrick… Continue

Added by Karen from AustCrime on January 5, 2010 at 9:46am — No Comments

Review - The Fortunes of Mary Fortune, Mary Fortune (edited by Lucy Sussex)

Book Title: THE FORTUNES OF MARY FORTUNE

Author: Mary Fortune (edited by Lucy Sussex)

Publisher: Penguin

Copyright: 1989

ISBN: 0-14-012302-4

No of Pages: 230

Book Synopsis:

'To fall asleep and dream dreams that change as quickly as the forms in an unsteady kaleidoscope, and to awaken with a bewildered feeling that you are not yourself but have changed places with some other identity, must be a sensation akin to that I experienced when I opened my… Continue

Added by Karen from AustCrime on January 5, 2010 at 9:45am — No Comments

Dappled Things review of BLEEDER

Book Review: Bleeder

By Eleanor Bourg Donlon

Assistant Editor, Dappled Things

Bleeder

By John Desjarlais

Sophia Institute Press, 2009

272 pp., $14.95

ISBN: 978-1-933184-56-2

“A miracle? Or bloody murder?”

The provocative phrase jumped out at us from the book cover starkly displayed on the Catholic Writers Guild table. My cousin drew in her breath, and I muttered (rather inadequately, but with great expression): “Golly.”

We first encountered John… Continue

Added by John Desjarlais on January 5, 2010 at 6:52am — No Comments

First stop on virtual book tour

Off to a running start with the book tour over here http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2010/01/02/pump-up-your-book-chats-with-cozy-mystery-author-kim-smith/ and I hope you will join me. Everyone who leaves a comment will be in the running for a give-away.

Happy Touring!

Added by Kim Smith on January 5, 2010 at 6:33am — No Comments

Another Nomination.

Some kind person has added my name to the list of nominations for Best Author at the Preditors & Editors awards. If anyone hasn't yet voted in that category and feels kindly disposed please would you consider adding a vote for me at http://www.critters.org/predpoll/author.shtml where I'm listed in the poll as Brian L Porter

I would really appreciate any votes I receive, for this and my other nominations,… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on January 5, 2010 at 4:13am — 2 Comments

The perfect system for writing a novel

"Once they find a favourite way of getting their words on paper - or screen - novelists normally stick with it, says Philip Hensher," in the Daily Telegraph recently, and that is true because it takes a writer some time to evolve the perfect system that works for him or her. It did with me anyway.

Before I struck on the 'perfect system' I tried all sorts of ways of compiling my research, plots and character outlines, from using note books to wall maps, to A4 folders. None of them… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on January 5, 2010 at 2:43am — 3 Comments

Sacred text and Writing!

A examination of the sacred text I use to guide my writing.

http://brotherkangrants.blogspot.com/2010/01/sacred-text-of-writing.html

Anyone else use their own "sacred text"?

Added by KevinRegier@BrotherKangsRants on January 5, 2010 at 1:27am — No Comments

Playing God

I received several comments on a recently published work because it in some ways parallels events in my life. The comments center on the idea that if a certain person of my acquaintance comes up missing, I would have to be suspected, given the plot of the story.

Yup.

Life is unfair, unbalanced, and unjust. People we all know should be punished aren't. Writers have the luxury of deciding whether justice will reign and how it will happen. And we don't even have to give DNA… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on January 4, 2010 at 10:32pm — No Comments

Interview

I'm author Victoria Roder of The Dream House Visions And Nightmares (30 year old crime) and I was interviewed on Poetry, Prose and Print. If you get a chance please check it out. Fellow authors, they may have spots left for interviews. Thanks, Vicki

http://angelabradley.blogspot.com/2010/01/author-victoria-roder.html

Added by Victoria Roder on January 4, 2010 at 10:30pm — No Comments

New Years Writing Routine

New blog post today... discussing some of writing techniques and quirks.

http://brotherkangrants.blogspot.com/2010/01/blogging-in-new-year.html

Added by KevinRegier@BrotherKangsRants on January 4, 2010 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Outrage: Raymond Chandler in the trash

The last decade has been one of outrage piled upon outrage, from 9/11 to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, on to Hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami and the smart-ass bankers who thought they ruled the world they were in the process of destroying. On the first day of the new decade I was faced with something less outrageous, perhaps, but somehow even more puzzling than any of these things.

I was walking along a street near my home in Jerusalem with a friend. A few… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on January 4, 2010 at 1:24am — 3 Comments

Raymond Chandler's "Red Wind"

You don’t get very far as a reader of hard-boiled literature without hearing how “great” Chandler’s “Red Wind” is. The first paragraph gets all the attention and is, I think, the highlight of the story. It reads:

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the… Continue

Added by Brian Drake on January 3, 2010 at 12:48pm — 1 Comment

Happy New Years!

Happy New Year everyone... I have taken a new years resolution this year to write a crime/mystery play. Think a cross between Chekhov and Jim Thompson.

Check out the new blog post!!
http://brotherkangrants.blogspot.com/2010/01/happy-new-years.html

Added by KevinRegier@BrotherKangsRants on January 2, 2010 at 3:59pm — No Comments

I'm not good at this!

Happy new year to all! The best of everything. My motto for this year is:Do One Thing Well. For the first of the year, that will be reading books to help me write better, write more knowledgeably and finally to finish Snaketown for the Tony Hillerman contest in June. I"m stoked because a friend read the horrible first draft and said she loved it! Now, I think the chili is burning.

Added by Virginia Conn on January 2, 2010 at 8:29am — No Comments