March 2011 Blog Posts (154)

L. A. EXAMINER.COM SPOTLIGHT ON MYSTERY WRITER, ACTOR, JOURNALIST MICHAEL MALLORY

Today my Spotlight is on a man of many talents. Michael has had a varied career including so many things it makes my head spin, and I'm a busy gal.…

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Added by Morgan St. James on March 17, 2011 at 3:42am — No Comments

L. A. EXAMINER.COM SPOTLIGHT ON MYSTERY WRITER, ACTOR, JOURNALIST MICHAEL MALLORY

LINK: http://exm.nr/mallory-LA

Today my Spotlight is on a man of many talents. Michael has had a varied career including so many things it makes my head spin, and I'm a busy gal.…

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Added by Morgan St. James on March 17, 2011 at 3:41am — No Comments

Ex-FBI Agent & Chicago Cop: Are You A Writer?

By John M. Wills

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest blogger is a man of many talents and experiences. John M. Wills is a retired FBI agent and former Chicago police officer…

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Added by Mark Young on March 17, 2011 at 1:46am — 4 Comments

Killing Ways 2

Here are some descriptions for the stories in my second collection of stories called Killing Ways 2: Urban Stories. As you can see from the subtitle, the collection hangs together on the urban angle. The Killing doesn't happen in every story though every story is noir-ish.

The original publications were Crimespree, Uncage Me!, Crimespree, Plots With Guns, Crimespree, and Bronx Noir.

Hard luck, hard knock, hot… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on March 17, 2011 at 1:30am — 1 Comment

365 WORD CRIME STORIES

If 365 of us write a 365 page crime story we can create a 365 page book with a story for every day of the year for readers

Who wants to join me?

Here is my first offering

IN HER OWN WORDS (365)

The courtroom had been hushed; the jury warned that the recording quality was bad; that the…

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Added by ROY CHADWICK on March 16, 2011 at 11:33pm — No Comments

Lee Goldberg The Dead Man: Face of Evil

Back in the day I used to read a host of different serial novels: The Death Merchant, The Executioner, Nick Carter, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown ….wait I went back to far. Okay rewind it a bit and you get the idea. Someone was smart enough to go back and try to capture the feel and fun that was contained in those types of novels back in the day. Did they carry it off? What do you think? Here is what is in the virtual pages:

From Lee Goldberg...…

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Added by Giovanni Gelati on March 16, 2011 at 10:34pm — No Comments

Review - An Object in Motion, Ronald S Barrios

Book Title: AN OBJECT IN MOTION

Author: Ronald S Barrios

No of Pages: 78

Book Synopsis:

Ruth Addems is a soap opera star on the rise, but when her house in the affluent neighborhood of Black Hawk is broken into it looks as if she has a stalker and she is reffered to Rey. But Rey quickly finds out that things aren't always as they appear. In the world of Hollywood everyone has secrets and most stories are the stuff that nightmares are made of. Rey learns that once… Continue

Added by Karen from AustCrime on March 16, 2011 at 11:32am — No Comments

Today's Spotlight in Las Vegas Examiner.com - Updates on some authors I've interviewed

SPOTLIGHT UPDATES - LAS VEGAS EXAMINER.COM

It always makes…

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Added by Morgan St. James on March 16, 2011 at 10:00am — No Comments

Self-Publishing: Promoting Yourself - Part Two

As you prepare for your book to come out, a great thing you can do in advance is to get together a press release, and there are a few sites that will send them out for you for FREE.

The only downside I had with the ones I have sent out is that I wanted to put my contact info as misspoirotatymail.com instead of using the @ sign. Why does this matter? Once that release goes out a bunch of spammers will flood your inbox with a bunch of stuff you don't want or need. Fortunately, they…

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Added by Cheryl Bradshaw on March 16, 2011 at 9:30am — No Comments

Lessons I Have Learned from Bacardi

“But why is the Rum gone?”

Or so said Johnny Depp in one of his pirate movies. I’m certain, for his character in any event, the rum was his muse or at a minimum his motivation.

However, the Bacardi I‘m talking about is not actually a distilled spirit, but you could call this Bacardi a muse. Of sorts.

Bacardi is one of my Australian Shepherds. He’s also very supportive of my writing; however, I feel his support has more to do with the fact…

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Added by sean on March 16, 2011 at 8:34am — No Comments

Featured Author - Jeffery Deaver

Ever see the riveting and emotionally charged movie The Bone Collector with Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington? Then you are familiar with Jeffery Deaver. And his success doesn't stop there. Jeffery was chosen by Ian Fleming's Publications to write Carte Blanche. What's so great about that? I'll tell you. Carte Blanche is the next James Bond novel. Aside from that, he has additional novels coming out in 2012 (Kathryn Dance book) and 2013 (Lincoln Rhyme book). With how…

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Added by Cheryl Bradshaw on March 16, 2011 at 5:14am — No Comments

New ebook: "Killing Ways 2: Urban Stories"

Another ebook I put together is now available for the Kindle. It's by my friend Steven Torres, and it's called "Killing Ways 2: Urban Stories". I really like the cover for this one:

There are six stories in this one, two featuring Stupendous "Stoop" Jones, a young thief growing up rough on the streets of New York City; two with mob enforcer Ray Cruz; the Derringer award…

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Added by Graham Powell on March 16, 2011 at 4:30am — 1 Comment

Yet Another Kindle Collection

For those who have been waiting anxiously for my next collection of stories, it's finally here: Killing Ways 2: Urban Stories. One of these stories is a prize winner. Another is a nominee. They've all been published before. One story was praised by Publisher's Weekly. How many short stories get praised by Publisher's Weekly? No really. I have no idea. Maybe all of them, but you get the idea. If you want to read sad stories about bad… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on March 16, 2011 at 2:53am — No Comments

Yet Another Kindle Collection

Added by Steven Torres on March 16, 2011 at 2:51am — No Comments

Self-Publishing: Promoting Yourself - Part One

There are plenty of options out there to promote yourself, which is great because most new authors don't have tons of extra money to shell out to advertise and get themselves out there. You are essentially your own publicist. It is a little daunting at first and takes away from your time as a writer, but gaining readers is a good thing.

For part one, I'm going to touch on the basics. These are things you can do before your book even comes out (and you should).

1.… Continue

Added by Cheryl Bradshaw on March 15, 2011 at 12:09pm — No Comments

J.E. Seymour Lead Poisoning

What a way to start the posting week, with a scorcher. Gotta love a story that won’t let you stop reading it and the pages just keep flying. Wait, it’s Monday and we have an awesome week ahead of here at both the blog and the The G-ZONE our blogtalk radio show. Our guest lineup this week includes: Stephen Jay Schwartz today, Leona Bodie, Gayle Lynds, Sylvia Massara, and then on Friday Blake Crouch. Remember if you don’t catch them live, go to the archives and enjoy, they are there 24/7 for…

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Added by Giovanni Gelati on March 15, 2011 at 5:12am — 2 Comments

What Novel Can Compete with "Reality"?

Mystery writers get together, and they talk. They discuss how hard it is to keep their books "real": correct police procedures, well-drawn protagonists, and non-stereotypical antagonists. We sweat, toil, and reread a thousand times to be sure the mystery makes sense, the ending adds up, and the world is set right at the end.

Then comes reality. People who should get no attention at all are splashed all over the media as if the lives they are leading make sense. I won't say the names…

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Added by Peg Herring on March 14, 2011 at 9:59pm — 4 Comments

Why is crime fiction so popular particularly with women?

I was recently asked this question by a journalist and although the percentage of women who read crime fiction is higher than men, I am pleased to say that I have both male and female readers of my crime and thriller novels.

So why are so many people drawn to reading crime fiction?

In crime fiction we know that justice will be done and the case will be resolved and that doesn’t always happen in real life. In crime fiction the villain either gets caught or gets his/her… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on March 14, 2011 at 7:59pm — 1 Comment

Seeking Indie Publishing Stories

I am seeking stories about personal indie publishing experiences for publication on my site as 'Guest Blogs'.

I'm interested in all aspects of the process, from writing and staying motivated, through editing and proofreading, layout and design, printing and format options, publishing and marketing.

If interested please check out the site: www.indiebookauthors.com and submit articles online directly here: …

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Added by Jeannie Barker on March 14, 2011 at 12:36pm — No Comments

The New Detective Jackson novel is here!

Dying for Justice, the fifth book in the bestselling Detective Jackson series is now available on Kindle and other e-readers for $2.99 and in print from Amazon.

Here's the back cover text: