April 2009 Blog Posts (206)

ROGUE MALES: SUBJECT #5, ALISTAIR MACLEOD

(Author’s note: Rogue Males: Conversations & Confrontations About the Writing Life, is a collection of author interviews. It includes Pete Dexter, James Ellroy, Daniel Woodrell, Elmore Leonard and James Crumley. Rogue Males also features an account of a trip to the desert to interview crime fiction greats Ken Bruen and James Sallis about the craft of writing. During the next… Continue

Added by Craig McDonald on April 21, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Twittering away a morning

In the competitive world of books, authors are urged by their agents, editors, colleagues, family, pets and anyone else with an opinion including the cashier at the grocery store, to use Twitter. So I did. It's actually amusing and I find I can keep in touch with my own sons easier there than through emails, but it's also easy to get lost in it. Sometimes I find myself reading too many posts, spending time searching out new people to reply to, trying to write a clever tweet that actually says… Continue

Added by Suzanne Arruda on April 21, 2009 at 5:48am — No Comments

Highest ever sales rank for 'A Study in Red'

'A Study in Red - The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper' today achieved its highest sales ranking so far on the site of Amazon.co.uk… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on April 21, 2009 at 5:00am — 3 Comments

olyghova

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Added by sesere on April 21, 2009 at 4:49am — No Comments

Update and PARTY INVITATION!

Saturday’s book signing at Borders Express - Wheaton Mall was fun, not just because I got to meet a whole new crowd of potential fans, but because I saw some old one’s too. New friends included Monica, who e-mailed me that same night to say, “I am here reading the book that you signed and have not been able to put it down.” One old friend gave me a wonderful surprise by stopping by with the baby, but he slept thru the entire experience (Hi Sally!)

Sunday, Reagan National Airport was… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on April 20, 2009 at 11:30pm — No Comments

The Guy Who Won't Be Captured

In everything I write, there seems to be a character who refuses to be defined. Throughout the rough draft he (or she, I really can't say) is nebulous and shifty. For me, it's often a "bad" character, one who will be in some way dishonest.

Of course I begin with a scenario, so I know his/her role and propensities, but how does he/she present to the reader? In a mystery, it's important to give clues so readers don't feel cheated at the end by a surprise from out of nowhere. But how… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on April 20, 2009 at 10:24pm — No Comments

Weekly Blog - Monday 20th April

It’s a case of same as you were this week, as Justice For All remains on sale, Blood Law is waiting to be unleashed on the 17th July, and The Beholder is with my publishers for comment, leaving me time to tackle some DIY projects in the garden (the latest of which involves making windows for an outbuilding we inherited when we moved in). So with little else to report, I’d best fetch my saw and crack on!

Cheers,

Steve

What’s Steve been listening to this week?

The… Continue

Added by Steven Hague on April 20, 2009 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Trip to London

My wife and I plan to be in London for three weeks in May. Does anyone have a recommendation for an author of police procedurals whose main character is based in London? I would welcome any suggestions.

p.s. I intend to witness the proceedings of London's Central Criminal Court (The "Old Bailey") during me trip for about two days to get a general feel of criminal justice there.

Thank you.

Added by Luis on April 20, 2009 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

Beat to a Pulp

Hey everyone check out my new short over at :http://www.beattoapulp.com/pulp.htm

Leave a comment, let me know what you all think!!!!

Thanks,

Frank

Added by frank bill on April 20, 2009 at 7:58am — 1 Comment

JACK WAKES UP slated for New York Times Book Review on Sunday May 10th!!

This is a little piece I like to call JWU-NYTBR. It's basically 4 minutes of me going crazy after just hearing the news! And that's right!! The news for today is tht JACK WAKES UP will be reviewed in the Sunday New York Times Book Review on May 10th!!

JACK WAKES UP comes out Tuesday, May 5th in bookstores everywhere from Three Rivers Press (Random House). You can order yours here:… Continue

Added by Seth Harwood on April 20, 2009 at 5:00am — 1 Comment

Excuses, Excuses

New blog post at: http://mitziszereto.com/blog

Added by Mitzi Szereto on April 20, 2009 at 4:28am — No Comments

Theme music for my Turner/Frank movie (someday!)

Okay . . . let's make a confession here. My two homicide detective characters, Turner Hahn and Frank Morales, ought to be in the movies. Of course I am going to say this; I created the two bastards! Why wouldn't I say it?

But what would theme music sound like? Ah . . . . that's the question. And I have the answer. There's a song out there by a group called Deep Dish called Flashdance. If you find the Haxton W***es Remix version of it, I'm here to tell you it is a kick-ass… Continue

Added by B.R.Stateham on April 20, 2009 at 4:00am — No Comments

The Writing Life: Christopher G. Moore

Readers love to discover an author whose work suggests they’re a kindred spirit. Novelists, engaged in the often lonely work of writing, enjoy it even more. That’s how I feel about Christopher G. Moore, whose path is in many ways similar to mine (as you’ll see in this interview). Based in Bangkok, he’s the creator of one of the most striking sleuths in crime fiction: Vincent Calvino seems a distillation of all the most intriguing expats you’ll ever meet… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on April 19, 2009 at 2:34pm — No Comments

Spring?

It has been a weird winter and an even stranger spring. But it's been interesting these past few weeks.

The Missouri Writers Guild conference was amazing... I got to meet Lee Goldberg, the writer of Monk (the series and the books, and he made fun of Missouri with no mercy!!), and some phenomenal editors, agents, and fellow writers (Kate Angelella, Annette Fix,… Continue

Added by Barri L. Bumgarner on April 19, 2009 at 12:52pm — No Comments

When A Good Thing Goes Bad

I can remember using a typewriter on one of my many unpublished novels back in the mid ‘80s. Soon afterward, two friends pulled me kicking and screaming into the computer generation. I finally welcomed the scary process because of spell checker.

Today, of course, spell checker is only a little of what writers get from writing programs. There is auto correct, a favorite of mine, since my mind often works far ahead of my fingers, and I am always transposing letters. I have many words,… Continue

Added by Michael Haskins on April 19, 2009 at 1:30am — 3 Comments

BACK IN SEATTLE AGAIN!

This week's show will be a rerun as I am back in Seattle visiting my son, Jordan Barer.
April 25th our guest is Lis Wiehl of Fox News. The next week is her husband, Mickey Sherman!! Cool, huh?

BB

Added by Burl Barer on April 18, 2009 at 9:13pm — No Comments

The Best Bookshop in Germany

In the town of Ruesselsheim, near Mainz, I've discovered the best bookshop in Germany. The Buecherhaus Jansen stands in a down-at-heel pedestrian street at the heart of an industrial town (home to Opel cars, a troubled subsidiary of General Motors), surrounded mostly by doner kebab restaurants and discount stores. Hans-Juergen Jansen has built his store into a cultural… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on April 18, 2009 at 5:28pm — No Comments

2nd place isn't half bad

My story 'Past Due' came in second in the Twist of Noir story contest. It was close and came down to a coin flip. Oh well. All the stories are great so check them out.

Added by Eric Beetner on April 18, 2009 at 4:58pm — 1 Comment

New Novel

My new historical/suspense novel, Watch The Hour, was released April 15 by Whiskey Creek Press, www.whiskeycreekpress.com, in both print and electronic formats.

Set in that turbulent period of the 1870s in the Pennsylvania anthracite coal region when ordinary people were caught between the railroad monopoly and oppressive economic conditions, Benjamin Franklin Yeager is torn between his duties as a coal and iron policeman and his love for an Irish girl. Watch The Hour explores the… Continue

Added by J.R. Lindermuth on April 18, 2009 at 1:23am — No Comments