April 2009 Blog Posts (206)

The Writing Life: Thomas M. Kostigen

Thomas M. Kostigen is the most important environmental writer in the U.S. That’s not only because he’s trekked through the Amazon to record how we’re destroying it, or because he climbed into the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island to…smell how badly it stinks. Or because his ground-breaking New York Times bestseller… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on April 24, 2009 at 4:28pm — No Comments

So You Want to Be a Crime Scene Investigator?

It is interesting to see how the popular culture that gets developed through our television screens can influence the real decisions that people make in their lives. The rash of talent shows in recent years, such as American Idol and America’s Got Talent, has convinced…

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Added by Jennifer Chase on April 24, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Create the Flavor

Today I am the guest blogger on http://mysteriouspeople.blogspot.com discussing the importance of setting in your novel. If you get a chance, stop by for a visit and post a comment.

Added by Sylvia Dickey Smith on April 24, 2009 at 7:20am — No Comments

What's the difference between Sharansky and Lieberman? Apart from a few inches, not much

By Matt Beynon Rees, published on Global Post

JERUSALEM — So, there are two eastern European guys, one from Ukraine and the other from Moldova.

One of them is on the short side and is a chess whiz who suffered through a Siberian labor camp for his uncompromising belief in democracy and freedom. Meet Natan Sharansky, who was picked this weekend by Israeli Prime… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on April 24, 2009 at 3:10am — No Comments

Meet Me tomorrow in MD

Tomorrow I’ll make my last visit to the Borders Express in St Charles Town Ctr before the big book release party there for Russian Roulette. I’ll be there from 5 pm to 9 pm signing my novels and chatting about the upcoming book. If that’s your home area, it would be cool to stop by at 5000 Highway 301 S Waldorf, MD, and see where all the fun is… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on April 23, 2009 at 11:05pm — No Comments

Writing Yourself into a Corner

There is a moment in most good mysteries when the reader thinks, "There's no way they're getting out of this one!" It's a great, great thing for an author to create...if she can deliver an ending to match.

The book I'm reading has built to that moment, but as I read this morning's chapter I began to doubt that the characters will be able to recover to any believable degree. The bad guy will die, of course, in some suitably horrible way. But the world has been so disrupted, what with… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on April 23, 2009 at 9:11pm — 3 Comments

Great Review!

Pack up your cozies and lock grandma in the closet, THE WELL Meaning KILLER is a female-driven mystery with enough hard-boiledbite to give Jim Thompson the jim-jams. Fist-time novelist and veteranER nurse Miranda Phillips Walker brings both the verisimilitude and theviscera to this riveting chiller. Following world-weary female FeebMegan McKenna on a greased skid into the heart

of darkness, otherwiseknown as Baltimore, KILLER tells the story of McKenna’s terrifying racethrough the broken… Continue

Added by Miranda Phillips Walker on April 23, 2009 at 9:21am — No Comments

Gathering Reviews & Blurbs

As the release date of The Well Meaning Killer approaches this June, I am busy gathering reviews, blurbs, setting up signings and guest blogs. Whew! I just recently joined my space and facebook, and i'm busy stting up my own website. My publisher, Krill Press just put out the arc of my book on the ever popular DorothyL for comments. Enjoy!

Added by Miranda Phillips Walker on April 23, 2009 at 1:11am — 1 Comment

Don't forget your Support Staff

When you sit down to start your workday, look around your office. I’ll bet there’s that one person who keeps the ship afloat by handling the thousands of essentials that let you concentrate on your actual job. Notice that as soon as that person sits down to a cup of hot coffee, her boss will ask her to do something that will last until the coffee is cold.

We have a very effective lady in our office who makes things happen. Fire and forget, you know it’s handled. Of course, the… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on April 22, 2009 at 11:24pm — No Comments

Our Hobbies in Our Books

I guess it's a good idea. I know people who are making good money writing books tied to hobbies or jobs or pastimes they enjoy. Apparently everyone in the reading public who likes that hobby runs out and buys the books. Too bad I don't knit or quilt or play hockey!

My hobby, is suppose, is history, and I'm every bit as guilty of indulging myself when I write as those who write about flower arranging or antique collecting. We like to share what we know and what we do with others, and… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on April 22, 2009 at 9:53pm — No Comments

A Magical London Book Fair 2009

Back from the London Book Fair after two very hectic and productive days. Can’t say it’s the best way to spend two gorgeous hot sunny days in England stuck in a giant air-conditioned hanger in the middle of London but needs must, and it was great to see so many friends in the publishing and bookselling world, and meet people who I’ve connected with on LinkedIn and on Facebook.

The London Book Fair seemed to be buzzing with activity with… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on April 22, 2009 at 9:40pm — No Comments

Winged with Death Virtual Tour

My latest novel, Winged with Death, is reviewed on Dick Jones' Patteran Pages.

Added by John Baker on April 22, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Review: Haitian scandal, voodoo and family obsession with Cara Black

Murder in the Latin Quarter

by Cara Black

Soho Crime, isbn 1569475415

Just when our detective is set to get down to some normal, profitable work, a woman walks into her office with a story that sets our mystery on a personal track. It’s a tested opening for a detective novel, but Cara Black’s… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on April 22, 2009 at 4:29pm — No Comments

Beastly Me: my Holocaust take on The Daily Beast

I've started writing for Tina Brown's ground-breaking news website The Daily Beast. The first of my pieces runs today. Here's the headline:
ISRAEL'S PRIVATE SHAME
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the worst place to be a survivor might be Israel.
To read the article, click here.

Added by Matt Rees on April 22, 2009 at 3:20am — 2 Comments

A Great Site for new Books

I like to point you to books that will be good additions to your personal library, or web sites that might help you find them. Today I want to tell you about Mark Athitakis’ American Fiction Notes.

Mark Athitakis is a writer, an editor, a critic, and a blogger who’s spent more than a dozen years in journalism. The fact that his work has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, Washington… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on April 21, 2009 at 10:56pm — No Comments

What Did "They" Believe?

As a writer of historicals and a history teacher for many years, I am often irritated by statements about what people in the past believed. "They believed it was unhealthy to sleep with the windows open." or "They thought the stars controlled a person's destiny." My question always is "Who is 'they'?"

If we apply the same generalizations to today, then "we" believe that the everyday actions of someone named Lindsey or Paris or Beyonce are very, very important. "'We' also believe that… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on April 21, 2009 at 10:53pm — 7 Comments

Krimis, polars, gialli: what crime novels are called around the world

Sometimes people talk about crime novels as though they were all the same. The sheer number of different names for variants of the crime novel proves that isn’t true.

Police procedural. Mystery novel. Thriller. Cosy. Exotic detective. Supernatural. I used to think there was little real difference, but then my UK publisher told me he wanted to change the title of my first novel “The Collaborator of Bethlehem.” He thought it… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on April 21, 2009 at 5:01pm — No Comments

What inspired Jennifer to write her debut novel "Compulsion"?

Jennifer's favorite genre has always been suspense, mystery, and thriller books. Her inspiration for Compulsion is really three-fold. First, her love for writing and wanting to complete a thriller novel has been the main driving force.

Second, her academic background actually gave her the confidence to write about… Continue

Added by Jennifer Chase on April 21, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Darden North, author of medical thrillers, is featured on Mysterious People

Mysterious People --- Interviews with mystery/suspense/thriller/crime authors as well as articles written by them ---

Sunday, April 19, 2009 ...

A Conversation with Darden North, MD, author of FRESH FROZEN

Hosted by author Jean Henry Mead

Darden North, a practicing obstetrician, is a graduate of Ole Miss and writes award-winning medical thrillers from John Grisham territory.…

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Added by Darden North, MD on April 21, 2009 at 1:23pm — No Comments

Their First Meeting

THE COWBOY WAY...just released!

Lacey probably would have stood there for as long as it took if it hadn’t been for the man walking out of the cattle barn a short distance away. An impossibly tall, well-built man with the most piercing silver eyes she’d ever seen, set in a face that seemed carved from stone. He had the look of an experienced cowboy, from the top of his sweat-stained cowboy hat right down to his old leather boots. The leather chaps he was wearing over his jeans… Continue

Added by Tory Richards on April 21, 2009 at 12:02pm — No Comments