May 2008 Blog Posts (159)

Paying for It by Tony Black. Out July 17

Added by Tony Black on May 28, 2008 at 4:30am — No Comments

Rebroadcast of Biography Channel Interview This Week

Hello, friends:

Hope all is well for you and yours.

For those of you who missed my TV interview on the Biography Channel's Crime Stories, here's a chance to catch the rebroadcast at the end of this week as follows:

Crime Stories: The Love Slave Murders

Gerald Gallego, son of a convicted killer, and Charlene Gallego, honor student and musical prodigy, were a match made in hell. Preying… Continue

Added by R. Barri Flowers on May 28, 2008 at 1:25am — No Comments

Another Great Place for a Good Book

Goodreads is a social web site designed to make reading fun. There are lots of book recommendation websites out there that list random people’s reviews. On Goodreads, when a person adds a book to the site, all their friends can see what they thought of it. The theory is, people are more likely to get excited about a book their friend recommends than a suggestion from a stranger.

So this is the place where you can see what your… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on May 27, 2008 at 10:29pm — No Comments

Save Us from Info Dump

Once again, I"m stuck in a book where the author thinks I care how much research she did. It's a mystery, but we keep stopping to reflect on the history of certain famous buildings, the eccentricities of certain famous people, and the operating processes of certain organizations. Any one of those things might be interesting except for two things. First, they have nothing to do with the story, and second, they're so obviously pasted on that it's like being hit in the face with a wet… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on May 27, 2008 at 10:21pm — 2 Comments

I Wish They Hadn't Made It

Man, I was looking forward to the new Indiana Jones movie. The second one in the series was sort of so so but I loved the first, all two dozen times I've watched it, and the third was pretty darn good,too.

Spielberg and Lucas should have left the franchise alone. Either that or when Harrison Ford saw the first rushes of Crystal Skull, he should have used his whip to tear them into tiny fragments flushed them down the nearest toilet.

Seriously. It's that bad. So bad, in… Continue

Added by Doug M. Cummings on May 27, 2008 at 2:00pm — 3 Comments

Russel D. McLean Interview

Suspect: Russel D. McLean Known Aliases: Badgerboy, Russ-poo, Crimey Crimerson

Occupation(s): Writer, bookseller, reviewer, columnist

Last Known Location: Dundee, Scotland

Listen in as Russel spills about Crime Scene Scotland (the original and Crime Scene Scotland Review), his love of hand-selling books and his upcoming debut novel, THE GOOD SON (coming this Fall from Five Leaves). He also gives practical sporran advice for the… Continue

Added by Angie on May 27, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

And about those book fairs...

The worst part of attending book fairs is that sometimes other authors forget why I’m there. They come to my table when I’m trying to interact with potential readers and stand there and talk to me about THEIR books. Some of these guys get lost in their chatter, looking me right in the eye not realizing that I’m already visualizing the duct tape over their mouth.

Added by Austin S. Camacho on May 27, 2008 at 10:46am — No Comments

To Blog or not to blog

I have a dear friend who still uses snail mail, sending me multiple page letters written in long hand. She writes faithfully every month or so and has for more than thirty years. I suppose our fascination with blogging is somehow tied to our desire to communicate. We don't take (or have) time to converse with one another. There is rarely an opportunity to thoughtfully discuss ideas and exchange views. So we blog.

I enjoy blogging as a writing exercise and I read several blogs that… Continue

Added by Linda Mickey on May 27, 2008 at 3:51am — No Comments

Logic in a Changing Time

The interesting thing about discrimination is that it can’t prevent inevitable change. Puritans established a new home in North America, an Irish Catholic became president, African-Americans got the vote.

As with any business, it is always about the money. The bottom line rules. It doesn’t take much research to see how often advances do not earn out and how many books go unsold. Publishers will save millions if they stop paying advances and discontinue the practice of printing books… Continue

Added by Linda Mickey on May 27, 2008 at 3:30am — No Comments

Pump Up Your Book Promotion Social Network: Virtual Book Tours Q&A and Author Day

Cheryl Malandrinos of Pump Up Your Book Promotion has started a discussion at the Pump Up Your Book Promotion Social Network for those interested in learning more about virtual book tours. As we have been in the business for a year now, we've become experienced… Continue

Added by Dorothy Thompson on May 27, 2008 at 3:22am — No Comments

Is Blogging a Time Sink?

Well, yes, in some ways. I find that it takes me at least an hour each morning to read my email and write the blog. Is that a bad thing? I don't know.

What I get from blogging is hard to define. Of course I get responses sometimes, and that's fun because I get to "know" people who react to a topic I've chosen. But the real benefit is more personal, and I can only liken it to the journal-keeping of earlier centuries. Many, many people kept journals in the days before computers, and… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on May 26, 2008 at 11:28pm — No Comments

Weekly Blog - 26th May

Hi there! This is the inaugural edition of my weekly blog. It will appear on my web site, www.stevenhague.com, every Monday, and its humble role in life is to keep you up to date with what I’ve been up to for the last seven days. Any comments would be much appreciated – it would be nice to know that there’s someone else reading this!

Firstly, I hope you’re enjoying my website, which I’ve been working on for the last few weeks with web designer Christine Woods. I’ve known Chris and… Continue

Added by Steven Hague on May 26, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

Steven Torres Interview

Suspect:Steven Torres

Occupation: Writer, English professor

Known Aliases: None

Last Known Location: Ellington, CT

Listen in as Steven talks about his Precinct Puerto Rico series (see, Steven...I got it right!) and his latest effort,… Continue

Added by Angie on May 26, 2008 at 1:59am — No Comments

What's Up With This Crime Writer?

Ah! Spring!! I took Friday (5/23) off for a nice and much needed four-day weekend. Hope everyone’s plans for this Memorial Day weekend includes some reflection, a cook out or two with friends and family, and lots of fun and relaxation. For me it's a chance to get started with deep cleaning our home. House cleaning isn't my focus these days but it drives me nuts to not have a clean house. I'll get done what I can, and get some gardening in later this afternoon.

Then again, anyone who… Continue

Added by Marta Stephens on May 26, 2008 at 12:30am — No Comments

Stories and Rumors

There are quite a few stories about Bo Fexler, though you shouldn't believe all you read.

If you don't know her, you should. She's the sort of woman that will bring you to your knees. If you're good, she's do it with her mouth. If your bad, she'll do it with her fists. Or maybe it's the other way around. ;-)

She's good to have on your side. It's kind of like being on the right side of a gun.

She's been skukling around for a while, taking in the scenery. She… Continue

Added by Clair Dickson on May 25, 2008 at 9:01am — No Comments

Now I remember...

...why I quit writing that damned book. I hauled it out yesterday and read it over, especially the last three or four chapters. I got to the end of Chapter 19, and that's all I had written back when I was working on it regularly. As I read it again, I realized I had absolutely no idea where to go from there. I guess I thought that letting it sit and percolate for, oh, three years would be a good thing. HA! I actually want to work on it again and I'm just clueless. Looking back on when I was… Continue

Added by Janet Ortegon on May 25, 2008 at 8:14am — No Comments

Cover Art Design Awards - One Week left to Vote

There is now just one week left for voting in the Authors Lounge Cover Art Design Awards, May 2008.

I'm flattered that the cover of my novel 'A Study in Red - The Secret Journal of ~Jack the Ripper' received a nomination for the award, and wondered if I might ask my friends if they feel so inclined, to place a vote for my book on the voting page at http://www.talauthors.com/TAL/RomanceandMoreAwards.htm

Simply check the box next to my title and click on vote… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on May 25, 2008 at 1:52am — No Comments

Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais

I'm still working on the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association's top 100 mysteries of the 20th century, and this book came up. Good book. I gave it three out of five stars over at my LibraryThing account.

One thing I didn't dig about the book was the violence. It seemed the heroes were doing so much killing, it felt like an eighties Arnold… Continue

Added by Johnny Ostentatious on May 24, 2008 at 11:57pm — 2 Comments

Of Book Fairs and Podcasts

That most recent fair was the Philadelphia Book Festival. Saturday was a good book signing day, despite the pollen that had me sneezing thru an itchy nose all day. Sunday brought a downpour that caused us to leave a bit early. But the trip was super anyway, because my lovely wife Dee and I got to spend some time with my frat brother Marc and his charming wife Pat. They were perfect hosts so even though Philly wasn’t the perfect book signing opportunity, we’ll be looking for an excuse to… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on May 24, 2008 at 9:29pm — No Comments

Connecting with libraries and readers

In author blogs and chat forums, writers are always asking each other, “How do I reach more readers and the public?” Well, this week I’d like to talk up an organization that provides fantastic outreach opportunities: Sisters in Crime.

Read the full post on Friday's Killer… Continue

Added by Kathryn Lilley on May 24, 2008 at 1:38pm — No Comments