I recently reviewed Alan Orloff’s latest novel, Killer Routine for the International Thriller Writers newsletter The Big Thrill.  If your idea of a great murder mystery includes nerve shattering suspense and a plot that will keep you guessing until the very end, you need look no further this one.  …

Follow my #6 Step Plan http://www.karentyrrell.com

I've just put the first post up at the all new-ish ... www.pulppusher.blogspot.com

Back in business

Okay, Author, you've got a big secret in your book, something that happened to the main character in the past that has a bearing on how he/she acts today. Here are Peg's rules for dealing with it:

First, refer to it sparingly. I get tired of being reminded that there's something you know that I don't.

Second, make the clues progressive, so I have a chance of figuring it out, at least partly, before the end.

Third, the secret had better be good enough when I get there to…

In my first crime fiction novel Compulsion, Emily Stone’s love interest Detective Rick Lopez uses a form of profiling called a “Threshold Assessment”.  He carefully weighs the evidence from the serial homicide crime scenes, criminal…

Julie Monroe reviewed my marketing book on her blog, Warlock Writer.  Julie is the networking and social media coach who helped me set up my Facebook Fan page, so when it comes to marketing she knows what she’s talking about.  http://warlockwriter.blogspot.com/2010/12/review-successfully-marketing-your.html

Oh,…

I've been busy - writing a play, reviewing for a couple different outlets, blogging and working on projects for th Virginia Writers Club.  Still, with several events coming up I know I have to get the promotional machinery running again or I may be forgotten by my readers.  I've learned that the only time the world beats a path to your door is when you're in the bathroom. 

Since my last entry I had a book signing at the Borders Express in…

Been catching up with my reading now that my writing is a tad more up to date. Reviews of Sean Patrick Reardon;s MINDJACKER and Nigel Bird's DIRTY OLD TOWN here, and Josh Stalling's stunning debut BEAUTIFUL, NAKED AND DEAD here.

Tied in with this is the fact that my blog is…

We delayed a little on this to give the hardcover some time to sell, but I'm happy to say that my most recent novel (an April 2011 release) is now also available at the very modest price of $ 4.99.

The hope is, of course,  that Kindle sales will bring me new readers.  I have always believed that Kindle book purchases are made by a slightly…

MURDER IN MAUI: A Leila Kahana Mystery, my highly acclaimed new tropical police procedural and medical mystery eBook, now in Kindle, Nook, and Google eBooks,



Maui County homicide detective and composite sketch artist Leila Kahana is the protagonist. A Hawaiian native, Leila follows in the footsteps of her grandfather who was the…

My bestselling true crime Book, THE SEX SLAVE MURDERS: The True Story of Serial Killers Gerald and Charlene Gallego, is now in Kindle and Nook for First Time!



True tale of serial abduction, sexual assault, and murder, it chronicles lives of serial killers Gerald and Charlene Gallego and the sex slave fantasies that fueled their…

When Kamal Abdel-Malek was a young student, he chose to study outside the Arab world, eventually becoming a professor at Brown and Princeton Universities in the US. It was the first step in the physical and intellectual journeys of this intriguing Egyptian writer. Born in Alexandria and now a teacher of Arabic…

According to the Association of American Publishers, ebooks became the bestselling category in American publishing for the first time in February 2011.

(Reference article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/15/ebook-sales-milestone/print)

 …

Rather than rent out a community center or library for a "real-world" launch party, I'm hosting one virtually via my e-mail newsletter (shout out to CrimeSpace's Clay Morgan for the inspiration, as he's a big proponent of e-mail newsletters).

But unlike a regular old "buy this buy this buy this" event, this launch party is full of exclusive fun only for newsletter subscribers. I'm including plenty of prizes, an online video game based on the novel, writing I've never shared…

One of the most common complaints about mystery novels is that they’re unrealistic. It’s just not believable, the nay-sayers say, for an amateur sleuth to solve a crime that baffles the experts. But a 1980s case from the Australian Outback shows the assumptions upon which that claim is based, and disproves them.

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a huge sandstone…

At I.J.'s suggestion, I am placing the blog in its entirety here.  Thanks, I.J.

Are there different 'categories' of murder?  You bet there are.  Let's broaden our killing horizons.

When you write crime fiction and your plot includes a murder, what kind of murder do you use in your story?  Now, I’m not referring to how your character gets bumped off (i.e., shot, stabbed, etc.).  I’m talking about the various ’categories’, if you will, of murder  Let me…