June 2009 Blog Posts (187)

Sensitive Artist

I stay home

Reading books that are beneath me,

And working on my work,

Which no one understands.

-- King Missile, 'Sensitive Artist'

Reposted from steveweddle.com

Twenty years ago I was in Shreveport having dinner with King Missile. A few of us from the college radio station, KSCL, took the guys out for seafood on the south part of town, down around 70th Street on that stretch between Youree and Clyde Fant.

The name of the… Continue

Added by Steve Weddle on June 23, 2009 at 5:43am — No Comments

What Happened Last Week??

I am thankful for the warm welcome I received at Waldenbooks in Virginia Center Commons Saturday. The store is right next to the food court so there was plenty of traffic and I’ve never met a friendlier, more pleasant team of booksellers. If you’re near there stop by and say hello. I think they have a few copies of my novels left.

Also this week my good friends at the Maryland Writers Association joined the Russian Roulette blog tour by posting my Russian Roulette videos on… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 22, 2009 at 11:27pm — No Comments

"I Need to See Your Writing"

The phrase that makes me doubt every word I've put on paper. It goes like this:

You pitch an idea to an agent. She loves it. She hands you her card like it's the Holy Grail (which it is) and says, "I really like that concept. Send me fifty pages and I'll look at the writing."

As John Madden would say, "Boom!" You made great yardage, but that tackle at the end is going to hurt tomorrow. Now, it isn't the idea that's at issue, but how well you present it. How well you write.… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 22, 2009 at 10:06pm — 3 Comments

Sneak peek Fan Mail cover

Only eight days until Fan Mail is out in the US and Canada!
Catch a sneak peek of the cover above and read more about the book here:

www.pdmartin.com.au/menu.aspx?mID=3&nID=20

Thanks,
Phillipa

Added by Phillipa Martin (PD Martin) on June 22, 2009 at 2:19pm — No Comments

Weekly Blog - Monday 22nd June

The blog is on temporary hiatus as we're working on a number of site updates ahead of the launch of the second book in the Zac Hunter series, Blood Law.

Cheers,
Steve

What's Steve been listening to this week?

The Evil Powers of Rock and Roll - by The Supersuckers
Smash - by The Offspring
Liqour In The Front - by The Reverend Horton Heat

Added by Steven Hague on June 22, 2009 at 8:30am — No Comments

Adirondack Mysteries

My next book is due out in the fall and is titled Adirondack Mysteries. I'm very excited about the anthology. Fellow Crimespace member Angela Zeman is in it as well as S.W. Hubbard, Gigi Vernon and others. I wrote a story in the book called Blackfoot Joe.

Added by Dennis Webster on June 22, 2009 at 5:52am — No Comments

THE JAPAN TIMES reviews THE CONVICT'S SWORD

I've always been very grateful to the book reviewer of the JAPAN TIMES, Mark Schreiber, because he has faithfully covered the release of each of my novels. This time he has truly outdone himself:

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Eleventh-century lord cracks Kyoto crimes in the worst of times

By MARK SCHREIBER

THE CONVICT'S SWORD by I.J. Parker. New York: Penguin, 2009, 421 pp., $15 (paper)

In Shamus Award-winning mystery author's I.J.… Continue

Added by I. J. Parker on June 22, 2009 at 2:15am — 6 Comments

Review: The thriller that reminds us why Euro politics matter

The Budapest Protocol, by Adam Lebor

(Reportage Press)

Sometimes a journalist comes across something so powerful that it seems bigger than the project he’s researching. Usually it’s put aside to serve as the basis for a future project, a magazine article or another nonfiction book.

Sometimes it takes such a grip on the writer’s… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on June 21, 2009 at 11:38pm — 3 Comments

Getting the words on the page

I've started blogging weekly on my website - www.pdmartin.com.au - but will also post the blogs here too.

Friday 19 June

A couple of weeks ago I was on a panel for the Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) here in Melbourne.

The topic was Just write Dammit! and the brief was to discuss our writing techniques.

The other panellists were:

Victoria Carless – a playwright who also works in fiction, film and feature writing.…

Continue

Added by Phillipa Martin (PD Martin) on June 21, 2009 at 1:51pm — No Comments

A Wonderful Testament to 'Of Aztecs and Conquistadors'

I received a wonderful message from a lady called Darlene Campbell on Outsider Writers yesterday. Darlene is from Kentucky but has roots in the Aztec Culture and her words moved and touched me deeply. I'm so grateful that my book could engender such feelings. She has given me her permission to reproduce her words here, and this is what she had to say.

First of all, I honestly DO think this cover is awesome, and secondly, I just discovered your work and can hardly wait to read it!… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on June 21, 2009 at 8:19am — 1 Comment

What do you do when. . .

What do you do when you're suddenly hit with a brass coated inspiratoion-stick, and THE STORY for your greatest novel EVER blasts into your conscience in full living color? Do drop everything and beign writing? Do you take notes and wait for a later time? Do you just log it in your memory and wait until that first flush of excitement blows over. Have you trained yourself to not get exicted with that first tingling rush of excitement?

How do you know this story ranks higher than… Continue

Added by B.R.Stateham on June 21, 2009 at 2:42am — 3 Comments

Enter Cheryl's deadly 'Create a Corpse Contest'

Ever want to kill someone off--fictitiously, of course? Maybe your school bully, ex-boyfriend, co-worker, boss, teacher etc? Now you can! :-)

From now until July 30th, 2009, you can submit a name (first & last) of someone you know (boss, husband, school bully, ex-friend or yourself), or a fictitious name.

I am looking for a male name, suitable for a 50-ish cigar-smoking man.

On August 1st, 2009, I will select one winner from all the entries… Continue

Added by Cheryl Kaye Tardif on June 20, 2009 at 12:49pm — No Comments

Death of Analog Television and Its Benefits

Since my wife and I decided not to go digital -- or to get cable-- we no longer have the "boob" tube to occupy my time (my wife hasn't watched t.v. in years).

So, now I've subscribed to Ellery Queen and Harper's and plan to read more novels and write some more!

p.s. It's actually difficult to break the t.v. habit, but I'm going to give it a year and see how it goes.

Added by Luis on June 20, 2009 at 8:00am — 4 Comments

The Glass: Half Full, Half Empty, or Cracked?

(Also posted on One Bite at a Time.)

Writers’ opinions of their work in progress fluctuate like an amusement park ride with an operator methed to the eyeballs. “This might be the best thing I’ve ever written” can change to “What a piece of shit,” and then to “It doesn’t suck” within the course of three days. (Fewer, if certain substances are indulged.)

Inactivity has its own… Continue

Added by Dana King on June 20, 2009 at 5:55am — 3 Comments

Procrastination

Today I really want to be writing my novel. Instead I am procrastinating on writing my portfolio. Proposition #1: Teachers are committed to students and their learning. Is there any way to stretch out “If you are not committed you shouldn’t teach” into a two page paper? I didn’t think so.

I have lots of new ideas for stories floating around in my head today. I know I should work on my novel, but I may have to get a few of them down on paper. Sure, it’s more procrastination from… Continue

Added by Rosylinn on June 20, 2009 at 3:01am — No Comments

The Tone of a Conference

I've been attending cons for some time now, and I've learned that each has a feel to it, rather like the books we all go to talk about. Some are dignified and others comical. Some cater to readers and others to writers. In some the small-time writer feels ignored as the "big guns" waft through the crowds and toss out comments about bidding wars for their next book. In others there's a real feeling that we're all in this together.

What's fun to contemplate for me is the dominant… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 19, 2009 at 10:23pm — 2 Comments

Meet Me Tomorrow in VA

Tomorrow I’ll make my first trip to the Waldenbooks in Glen Allen, VA. This is my chance to introduce my book to the Richmond-area readers and I expect a pretty strong turnout. This popular bookstore is in the Virginia Center Commons, 10101 Brook Road, Glenn Allen, VA. I’ll sign books from 1 pm to 5 pm.

Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 19, 2009 at 8:45pm — No Comments

Fictional interview

Today the Russian Roulette blog tour continues on the Pop Syndicate Book blog. I interviewed my fictional private eye Hannibal Jones.

Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 19, 2009 at 7:32am — No Comments

Reminder and Cool New Review

Tonight I'm speaking at the Maryland Writers Association - Howard County chapter - at 7 pm in the Elkridge branch of the Howard County library, 6540 Washington Blvd, Elkridge, MD.

Russian Roulette has been gathering nice reviews on Amazon.com among other places. The one I want to point out today comes from Duaine Goodno.

I've known Duaine for several years because I used to work with his wife. But while she has focused on government service Duaine has served in… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 18, 2009 at 11:01pm — No Comments

On Writing and Research (R)

I couldn't say which I enjoy more: writing or doing research so I can write. Whether it's silly trivia or serious research for an upcoming book, I jump in with both feet and can spend hours at it without realizing it.

A library pulls me in and keeps me all day, and suddenly I wake up and wonder whether I should have lunch, only to find that it's more like dinner time. I take ten times more notes than I can even use when I'm using a historical setting. There's just so much of… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 18, 2009 at 9:47pm — 3 Comments