June 2009 Blog Posts (183)

A New Review of The Execution of Justice & Breaking News - David Janssen-My Fugitive

I am pleased to report a new Review of The Execution of Justice has been posted this weekend. This brings Reviews to Eleven; Six are FIVE STARS, Three are FOUR STARS, and one is 3.375, and the one posted today is "Three Reading Glasses out of five."

You can peruse all Reviews at: www.MichaelPhelpsNovels.com.

BREAKING NEWS - - -

The only authorized Biography of David Janssen; "David Janssen-MY Fugitive", Co-Authored with ELLIE JANSSEN has now… Continue

Added by Michael Phelps on June 8, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Weekly Blog - Monday 8th June

Over the course of last week I worked through the editorial notes that I’d received from my publisher on The Beholder. Having spent months working on the novel (and thus becoming somewhat snowblind to it), it’s really important to receive a fresh perspective from highly skilled people such as my editors, and their suggestions prompted me to re-evaluate certain elements of the story to ensure that it was as honed as possible.

As previously explained, the notes were mostly concerned… Continue

Added by Steven Hague on June 8, 2009 at 8:00am — No Comments

BLEEDER trailer at YouTube

My contemporary mystery BLEEDER (Sophia Institute Press) will be out in August. I produced a trailer for it this week, viewable here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht1OnlLnwKo

It was fun to try but a pain to produce using dial-up!

Added by John Desjarlais on June 8, 2009 at 5:34am — No Comments

NEW STORY ON-LINE!

A flash story (under 1,000 words) went on-line yesterday at http://pattinase.blogspot.com/
Although it's not a mystery, I hope everyone will take a look. Patti Abbott asked me to submit, and I thought the premise was interesting: A wedding cake in the road. Check out the other stories, as well. Scroll down about halfway until you see the picture of another wedding cake. I love being given a prompt and see where it leads me. Enjoy!

Added by Jan Christensen on June 8, 2009 at 3:05am — No Comments

Cant' wait for The Corruptionist

I heard from my chum Christopher G. Moore that he just finished writing the 11th in his series of Vincent Calvino crime novels set in Bangkok. That's good news, because I already read his brilliant and forthcoming Paying Back Jack. (See my review "… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on June 8, 2009 at 1:22am — No Comments

Mississippi author and physician, Darden North, will be a Special Guest Speaker on WTNI 1640 AM "The Morning Show" --- June 9, 2009, at 7:35 a.m.

Date: 6/9/2009

Time: 7:35 a.m.

Location: WTNI 1640 AM - Broadcasts from the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Novel Category: Action/Thriller

Mississippi author and physician, Darden North, will be a Special Guest Speaker on WTNI 1640 AM "The Morning Show" --- June 9, 2009, at 7:35 a.m.

Listeners can call in during the live interview to talk with Darden and pose questions of the author about his three novels: FRESH FROZEN, POINTS OF ORIGIN, and HOUSE… Continue

Added by Darden North, MD on June 7, 2009 at 11:54pm — No Comments

Today's event and new review

Today I’m part of a Virginia Writers Club book signing at Busboys & Poets from 4 pm to 6 pm - 4251 S Campbell Ave, Arlington Va.

AND I have a new review. I met Bob Miller at a bookstore signing and as I recall he wanted to start reading at the beginning of the Hannibal Jones legend, so I signed a copy of The Troubleshooter for him. He e-mailed me a short time ago, and his message almost made me blush. Thank you, Bob, for your kind words. They were enough to make your short note… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 7, 2009 at 11:42pm — No Comments

Another 5 Star Review for 'A Study in Red'

My award winning novel 'A Study in Red - The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper' has received yet another wonderful review on Amazon, this time from US reviewer and author Ann B Keller. I'm delighted with Ann's thoughts on the book which read as follows:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Chilling Compulsion, June 6, 2009

By Ann B. Keller (Cleveland, OH USA)

A Study in Red begins with a mysterious warning, compelling the reader to read on. What… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on June 7, 2009 at 11:02pm — No Comments

Added Twitter to my Website...suggest other authors do the same.

There's a cool widget out there for all you authors on the go. The Twitter widget allows you to post whatever is happening with you, your book tour, or anything else you'd like to inform your readers about, right on your website. The look and colors are customizable, to a degree. Have a look at mine on www.southerncrime.com
The application itself is just a few lines of code, free with your (also free) Twitter account. Check it out!

Added by Timothy C. Phillips on June 7, 2009 at 9:38am — No Comments

Big events today AND tomorrow in VA

Today I host the release party for Russian Roulette at The Farr House is at 10172 Main Street, Fairfax, VA.

Tomorrow I'll join nine other members of the Northern Virginia chapter of the Virginia Writers Club for a book signing at Busboys & Poets from 4 pm to 6 pm. If you haven't been there, Busboys and Poets is a restaurant, bookstore, fair trade market and gathering place where people can discuss the issues of the day. They've been a good friend to the Virginia Writers Club and… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 6, 2009 at 10:29pm — No Comments

PRICELESS PUBLICITY

Wouldn't it be nice if the writers in this group each had their own publicity agent? Publicity can cost money—but it doesn't have to.

I'm signed up on BookTour.com. This nifty website is the brainchild of three San Francisco authors who use technology to connect authors with audiences.

In 2006, they launched the idea to the world. Authors create a page with their bio, books, and tour dates. Venues looking for speakers list their site on BookTour.

What happens… Continue

Added by Sunny Frazier on June 6, 2009 at 9:14am — No Comments

'A Study in Red' Wins Trailer Award

I'm over the moon that the video trailer for 'A Study in Red - The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper' has won The New Covey 'Most Intriguing' Trailer Award for April 2009. I must thank Graeme Houston for his excellent work in producing the video on behalf of Thunderball Films, and can't really say much more other than that I really am delighted with this latest accolade for the book.

'A Study in Red' is of course available… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on June 6, 2009 at 1:33am — 1 Comment

On Teaching...and Learning...How to Write

In response to my comment yesterday (on voice in writing) that nobody can teach how it happens, Jon made the point that he does, and I have to yield on that one. Otherwise I'd be forced to admit that I spent 30 years wasting time in my English classes. Writing can be taught: the elements, the recognition of good writing, the practices that lead to improvement, and even the terminology that helps us discuss the process intelligently.

However, I contend that writing is a lot like… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 5, 2009 at 10:41pm — 6 Comments

Look out, God--Here's Shalom Auslander's Writing Life interview

“Fuck,” said God. …That’s a line from one of the short-stories in Shalom Auslander’s “Beware of God.” I live in the Middle East, so I feel like I hear God saying “Fuck!” almost every day. (If He doesn’t, then He’s not reading the newspapers.) “Beware of God” nails faith and the faithful as only a genius of satire can do. A very angry genius of satire, I ought… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on June 5, 2009 at 10:25pm — No Comments

Meet Me Tomorrow at the Book Release Party!

Tomorrow I will host the official release party for the fifth Hannibal Jones Mystery, Russian Roulette. My lovely wife Denise has made arrangements for a very classy affair at the Farr House in Fairfax, Va. The venue often plays host to weddings, bridal showers and fancy luncheons, but once in a while they let an author in. This Colonial Revival style home in the heart of Fairfax has been party central in these parts since the Farrs’ marriage ceremony in 1915. It was updated in 2001 but retains… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 5, 2009 at 9:44pm — No Comments

Really sad news

It was really sad news to read this morning David Carradine apparently took his own life by hanging himself in a hotel room in Bangkok, Thialand. Carradine was seventy-two years old. Why did he choose Bangkok will be interesting to find out. As I said on another site, if I was a writer of detective fiction I would look at this story and become a wee bit suspicious. But, frankly, stranger things have happened.

Added by B.R.Stateham on June 5, 2009 at 5:51am — 7 Comments

Even more blog touring!

But wait, there’s more! The Russian Roulette blog tour continues on the Crime Critics blog!

Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 5, 2009 at 2:51am — No Comments

Michael Palin mistakes the Palestinians for Buddhists

Last week at the Palestine Literature Festival, Michael Palin produced some of his funniest material since his Monty Python heyday. However, he probably didn’t intend it to be funny.

Palin told an audience that was rather lacking in actual Palestinians – mainly locally based international aid workers, diplomats and heaven knows who else – that he had seen how Israeli checkpoints worked. He thought it’d be a good idea to “always look on the bright side of life” and see the checkpoints… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on June 5, 2009 at 1:04am — No Comments

Obama's speech: the view from Jerusalem

President Barack Obama spelled out what he expects of the Israeli government in his Cairo speech, issuing a challenge that most commentators here believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no way of meeting [I wrote on Global Post today].

Obama’s speech, carried live on all three main Israeli television stations, made clear his firm opposition to any sort of building in Israel’s West Bank settlements. “This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on June 5, 2009 at 12:42am — 3 Comments

Michael Connelly Themed Sony eReader

Have you seen this? Sony has created a Connelly-themed eReader that comes with 3 free books of his, plus excerpts of new novels NINE DRAGOS and THE SCARECROW.

Check it out: http://ebookstore.sony.com/michael-connelly/

Also, Jane Davis is hosting a giveaway of one reader on MichaelConnelly.com: http://michaelconnelly.com/Sony/sony.html