July 2007 Blog Posts (261)

The Magic of Harry Potter

The True Magic of Harry Potter

I have written a thank you note to JK Rowling. Hand written on paper, of course, as that is how thank you notes should be done.

I felt compelled to write to her, in gratitude for something her latest and last book "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows" brought to me.

I have been reading the Harry Potter books to my daughter since she was five years old. It has been our tradition that with each new book, I read it out loud to her. With the…

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Added by Judy Nichols on July 24, 2007 at 5:45am — No Comments

Thanks for inviting me over to Book Place. I'll have to check everything out a little later. My Muse is currently beating me over the head with one of her favored Writer Motivating Devices -- a spiked mace.

*sigh*

Time to get back to work.

TTFN JKH

Added by Jeannie Holmes on July 24, 2007 at 2:04am — No Comments

Hammett-Prize

In den letzten Wochen haben die meisten der bekannteren US-Krimipreise ihre Kandidaten nominiert. Lediglich der Anthony-Award fehlt noch, wird jedoch am 24.07.07 folgen.

Weitgehend unbeachtet von der Blog-Öffentlichkeit hat auch der Nordamerikanische Ableger der „International Association of Crime Writers“ (IACW/NA ) die Bücher bekannt gegeben, die für den Hammet-Prize…

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Added by Bernd Kochanowski on July 24, 2007 at 12:33am — No Comments

Promote your book tours--for free! Canada and US authors.

I'm sending this out to all my author friends and I hope you'll pass it on to yours.

While researching sites for my upcoming "Touring the World" virtual book tour in August, I stumbled across a new site that promotes authors book signings and tours. It's created a buzz in the industry, even at…

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Added by Cheryl Kaye Tardif on July 23, 2007 at 5:41pm — No Comments

Updated austcrimefiction site

http://www.austcrimefiction.org has been around for a while now - listing Australasian Crime fiction authors and books, True Crime and whatever else sort of appealed to us at the time.

We've recently been working on an upgrade to the site to make it more interactive for people to get involved on - and that site has now been "launched" (well it's up and limping anyway :) )

If you're interested in Australasian / Australian / New… Continue

Added by Karen from AustCrime on July 23, 2007 at 5:23pm — 1 Comment

Why I Don't Have Any Tattoos (But Why I Like Them)

Commitment issues. It's as simple as that. I can't come up with any

particular image, word or symbol that I want permanently on my body. I

know myself. I'd change my mind sooner or later and getting tattoos

removed is painful and not all that effective.

The closest I ever came was when I was in college in Olympia, Washington. I used to

hang out on Pacific Avenue in Tacoma and I had befriended a tattoo

artist named Painless Brenda. One night I was drunk. I… Continue

Added by Eric Stone on July 23, 2007 at 3:01pm — 7 Comments

Harry Potter & The Busy Hollows of Sales

Some

people said it would be a mistake to schedule a book signing on

Saturday, July 21 in the wake of an aircraft carrier known as "Harry

Potter." I was in

Macdonald Book Shop in Estes Park, Colorado. This bookstore is

79-years-old. It's tidy, cozy and very well kept. The books

shine.

Just walking in makes you want to read. The staff could not have been

more friendly. Conservatively, I would say 50 percent of the customers

asked if there were any… Continue

Added by Mark Stevens on July 23, 2007 at 10:35am — No Comments

Harrogate - A Few Random Thoughts

Well, I'm home after a wonderful few days in Harrogate. The Festival was excellent, the panels were great, the evening events were fun...but most of all, the company was top class and I had much much fun and many laughs. Some random brief highlights, thoughts and comments:

I was SO chuffed to see Al win the Theakstons. It was a really strong field and any one of them deserved the prize, but, man, I was so thrilled for Al. And he was the only one that I would (and did) shed a few tears… Continue

Added by Donna Moore on July 23, 2007 at 7:48am — 16 Comments

Euro Crime

I run the Euro Crime website and associated blog. They cover
British and (other) European crime fiction. On the website there are
reviews and bibliographies and more recently monthly competitions to
win books and sometimes DVDs. The blog is more for pointers to new
books, award winners, new websites/blogs and also covers tv and film.

http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/

http://eurocrime.blogspot.com/

Added by Karen Meek on July 23, 2007 at 5:57am — No Comments

Cheryl Kaye Tardif on Publishers Marketplace

I am now on Publishers Marketplace.

Please show your support by clicking on the following link:

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/cherylktardif/

(Especially if you are an agent or New York Publisher! :)

Thank you,
Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
author of Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention

Added by Cheryl Kaye Tardif on July 23, 2007 at 5:34am — No Comments

Yet another reason not to write

I discovered Crimespace after reading about it in the latest issue of The 3rd Degree from Mystery Writers of America. Cool space.

It gives me yet another reason not to write. My agent's going to have a duck. I'm already behind on A WICKED TURN, the second book in my as-yet-but-hopefully-soon-to-be-published series. CRIMSON SWAN, the first book, is making the rounds of editors.

Given that I recently returned from THRILLERFEST, where I was one of the happy volunteers for several…

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Added by Jeannie Holmes on July 23, 2007 at 4:21am — 2 Comments

Hunter S. Thompson Tribute

A Colorado newspaper published a special edition with a tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson. I'd love to see a copy of that.

Added by Sandra Ruttan on July 22, 2007 at 1:34pm — No Comments

The Barry Nominees

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Best Novel

White Shadow by Ace Atkins

Oh Danny Boy by Rhys Bowen

The Last Assassin by Barry Eisler

The Prisoner of Guantanamo by Dan Fesperman

City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin

The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos

Best First

The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

The Berlin Conspiracy by Tom Gabbay

The King of Lies by John Hart

Still Life… Continue

Added by Sandra Ruttan on July 22, 2007 at 1:16pm — No Comments

Alafair Burke at The Poisoned Pen

Alafair Burke, author of the recent book, Dead Connection, and the Samantha Kincaid series, appeared at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale today. She and Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, started out by discussing the fact that they, along with authors Michelle Martinez, Twist Phelan and Tess Gerritsen, all went to Stanford Law School.

Alafair said she worked in the D.A.'s office in Portland, Oregon for five years, which was considered a long time for someone who wanted to teach. She… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on July 22, 2007 at 11:48am — No Comments

Another Acceptance

Just got word today that http://www.mouthfullofbullets.com (Mouthfull of Bullets) will be publishing another of my short stories. "Beach Bummed" will be out in the March '08 issue.

Added by Kim Smith on July 22, 2007 at 10:05am — No Comments

Drawing for copies of Honeymoon for Three

I have at least 5 copies of my new book, HONEYMOON FOR THREE, to give away to Crimespace members. Let me know if you are interested. I will need addresses of the winners. My email address is alcook@sprintmail.com.

Contest closes July 26.

Added by Alan Cook on July 22, 2007 at 8:42am — No Comments

Summertime

It's hot where I live. No, I'm not expecting sympathy. I've looked at the maps on the weather channel, and I realize that it's hot pretty much everywhere -- at least here in the States. It's just that I'm not a hot weather sort of gal. I don't do hot, at least not willingly, because I don't do it well.

The first thing that goes is sleep. I'm a cool weather sleeper and I'm happiest when the room I'm sleeping in is almost uncomfortably cool for everyone else. Then I can…

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Added by Sammi Carter on July 22, 2007 at 6:29am — No Comments

Review - In the Woods, Tana French

Title: IN THE WOODS

Author: Tana French

Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton

Edition released: June 2007

ISBN: 978-0-340-92475-4

485 pages

Review by: Karen Chisholm

Is it really only a month or so since IN THE WOOD was released in paperback? There's a lot of talk about this debut book, and you should be listening, the positive talk is highly deserved.

In 1984, in Knocknaree, County Dublin, Ireland, three 12 year old children - Adam, Peter and Jamie… Continue

Added by Karen from AustCrime on July 21, 2007 at 5:13pm — No Comments

DEAD CONNECTION tour - Day 6 - July 21

It should be no suprise, but it's smokin' hot in Phoenix in July! Barbara Peters and her ever-awesome colleagues at The Poisoned Pen hosted a terrific event, as usual. Thanks especially to the Burke-regulars for the big turnout despite the nasty heat.

I was good and went to the gym today, so the rest of the weekend is for rest, which I will devote to playing with my four year old nephew, James Lee Burke IV, and catching up with the adventures of Harry Potter. Don't you dare tell me… Continue

Added by Alafair Burke on July 21, 2007 at 3:00pm — 1 Comment

Fingerprints and Facelifts

Think "Charlie's Angels" on estrogen. If you're looking for a fun, enjoyable romp, check out Rick Copp's first L.A. Dolls mystery. It won't be lasting literature because it's too "today", but it's an entertaining, campy book.

Twenty-five years ago, Dani, Claire and Tess were hot detectives, the L.A. Dolls. Dani, a Latina, was the leader of the agency. Tess,… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on July 21, 2007 at 1:08pm — No Comments