Writing
Ruminating about a writer’s responsibility
Hubby and I were having a cup of tea together after lunch, and our conversation drifted away from the cold weather to writing. He’s also a mystery writer, and we often find ourselves talking about various topics associated with writing, promotion and publicity. He made a comment I found interesting. He said that he thought…
Read MoreGuest Blogger Judy Penz Sheluk
I’m please to have Judy Penz Sheluk pay another visit to my blog. She is the Amazon international bestselling author of the Glass Dolphin Mysteries and the Marketville Mysteries. Her short stories appear in several collections. Judy is also a member of Sisters in Crime International, Sisters in Crime – Guppies, Sisters in Crime – Toronto, International…
Read MoreA little romance with your dead body?
Not only does a cozy mystery need a crime to be solved, I think it also needs a bit of romance. Since cozies are often series books, this means the author can develop the relationship slowly. The question is how slowly? One book? Two? Or more? Looking over the series I have written, I…
Read MorePolitical Dirty Trick: Suspense by James R. Callan
James R. Callan, one of my favorite writers and a writer friend releases Political Dirty Trick, a mystery/suspense set in Texas with Crystal Moore as the protagonist in a deadly game set up to spread lies about a political candidate. I was delighted to be one of the book’s beta readers. Jim is one of the few male…
Read MoreUsing juxtaposition in your work
Decades ago, in another century, I completed my doctorate with a research project on curiosity motivation in preschoolers. I was particularly interested in one theory of curiosity motivation that had been tested with animals, but not with humans. The theory postulated that curiosity was a function of several stimulus variables including novelty, complexity, change and…
Read MoreDo I still write cozy mysteries?
My book blog tour for Killer Tied wrapped up this week. While I was busy on the tour, writers on one of one of my online digests talked about the make up of cozies. Their comments made me think about my Eve Appel mysteries, which I consider a cozy mystery series. Like other cozies, I…
Read MoreThe small village in a cozy mystery
I write cozy mysteries, so all my books are set in a small community, feature an amateur sleuth (although Eve Apple is now dabbling in the world of the private detective) and have no graphic violence or sex on the page. I’m also careful about the language I use. My books are all series, and…
Read MoreRural Florida: Perfect for Recycling Bodies
As some of you know, we spend our winters in Florida, in rural Florida where alligators, cattle and vast expanses of prairie and fields for grazing make up the landscape. People are almost incidental to this area. Without air conditioning, bug spray and fire ant killer, people would not have ventured more than ten miles…
Read MoreSources for ideas: Jobs and family
All writers get the question from readers—where do you get your ideas? Some of them come from my employment experiences. I love Eve Appel who is so unlike me in most ways (she’s taller, better dressed, thinner, and snoopier), but we share a love of used items from clothes to furniture. I think writers…
Read MoreIt’s too cold to write!
This is going to be difficult, I say to myself as I bundle my shivering body into several layers of clothing, a double hood, neck scarf and my leather gloves. I’m living in southern Florida and I must do all this to take my morning walk. For those of you living in the North and…
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