Tip of the Week: Be ready for an encounter with the media. I read this tip recently and decided to act on it. So I made up some disks that include:
- bio
- head shot jpg
- book cover jpgs Read more →
One-star protest. The Kindle reader practice of giving a book a one-star Amazon review to protest the price is bullshit. It’s like stiffing a waiter or complaining about the service because you’re pissed about the cost of your meal or the restaurant’s policies. It punishes the wrong people. If you don’t like the price, don’t buy the book. Stop hurling tomatoes at the author. Read more →
I’ve had a terrific couple of weeks as upcoming writer, and I have to make note of the positive things because there can be many setbacks in between. Here’s my feel-good news.
- A store clerk recognized my name and said, “You’re the author…” Then she started talking about Detective Jackson like he was a real person and went on to quote lines from SECRETS TO DIE FOR. My heart about burst. Read more →
My editor is tired of my use of the words moved and stepped, so she sent a list of alternatives and I keep adding to it. I keep this list handy when I’m working on a novel, and my writing tip today is to share this lovely list with you.
strode, walked, lurched, ran, scurried, bustled, rushed, Read more →
Two recent reads and a surprising blog on POV have made me think about perspective in novels. I’m a POV purist. I write from one character at a time, with no peeks into the future. I prefer that style as a reader too. I bond with characters when I see the world only through their eyes.
Head hopping drives me crazy. So do phrases like Mike didn’t notice the man with gun. (Are you sure? Because I thought Mike was telling this story and he seems to know about him.) Read more →
I just joined a group on Goodreads called 50 Books a Year, and I’m excited about the challenge. I got going late for 2010, so my comparable goal is to read a book a week for the rest of the year. For most people, I’m sure that sounds easy.I used to read that much fiction all the time. My son’s first sentence was “Book down, Mom.”
Then I started writing novels and something had to give. Read more →
In my last post for Detectives Around the World, I present Sergeant Detective Emmanuel Cooper of South Africa. I met him in the novel A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn, set in the 1950s right after the apartheid laws were enacted. I read this book for a discussion group called 4 Mystery Addicts, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read more →
Robert Fate, author of the Baby Shark series, added writer to his long list of careers and accomplishments rather late in the day, but it hasn’t slowed him down. He has four Baby Shark books published: BABY SHARK, BEAUMONT BLUES, HIGH PLAINS REDEMPTION, and JUGGLERS AT THE BORDER. Read more →
Kristin van Dijk, aka Baby Shark, is unlike any private investigator you’ve ever met. A young woman in a male-dominated, 1950s rural Texas setting, she’s a pool hustler and highly trained fighter/gunslinger. What she lacks in experience, she makes up for in nerve. Raped, beaten, and left for dead at the age of 17, Kristin remakes herself in a quest for vengeance. Tracking the men who attacked her, she Read more →
Marketers say consumers need to see/hear your name or product seven times before they decide to buy. Thus we have branding. Getting the name out there, over and over again. Authors should pay attention to this. If you use variations of your name on different social networking sites just for fun, you’re not making the most of branding. True story about a friend of mine: Read more →
