By James M. Jackson Answer me this: It’s summer. I point to any sugar maple in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan forest my protagonist Seamus McCree calls home and ask, what color are its leaves? We all know the answer: green. Yet, what I cannot know is if the “green” you see is the same …
By Barbara Kyle Mystery. Thriller. Romance. Science Fiction. Horror. The publishing industry uses these labels for what they call “genre” novels. Literary critics often dismiss genre novels as lightweight, even trivial. But are they? After all, it can be argued that even classic literary novels fall within the bounds of some genre. Jane Austen’s Pride …
As some of you know, writers today are responsible for a significant portion of their books’ virtual and in-person promotion work. Marketing is fun but, at the same time, can be draining. I tend to push very hard for the month before and after a book’s release date. That means up to twelve hours a …
Art as Therapy – Filling the Well by Cheryl Hollon Read More »
The word vagabond strolled into my head the other day. I’ve always liked the word so I was happy to see it and to have it stick around for a while. I like the sound of it—full and round but with concrete edges in the G and the D, and with that tiniest buzz you …
By Meri Allen (aka Shari Randall) I’ll never forget the moment I opened the email from my editor announcing the title of my cozy mystery debut in the Lobster Shack Mystery series. I was sitting across the breakfast table from my daughter who was enjoying a bowl of cereal when I read the title. “Curses, …
Five Belles Too Many, the fifth Sarah Blair mystery from Kensington, releases June 28th and there still is so much to do. Here’s what’s going on, here’s what needs to still be done, and here’s where you might be able to help: I’m in the middle of a Great Escapes Tour. It began on June …
By Susan Van Kirk For the past eight years, I’ve written a series called the Endurance Mysteries. Their setting is the small town of Endurance in west central Illinois. The same main characters inhabit each book, so over these years I’ve grown to know these imaginary people quite well. It would be easy to keep …
By Terry Ambrose One million words. It’s a big number. Right? Somewhere along the way during my writing journey, I passed that number. In fact, I’m probably closing in on two million now. Originally, I started out writing a psychological thriller. I soon realized I couldn’t do it. My villains were way too wimpy. Unfortunately, …
By Rosalie Spielman Being a military spouse makes it challenging to have a career. Due to moving often, if you didn’t have a “portable career” like nursing or teaching, it’s very hard to find work when experience is required. I’ve noticed many of my peers have gone into creative endeavors. Myself, I played with the …
Galveston Author Saralyn Richard By Saralyn Richard The isolation of the pandemic led to creative solutions, and I was fortunate to have several book club meetings by Zoom or FaceTime. These were exciting get-togethers, given the circumstances, but now being able to get together in person has provided a thrill beyond any gatherings on Zoom. …