ABOUT MARILYN AND HER WRITING — IN HER OWN WORDS: Since I’m brand new to this blog, let me tell you something about myself. I’ve been writing all my life, but wasn’t published until 1982. My first two books were historical family sagas based on both side of my family’s genealogy. The first one was …

Guest Blog: Who is F.M. Meredith aka Marilyn Meredith? Read More »

How can stinky fish help you write a mystery? “Red herrings,” a staple in classic/traditional mysteries, refers to false suspects and clues that the writer sets up to confuse the reader. One of the pleasures of reading mysteries is to work the author’s puzzle and match wits with the sleuth to reach the same deduction.  …

Toss in Those Red Herrings by Sally Carpenter Read More »

Sometimes a crazy week means the best one can blog is that one is surviving.  I’ve had that type of week for months, but this past weekend, I did something very special with the help of my husband.  I celebrated a birthday by having a day of doing nothing.  No obligations.  No one wanting me …

Winners & Miscellaneous Read More »

For the love or hate of blogging…. As a writer, I understand the need to blog, tweet, post onFacebook and be LinkedIn; but often, I resent the invasion of social media into my time and privacy.  I tend to be shy and uncomfortable with outing my thoughts and emotions.  It was so much easier to …

For the Love or Hate of Blogging by Debra H. Goldstein Read More »

One night friends sat in my living room talking about chocolate and addiction, and I admitted to loving chocolate but claimed I’m not addicted. My oldest son, long grown, went into my office and emerged with a handful of five or six chocolate bars. “No,” he said, “she’s not addicted. She just happened to have …

Guest Blog: A Passion for Chocolate-or Chocolate for Passion? by Judy Alter Read More »

When I turned 50, it was like a switch flipped and caused my knees to ache, my cholesterol to go sky high, and my upper arms to get a flabby chicken look. My kids gave me a bored look of sympathy, but my friends got it. No matter that we say 50 is the new …

MAYBE I SHOULD HUG YOU ……..by Debra H. Goldstein Read More »

Two kinds of people listen to the voices in their heads — schizophrenics and mystery writers. I’m the kind who doesn’t talk back. Usually. I say usually because every so often it becomes necessary for me to argue with one of those voices, otherwise known as my characters. They can be very demanding. For instance, …

Guest Blog: Those Voices in My Head by Lois Winston Read More »

When I was a child, I was given a copy of The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport by Laura Lee Hope.  It’s book jacket claimed “Ghosts!  Everyone agrees that the old Marden House is as haunted as a chimney on Halloween, but when there’s a mystery to be solved, the Bobbsey Twins, Bert and Nan, Freddie …

The Bobbsey Twins and Agatha Christie Read More »

LET FREEDOM RING!  July 4th, not the day independence was declared, but the day the Declaration of Independence was signed.  A day of trepidation for our forefathers who didn’t know if they would really see a free nation or would end up being hung for treason.  A day for celebration for us – freedom, a …

LET FREEDOM RING! Read More »

I love independent bookstores.  I don’t think of them as being a salon of knowledge or a place to meet people and exchange ideas, I think of an indie as being a second home. Just walking into an independent bookstore and observing its physical layout excites me.  My senses become heightened.  I observe the number …

I Love Independent Bookstores! Read More »