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. Such was my experience […]

To: You – readers whom I adore From: Me – Debra H. Goldstein When: April 19, May 17, June 21, and July 19, 2022 Time: 7 PM CST/ 8 PM EST (and you can figure out the rest) What: A celebration of each of the Sarah Blair books … let me explain: It appears that […]

I’m writing this from the beach. Ostensibly, I’m on a writing retreat, but while it is a time to hopefully zero in on finishing my newest work in progress, it is far more than that. It is a few days to visit with friends without being bombarded by family and civic responsibilities. And, for me, […]

By Vicki Batman OOH, OOH, Look at This Pretty Thing What draws you to a book–the author, the cover, the back cover copy? Do you read the first page? For me, all of the above, especially for a new-to-me author. Something about the cover is attractive–the colorful picture, the hunky hunk, the author’s name, perhaps, […]

By Kassandra Lamb I bore easily, which isn’t always a good thing. About a third of my closet is full of impulse buys that I liked because they were “something different,” but then only wore a few times. They varied a little too much from my normal style. This tendency to bore easily is part […]

When I think about Valentine’s Day, which today is, I think about it in a commercialized sense. Although the holiday’s origin is related to two saints, I had to look that up on Wikipedia. I’m more familiar with the cards, boxes of heart shaped candy, special dinners, and even boxers with cupids and hearts that […]

By C. Hope Clark The most enticing books for me to read spin setting into character. In other words, the story wouldn’t be nearly as delicious without a well-defined sense of place. Even more so if the story couldn’t exist without that specific locale. If a story is in Los Angeles, then it needs to […]

By Maggie King What’s in a name? With due respect to Mr. Shakespeare, who immortalized the catchphrase in Romeo and Juliet, names matter. Ask any parent, pet owner … or writer. People ask me how I come up with my characters’ names. I might hear a first name and read a last name and put […]

I have been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. I’m a 70s kid, and my Saturday ritual was overly sugared cereal and hours of mystery cartoons. Scooby-Doo, The Funky Phantom, Josie and the Pussycats, Jabber Jaw, and so many others helped me realize that ordinary people (usually kids) could solve crimes that sometimes […]

Reading cozy mysteries is fun, writing them even more fun because I get to create a world to my liking filled with characters I’ve grown to love. My Haunted Library mystery series takes place in Clover Ridge, Connecticut. The library is housed in a centuries-old building facing the town Green. There’s a library ghost— Evelyn […]