I’m working on the first novel in the Murder Script mystery series. After drafting the first chapter, I sent it to the incredible edible Evelyn Lafont for her unique brand of writing critique. You see, Lafont is one of very few friends who wouldn’t hesitate to hand me my ass on a platter if my work sucked. She’s not afraid that I’ll bite her head off (apparently I need to be a bigger meanie), so she can give me the blunt feedback I want. I’m (still) working on edits based on her critique, and her feedback was fantastic. She helped me see things from a different perspective, and that’s so important in any kind of writing. I find it’s especially so with fiction. I know [...]
As I’m sure you all know, bookstores seem to be dropping like flies. That’s especially true where I live. We lost most of our large Borders stores, and I lost the only nearby Borders Express recently as well. Fortunately at least the smaller store was replaced by another bookstore chain, but that’s besides the point. Heck, we even lost a local-ish indie bookstore that I enjoyed. During the big closing period, it looked like we would have no “new book” bookstores around anymore. So I figured I’d pop in and enjoy my possibly last in-person book buying session for a while. And boy, did I ever? When all was said and done, I’d purchased approximately 60 new mysteries. Now only 40 or so were in [...]
As with any kind of writing, in order to be a decent mystery writer you have to also read mysteries. My nose is often buried in a book during my off hours. Right now I’m working through Victoria Laurie’s Ghost Hunter Mysteries and I’ll soon pick up the second Bubbles Yablonsky book from Sarah Strohmeyer (so far two very well-paced series). I recently finished all books available, other than the one just released, in both mystery series from Elaine Viets. You can probably see a trend here. When it comes to most mysteries I tend to enjoy quick reads I can devour after a long day. I gravitate toward female protagonists. And I like my murder with a dash of laughs. That is the kind [...]