Author Archives: James L'Etoile
Best Books With Kickass Women Characters
I recently had a chance to work with the good folks over at Shepherd.com and put together a list of some of the best characters I’ve run across in recent months. And–they all happen to be women characters. I’ve known most of these authors for a while and I have to admit they are not […]
Now For Something Completely Different
Authors on the Air podcast Over the last couple of months, I started something new. Because writing two different series a year gave me too much free time. The lawn needs mowing, there’s a dust slick building up on my desk, and sleep is apparently overrated. It started with a simple request from Pam Stack […]
Where the Story Ideas Come From…
Authors are always asked where they get their story ideas and the answer isn’t always what you’d expect. When people hear my background–working in some of the most brutal prisons in California, they expect me to write dark, noir prison stories. Tales of the worst humanity has to offer. Stories where redemption is rare as […]
The Highs and Lows of a Book Launch
Getting a new book out in the world is a stressful time when everything has to come together at a single moment, but there’s always something that slips through. No matter how much you plan, and how adept you are at keeping the plates spinning, one of those plates will fly off and threaten to […]
Sacramento Serial Killer–What it Took to Bring Down the Golden State Killer
The Visalia Ransacker, The Original Nightstalker, The East Area Rapist–these were all names for the man later known as the infamous Golden State Killer. Now in 2023, we’ve discovered Joseph DeAngelo, Jr., was the man responsible for thirteen murders and more than fifty rapes during his decades long crime spree. What took so long to […]
Prison–The New Social Safety Net
Here’s a blog post from Murderbooks talking about what prisons and their staff are expected to manage…
Prison Myths
Originally posted on Murder Books:
There are a great number of myths and legends from the “Big House.” Some myths come from misinformation on what happens inside this strange unfamiliar world, while other legends spring from convict eyewitness accounts–believe it or not, felons aren’t always the best source for accurate information. Don’t get me started…
LEFT COAST CRIME — A RECAP
What a action packed weekend in Tucson for Left Coast Crime. Here’s a post I submitted to the Murder Books Blog with some of the highlights of the conference. This past weekend I was fortunate to attend the annual west coast crime fiction conference called Left Cast Crime. The venue changes every year and the […]
James L'Etoile 