Category mystery novels
Mystery Writers of America – Mystery Week
Mystery Writers of America is hosting a series of events featuring member authors during October. The Northern California Chapter, to which I proudly belong, is sponsoring an entire week with events in the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento. Please join me and NorCal MWA members, Robin Burcell, Lillian Bell (Eileen Rendahl), Catriona McPherson, and […]
Cover Reveal – The Leaked Edition
Everyone likes a good leak, right? No, not that kind of leak–I’m talking about the information kind. They must be a popular thing, because I can’t turn on a television news broadcast without someone blathering on about leaks. It doesn’t seem to matter what the leak is about–it turns into a hot, salacious topic and […]
Writing Sacramento Crime
Sacramento Crime Sacramento as a setting for crime fiction? The sleepy state capitol town doesn’t get a great deal of attention from the hardcore crime community. Crime fiction relies on–well, crime. Naturally, the first places you think of are New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Newark, Detoit, Baltimore–You get the idea, places where crime is […]
The Season of Trolling
You know that insurance commercial with the fisherman who pops up with a dollar bill on the end of his line, taunting his clients to grab it? Then he jerks the cash bait away at the last moment, saying “You’ve got to be quicker than that.” Most times, I am that person, the one who […]
A Survivalist’s Guide To Writing
Survive You need to think like a survivalist when you start out on a writing adventure. The only goal in this first draft is to survive. The key to surviving your writing project is all in the preparation. Traditional survivalists are a sturdy lot who know what they are getting into before they step out into the […]
E-Book Price Drop
Little River is now available in all e-book formats for $6.99 Little River is a human trafficking thriller, set on the exotic island nation of Jamaica. The abduction of two girls reveals a dark undercurrent on the island paradise and two parents must bargain with a ruthless trafficker for their return. How far would […]
Mystery Writer’s Blog Hop
There’s a new blog in town and it belongs to Cindy Brown. I met Cindy at a mystery writer’s conference, where we swapped book pitches over lunch. Cindy’s story is so unique and fresh, I’m willing to say right here and now, that MacDeath, is going to be great. So, look for her novel’s release […]
Are We There Yet?
Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? I remember saying those words and, then later in life, hearing that same phrase over and over and over from the backseat every time we set out on some great adventure. The constant barrage of anticipation became a combination of nails on the chalkboard […]
How To Tell If You’re Burning The Candle At Both Ends
Sometimes, the word fairy takes vacation. When the fickle little trollop leaves me, she never gives the courtesy of a two-week notice. Here one minute – then poof! Gone. It must be a Fairy Union thing, another example of collective bargaining processes gone wild. I pressed on. Mind you, this isn’t an issue of simply […]
A Voice on Finishing What You’ve Started
Have you ever had that moment? That moment when you finish your novel and a dark creeping dread taps you on the shoulder? And all the joy evaporates… I have. Almost every single time. The drafting and writing is done. This should be a happy time – this should be a happy dance time. But, no. […]
James L'Etoile
James L'Etoile 