Category readers
Virtual Bouchercon Panels
Bouchercon is the annual gathering of the world’s mystery writers and serves as the high point of the year for many of us in the writing community. I was especially excited when the 2020 edition of Bouchercon was slated for Sacramento, California, a place I lived and worked for many years. Not to mention the […]
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 […]
AT WHAT COST Ebook SALE
To help celebrate the release of BURY THE PAST, the folks at Crooked Lane Books have sponsored an ebook sale for the first book in the series, AT WHAT COST for $1.99 Detective John Penley faces a moral turning point during his search for a serial killer who harvests his victim’s organs. Does the detective […]
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 […]
Want to See Your Book In A Bookstore? Part 2
The Art of Connection A previous post featured the Top Five Things an author needs to do to increase the likelihood of seeing your book featured in an honest to God bookstore. Tina Ferguson, owner of a thriving indie bookstore, Face In A Book, in El Dorado Hills, California offered her valuable insight into what […]
Want To See Your Novel In A Bookstore? The Five Things Every Author Must Do.
Every author, from Stephen King to, all the way to the writers in the shallow end of the pool (me), get a rush seeing their book on the shelves of an honest to God bookstore. (Please note that this is likely the only time that Stephen King and I will be mentioned in the same place – ever.) […]
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. […]
Running on Empty
One of the most miserable sensations known to man comes at the precise moment your car starts to sputter, spit and lurch like a taser charged ferret. Your eyes immediately flick to the gas gauge, because deep in your soul-of-souls, you experience a charge of enlightenment worthy of a Shaolin monk. You, Young Grasshopper, have run out of […]
Reading Goes To The Dogs
Remember back when you were a kid? I mean way back, when you were just a little nipper, in school learning to read. I recall my first or second grade teacher, Mrs. SomethingOrAnother (see how much of an impact she made) scratching what could have been Cyrillic letters on the blackboard. Through a dense cloud […]
James L'Etoile
James L'Etoile 