Tag Archives: Crooked Lane Books

Authors on the Air Podcast and #NotMyCat Strikes Again

I enjoy talking to people about what I write and how I come up with the stories and characters. Pam Stack, of Authors On The Air Global Radio Network, and I had a chance to sit down and chat about BURY THE PAST, my life in prison, and #NotMyCat. As I’m writing this, I hear […]

Do You Suffer From BSF?

BSF is real. BSF isn’t quite a disease, but those who experience the malady experience a manic giddiness accompanied by spurts of panic. It’s life-altering. I have it and there are no Go Fund Me Pages or telethons to find a cure. Because honestly–I don’t want a cure. What is BSF? BSF is Book Signing […]

On The Blue Plate Special

A bit ago, I had the great opportunity to chat with host Terri Lynn Coop on her show, the Blue Plate Special. The Blue Plate Special is a channel of the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network and if you haven’t checked it out yet–you really should. Terri is a fine author in her own right, […]

Goodreads Giveaway for BURY THE PAST

Crooked Lane Books is sponsoring a book giveaway over on Goodreads. You can enter the giveaway for your chance at an early copy of the second book in the Detective Penley series. https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/254896-bury-the-past Enter to win 1 of 3 galley copies of BURY THE PAST, the second Detective Penley mystery by James L’Etoile. Sacramento Police […]

Reader’s Choice Awards

I need your vote! This week I discovered that my Novel AT WHAT COST (Crooked Lane Books) is up for Best Thriller in the annual Killer Nashville Silver Falchion – Reader’s Choice Awards. The ballot went out this week and what’s cool about it is that you don’t have to register for the conference to vote. If […]

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 […]

Book Theft and Beignets

My inbox and timeline are flooded with posts following conclusion of the 2016 Bouchercon, the Granddaddy of mystery writing conferences. With over 1,500 attendees gathered in New Orleans, you’d expect a fair share of tales outlining the debauchery and hedonism in the French Quarter. While there was a conspicuous consumption of beignets and perhaps a few […]

The Real Light At The End Of The Tunnel

There’s a point in my writing process when I get to that “happy place” near the end of the manuscript. I know how the story is going to end, who dies–who survives and what rubble is left behind. It should be a “happy place” with 90,000 words all tucked in and put to rest in […]

At What Cost Sneak Peek

Pssst… Come here, come closer.  Look what came in the mail today! The Advance Reader’s Edition of AT WHAT COST, published by Crooked Lane Books. I felt like Steve Martin in “The Jerk.” The new phone books are here! I am somebody! Matt Martz, Sarah Pope, Heather Boak, and all the folks at Crooked Lane […]