Blog

Rick Treon is the author of two Bartholomew Beck books, and his latest stand-alone thriller, Divided States. You can read more about him here and see his books here. This is his debut post. I made two terrible writerly decisions during the 2020 pandemic. Despite everything, I attempted my first sequel to complete a two-book deal signed in 2019. Then, while I was struggling through that, I signed another contract for a high-concept speculative thriller due in early 2021 — a project for which I’d completed exactly one chapter and a rough synopsis. These were the two proverbial wrongs. But,…

Laurie Stevens is the author of the award-winning Gabriel McRay series of thrillers. You can find out more about her here, see her books here and read her last post here. As a writer, I’m often asked, “How do you write? What’s your process?” Before I joined writer’s groups, I didn’t even think about it. I only wanted to tell a good story. Because not all authors are born with a super sense of confidence, I thought, Gosh, how do I write? What if it’s the wrong way? So, I embarked on a journey to learn about how different writers…

Donna is the author of the Novice mystery series about a retired cop and social worker whose travels leads them to solving crimes. You can find out more about her here, see her books here, and read her last post here. When I wrote my first novel, Novice Mystery – Ireland, few people knew I was endeavoring to be published. I spent a great deal of time researching names that were appropriate given the character’s age, country of origin, and how the first and last names sounded together. Donna Rewolinski Unfortunately, I used a family member’s married name for one…

August Norman is the author of the Caitlin Bergman series of thrillers. You can find out more about him here, find his books here, and read his latest post here. As an aspiring writer, I worked on a book until I dared to think it might be ready for the world…unfortunately, I didn’t really have a world other than immediate family to share it with. While my friends and family had kind words to say, I realized I needed a community of writers, editors, agents, and readers with which to commiserate. But where does one find such a pack besides…

Anne Louise Bannon is the author of the Old Los Angeles series, set in the 1870s. You can read about her here, see her books here, and read her last post here. Sigh. It's time. Folks have been bugging me about book number four in the Old Los Angeles series, so, it's time to get it written. My mother-in-law, in particular, made it clear that she's not getting any younger. I mean, it's seriously cool that my mother-in-law is one of my biggest fans. She does have a point, however. She's not that old, but she is not getting any…

Jeff Nania used to catch bad guys and restore wetlands. Now he writes The Northern Lakes Mystery series. You can find out more about him here, see his books here, and read his last post here. Fairly frequently I get asked where I came up with the characters that appear in my books. That is good news to me because it means someone is reading my books. My characters are the foundation of the tales I tell, and most are people I have come to know.  When I started writing I wrote mostly police reports in my first career and…

Saralyn Richard's most recent book is a Murder of Principal. She is also the author of the Detective Parrott mysteries and children's book, Naughty Nana. You can find out more about her here, see her books here, and read her last post here. Did you know reading murder mysteries burns a lot of calories? It’s true. Research studies conducted while readers were reading mysteries showed the nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat sitting, and heart-pounding scenes burned way more calories than those burned by reading books in any other genre. Well, at least we think so. That gives mystery writers poetic license to include…