Blog

We've got another new Blackbird to welcome, Greg Levin, who writes thrillers and neo-noir fiction. You can find out more about him here, and see his books here. I realize it’s mere days before Christmas and thus I should be blogging about something festive and holiday-related, or at least holiday-adjacent. But the pandemic often causes me to lose track of what day or month or decade it is, so you won’t be getting any candy canes or clever Santa references here today. What you will be getting are some (hopefully) helpful and entertaining tips on how to continuously create even…

We welcome August Norman to the Blackbirds blog. You can read more about him here, and find his books here. Maybe you’re a published author with an established series, maybe you’ve just walked away from NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) with more of an idea than a first draft, or maybe you’ve started a bunch of projects and can’t decide which to finish. No matter the success level, there comes a time when every author faces a new blank page. Following the September launch of SINS OF THE MOTHER, my second Caitlin Bergman thriller, and the subsequent completion of my…

Laurie Buchanan is looking forward to the April 6th release of Indelible: A Sean McPherson Novel, Book One. Find out more about Laurie here. This is her first post for us. My dad was a pilot. My sister’s a pilot. Three of my uncles are pilots, and my nephew’s a pilot. It’s no wonder that I married a pilot. And while I’m not a pilot, I do take the annual Flight Companion Seminar taught by the Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots. Could I land the plane in the event of an emergency? Possibly. Probably. But let’s not test the theory,…

Anne Louise Bannon is the author of the Old Los Angeles and Operation Quickline series. You can find out more about her here and read her latest post here. I figure with the holidays coming up, and COVID still rearing its ugly head, it would be nice to write something funny. Or about being funny. The problem is, I'm not very good at being intentionally funny. I can write funny scenes in my stories. Heck, even Death of the Chinese Field Hands, which is possibly the darkest book I've ever written has several scenes that are quite humorous. But sitting…

Jeff Nania is the award-winning author of the Northern Lakes mystery series. You can find out more about him here, or read his last post here. As mystery and crime fiction writers, we often weave stories focused on unsettling, unpleasant events. ln real-life, mystery is around every bend in the road, and I am absolutely fascinated by it. Especially when it appears to be nothing and ends up being something.  For a good portion of my life I spent a fair amount of time teaching school kids about our natural resources. I am a firm believer that you can’t teach very much about the outdoors…

Saralyn Richard is the author of a children's picture book and three police procedurals for adults. You can read her last Blackbirds post here, and find out more about her here. When Murder in the One Percent was released, I went on a whirlwind book tour from city to city. It was thrilling to meet face-to-face with readers and listen to their comments and questions. A few questions emerged as typical:  where did the plot idea originate, do you outline, or why did you choose that setting? I was stunned, though, when a woman asked me why I would write…

Avanti Centrae is the award-winning author of the VanOps thriller series. You can find out more about her here. You might not be an author, but have you ever been stuck trying to drum up an email for your manager? Maybe you’ve always wanted to try a creative outlet like painting or sculpting. Or perhaps you just want to learn my secrets… A little about me first. I’m the author of the international multi-award-winning and #1 bestselling VanOps thriller series. An instant Barnes and Noble Nook bestseller, The Lost Power took home a genre grand prize ribbon at the Chanticleer…

Margaret Mizushima is the author of the Timber Creek K-9 series. You can find out about her here, or click here to read her last post. My family moved to Colorado when I was a young teen, and I’ve been drawn to the mountain wilderness to explore hiking trails and peaks ever since. And each autumn, the great outdoors beckons with a dazzling display of color. Aspen dot the mountainsides with pockets of yellow, gold, and orange against a backdrop of greens and blues from endless forests of pine and spruce.  I’m a slow hiker, often stepping aside on the…

Marilyn Levinson is the author of several series, particularly The Haunted Library series, which she writes under the name Allison Brook. You can find out more about her here, and read her last post here. With Halloween approaching, many readers search for books with paranormal elements—witches, goblins, vampires, and ghosts. Though I’ve never met a ghost, I’ve read enough about ghost sightings and hauntings to believe they exist. Experts in the field say some spirits remain earthbound because they’ve experienced a brutal or sudden death and don’t realize they’re dead. Others remain here because they have unfinished business or issues…