I’ve been an off and on follower of Fly Lady for years. I keep many of her general housekeeping principles each day (quick clean-up in the morning, devoting a particular day for different [...]

Like most people, I have random and vague memories from being very small. I remember being on an airplane at age two and being offered a Coke. I was amazed that my mother [...]

It was a big weekend for me, promotion-wise. Saturday I spoke at a writers’ workshop at the Gaston County Library in Gastonia, NC. There were around 75 people there, which is a good-sized [...]

Social Media for Writers Today I’m over at Jean Henry Mead’s blog, Writing Advice and Good Books, discussing social networking for writers. I wasn’t an easy convert to the applications (Facebook and Twitter), [...]

It’s that time again! Yes, revision season has hit my little writing world yet again. Wait, you say, you just finished doing revisions. Yes, but those were my revisions. Now I’m working on [...]

Today I’m over at Patti Abbott’s website, posting for her recurring segment, ‘Friday’s Forgotten Books.’ Hope you’ll pop over and say hi and read my review of Some Must Watch, also known as [...]

It’s Thursday! And I’m doing soup again because I was snarky about sick people last week and now I have sick people at my house. So being ugly doesn’t pay, just like Mama [...]

It started at the end of last week. I was driving the elementary school carpool and was sitting in the carpool line waiting the ten minutes for the school to open its doors. [...]

My notes on promoting seem really scattered. That might be because promoting can be overwhelming to me. There’s this huge ocean of books and my own recent release is just a bitty drop [...]

I had a signing yesterday at Barnes & Noble in Charlotte, NC. It ended up going well, although my plans for the event were completely hijacked. (Yes, that’s me in the corner of [...]

While I was writing in Mexico (Epcot’s Mexico, let me hasten to add), a very pleasant Hispanic Disney staffer came over to talk to me. He was curious about what I was doing. [...]

At first glance (and second and third glances, too) my writing process is chaotic. I pick up and put down the laptop, I write at stoplights, I grab my moments. All summer I [...]

I’m going to take a walk on the wild side this Friday morning. Here we go: what role does luck have in getting published? This is something of a controversial topic. I’ve heard [...]

Yes, it’s Thursday morning again. Today I’m sharing a bowl of chicken soup…with all the ailing passengers I encountered on my flights to Orlando and back. Enjoy! Yesterday I touched a little on [...]

Say what you will, Disney is one of the long-time masters at presentation and delivery. If you go to their parks with the mindset that you want to have fun, they’ll do their [...]

Driving my car to the airport, I was nearly blown off the road by a car on the highway. It flew by, then cut directly in front of me and sped off. As [...]

Today I’m over at the Midnight Ink blog, Inkspot. I’m sharing some thoughts on a movie about writing that I thought was interesting, and I’m sharing some regrets about having murdered a few [...]

The book signing yesterday went well and I sold about a dozen books.  The staff was great, the customers were nice, and I got to visit with my parents! So it was a [...]

Love them or hate them, book signings have become a necessary part of what it means to be a published writer. I think that even if you’re an extrovert (not that many writers [...]

With my Myrtle Clover series, I developed a protagonist who is a very dominant main character. The characters alongside her are far weaker in every way. Even when Myrtle is pitted against a [...]

It’s Thursday! Today’s Heart Attack on a Plate is sponsored by “Southern Apple Cobbler.” Want to know how much sugar is in this recipe? Pop on over and find out! :) Revision Notes: [...]

This week I’m going to be trying some new things. One thing I’m going to do is practice doing live interviews. I’m not a fan of live interviews, I have to admit. I [...]

There was a funny episode of Seinfeld ages ago where George Constanza decides that all his instincts in life are misguided and that every life decision has been wrong. His life is the [...]

Mysteries are full of conflict. It’s a good versus evil struggle with internal and external conflicts abounding. Most novels, in fact, are heavy on conflict. Otherwise, it’s a dull book. Even if the [...]

My sister told me a hilarious story the other day. It was so funny. She and I had such a big laugh over it! But I can’t share it. She’d have my head. [...]

I’m the Queen of taking on too much.  It’s never my idea, mind you, but because I’m known as a volunteer (school, Scouting), people come to me with ideas on more ways for [...]

I’m a mystery writer, but my books are only minimally scary. They’re more about the puzzle and the characters. But I think it would be fun to try something different. The other day [...]

Yes, it’s a busy day here at Mystery Writing is Murder. For those of you who are just joining me, I have a post below this one that persuades you that asparagus would [...]

  Yes that is an incredibly healthy looking picture for a Thursday morning on the Mystery Writing is Murder blog.  But hold your horses.  It does have bacon and nuts in it.  My [...]

Maybe this post should be about the family I neglected the past few days before my project deadline. But no, it’s actually about a manuscript that I need to dust off and start [...]