A few years ago, I decided that the time had come. I would make bread. My house would be filled with that wonderful aroma and I could finally look a picture of Martha [...]

Many thanks to my guest blogger today, Martha Nichols. Martha is a freelance magazine writer and editor who runs WOMEN = BOOKS, the blog for the Women’s Review of Books based at Wellesley [...]

Thanks to Michele Emrath for guest blogging for me today! Michele is a writer, freelance news producer, wife, and mother and hails from my home state of North Carolina. Her blog is http://southerncitymysteries.blogspot.com/. [...]

Thanks to guest blogger Margot Kinberg for posting for me today! Margot is the author of Publish or Perish and an associate professor at National University in Carlsbad, CA. It never seems to [...]

Thanks to author Glen Allison for his guest post today. Glen writes the Forte suspense novels, featuring New Orleans child rescue specialist Al Forte. A teenaged girl is found wandering the hard streets [...]

Thanks so much to Marvin Wilson for guest blogging for me today! Marvin is “An old Hippie rock and roller, a non-religious, dogma free, Maverick spiritualist Christian. I am an author, with the [...]

On Friday evening, a friend of mine asked me some questions about mystery writing while I was at the Brownie Scout sleepover. Naturally, since this is my favorite thing to talk about, I [...]

As I make blog rounds and visit Tweeted links, sometimes I can see a pattern of interest in a subject over the course of the week. This week I kept running into tips [...]

I thought I’d do a follow-up post on my radio/podcast experience yesterday at Red River Writers. I’m giving y’all the link but be advised I sound really, really quiet there right now! I [...]

  Barbara Ehrentreu who has a great blog for writers, Barbara’s Meanderings, very thoughtfully invited me to be interviewed by her on the Red River Writers podcast.  The interview will run live at [...]

I was always a writer, like many writers are. I was the elementary school class reporter, the middle school reporter, the high school reporter and worked on the literary magazine. That was my [...]

I’m one of those people who usually likes to go with the flow. I think that’s because I’m in a writing fog half the day. But once I come down off my happy [...]

I had a problem with one of my kitchen cabinets for over a week. The problem was that when I opened the door to the cabinet, Pyrex dishes and Tupperware flung themselves at [...]

While I was at the beach this weekend for a house party with friends, I got a great idea for a book. I could see the whole book—murderer, victims, clues, red herrings, and [...]

Today, I should be on my way back home from a fun, hopefully relaxing, weekend at the beach (Isle of Palms, near Charleston). My wonderful parents took the children for my husband and [...]

On Thursday, I had a completely different plan for my day. Since my deadline was Friday, I was going to leisurely take the day to read the complete manuscript again, with my revisions. [...]

It’s been a busy week, jam-packed with a revision deadline, children’s extra-curriculars, errands, small household emergencies of various types and descriptions, houseguests, and preparation for an upcoming short vacation. I grabbed my grins [...]

Most of the time when I’m out running errands, I’m in a happy little Neverland, thinking about other things. Yesterday I was actually mulling over settings while I was out and about. I [...]

For the first time ever, my son asked to go shopping with me on Sunday. This was a real jaw-dropper, since our usual modus operandi has involved my going to the store, buying [...]

Have you ever had a day when you felt like Alice? I had an Alice moment yesterday when everything turned into nonsense. Of course, I was writing at the time that my cell [...]

I know I’ve been bopping around from blog to blog lately. And…guess what? I’m doing it again today. :) I’m on A Good Blog is Hard to Find today with a post on [...]

Once again I’m the guest blogger at Poe’s Deadly Daughters, a blog for mystery lovers. I’m covering my “Writing Obsessions.” Is writing taking over your life? If you’re a mystery writer, do you [...]

I’m the guest blogger at Poe’s Deadly Daughters, a blog for mystery lovers. I’m covering my “Writing Obsessions.” Is writing taking over your life? If you’re a mystery writer, do you casually bring [...]

For all its emphasis on the religious, the South is a very superstitious place. When I was pregnant with my son (living in Alabama at the time) I had people dangling strings over [...]

I shop like a woman on a mission. I walk in, usually clutching the postcard or coupon that has been mailed to me. Must get navy slacks! I find the navy slacks. I [...]

I know y’all think I spend more time at the grocery store than any other place…and you’d be right. I just can’t seem to organize my food menus enough to keep from going [...]

I’m one of those people who has a really tough time writing settings if I’m not looking at the setting I’m writing. This is why I acted like an insane tourist in Memphis [...]

Today I’m over at the Ink Spot for my recurring gig with fellow Midnight Ink authors. My topic du jour is “Public Speaking.” Hope you’ll pop over and say hi. [...]

Every six Sundays, I host a guest at the Berkley Prime Crime cooking blog, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen. Today, I’m pleased to announce that my mystery writing friend Patricia Stoltey has prepared a delicious [...]

Today I’m part of a writers’ workshop, similar to this Waldenbooks event from last weekend (I’m at the far left. I’m with my Carolina Conspiracy promotional group…Jim and Joyce Lavene and Terry Hoover [...]