Writer Camille LaGuire is running an interesting interview series on secondary characters for her blog, The Daring Novelist. I love the idea, because supporting characters can really make a book, but they don’t [...]

When I first started out in earnest as a writer, there was no real organized community of writers online. Fast forward over ten years later, and the online writing community has exploded with [...]

Today I’m on Penguin’s blog, talking a little bit about an easy way you can get acquainted with your characters—by spending a whole day with them while doing your regular routine. (Just be [...]

It’s easy to lose focus in the middle of a book. Usually that’s when I start running out of steam—and realizing I still have a long way to go to wrap up my [...]

Today I’m on sci-fi writer Alex J. Cavanaugh’s blog, talking about super powers we writers should have (in the perfect world.) Hope you’ll come by and join me! [...]

Below are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the past week. Hope you’ll enter this month’s WKB giveaway for a chance to win the “Butt-in-Chair” writer productivity eBook by Jennifer Blanchard. [...]

Hope y’all will excuse this technical post…I’m thinking it might help some of you out there. The program that editors like working with is Word. They like editing back and forth with the [...]

This is the first week of summer vacation for my children…and I’m writing on the go more than ever as we go from swimming pools to skating rinks to bowling alleys!  Hope you’ll [...]

Today I’m visiting Spunk on a Stick, talking a little about book promo.  I’ve tried both traditional marketing and a more modern approach (with varying degrees of success.)  Hope you’ll come by and [...]

Today I’m over at P.M. Terrell’s blog, with my thoughts on juggling storylines, publishers, characters, and more.  Hope you’ll come by and join me! And…I’m announcing the winner of my Finger Lickin’ Dead [...]

Hi everybody! Today, on the Finger Lickin’ Dead blog tour, I’m posting at my friend Hart Johnson’s Confessions of a Watery Tart with my thoughts on sequels—including backstory (if you need to), reintroducing [...]

Was there a character or author who inspired you to write? Although I knew I wanted to be a writer while I was still reading Nancy Drews, there was one character and author [...]

Starting a blog can feel overwhelming. The internet is brimming with writing blogs—how can you find readers when everyone has a blog? Or, if you already have a blog, you might wonder how [...]

Below are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the past week. I’m running the list a day early because tomorrow I’m visiting Anne Allen’s blog. :) Enter this month’s WKB giveaway [...]

Being a writer isn’t easy. Publishing is a business that demands a thick skin—but writers are frequently artistic, thoughtful, and sensitive. How do we stay encouraged during the tough querying process? Hope you’ll [...]

I’d like to welcome Jeannie Campbell, the character therapist, to Mystery Writing is Murder today. Jeannie’s take on character motivation and the psychology of characters on her blog, The Character Therapist, is a [...]

Please join me at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist for my guest post with Margot Kinberg: 8 Ways to Keep Your Series From Going Stale. I’ve got a guest post this morning at [...]

It’s here! Finger Lickin’ Dead releases today in a bookstore near you. Hope you’ll consider it if you enjoy mysteries, or know someone who does. Download it on Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp Mass market paperback: [...]

I got an interesting question from a writing friend last week. She’d published a novel five years ago and wondered if that was too long ago to consider writing a sequel for the [...]

Below are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the last week. The Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links searchable—try it [...]

“Where do you get your ideas?” is one of those questions that gets old fast. It’s also one of the questions you’ll hear most as a writer. I don’t think I’ve ever gone [...]

Writing friend Camille LaGuire, wrote an interesting post on her Daring Novelist blog the other day. Camille noted that she’d recently needed to un-revise (a term I think she’s coined!) a large portion [...]

First of all, thanks to Diane at The Book Resort for a delicious review of Finger Lickin’ Dead. If you’re interested in finding out a little more about my book, please pop by! [...]

Sometimes I’ve got a real eye for contrarian advice—it just appeals to me. If you’re advising an action completely opposite from what everyone else is touting as the best practice, I’m probably paying [...]

I feel a little sorry for non-writers sharing a home with writers. It’s got to be challenging, sometimes. And most likely no one warned you it was going to be. Writers should come [...]

My family and I saw a great performance of Cats on Saturday. I’d seen the musical a couple of times before, but it’s been forever since I last saw it. One of the [...]

Below are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the last week. The Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links searchable—try it [...]

My writing friend, Jan Morrison, had a great post on Thursday about the book The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer. Jan explains that Maurer’s approach to life involves asking ourselves small questions to [...]

I just finished reading a very disturbing book all the way from cover to cover—so you know it must be book club time for me. :) Ordinarily, I wouldn’t pick a story to [...]

Lately, looking at my to-do list, I’ve felt pretty snowed. I’ve got Finger Lickin’ Dead releasing June 7th, a book due July 1, and a complete outline for another book due August 1. [...]