We’re having some painting done inside our house.  Years of children with sticky hands have taken their toll on our walls.  :) While the painters were here, the owner said to me, “Would [...]

I was volunteering in my daughter’s classroom on Friday for a Thanksgiving party for 4th grade.  While I was in there (supposedly setting out snack supplies so the kids could make their own [...]

My 8th grade son has really enjoyed his Language Arts class (what the schools are calling English these days) the last couple of years. His teacher actually moved up from 7th grade to [...]

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week. If you’re looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand [...]

There was an article that ran this week on the Genreality blog by urban fantasy author Carrie Vaughn entitled “Things I Didn’t Expect About Writing Full-Time.” I thought it was really interesting because [...]

After so many years of setting the clock back, you’d think I’d expect the changes. But each fall I’m surprised how dark it is in the late afternoon. Every morning I’m surprised how [...]

I haven’t run a post on negotiating your own contract for a while, and received a recent email from a writer looking for resources on the subject. I did negotiate my first contract [...]

I really never thought I’d be writing a post like this, but I have to admit that I really like the Kindle. I was definitely not expecting to like it—for several reasons. One [...]

If you think about it, every trait, even the good ones, can be taken too far or have a flipside to it. What if our good traits start to work against us and [...]

Hope you’ll all welcome fellow Midnight Ink author Julia Buckley to Mystery Writing is Murder today! Julia’s Madeline Mann, which Kirkus called “a bright debut” is now available on Kindle. My writer’s group [...]

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week. If you’re looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand [...]

Every night at bedtime, I make up a story for my daughter. She loves them.  But she’s a very picky listener.  She prefers stories centered around her favorite cat, Shadow.  With the magic [...]

I think I’ve put off posting about Twitter, except for my weekly tweet roundup. For a while, I’ve gotten some hints from tweeters that I should have a sort of Twitter Manifesto. :) [...]

I’ll admit that as I’m writing, I keep half an eye on my word count. It used to mess me up to do that. But now, I think it’s like checking my speedometer [...]

Before I emailed the Memphis 3 manuscript to my agent on Monday, I followed a checklist of problems to look for and things to do before submitting the document. I tried to read [...]

Part of my busy weekend last weekend involved travel. :) I visited San Diego with my college roommate—just to go somewhere that was scenic and relaxing, that we hadn’t visited before. But I [...]

A few times lately, I’ve heard writers who’ve gotten a great idea for a story—or a fully-formed character—at an inconvenient time. Usually right when they’re in the middle of another book. The phenomenon [...]

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week. If you’re looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand [...]

Hi everybody! I’ve got a real busy Friday and Saturday planned—and will be putting the finishing touches on Memphis book 3 before sending it to my agent on Monday. I’ll be back Sunday [...]

It’s pretty much just one of those things. The truth is that I never consciously decided to become a crime author. Back in the eighties, working for magazines, the editors needed someone to [...]

I do a lot of skimming as I’m looking for blogs to tweet on Twitter. Sometimes I stop and read the post carefully—and that was the case with a blog post on Work [...]

Never has food and wine been so popular among American culture. Cable and network TV is filled with cooking, wine, and travel shows. Food and drink play very important roles in my books. [...]

I heard from a few folks regarding the fact that there wasn’t a post from me on Saturday. Which is nice because y’all know I always post, every day…unless I say I’m not [...]

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week. If you’re looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand [...]

Last Sunday, my husband and I took my daughter to church (our son was camping.) Our church has a children’s moment worked into the service—a time for all the elementary-aged kids to come [...]

I’m a firm believer that understanding point of view (POV) can cure most common writing problems. It’s such a versatile tool that does more than just help us pick which pronoun to use. [...]

Selling is usually not the favorite thing for writers to do. Writers like to write. But, as we all know, selling is a big part of the job now in 21st century publishing. [...]

My daughter and I went to a Halloween party on Saturday night. Well, it was both a Halloween party and a premiere…the dad of my daughter’s friend had an official premiere of his [...]

My second book in the Memphis Barbeque series, Finger Lickin’ Dead, will launch June 2011. Last week I got the copy edited version of the manuscript—with items for me to clarify and corrections [...]

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week. If you’re looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand [...]