by Porter Anderson, @Porter_Anderson Appointment With Death is Agatha Christie’s travelogue-gone-wrong, set in the “rose red city of Petra.” And some years ago, when I directed Christie’s 1945 stage adaptation of it, I [...]

Hope y’all can join me today at Victoria Mixon’s blog. Victoria interviewed me on the subject of mysteries—which writers I’ve found inspiring, what techniques I’d love to try, my favorite mystery writing resources, [...]

Below are the writing-related links I tweeted last week. The Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links searchable. Sign up for the free [...]

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of really murky emails that I just can’t make heads or tails of (none of them from writers). The emails ramble. Then, when I finally reach the [...]

by Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig I was recently working on revisions when I realized I wasn’t 100% happy with a particular scene. I thought the beginning was ‘okay.’ But the more I looked [...]

by Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig I’m definitely a creature of habit. I have a morning routine for getting the kids off to school, and if I mess up one part of it, there’s [...]

Below are the writing-related links I tweeted last week. The Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links searchable. Sign up for the free [...]

by Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig I was reading a great psychological thriller on Thursday afternoon. It was broad daylight, 1:30 p.m., the cats were snoozing in a sunbeam, the dog was snoring, and [...]

by Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig I’ve had a crazy last week. That’s because, in addition to the regular craziness, I had a car kick the bucket on me. My husband, fortunately, jumped into [...]

Hope you’ll join me in welcoming Kathleen Ernst today. She’s got some excellent tips for working with an editor. Kathleen is the author of the Chloe Ellefson/Historic Sites mysteries among other books. Getting [...]

by Elizabeth S. Craig/ @elizabethscraig At some point when we’re writing our book, there comes a happy time when our characters become real. It’s like Pinocchio turning into a real boy. Of course, [...]

My son is in marching band, so I found myself at the homecoming game last week as snack mom. :) What’s more, since I was snack mom and had to stay for the [...]

I know your pain. Everyone’s telling you you’ve got to write that novel and stop putting it off. Everyone’s telling you that you’ve got to stop wasting your time watching Desperate Housewives already [...]

Below are the writing-related links I tweeted last week. The Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links searchable. Sign up for the free [...]

As someone who’s currently on a couple of group blogs (and who has been a regular contributor on as many as five), I found a recent post by author/social media guru Kristen Lamb [...]

You wrote your first book, and it’s on Kindle, Smashwords, Nook and wherever else ebooks are sold. You’re proud of it, your family members pretend that they’re proud of you, and your wife [...]

I usually don’t get stuck with book beginnings (endings are more of a problem for me), because I have a similar approach each time. This may not give me an award for originality, [...]

November 1st through 30th is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. If you’re not familiar with it, the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a novel in a month. You can log your [...]

I’d love to have the luxury of thoughtfully mulling over each word and getting wrapped up in the art of my writing—I just don’t have the time. Between publisher deadlines, working for more [...]

I’ve worked with several different editors for the series I’ve written/am writing. Each editor has been very different. I’ve actually really appreciated the differences because I’m getting a different perspective each time I [...]

Below are the writing-related links I tweeted last week. The Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links searchable. Sign up for the free [...]

I was reading the paper yesterday morning and saw an article by Steven Brown at The Charlotte Observer. He usually reviews our local symphony and opera group, so I was a little surprised [...]

Many writers are looking for someone to make a read-through of their manuscript and offer feedback or constructive criticism. The problem is, usually, finding someone to do it. Family and friends are frequently [...]

I read an interesting post the other day and shared it on Twitter. The article was by Candy Gourlay on the Notes from the Slushpile blog. The post was titled “Does writing affect [...]

Just a quick mention that September 24—October 1 is the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. I’ve read most of the books on the frequently challenged list. Actually, I read most of them [...]

My 10 year old daughter met a tough challenge successfully yesterday and I told her she could choose a reward to celebrate. She chose a Happy Meal from McDonalds. :) I got off [...]

I noticed I’d gotten a really nice review of one of my books the other day. Several books ago, good reviews really had a strong impact on me. Actually, the word ‘elation’ wouldn’t [...]

Below are the writing-related links I tweeted last week. The Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links searchable. Sign up for the free [...]

Please join me in welcoming Glen Allison to Mystery Writing is Murder. A review of The Informationist by Taylor Stevens  Expectations are a funny thing. And by funny, I mean they are like [...]

I came across a fun post from Clarissa Draper yesterday. She mentioned that designing a cover for a WIP can put her in the mood to write it. I think designing a cover [...]