A huge THANKS! is in order for all you wonderful readers. You have made March my best sales month ever. And even more gratitude to the magnificent readers who spent precious time leaving reviews. My books have some of the highest ratings based on customer reviews. The “hard boiled mystery” category has @ 5,000 books…
Another Day in Paradise I was working at my computer, doing what writers are supposed to do, when the phone rang. Caller ID showed it was from my daughter-in-law. I grabbed the phone, a little panicked, wondering why she’d be calling during the day while she was teaching. “Someone stole Joey’s phone,” she said. “What?…
I’m Afraid of ;;;;;; It’s okay for writers to play with grammar. You don’t have to write in complete sentences. Not all the time. Readers know what you mean because that’s the way many people think. Writers can put periods damn near anywhere. Well. Ma.ybe. As the preceding example shows, you can’t get away with…
This was originally posted on Jackie Burris’ blog, Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories. It was part of the Paws With a Cause bloggers fundraiser. And it’s been fun. If you’re fond of animal stories, stop by and check them out. When Jackie asked me to write something about one of my animals, I thought…sure, that’ll be…
Here’s the scenario — you’re stuck on a desert island and you get to pick one person to be with you, so the question is … Who Would You Pick? Who Would I Want to be Stuck on a Desert Island With? After much consideration, I select — my wife. Your wife! Yes, my wife….
Why I Quit Drinking Coffee I love coffee. I like coffee even more than wine. So imagine my distress when several of my doctors ganged up on me and warned me off of coffee, or at least the vast amount that I consume. I used to drink about 1/5–1/4 of a pound per day, which…
Should Schools Have Mandatory Reading Lists? I was talking to one of my younger relatives a few weeks ago, and I asked what they were reading in school. She groaned, and then said, “The Great Gatsby. It’s on our mandatory reading list.” I empathized with her. I hated The Great Gatsby. Perhaps loathed would be…
I have been out of town attending a funeral and didn’t have time to write a post this week, so I thought I’d repeat one I did a guest post on. This is more for writers. I hope you enjoy. I Don’t Have to Use Any Stinking Copy Editors. There has been a lot of…
Coffee Dog I had no idea what I was going to write about this week, then, as I was going through my morning ritual of fixing coffee, it suddenly hit me. I was going to write about Gracie, one of our less-demanding animals. I realized I had never even thought of doing a blog on…
Conflicting Characters I write crime novels, mysteries, thrillers, fantasy…no matter what you call them, they’re fiction books. But just because they’re fiction doesn’t mean they’re not real. What the hell does that mean? Some readers have written to me and asked how I make my characters seem so real. I thought about that and then…