Creating Characters: No Right Way
Creating living, breathing characters that readers can love or hate and identify with is a huge part of every author’s[…]
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Category: Books
Connecting Authors & Readers (It’s Not Easy)
One of the first things impressed upon new authors is the importance of connecting with readers. Traditionally, we do that by establishing a social media presence, participating in conferences, appearing at book club events, holding book signings, starting a blog, and most importantly, compiling a list of emails for a newsletter. This all takes time, of course, and it isn’t easy or automatic. If no one knows your book exists, they won’t read it. If they don’t read it, they can’t love it and recommend it to others.
Fortunately, there are new ways of getting your book and your name out there. A new website called Shepherd.com exists to do just that.
On Persistence
Last week at the Golden Crown Literary Society’s annual conference my book, The Disappearance of Lindy James, won a Goldie for the[…]
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When It’s Time to End a Series
The first thing to say is my Kate Hamilton Mystery series is not ending. But I’ve been thinking about this question lately for two reasons. First because I’ve been developing a possible new historical mystery series, which has been fun. Second, because two wonderful series written by writer friends have recently and unexpectedly ended. Why, when the series were doing so well?
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Stumblin’ outta bed and staggerin’ to the kitchen . . .
In In Place of Fear, we meet Helen Crowther the day before she begins her new job – her first job. She’s steeling herself, deciding what to wear, and still trying to persuade her parents that she’s not making a big mistake, biting off more than she can chew.
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Where do you get book recommendations?
Fellow Miss Demeanors, where do you turn for a book recommendation?
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Memorial Day Reading List
I was going to draw up a list of great books to read for Memorial Day, and then I happened to wander over to the American Writers Museum and saw that they had already compiled a wonderful list. So I thought perhaps I might just borrow/steal/be inspired by it.
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The Locked Room Mystery
Later this summer I set sail across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary II, the perfect place for a locked room mystery! While much larger than Agatha Christie’s vessel in Death on the Nile, it has a common essential element – no one can come on or off. If you aren’t familiar with the idea of a locked room mystery, here are a few essentials and a confession.
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The Three Things I Love Most About Self-Publishing
Self-publishing provides autonomy, insight, and velocity to a mystery author’s work. here’s a few of the benefits to authors.
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