Fiction Archives - Page 21 of 23

I've been thinking lately about what I need to write. I need my computer, obviously. If I had to write everything out longhand, I'd never have finished my first manuscript. Then there are my books. Is that all I need? Not quite.

All I Need

March 5, 2020 Connie Berry Fiction, Writing

One of my husband’s favorite scenes in Steve Martin’s movie The Jerk takes place in the office of an extravagant[…]

Tell It Like It Is

March 3, 2020 Connie Berry Fiction, Writing

Who remembers Aaron Neville’s song “Tell It Like It Is?” Most of us can probably sing it–at least the first line.

Am I In Your Book?

March 2, 2020 Connie Berry Fiction, Writing

One of the questions mystery writers are frequently asked by friends and relatives is, “Am I in your book?” Our answer is usually something like “No, but if you make me mad, I might kill you off!” A more truthful answer would be “You are–or at least a part of you is.”

My Art Deco Crime Fighters of Color & Today’s Crime Writers of Color

February 12, 2020 L.A. Chandlar Fiction, Uncategorized

Featured 1930s Crime Fighters of Color In my 1930s Art Deco Mystery Series, it’s been an absolute joy to highlight[…]

Joys of book club

February 11, 2020 Susan Breen Fiction, Writing

I’m the only writer in the group (or the only one who claims to be) and I find the company of readers so nourishing.

Reading India

February 6, 2020 Tracee de Hahn Fiction

I first traveled to India nearly twenty years ago. Like a traveler arriving in the United States for the first time, one is conscious of what there isn’t time to see. Imagine claiming to have ‘seen’ America with a stop in New York, a visit to Boston, maybe Miami and San Francisco. What about the deep South, or the Badlands, the New England coast, the west coast. The list goes on. That’s how I feel about India.

Off limits words?

February 5, 2020 Tracee de Hahn Fiction, Writing

Recently one of my fellow MissDemeanors mentioned that her family doesn’t like the word chortle. I’ll admit that this made me chortle. After all, it’s a word about laughter. Or is it? Perhaps there’s been a bad moment of exultant singing / chanting that simply should not be repeated.

Reading for Black History Month

February 4, 2020 Tracee de Hahn Fiction

This weekend, happenstance led me to my dog eared copy of Chinua Achebe’s amazing book Things Fall Apart. It was an old friend, the story of Okonkwo’s exile from his tribe, and the shattering changes that come to him and his family with the arrival of European Imperialism.

February is Black History month and after revisiting Okonkwo’s story I wanted more ‘local’ voices.

An Interview with Carol Pouliot

January 17, 2020 Connie Berry Fiction, Writing

Is Time strictly linear, or can it be bent or twisted? The answer is well beyond my mental capacities, but the idea of time travel has always fascinated me. Today I have the distinct pleasure of interviewing Carol Pouliot, author of the Blackwell & Watson Time-Travel Mysteries featuring 1930s Detective Sergeant Steven Blackwell and present-day journalist and researcher Olivia Watson. Steven and Olivia share the same house in a small New York town—eighty years apart!

My Top Ten Favorite Books of 2019

January 15, 2020 Connie Berry Fiction

For those who read, write, and love crime fiction, one of the best traditions of any new year is the listing of favorite books published by critics, reviewers, and bloggers on social media. This year I was honored to find both my novels (A Dream of Death and A Legacy of Murder) on several lists. Thank you!

I’ve decided to join the party (albeit a bit late) and nominate my top ten favorite books of 2019. As a self-confessed Anglophile, I make no apologies for the fact that all but one take place in England. Here they are in alphabetical order…