Titlemania

Titlemania

Sometimes titles pop into an author’s head as a serendipitous gift, but more often they’re the product of trial and error, hard work, and conscious creativity.  Publishers occasionally tell an author what the title will be and then you’re stuck unless your agent can...
Crime and PUNishment

Crime and PUNishment

Crime fiction comes in all sorts of flavors, and it can be harder to tell one sub-genre from another than a green apple Jelly Belly from a kiwi flavored one. Luckily, publishers are savvy enough to slap titles on the books that give readers broad hints about the...
Mysteries: Hard-Boiled or Soft-Boiled?

Mysteries: Hard-Boiled or Soft-Boiled?

Since I’m a mystery writer, my friends frequently ask me to recommend “good” mysteries for them to read. When I respond with, “What kind of mysteries do you like?” I sometimes get a blank stare. I list some of the choices: “Cozies, police procedurals, paranormal,...
Cozy Mysteries: Murder Most Fair

Cozy Mysteries: Murder Most Fair

A mystery is a mystery is mystery, right? Not so fast. Cozy mysteries have their own special place. Recently, I overheard two women fall into a conversation about the book one of the women was reading at Panera. It was a mystery. (Hank Phillippi Ryan’s Face Time, to...

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