Bouchercon is Coming!
Are you an author? If so, and if you're planning on going to Bouchercon, you should sign up today! Why? Because if you don't sign up by June 1, you won't be on a panel! So run over to Bouchercon 2014 — Murder at the Beach right now and then come on back and read the...
Realistically Ever After
If you ask someone who’s been married a few years about their spouse, you’re apt to get an answer that begins with “I love him/her to death, but…” That’s because marriage is hard. The falling in love part, the part we see in romance novels, may be angsty and difficult...
That One Skill…
Everyone has one. That one skill they simply cannot master. For a long time, it was drawing for me. When I tell people I cannot make a straight line with a ruler, they think I am kidding. I'm not. Seriously, it's ridiculous. I have friends whose casual doodles during...
When You Give A Gorilla a Club…
The latest shots have been fired in Amazon's bid to take over the world, or at least to become the Wal-Mart of the digital set. If you're not familiar with their latest move, the NYT has covered it quite thoroughly in multiple articles. This particular tactic doesn't...
Release Day Is Here! Release Day Is Here!
Can you tell I am just a tiny bit excited? Maybe even more so than I was for my debut. There's something about the story of Lost that resonates for me in odd ways. You can see an excerpt from the book on my site, and I am trying to come up with something cool to give...
Ooooooh, Baby! New Orleans is Coming!
Or, at least, I am GOING to New Orleans. It's not really moving to NY. It's the Romantic Times booklovers' convention and I must admit to being a wee bit intimidated since it's my first time at the con. But be that as it may, I am ready. Or at least as ready as I am...
Fiction, Politics, Gender, and Liminality: A Ramble
At the Edgar Awards the other night, I was talking to a friend about a debut book that had garnered quite a bit of acclaim a few years ago, but which neither of us had finished. The reason I couldn't finish the book turned out to be the same as the reason she...
The Beauty of the Edgars
Anyone who thinks the life of a writer is glamorous has been watching too many movies or too much Castle. In fact, most of the writers I know who don't have to leave their house for day jobs or to take their kids to school spend a fair amount of time in sweats or...
The Dark Side of Marketing
I spend a fair amount of time thinking and talking about marketing. (In fact, if you're going to be at the RWA conference in NJ in October, you can come hear me talk about author branding.) But I like to think everything I do amounts to "truth in advertising." Your...
Towards a Definition of the Alpha Hero
Recently I had a discussion with some friends on Twitter about "alpha heroes." Now, you may remember that I have an intense dislike of the "Alphahole," but there are heroes who are alpha without being jerks. But let me back up a minute. This conversation began because...