I’m having a difficult time crawling out from under my post-holiday Rock of Sloth. I got lots of wonderful new books–special thanks to my fabulous editor for sending me, among other treasures, an ARC of Lionel Shriver’s latest, The Post-Birthday World. Between reading and cooking and other extra-curricular activities, I’m not getting a whole lot […]

Being a Texas girl myself, I’m partial to Leann Sweeney’s Yellow Rose Mysteries and I’m thrilled she’s guest blogging for us today about shaking things up! ~Sara
Changing Series Characters’ Lives
by Leann Sweeney
As I was writing the fourth book in the Yellow Rose Mystery series (NAL/Signet) I was experiencing a difficult time in my life. I […]

If you’ve ever worked retail you know what swoops through the doors at the start of business on December 26th…and you know it’s not pretty.
First, you have your “returnees.” These are the folks who can’t wait to unload the boxes of stuff they’d never have bought for themselves (picture Ralphie, of A CHRISTMAS STORY […]

WISHING YOU MUCH HEALTH AND HAPPINESS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!

 
CHRISTMAS BELLS
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till, ringing, singing on […]

I’ve been a good girl this year.
Really good.
Disgustingly good.
Yes, I’m talking to you, Santa. Bring me something miraculous and spectacular, will you? Please?
Are you in a holiday sort of mood? I hope so–because we’ve got one of our best ever Virtual Cocktail Parties today. Our guest is the wonderful and amazing Shamus-nominated Harry Hunsicker whose […]

So, before I go and spill all my writerly resolutions for the new year, I thought I would take one of them and ask for your help with it.
Whenever any newbie or aspiring writer asks me for advice (and this happens sooooo often ’cause I’m sooooo successful), I always end whatever nit-picky, technical advice with […]

I met Alex Sokoloff at Bouchercon this year where she became an honorary Good Girl as she moderated the Good Girls’ famous (infamous?) Get Unwrapped panel. Alex is back with the Good Girls today as our guest blogger. Enjoy! ~Sara
Under The Influence
By Alex Sokoloff
Okay, here’s a game (since I know how the Good Girls […]

Every time I finish a manuscript I get this very distinct feeling in my chest. It’s like I’ve run a marathon in some respects. I’m exhausted, yet there’s something else there too—a kind of elation that’s as much physical as it is mental.
I’d think it was a fluke if it didn’t happen […]

It’s that time of year again: the time to start considering your New Year’s Resolutions.
New Year’s Resolutions are kind of like the Academy Awards for To Do lists. This is the big one. Granted, not everyone goes in for To Do lists (although I personally find them more dignified than plastering 87,000 Post It notes […]

No, I’m not suggesting that I am an It Girl. But last week over on Murderati, my dear friend JT Ellison tagged me with the following meme, so for a fleeting moment I get to be IT in tag, which is almost like being an It Girl. This is astonishingly good timing as my […]