Writers Who Kill

The Power of Your Mind- Newsletters for Growing by Judy L. Murray

2026-10-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

We are all bombarded by emailed newsletters. Some are fellow writers I enjoy and respect, some are business advisors, and some are from your dentist reminding you to floss. It’s not easy weeding through them.

Today I’m thinking about a few favorites that I read for writing inspiration and reinforcement. Sometimes their quotes may even end up posted above my desk. I hope you will enjoy discovering them too.

I’ll start with business guru James Clear, author of Atomic Habits -Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results with 30 million copies sold. When I was in the corporate world, every senior manager had one on their desk. James also is co-founder of a company called Author Equity, a newer publishing house. He writes a weekly newsletter he calls 3-2-1 Happy Thursday! In my opinion it is gold. It takes only a few minutes to read but often a lot longer to contemplate. In each newsletter he presents three ideas, two quotes, and one question for the week. He’s that clear. (I couldn’t resist the pun.) Last week he said, “Overnight success always takes a year or two.” “Long-term thinking changes your short-term actions. Build what lasts.” One of my favorite prompts is “If not now, when?”

The second newsletter I always enjoy is written by Andrew Bridgeman, mystery writer and author of the Emma Noble Series. The first was Fortunate Son, a huge hit with 20,000 copies sold and a Netflix show in the offing since its launch in 2024 by a small hybrid press. It has 1.3 million reviews. His fourth is soon to be released. For those of us who write his weekly commentary on what he describes as pushing that boulder of a book up the hill is interesting, reassuring, and wise. I’d like to invite him to dinner. He has a very open and self-deprecating manner about the trials and rewards of publishing. His October 9th newsletter is entitled “The Big Stupid Rock.” I think you will identify with him. He calls himself a ‘Discovery Writer.’ That’s code for pantser. He participates in a writing group much like those offered through Sisters in Crime. He calls it an appointment with creativity.

I’ll close with one of James Clear’s questions. “You're always learning, even when you're not intending to learn. Based on how you are spending your time this week, what are you learning?”

Do you have other sources for inspiration you would like to share? I’d love to hear them.

Judy L. Murray, award-winning author, The Chesapeake Bay Mystery Series JUDY L MURRAY MYSTERIES/ PenCraft First Place Awards/ IPPY Gold and Silver Medalist/ Silver Falchion Int'l Award/ Agatha Award Nominee

My Long-Hidden Manuscript by Nancy L. Eady

2026-10-26T01:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Annette Dashofy asked about manuscripts we have stuffed in the back of a drawer that may never see the light of day, and I started to laugh.

The happiest summer I can remember during my K-12 years was the summer between my junior and senior years, when I had access to an electric typewriter and the room to myself. (Fun fact: There were three of us girls and two bedrooms; I shared a bedroom with one of my sisters my junior year, but since it was my upcoming senior year, I got the room to myself starting that summer until I left for college the following year.) I plopped the typewriter on the desk in my room and spent the next six weeks writing. This was more than forty years ago. At that time, not even simple word processors were financially feasible for most members of the general public. For me, the electric typewriter with its ability to erase mistakes was the ultimate tech.

If I told you the novella-length work that flowed from my typewriter that summer showed early (any) proof of writing genius, I’d be lying. (I’m still hoping for proof that I possess budding writing genius, even now…) What emerged that summer was probably the weirdest, longest fractured fairy tale in the history of mankind. I won’t bore you with the details (partly because I don’t remember many), but to give you the flavor of the entire work, the heroes of the story were three bears named Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. When I finished the story, I gave it to my mother to read. After she finished it, her only comment was that it was very unusual.

Just thinking about that summer puts a smile on my face, because I remember how happy I was pounding out that story day after day. But what made me laugh about Annette’s question is that, sadly, the fragile paper remains of that story are still stored in a box in the closet with all of my non-digital writing from my junior year forward. I haven’t read it since that summer of 1981, but I still own it. Throwing it out would make me feel like I was abandoning one of my dogs in the wild, and I really love my dogs. It will never see the light of day, but I won’t get rid of it.

So, thank you, Annette, for a wonderful trip down memory lane. Fellow writers and gentle readers, do you remember a time when you were particularly happy because you were writing?

Pivoting… Again by Annette Dashofy

2026-10-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

I’ve been participating in a number of conferences and vendor sales lately, which means I’ve been chatting with a lot of readers and aspiring authors. There are always a few in the latter category who tell me they just can’t finish the book they’re writing. They get midway through, grow bored, and come up with another idea that they like better. Book #1 gets shelved as they start Book #2. Then the same thing happens again. Book #2 joins Book #1 as they start writing Book #3.

And so on, and so on.

My advice to them is always the same. Make a summary of the new idea, file it away, and then finish the book you’re working on. Don’t worry about how badly it sucks. Muscle your way through to The End. You can’t edit a blank page.

I’m here to tell you, I’m breaking my own advice. Sort of.

For well over a year, I’ve been writing (and rewriting and rewriting) what I call my Frankenbook. I keep cutting, rearranging, and pasting, hence the nickname.

I did power my way to The End before going back to page one and revising the first 100 pages. I wasn’t satisfied, but I sent them to my agent for her perspective. I think we all send off our work to our critique groups, beta readers, agents, or editors with crossed fingers, hoping they will assure us our doubts are unfounded.

This is great! You don’t need to fix a thing!

Which never happens. Ever.

It didn’t happen this time either. Instead, she pointed out all the issues I’d already sensed need work and basically told me to fix it.

(I should mention, this is something I’ve written without a contract, so there isn’t a publisher waiting for it.)

I gnashed my teeth for a few days, anticipating tearing the Frankenbook apart one more time. I thought about breaking out the index cards, jotting a scene, a plot point on each one, and then tossing them into the air and seeing where they landed. Fifty-two pick-up, novel style.

As much as I encourage aspiring authors to keep going, I decided I need to stop. No, not permanently. But I feel like a mouse in a maze, bumping into walls. No, make that a blind mouse. For now, I can’t see my way out.

However, I have a plan. First, I’m continuing my field recon (thank you, Timons Esaias, for the term) in which I read other books of similar styles and genres to see what works and what doesn’t. I’ve been doing this for over a year, but perhaps I’ve been studying the wrong books. Time to switch up my reading list.

Second, I’m starting to write another book. So far, I have one chapter. The opening scene. The inciting incident. I have an inkling of what happens next, including a jump twenty-six years to the present day. I’m working on a loose outline, hoping that it will become tighter in the next few weeks. My goal is to have fifty to seventy-five pages by the end of November.

With any luck (and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears on my part), my agent will like this one better. Maybe then I will have a clearer view of tearing apart and piecing together the Frankenbook.

Longtime friends have pointed out to me that I originally wrote Death By Equine in 2004. After rejection upon rejection, I put it aside to work on the Zoe Chambers series. When I pulled Equine back out in 2020, the needed fixes were more obvious to me. When I released it in 2021, it earned rave reviews and won a major book award.

I still believe aspiring authors should finish that first draft. Typing THE END is empowering and so satisfying. But sometimes it takes a while for the true story to come to light in a way that will keep the reader turning the page.

Fellow Writers Who Kill, do you have any manuscripts filed away that may or may not see the light of day at some point?

Readers, what style of story opening do you prefer? Fast-paced from page one? Or slower, more atmospheric, building to the suspenseful climax?

I Don’t Have Work-Life Balance. I Have Work-Work Balance.

2026-10-24T03:00:00.000-04:00

By Kathryn Mykel

I’ve never been good at work-life balance. I am, however, excellent at work-work balance.

When I need a break from writing, I quilt. And when I need a break from quilting, I write. I can spend an entire Saturday sewing and genuinely believe I’ve had a relaxing day off. Never mind that the quilt I’m working on is a pattern I designed and the sample has a deadline. I was sewing. Sewing is fun. Therefore, I was relaxing. Makes sense, right?

This logic works great when you have absolutely no self-control.

Writing has its own version. I can decide I’m done working for the night, close the laptop, and listen to an audiobook. That sounds perfectly reasonable until I realize I’m paying attention to how the author ended a chapter or repeated sentence starts. Or I’ll take the dog for a walk and come home having figured out who killed someone and why it makes sense to hide the body near the solar farm. My brain has a fairly loose interpretation of “off the clock.”

There’s also the problem of rewards.

I wrote recently about using rewards to keep myself motivated through more than fifty stories in five years. Finish the book, earn a quilting day. Hit a goal, buy some fabric. Survive a launch, spend the weekend sewing with friends. The only flaw in this system is that eventually the reward starts looking suspiciously like more work.

A trip to the quilt shop can result in getting booked to teach a class, and sewing with friends inevitably produces new murder plots. It’s a talent! At this point, I think that makes me the SME (Subject Matter Expert) on work-work balance.

I’m also surrounded by people who make this behavior seem completely normal. My writing friends understand why I’m excited to spend two hours on Zoom working silently beside them. My quilting friends understand why buying fabric for a new project makes perfect sense when we already have fabric for projects we haven’t finished.

Nobody in either group is likely to stage an intervention. We’re all enablers, really.

My friends have joked for years that I get more accomplished while procrastinating than most people do when they’re actually working. I recently came across a quilter on YouTube who explained that he finished a huge quilt project by working on it while procrastinating on everything else.

I immediately thought, Yes. That! Exactly.

When I spend a lot of time quilting, I start thinking about writing again. If I spend a lot of time writing, I start itching to quilt. Somewhere along the way, though, I seem to have confused switching jobs with actually stopping work. I say, “I’m working,” and the familiar reply from friends and family is, “You’re always working.”

This year, I’ve spent more time quilting and less time writing. Before long, the quilting deadlines started multiplying, new projects appeared on my sewing table, and my definition of “taking a break” became questionable all over again.

Needless to say, I hadn’t had a real vacation in many, let’s just say, years.

Cruise Fun

In my last post, I mentioned that I was headed on an author-reader cruise. (Do you see the theme here?) Well, I’m back from said cruise, and I tell you, I got some really great sleep done. If I could have sat in a lounge chair on the deck of the boat for seven straight days and done nothing but eat and sleep, I would’ve been in heaven.

I came home from the cruise rested, well-fed, and ready to get back to my deadlines. Which sounds perfectly responsible until you realize that most of those deadlines are self-imposed. Apparently, I’m both the overworked employee complaining about the schedule and the unreasonable boss who created it. Still, I wouldn’t trade any of it for a nine-to-five.

Balance looks different for everyone, and these two pursuits provide a balance that works for me. I’ve managed to make the two careers completely symbiotic. Each one fuels, rewards, and provides procrastination from the other. I’ve essentially engineered all possible escape routes out of my own life. Come to think of it, this may be less work-work balance and more work-work-work balance.

So tell me: If you love what you do, how do you know when you’re working and when you’re actually taking time off or enjoying a hobby? And are you any better at work-life balance than I am?

Kathryn Mykel is a bestselling author of quilting-themed cozy mysteries and a professional quilt pattern designer whose work has appeared in national quilting publications. She lives in New England with her pup, Bentley.

Find Kathryn’s work here www.authorkathrynmykel.com

The Ghosts of Halloween Past by Nancy L. Eady

2026-10-23T01:00:00.000-04:00

In our old house, we would buy one bag of candy in the unlikely chance we had trick-or-treaters. I say “unlikely” because our house sat on the top of a steep hill with a winding driveway in a neighborhood that contained one street, twelve houses, and no young children. But our hill was steep enough that I always wanted to have some candy around. Any trick-or-treater stubborn enough to climb that hill earned every bit of candy we could give them. But no-one ever came.

This year is a new adventure. We are in the middle of a large subdivision with a flat lawn and lots of kids around us, so we have bought two large bags of candy hoping we will give it all away on October 31. I’ve even put out Halloween decorations this year, both a lit plastic pumpkin display outside and all kinds of knick-knacks scattered around the house.

This is one of my favorites:

I painted it myself from a pattern in a craft magazine. It was a lot of fun.

Thinking about the upcoming Halloween has made me nostalgic for past Halloweens, so I thought I’d share some of the pictures and memories of them with you.

This is a picture of me and my middle sister back in the 1970s right before going trick-or-treating in witch costumes my mother made.

Here is a picture of my daughter when she was three, having her first Halloween with us:

The woman in the picture was my mom-in-law. Our daughter is Mark's and my only child, and both grandmothers doted on her—she was the first grandchild on my side of the family, and the first granddaughter on Mark’s side. She came to live with us in November 2004—I’ll tell that story sometime—and for the first six months she stayed with us, the child had a new dress to wear to church every Sunday. That is not an exaggeration; if anything, I have underestimated the time involved!

One year, I made Kayla’s costume. Those of you who sewed in years gone by probably recognize the Simplicity pattern involved—it could be a bunny, a cat, a lion and several other creatures.

Another year, when Kayla had her heart set on being the Little Mermaid, Mom bought the costume, lock, stock and barrel. Kayla was feeling a little sassy that year, I think, and she was proud of the pumpkin she decorated. For those of you shocked because I didn’t let her carve the pumpkin out, I have two things to say. First, we live in Alabama. Carved pumpkins have a chance of lasting maybe two days in good shape if the weather is cool. Second, you obviously never had to clean up after a pumpkin carving expedition. The markers were cheaper, safer, and she had just as much fun!

But clever moms know to keep their camera ready at all times, and I also caught this picture when she didn’t know it and was just clowning around.

The very next year, when Kayla was 10, Mom made her Halloween costume for her, as Rapunzel. It was gorgeous.

Court protocol, however, was thrown to the four winds when we arrived at our church’s carnival that evening, and Kayla/Rapunzel had a chance to climb a wall on one of those bouncy things that children love.

The costume survived unscathed and is one Halloween costume that was passed around to various children in the extended family as they reached the appropriate age.

So what do these pictures have to do with writing? Nothing. And everything. Everything that we write originates with our thoughts, emotions and experiences. Storing these kinds of images in our memory banks can start our wheels turning when we cast about for story ideas or want to add depth and color to the descriptions of our characters and their lives.

So here’s a challenge: What kind of plot could you create using the following Halloween costume picture?

For those of you who are wondering, this is Mark, the year he held a costume contest at the company he worked for. As the emcee for the event, he felt it was his duty to come up with a suitable costume.

Pea-Soup Fog & Monkey Glands: Ten Reasons Why Victorian England is the Perfect Setting for Murder by Connie Berry

2026-10-22T04:00:00.000-04:00

In the distance, the bells of St. Mary-Le-Bow toll eleven o’clock. The narrow streets of London’s East End are strangely deserted. Out of the swirling fog comes the clip-clop of horseshoes on cobbles. A carriage appears. I squint, struggling to decipher the gilded crest on the carriage door. From within the passenger compartment, a gloved hand emerges. Wait—is that a gun, or....

I turn the page, my heart in my throat, as the modern world vanishes into the foul-smelling mist. It's London, 1850. Soon a body will turn up--floating in the Thames or sprawled in a brick-walled alleyway. I settle in for another blissful sojourn in Victorian England.

Here are my Top Ten Reasons why Victorian England is the perfect setting for murder:

1. The Famous London Fog

Oh, those thick-as-pea-soup fogs—useful for concealing pick-pockets and cutthroats, handy for the disposal of bodies, and perfect for setting that deliciously sinister atmosphere we crave.

In 1833, Richard Rush of the Court of London wrote: “On the 22^nd of the month, accidents occurred all over London....Carriages ran against each other, and persons were knocked down by them at the crossings. The whole gang of thieves seemed to be let loose. After perpetrating their deeds, they eluded detection by darting into the fog...an opake, dingy yellow (from The Dictionary of Victorian London).” Reading about it is healthier than breathing it.

2. Upstairs/Downstairs

Picture a grand house with a full complement of servants. The Victorian social structure provides a treasure trove of tantalizing possibilities—petty rivalries, class struggles, below-stairs’ intrigues, accusations of petty theft, and pretty housemaids to catch the eye of the lord of the manor. And, of course, we need an oh-so-proper butler, a dour housekeeper with a hidden past, a ridiculously handsome footman who captures the heart of the lord’s nubile daughter, and that unfortunate scullery maid who finds the body and screams like a banshee. These are creatures of myth in a world that never existed. Maybe that’s why we love them.

3. Opium-Eaters & the Lure of Laudanum

A dark doorway in Whitechapel opens into a smoke-filled chamber, the air fetid with sweat, bile, and the bittersweet odor of opium smoke. Bodies lay strewn across low cots or two-tiered bunks, class distinctions forgotten in the communal drug-induced stupor.

In an age when the science of medicine was evolving and the management of pain nearly impossible, opiates became part of life. Laudanum, a mixture of ten percent opium and 90 percent alcohol, has been called “the nineteenth-century aspirin.” Because of its bitter taste, laudanum was often mixed with honey, spices, and brandy—essential when lacing your rival’s seeded cake.

4. Potent Poisons

Poison was the first choice of many Victorian murderers—especially women. Overbearing husband? Why not soak a little flypaper and add arsenic to his Christmas pudding? Your husband’s bit-on-the-side went and got herself pregnant? A nice box of chocolates laced with strychnine should do the trick.

The strangest case of poisoning in Victorian England has to be Adelaide Bartlett, whose husband, Edwin, died with a large quantity of liquid chloroform in his belly. The question was, how did it get there? No traces were found in his mouth or throat. Without evidence, Adelaide was acquitted. Later, Sir James Paget of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital appealed to her sense of public spirit: “Now that it is all over, she should tell us, in the interest of science, how she did it.” Instead, Adelaide vanished—some say to America.

5. The Village Doctor

What would a Victorian country-house mystery be without a murder? And what would a Victorian country-house murder be without the venerable village doctor? He’s an old friend of the family, naturally, and eager to declare the cause of death in a way guaranteed to cause the family—who haven’t paid him a farthing since before the Queen’s coronation—the least possible fuss. A poisoning is put down to digestive troubles. If the victim is found in his library, shot through the heart, the shooting was obviously a tragic accident whilst cleaning his gun. No forensic examination will be held. In fact, the body will be safely buried before the sleuth has an opportunity to object.

6. Fascination with the Occult

Who killed rich but unpleasant Uncle Nigel? Who would know better than Nigel himself? Let's get out that Ouiji Board.

7. The Age of Exotica

How many ways are there to kill someone? In Victorian England, the possibilities are nearly endless—untraceable poisons added to a glass of port, deadly snakes or spiders tucked beneath the eiderdown.

During the nineteenth century, amateur adventurers and explorers left England in great numbers to investigate new lands. Tales of strange (and impossible) creatures fired the public imagination—as did sensational claims of miracle cures from exotic substances like mumia (powdered mummies) and strange plants that delivered an electrical shock strong enough to render a man unconscious. Victorian England was particularly mesmerized by Dr. Serge Voronoff, a French doctor of Russian descent, who claimed that monkey testicles (either grafted or injected) could reactivate youthful vigor and even extend life. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, himself a doctor, used the idea in his 1923 story “The Adventure of the Creeping Man.”

8. What—No Telephone?

One of the benefits of Victorian crime fiction is the convenient lack of modern technology. Someone is found murdered. How are the authorities notified? In nineteenth-century England, you can’t pick up the telephone. You don’t own one, nor do you know anyone who does. Instead, a messenger is sent, probably on bicycle, to alert the local constable, who is probably tucked up in his bed. Perfect. The delay gives you plenty of time to move the body, rearrange the crime scene, and get everyone’s alibi down pat.

9. The Cult of Death

The Victorians were obsessed with death, from anthropomorphic taxidermy to picnicking in cemeteries to memento mori, the weaving the hair of a lost loved one into jewelry.

10. True Crime

Victorian crime fiction has nothing on true crime stories from England in the nineteenth century. George Orwell in “Decline of the English Murder” fantasized about settling down in front of a fire with his pipe and a cup of tea and opening the News of the World. “What is it that you want to read about?” he asked. “Naturally, about a murder.” Jack the Ripper, Dr. Crippen, the Mannings of the Bermondsey Horror, Frederick Seddon, Neill Cream, Mrs. Maybrick—there was nothing the Victorians loved more than a good murder.

Why do today’s readers still adore the foggy streets of Victorian England, the top-hatted madman, and arsenic-laced blancmange?

It’s elementary, my dear Watson.

[Originally published in CrimeReads]

Killer Questions - Favorite Beverage (Hot or Cold)?

2026-10-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

Killer Questions – Favorite Beverage (Hot or Cold)?

People are often wedded to certain types of coffee, tea, soda, or other drinks. Today, we decided to see how similar or different the Writers Who Kill authors are in their beverage tastes.

Heather Weidner: Iced tea, Dr. Pepper.

Martha Reed: Coffee (hot) or Lemonade (cold).

Sarah Burr: A Mango Refresher from Dunkin’ is my go-to whenever I need a pick-me-up.

Kait Carson: Does wine count? Okay, coffee, from Carrabassett Roasters in Maine – try it, you’ll love it.

Molly MacRae: My go-to drink is cold water. But a favorite drink, one so good we only have it on Christmas morning and only every two or three years, is a recipe called Depths of Sin Hot Chocolate. It lives up to its name.

Mary Dutta: A toss-up between a hot latte and a cold gin and tonic.

Shari Randall: This is a tossup between a frozen margarita and a raspberry lime rickey. I’ll just have both. ;)

Debra H. Goldstein: Coca Cola

Grace Topping: Hot English breakfast tea with a splash of milk— anytime, all day.

Lori Roberts Herbst: Diet Cherry Pepsi

Korina Moss: Coke Zero, although sadly I can’t drink it anymore because of the caffeine.

K.M. Rockwood: Hot mulled cider.

Margaret S. Hamilton: Cappuccino.

Elaine Douts: Depends on the time of day. Coffee in the morning, dark roast. On cold winter afternoons, hot tea or cocoa. Leisure hour, a dry champagne or dry white wine.

Susan Van Kirk: Herbal tea or wild cherry Pepsi.

Annette Dashofy: Hot coffee with sweet creamer.

James M. Jackson: Diet Dr Pepper—I first came upon Dr Pepper when we moved to Virginia in 1957 for my father to earn his PhD. For years it wasn’t available up north. I suspect it's as much a psychological choice as taste.

A Serial Killer and His Prosecutor

2026-10-20T00:30:00.000-04:00

by Paula Gail Benson

When I was growing up in South Carolina, the name Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins was known and feared as a serial killer who charmed his victims and had no remorse for the atrocities he committed against them. When his death penalty conviction was overturned (due to the state’s statute being held unconstitutional), he pled guilty to dozens of murders to receive life sentences.

Later, when the death penalty was statutorily reinstated, he was serving time in the state’s Central Correctional facility. He took a bribe to kill another prisoner. When poisoning did not work, he smuggled in an explosive. That death was the crime for which he was executed.

Prior to his own death, he wrote with Wilton Earle, Final Truth: The Autobiography of Pee Wee Gaskins. Gaskins told reporters and others that he killed more than one hundred people. That number has not been proven.

Gaskins’ crimes and trials are examined in Richard A. Harpootlian’s Dig Me a Grave: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Who Seduced the South (written with Shaun Assael) (released December 16, 2025, with the audio version read by Harpootlian). You may recognize Harpootlian’s name. He’s a lawyer in Columbia, S.C., and recently served in the State Senate. He began his career as a prosecutor, then became a defense attorney, most recently representing Hunter Biden and Alex Murdaugh.

Harpootlian prosecuted Pee Wee Gaskins and, in doing so, found himself in a unique relationship with the killer. Pee Wee, known to be a master manipulator, called Harpootlian by name and greeted him when they were together. Following the trial, Pee Wee continued the relationship by sending Harpootlian Christmas cards. As Pee Wee’s execution neared, he tried to have Harpootlian’s four-year-old daughter kidnapped.

What is so fascinating about Dig Me a Grave is that it is not only Pee Wee’s story, but also Harpootlian’s. The chapters change the viewpoint from one to the other, contrasting their backgrounds and their approach to the trial.

Harpootlian spoke to the Capitol Crimes Chapter of Sisters in Crime about the book and his experience with Pee Wee. He talked about how the killer could display a very likable personality. One day when they were eating lunch together, Pee Wee had been teasing him. Harpootlian took the opportunity to tease Pee Wee back, and saw a change occur in his face and eyes. Suddenly, the congenial companion had angered. Harpootlian knew he had to get Pee Wee to display that anger in the courtroom so that the jury members would understand why they needed to convict him.

If you have an interest in true crime and history, this is a book you do not want to miss. It contains difficult scenes but gives real insight into how a serial killer’s mind works and how a prosecutor prepared for the trial.

Richard A. Harpootlian

What true crime books do you recommend?

What's in an Hour?

2026-10-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

What’s in an Hour? by Debra H. Goldstein

The other day, I did something unusual for me. It was one of the few days that I didn’t need to be somewhere in the morning, so I didn’t set an alarm. I still woke up just before eight a.m. but decided to turn over for a few minutes. The next time I looked at the clock, it read a few minutes after ten.

For a moment, I felt guilty. There were so many things I could have done had I gotten out of bed when I woke up or even by nine. Then, I decided maybe what I had needed most was the hour of peaceful rest. I had to admit, I felt good. In fact, when I swung my legs off the bed, I didn’t groan to myself.

On November 1, at two a.m., we will set our clocks back an hour as part of Daylight Savings Time. Doing this returns us to standard time. It also means that unlike the change we made in March, when we set our clocks ahead an hour, we gain back an hour of sleep. That will make me a happy camper because I can sleep without guilt that I’m missing out on doing something.

I hate to tell the powers-that-be that in March, for me, I always have thoughts about the fact that I will never regain that hour. Imagination runs rampant about what I could have done during that time. The possibilities are endless. Compose a poem. Write a short story. Bake a cake. Do my laundry. You can imagine the myriad of other things that crosses my mind. Yet, I never do anything to reclaim the hour.

What would you do with an extra hour gained or lost?

The Power of a Click: Why Subscribing Matters More Than You Think by Sarah E. Burr

2026-10-18T00:30:00.000-04:00

We live in an age when supporting our favorite creators is easier than ever. With a few taps on our phones or clicks of a mouse, we can follow authors, subscribe to YouTube channels, sign up for newsletters, and share content with friends and family. Yet, despite how simple these actions have become, I don't think most people realize just how much they mean to the individuals working tirelessly behind the scenes to entertain, educate, and connect with their audiences. As someone who wears both an author's hat and a content creator's hat, I've come to appreciate that sometimes the most meaningful support doesn't cost a single penny. All it takes is a moment of someone's time.

For those who may not know, my dear friend and fellow mystery author J.C. Kenney and I are the hosts of It's Bookish Time, a virtual destination for readers and writers who love cozy mysteries, traditional mysteries, and sweet romance. Through our YouTube channel, we produce A Bookish Moment, where we interview authors about their latest releases, their writing journeys, and the stories that inspire them. We also host The Bookish Hour, which brings authors together for lively panel discussions about books, publishing, and everything in between. Our mission has always been simple: celebrate books, connect readers with authors, and provide a welcoming space where the writing community can come together. It's something we're both incredibly passionate about, and we're proud of the community we've built over the years.

However, there's a side to producing It's Bookish Time that viewers rarely see. When someone tunes in to watch one of our interviews, they're seeing the finished product of hours of preparation, research, scheduling, technical troubleshooting, and creative work. Depending on how many shows we have scheduled, J.C. and I spend approximately four to six hours each week preparing for our broadcasts. That doesn't include the time we dedicate to maintaining our website, writing promotional copy, creating graphics, communicating with guests, managing our social media accounts, or handling the countless little administrative tasks that keep everything running. We do all of this because we genuinely love supporting our fellow authors, but that doesn't mean producing the show comes without a cost.

In fact, let me share a few numbers that might surprise you. Maintaining our website costs approximately $300 annually, while our domain registration adds another $15. Until recently, the email service we used to communicate with our subscribers cost an additional $160 each year. That's $475 in annual expenses before we even consider the software, equipment, and other resources involved in producing our broadcasts. Thankfully, we've been able to eliminate that email expense by moving our newsletter to Substack, which allows us to communicate with our audience for free. It's been a wonderful change, and if you're not already following It's Bookish Time on Substack, I hope you'll consider joining us there.

Of course, every small business has operating expenses, and I don't share these figures looking for sympathy. Rather, I want to illustrate something that I think often gets overlooked in today's digital world. When you watch a free interview, listen to a free podcast, read a free newsletter, or enjoy someone's social media content, there's a very good chance that the person creating it has invested considerable time and money to make it available to you. For independent creators, those expenses often come directly out of our own pockets. We aren't backed by large media companies with dedicated production teams, marketing departments, and technical support specialists. We're simply people who love what we do and are trying to share that passion with others.

This brings me to the humble YouTube subscription button, which has become one of the most important tools available to creators like us. When you subscribe to a YouTube channel, you're doing more than adding another name to your subscription list. You're helping that creator build an audience, demonstrate interest in their content, and work toward opportunities that can make their creative endeavors more sustainable. While YouTube's recommendation system considers many factors, including viewing habits and audience engagement, building a loyal subscriber base is an important part of growing a channel. Every new subscriber represents another person who has expressed an interest in what we're creating, and that support can help us reach more readers and authors.

For J.C. and me, our current goal is to reach 1,000 YouTube subscribers. That number is particularly meaningful because it's one of the major requirements for qualifying for YouTube's advertising revenue program, alongside specific watch-time or Shorts-view thresholds and other eligibility requirements. Reaching that milestone wouldn't suddenly turn It's Bookish Time into a profitable business, nor would it guarantee a substantial income. However, it would put us one step closer to potentially earning revenue from the content we already work so hard to produce. Even a modest amount of income could help offset our website expenses and allow us to invest more resources into improving the experience for our guests and viewers.

There's also the matter of technical support, which has been one of our greatest frustrations. Over the years, J.C. and I have encountered our fair share of technological challenges, some of which have been significant enough to disrupt our broadcasts. Without access to personalized assistance when problems arise, we've had to become our own troubleshooting department, spending hours researching solutions, experimenting with settings, and figuring out how to get things working again. Although reaching 1,000 subscribers doesn't automatically guarantee dedicated technical support, growing our channel and eventually qualifying for YouTube's Partner Program could open the door to additional creator resources. For two authors who would much rather spend their time writing and talking about books than deciphering technical error messages, that prospect is certainly appealing!

Subscribing is one of the easiest ways to make a tangible difference in someone's creative journey. You don't have to watch every video or read every newsletter to show your support. If you enjoy what a creator does, consider subscribing to their channel, following their newsletter, or sharing their work with someone who might appreciate it. If you have a little extra time, leave a comment, give a video a thumbs-up, or recommend the channel to a friend. Those small gestures help creators build communities, encourage engagement, and remind us that the work we're putting into the world is reaching people who value it.

And this certainly doesn't apply only to It's Bookish Time. Think about all the independent authors, book reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, artists, and other creators whose work brightens your day. Many of them are navigating the same challenges, trying to balance their passion for creating with the practical realities of keeping their projects afloat. If there's someone whose content you enjoy, take a moment to show them a little love. You might be surprised by how much that simple gesture means.

As for J.C. and me, we're going to keep doing what we do best: talking about books, celebrating authors, and bringing our wonderful reading community together. But if you'd like to help us reach that 1,000-subscriber milestone, we'd be incredibly grateful if you visited our YouTube channel and clicked that little Subscribe button. It won't cost you anything, and it just might help us turn the page toward an exciting new chapter for It's Bookish Time.

You can find us at https://www.youtube.com/@itsbookishtime.

Now, I'd love to hear from you! Do you subscribe to your favorite authors and content creators on YouTube or Substack? Did you realize how much those subscriptions can mean to the people behind the content?

Writer's Serendipity - Part II by Martha Reed

2026-10-17T05:30:00.000-04:00

Last month I posted a blog about the serendipity of spontaneously stopping by my childhood home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio to take a look – since I hadn’t seen it in fifty-five years. While I was there, one of those weird universal coincidences happened when I met Florenza Lee, the author currently living in the house who was smack in the middle of publishing her new book.

Two writers from the same exact location? Maybe there is something in that aquifer.

My curiosity was piqued. I needed to know more, and I thought you might too. Please welcome Podcaster/Publisher/Author Florenza Lee.

Welcome, Florenza. What a treat to host you on the Writers Who Kill blog.

Q: What was your reaction when Martha Reed unexpectedly showed up on your doorstep? (NB: Trust me, this happens. One of my nicknames is Bad Penny because you never know where I’ll turn up.)

A: My initial thought was, “Yep, I know how this movie is going to end!” And that was BEFORE I learned you were a writer—not just a writer, but a crime fiction writer extraordinaire. For your readers, it may come as quite a surprise, but things like this happen to Papa Bear and me all the time. We seem to be “Netflix movie storyline magnets.” Why should a mysterious, slow-moving vehicle with two absolute strangers possibly casing the house be any different from any given Tuesday?

Tell us about yourself:

Q: When did you decide to become an author, and why?

A: I don’t know that I ever decided to become an author as much as I finally stopped resisting becoming one. I had spent years writing in one form or another, but after retiring from a 31-year career as a federal civilian employee and Army spouse, the stories that had been patiently waiting for me suddenly had room to breathe.

Writing full time gave me permission to ask, “What if?”—and then follow wherever the answer led. What began with children’s books grew into stories for readers of different ages and genres, but the reason I write has remained the same: I believe stories have the power to entertain us, challenge us, connect us, and sometimes help us see ourselves a little differently.

Q: Do you have a preferred genre to write in, and if so, why?

A: I’m not sure I have a preferred genre as much as I have a preferred kind of story. I love stories that make readers feel something, question something, or see something from a perspective they may not have considered before. That can happen in a children’s book just as easily as it can in a psychological thriller, romantic suspense, or inspirational work.

Writing across genres also keeps me creatively curious. One day I can be solving a mystery with middle-grade characters, and the next I can be plotting something that would make you seriously reconsider trusting your neighbors. Apparently, my imagination does not believe in staying in its assigned lane—and I’ve stopped trying to make it.

Q: Does your life experience influence your creativity or help you develop your characters?

A: Absolutely. I’ve lived long enough to have collected a whole lot of stories—and even more characters. My life experiences are woven into nearly everything I write, although rarely exactly as they happened (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).

More often, I borrow the truth of an experience: an emotion, a conversation, a personality trait, a place I’ve lived, or something I’ve witnessed. Then I ask, “What if?” and let my imagination take over. Thirty-one years as an Army spouse also introduced me to people from different cultures, backgrounds, and walks of life, and those experiences expanded the way I see people and the world.

And if you knew my family... whew! Talk about a Netflix series happening in real time! There is no shortage of material around here.

So, are my characters based on real people? Not exactly. But if you know me and suddenly recognize a familiar quirk on the page... mind your business.

Q: What is your writing discipline or practice? Do you have a favorite place to write? Do you write every day?

A: I wish I could tell you I have some beautifully disciplined writing ritual involving a perfectly organized desk, a steaming cup of tea (wink-wink), and several uninterrupted hours of creative bliss. I do not.

I write when the story starts talking—and once it gets loud enough, everything else tends to become background noise. I don’t necessarily write fiction every day, but I do write every day. Between books, publishing, podcasting, speaking, and the million other things happening in my world, words are simply part of my daily life.

As for my favorite place to write, I can write almost anywhere. Give me my laptop and a story that won’t leave me alone, and I’m good. I’ve learned not to wait for the perfect setting, the perfect mood, or the perfect block of uninterrupted time. When the words come, I make room for them.

Q: Do you have a dream project you haven’t tackled yet? If so, what is it?

A: For a long time, one of my biggest dreams was to be traditionally published—and with McGill & Lee, I can officially say, I did that! Now, I think I’m living another dream project with Alchemize Your Story.

For years, I resisted writing a guided journal because I understood the responsibility that comes with asking people to revisit their stories. I never wanted to simply hand someone prompts, stir up emotions, and then leave them there.

Alchemize became the project I didn’t know I had been preparing my whole life to write. It brings together storytelling, reflection, the lessons I’ve gathered from my own experiences, and my belief that we can look at what has happened to us without allowing it to become the entirety of who we are.

So, for once, the dream projects aren’t sitting somewhere on my “one day” list. I actually did them. And there is something incredibly satisfying—and a little surreal—about being able to say that.

Q: Are you traditional, indie/self-published, or hybrid? Why did you decide to follow that path to publication?

A: Today, I’m proudly a hybrid author, but my journey began very intentionally as an indie publisher. On January 31, 2014, I started Words to Ponder Publishing Company, LLC because I wanted to take ownership of my words.

At the time, I didn’t fully understand the path to traditional publishing, but more importantly, I wasn’t comfortable turning my words over to a stranger. I felt deeply connected to what I had written. Those stories were mine, and I wanted to understand every part of what happened to them—from manuscript to finished book. So, I decided to learn the business and publish them myself.

And I am so glad I did it my way.

Since then, I’ve written and published 30 books, built my own publishing company, and learned an industry I once knew very little about from the inside out. Now, I’ve also had the experience of becoming traditionally published, which has given me the opportunity to see both paths from a completely different perspective.

And I can say with complete confidence: if I had to start all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Indie publishing didn’t become my path because I couldn’t find another way in. It became my path because I chose to take ownership of my words—and, ultimately, that choice helped prepare me for every opportunity that followed.

Q: When did you become a podcaster? What inspired or lead you in that creative direction? Or did podcasting come first?

A: On the Air with Florenza is actually my second podcast. My first introduced me to women who had survived some of the most horrific, traumatic, unimaginable experiences—and then, seemingly with their very next breath, made the decision not only to live, but to thrive.

Their stories of resilience inspired me beyond words. And I discovered something about myself as an interviewer: there was no story I wouldn’t shift, turn, or gently dig beneath to get to the why, the how, and the what. I wanted to understand what allowed someone to move from surviving something to deciding it would not define the rest of her life.

Although the listenership grew, the platform itself was small and eventually folded. I put podcasting on the back burner and turned my attention to writing and advocating for our Nation’s Veterans.

Then fellow author and good friend Tracy Blom interviewed me for her show, Books, Kids & Creations with Tracy Blom. That interview unexpectedly led to an invitation for me to sit on the other side of the microphone again.

It was not a quick yes.

At the time, my life was where insanity went to become insane. 😂 The last thing I thought I needed was another commitment. But after a few phone calls, emails, and texts, I finally said yes.

And let me tell you! In what feels like a ridiculously short, mind-bending amount of time, On the Air with Florenza has grown to nearly 300 episodes and counting.

What makes me proudest, though, isn’t the number. It’s what the show has become. On the Air with Florenza isn’t limited by genre, race, gender, religion, or the boxes we so often use to separate ourselves and our stories. I’ve had the privilege of sitting across from an extraordinary range of people and discovering what I learned during that very first podcast: there is always another layer to the story if you’re willing to ask the next question.

That’s what On the Air with Florenza has become—a place for “authentic conversations with a twist.” And somehow, all these years later, I’m still chasing the why, the how, and the what.

Q: What are the main differences between creating a podcast and developing a story?

A: For me, there really aren’t many differences. Listen to one episode of On the Air with Florenza, and you’ll quickly realize this isn’t your everyday, run-of-the-mill podcast. I develop a conversation much the same way I develop a story.

For starters, no one comes onto my show as a “guest.” They are my co-hosts because we share the platform equally. And somewhere along the way, the questions become characters themselves. They plop right down between the two of us and say, “Okay, let’s see where this takes us.”

My questions are often stories in themselves. They have context, curiosity, and sometimes a little mischief built into them. But I’m also listening—to the answer beneath the answer, the unexpected detail, the pause, or the breadcrumb that makes me abandon where I thought we were going and follow where the conversation wants to lead.

And here’s another important part of the experience: no one—and I mean absolutely NO ONE—receives the questions in advance. My co-hosts come into the experience blind. That’s intentional because it protects the authenticity of the conversation. I often warn authors, “Be warned: you can’t go on autopilot with me and blurt out your rehearsed, canned answers. No sirree, Bob. Get ready to stand ten toes down, chin up, with your whole chest, because this is a unique literary experience.”

And it is.

That’s also exactly what happens when I’m developing a story. I may begin knowing where I think we’re headed, but then a character reveals something, the story shifts, and suddenly we’re exploring something far more interesting than what I originally planned.

I’ve stopped counting how many times a co-host has paused and said, “Now, that’s a great question!” I never tire of hearing it because it tells me the question did more than ask for information—it opened a door.

So, the biggest difference may simply be the medium. When I write, the story unfolds on the page. When I podcast, the story unfolds between two people in real time. Either way, I’m listening closely, following the breadcrumbs, and trying to get to the story beneath the story.

Q: Does podcasting support your creative writing, and vice versa?

A: Absolutely. Hearing the journeys of other creatives inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing. I learn a little something from every co-host who sits across from me. At this rate, I’m pretty sure I’ve earned several MFAs.

I keep a notebook beside me during every show because tremendously talented creatives are constantly dropping nuggets I want to remember. Their experiences, lessons, mistakes, and wisdom inevitably find their way into how I think about my own creative work. For that, I am eternally grateful.

Q: How do you balance the time it takes between your writing and your podcast?

A: If you ask Papa Bear, he’d probably say I’m not balancing as much as teetering toward destruction. It’s hard. I won’t lie.

Podcasting takes far more time than the hour or so I spend behind the microphone. I record and edit every show myself, then divide each interview into Intermissions—bloopers, behind-the-scenes details, fun facts, and more—and the main show. More recently, I’ve started breaking both into mini-bites for TikTok and other platforms. Meanwhile, my characters are somewhere tapping their fictional little feet, waiting for me to get back to them.

For a while, I was downright reckless with my schedule. Monday through Friday, from 9:30 to 18:30, I made myself available to authors, publicists, editors, and others. Eventually, I had a mountain of unedited shows, unfinished writing, and absolutely no idea how I was going to dig myself out.

So, I stopped. I took several months away from podcasting, cleared the backlog, gathered my thoughts, and created a schedule that left room for both things I love.

I learned a valuable lesson: even good things can drown us when we don’t set boundaries. I had to put boundaries around something that genuinely gives me life so it wouldn’t take time away from another thing that gives me life—writing.

Do I have the balance perfected now? Ask Papa Bear. But these days, my characters, husband, family, and friends gripe a lot less and laugh a lot more.

Q: Do you have a dream podcast special guest?

A: When I first started, I absolutely had a list of people I thought would signify that I had “arrived” as a podcaster. Somewhere along the way, though, I realized something: every author who sits across from me is my dream co-host.

I’m incredibly fortunate that people who write stories trust their stories with me—even if it’s only for 45 minutes or so. I know how insanely chaotic my own days can be. Just carving out 15 minutes to eat can require an act of Congress, a meeting with the archangels, and an emergency session with the trinity: me, myself, and I.

So, when I receive a request from a publicist or an author asking to join me as a co-host, my soul still does a little happy dance. I never want to become so accustomed to those invitations that I forget what they mean: someone is trusting me with their time, their work, and a little piece of themselves.

It’s like being the shy girl holding up the wallpaper at the high school dance, watching the hottest guy in school walk through the door—and realizing he has eyes only for me.

Yeah. After nearly 300 shows, it still feels like that.

Q: Which social media do you use? How do you connect with readers? Any tips?

A: Okay, this is where I show my age. Most people find this very hard to believe, but I am a Baby Boomer! Yep. Born in 1964, the final year of the generation.

Although I consider myself semi-fluent in social media, I’m still learning as I go. I’ve mastered Facebook, Instagram, Threads—though I don’t use it as much as the others—X, which I still insist on calling Twitter, and LinkedIn.

TikTok, however, is the monster under my bed.

I know I should utilize it more. Like, a lot more. Especially since I write short stories that could probably get the juices flowing for TikTok users. I’m just a little slow getting to the parade. I promise I’ll make it there before the music stops and they start sweeping the ticker tape from the concrete.

As for connecting with readers, my biggest tip is simple: be a person before you become a promotion. I talk with people. I answer comments. I share pieces of my life, my writing process, my ridiculousness, and the things that matter to me. I don’t want every interaction to end with “buy my book.”

Readers can tell when you’re genuinely interested in connecting with them. So, whatever platform you choose, show up as yourself. Even if, like me, you’re occasionally showing up while still trying to figure out which button does what.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to cover?

A: I’ve typed so much, my fingers are thirsty. I think I’ve truly said all I need—or probably should—be saying at this point.

This has been an absolute delight, and as my co-hosts so often say to me, “That was a great question!”

Thank you for taking the time to chat with me about my life, my writing, my podcasting, and all the wonderfully chaotic spaces in between. I hope we’ll continue the conversation beyond these pages.

Until then, cheers—and keep pondering!

Florenza, thank you for sharing these insights into your creative life. It’s been a joy meeting you. I wish you all the best in your endeavors. I’m delighted to think that your positive energy is busy at work in my childhood home. I have many happy memories of when I lived there, and I hope you will too. Write on!

Florenza Lee is an award-winning author, publisher, narrative coach, speaker, and host of On the Air with Florenza, where she shares “authentic conversations with a twist.” Founder of Words to Ponder Publishing Company, LLC, she has written and published 30 books across multiple genres, including romantic suspense and psychological thrillers under the pen name Aiken Ponder, and is also traditionally published. Whether behind the microphone, standing on a stage, or putting words on a page, Florenza believes in the power of story to entertain, connect, challenge, and transform. Her favorite invitation remains simple: Listen. Read. Ponder.

On the Air with Florenza podcasts are available on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNiINfX_iapz2f-RY9UfTbPXRRVf4izC9

Social media links:

Florenza Lee IG Page https://www.instagram.com/florenza_denise_lee/

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Florenza-Denise-Lee/e/B07RBF8G95

Florenza Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Florenza.Denise.Lee/

Florenza’s Website: https://www.florenza.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/florenza-lee-7076418a

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Florenza_Lee

Non-Sequitur? by Nancy L. Eady

2026-10-16T01:00:00.000-04:00

The local junior college is only a mile or two from my house, and I often drive by it. It has a well-manicured campus, with walking trails and lush green lawns, and a mid-sized pond tucked towards the back, at the bottom of a hill, a few yards away from a thick copse of pine trees. My favorite part of the pond is the small flock of grey, white and black geese, and the one ugly duck that hangs with them.

"My" geese look like this:

Their ugly duck friend looks similar to this picture.

I don’t like white geese very much. The wild geese I see around ponds tend to leave people alone, but white geese can be vicious. Growing up, my family lived in Taiwan for a couple of years. To get to the adjoining neighborhood where some of my friends lived, I had to cut through a little village, made of huts, guarded by geese. I was only in fourth grade. They scared me to death, hissing and chasing me. In what I will always remember as a genuine act of kindness, an older woman who lived in the village stopped me one day and handed me a stick. Even though we didn’t speak each other’s language, she was able to show me how to use the stick to ward off the geese. I still was terrified of them.

But “my” local geese calmly trek from the copse of trees to the pond and back without bothering anyone. When the weather is bad—wet or terribly hot—they are hunkered down in their nests out of sight. When the weather is fair, you can find them hanging around or in the pond. Not only are “my” geese friendly; they are also picturesque.

I tried to imagine what they might talk about around their geese campfires in the woods when the weather keeps them out of the pond. Maybe they tell stories about their ancestors, who would fly thousands of miles from somewhere up North to somewhere in the far South, until one brave ancestor finally said, “Enough! The land here is gracious, the weather relatively mild, and I’m sick of flying all the time.” And then perhaps they share stories about the other brave ancestors who carved out a place for them in their home pond and the copse of woods.

While I’m not sure how the geese view stories, story-telling is an important part of being human. Our minds frame most of what we do as a story. Stories are how we explain to others who we are and how we see things. The problem with the stories we tell about ourselves is that they are told from only one point of view—the individual’s. Sitting in a crowded restaurant on a Friday night having dinner with my husband, I will have one story about the evening, while my husband will have a different one.

And that’s why what we do as writers is so important. When we spin our tales, we aren’t telling the story from our point of view. We get inside other people’s heads and show our readers what it’s like to be our main character for a little while, to experience their sorrows and joys and points of view. Whether our work is a gritty detective crime story from 1950s LA or a cozy mystery set on the Georgia coast, it gives the reader a little taste of what it might be like to be someone else, for just a little while, broadening their horizons.

Do you have a favorite character in your writing repertoire whose stories you enjoy sharing with others?

Flattery and Then Some by Marilyn Levinson

2026-10-15T02:00:00.000-04:00

I am the most awesome, fabulous writer! I must be, judging by the many emails I receive telling me how great I am. Recently, books of mine have been called "compelling," "mesmerizing," "transforming," with "memorable characters" and "deep understanding of the human condition." What's more, I've received two movie possibilities, offers to improve my book sales, and invitations to several book clubs.

I am in high demand, as are my fellow authors, if one were to believe these scams. Often we receive the same emails with the same misspelled words; or an email addressing us by the wrong name, mentioning the wrong book title, or some other giveaway. The email sender may claim to simply want to talk about a book. The mention of money rarely appears in the first correspondence, though it's certain to rear its head in the second or third email. And nothing it promises is real.

We know better than to respond to these glowing descriptions of our books from supposed publicists, publishing-related people, and book club leaders, but they are are sooo enticing. They go on and on how we make readers feel and understand universal themes in a personal and poignant manner and presented in beautifully written prose. The highest form of flattery any novelist could ask for.

Some years ago before this recent flurry of scams, I received a glowing email from a famous "filmmaker" who wanted to make a movie based on one of my books. The email looked totally authentic. It included phone numbers and emails. Excited, I sent it to my agent, and she thought it was legit. Until she checked further and it turned out to be phony.

Do these scammers think we make tons of money? I imagine, like the robo call most of us ignore, there are enough people falling for their spiels or they wouldn't be doing it. Which is why it's so important for us writers to be in constant communication with each other--through writers' groups and social media-- to avoid falling for the latest ruse.

Have you ever fallen or been tempted by a scam?

Nowhere near fifty ways to kill your lover

2026-10-14T02:00:00.000-04:00

by Maggie Toussaint

I came to mystery writing—and killing on paper—via the romantic suspense genre. It had all the hallmarks of a mystery and an engaging romantic plot. After writing a half-dozen of the stories, I had an epiphany. Why didn’t I nix the hard-to-write part and focus only on what I loved, the mystery angle?

This revelation seemed to be a stroke of genius: skip the hassle of writing romantic scenes, stick with the story that naturally flowed out of me. Sure, it solved the need to wrangle intimate scenes. But, I interpreted the subliminal message as it was okay to shy away from the areas of writing that were challenging, though there are many complexities in crafting a murder mystery.

For instance, some writers stick with the same means of death for all their books. One author told me she always conks her victims over the head to kill them. Upon hearing that, I realized that I mostly killed my fictional victims with bullets. Not out of redundancy, more so because I was familiar with this topic after attending Writer’s Police Academy, doing police ride-alongs, going to firing ranges to shoot, and all the cop-and-robber shows I watched.

In other words, I was doing the easy thing, repeatedly. Not wanting to bore myself or my readers, I immediately expanded my repertoire of “killing,” to being pushed down a flight of stairs, slain by an arrow, stabbed by a knife, poisoned by oleanders, sleeping pill overdose, and in a similar vein, killed by overdose of heart meds, and death by hit-and-run. Once I had two characters die of exsanguination (blood was drained), and a few characters have been murdered by drowning.

However, murder isn’t a casual conversation topic you can strike up anytime, anywhere. When writers get excited about their craft, voices may rise and arms may animate. If authors in a restaurant have a murder discussion, others might move away, not understanding that there is no real danger…unless they made a scene nearby that resonated with an author. Then, they’d likely be swarmed and questioned about their means, motive, and opportunity, or on a deeper level, how they’d describe their emotional intensity.

After all, writers are by their very nature curious. They want to know why things happen as much as the other w’s (where, when, what).

Speaking of settings for murder stories, some writers kill their characters in their hometowns or in exotic locations. After all, writers aim to portray authentic settings. As a native Georgian, I use coastal Georgia as my setting, with the exception of the one series I set in Maryland.

A frequent question writers hear is “where do you get your ideas?” Some writers make it up. Others are inspired by nearby incidents or “ripped from the headlines” tragedies. My inspiration comes from everywhere. If I don’t home in on a compelling story in a newspaper, inspiration might come from an overheard conversation, dreams, or from applying the improv question of “what if?”

My newest release was inspired by a domino effect of natural deaths in a given family. What if, I wondered, I based the origin of a series on someone overwhelmed by grief? What if I mixed things up and used a male protagonist? What if the guy had a very plain name, and yet he was quite extraordinary? Each of those questions spurred lightbulb moments, and I was off to the races, so to speak.

I’ve found that if I ask the right questions, the story comes together like the tail end of a solitaire game on your phone, with all the cards automatically flying where they’re supposed to be. For my amateur sleuth in my latest release, Mancini Blue, his call to action happens when he’s convinced the cops and medical examiner got the means of his late wife’s death wrong.

Of course his “call” is delayed due to profound grief. With an Irish heritage and his absolute certainty that his late wife didn’t commit suicide, he lands in a spot or two of trouble. But he gets sorted out, makes a fresh start, and revisits the issue with fresh eyes, and that’s where this first Art Studio Mystery begins.

Circling back, there are more than fifty ways to kill a murder mystery victim. I may not explore all of them (on paper!) in my work, but I enjoy the challenge of hiding the killer in plain sight, of pushing my limits with every single book.

What draws you to mystery books? I’d love to hear from you.

Author bio: Award-winning Southern author Maggie Toussaint writes cozy and paranormal mysteries under her name and a pen name of Valona Jones, romantic suspense, and dystopian fiction under the pen name of Rigel Carson, with thirty-one novels published. Her recent release, Mancini Blue, is the first in An Art Studio Mystery series. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America-Southeast chapter and Sisters In Crime-Guppy chapter. She lives in coastal Georgia, where secrets, heritage, and ancient oaks cast long shadows. Visit her at https://maggietoussaint.com/

19th Century Literacy and Popular Fiction by KM Rockwood

2026-10-13T00:04:17.906-04:00

In the 1800’s, an interesting idea took hold in England and Wales. Perhaps the entire population, not just a select few, should know how to read.

Schools were established, and by 1880, school was compulsory, generally for children ages 5 through 10.

By 1891 publicly supported schools provided a free education.

Despite a compulsory education being available to all children, some managed to emerge into adulthood without learning to read. That unfortunate phenomenon continues today.

But the vast majority of the population in 19th century England and Wales could read. The idea spread to the United States, and by the end of the 19th century, the literacy rate there approached 90%, despite differing standards for education in the various states.

The demand for popular leisure reading material exploded.

In fact, the 1800s saw an enormous expansion of inexpensive printed literature for ordinary working people.

Much of the most popular reading material was sold not as complete books, but as inexpensive pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, and stories published in installments. The form depended considerably on the period and the intended audience.

Penny Dreadfuls were particularly popular from the 1830s onward. These were inexpensive illustrated stories, often sold in weekly installments for a penny. They featured crime, adventure, horror, and sensational mysteries. Young working-class readers were an important audience.

Many famous Victorian novels appeared in monthly or weekly parts before publication as complete books. Charles Dickens published The Pickwick Papers in monthly installments beginning in 1836. Readers could buy one part at a time rather than paying for an entire book.

Newspapers, weekly magazines, and illustrated periodicals became enormously popular. They offered news, fiction, humor, political commentary, and serialized novels. One, The People’s Friend, was first published on January 13,1869 and continues today. Newspaper readership grew particularly rapidly after reductions in printing and newspaper taxes during the 1850s and 1860s.

Chapbooks and pamphlets were small, inexpensive publications, often just a few pages or a few dozen pages long. They contained folk tales, ballads, religious instruction, jokes, sensational crimes, and adventure stories. Chapbooks were particularly important in the early 1800s.

By the middle and late 1800s, cheap editions of novels became increasingly available. The colorful paper-covered boards of yellowback novels were familiar at railway bookstalls. These books, identifiable by their garish yellow covers, were published largely by George Routledge in the Routledge’s Railway Library series, which issued 1,277 titles over 50 years. Public libraries and commercial lending libraries also made books available to readers who could not afford to buy them.

A novel might have three distinct publishing lives. It first appeared in weekly or monthly installments. It was then published as a complete bound book. Eventually, it appeared in a cheaper edition intended for a much wider audience.

This meant that a story could reach readers across different income levels over several years.

By the late Victorian period, magazines and newspapers probably reached more readers regularly than separately purchased novels. Reading was increasingly an inexpensive, habitual activity rather than an occasional luxury.

Other forms of easily available entertainment are popular today, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average American watches TV/video for 2.6 hours a day while devoting only 16 minutes to reading. That includes all types of reading, including reading for information, instructions, leisure reading, and back-of-the-cereal-box type reading.

We are a literate society now, but how we access information and entertainment is changing.

Hooked on Urban Legends – and Murder!

2026-10-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

By Donna Andrews

When Barb Goffman, Marcia Talley, and I came up with the concept for Hooked on Urban Legends--and Murder!, one of my writer friends said, “I guess you already had an idea to fit the theme, right?”

Well, no. I just thought it was a cool theme. And I also knew that I work well with a story prompt. Put me in front of the computer and tell me to write a short story about anything in the world . . . my wheels just spin. But give me a prompt, and I can run with it.

And the idea came to me when I was explaining the concept to the writer friend. I explained that she could make up her own urban legend or use any existing one she liked. In fact, I probably said something rather like what I said in my own story:

The drunken high school boy picking up a beautiful pale hitchhiker who insists that he drop her off at the cemetery after giving him her phone number--a phone number that he will call the next day, only to reach the grieving mother of a girl who’d been killed in a car crash ten years ago that very night. The beautiful lady in a trailing white gown who coaxes small children to follow her into the cemetery--children who will be found the next morning lying across a particular grave, drained of all their blood. The enormous black dog who comes out of the woods every evening to sleep across his dead master’s grave.

Then that last idea seized my imagination. And I sat down and wrote “In the Cemetery” almost in one sitting. And I shared it with Barb, who gave me an idea to improve the ending. It’s not a funny story--that’s one great thing about writing short stories in addition to novels. I don’t get tired of writing a humorous mystery series, but sometimes I like to prove I can do other things, too.

And I was pleased with my story and submitted it to the judges. Because even though Marcia, Barb, and I are the editors, we have to earn our places in each anthology through the same blind submission process as everyone else. This time around, Austin Camacho, Michael Thomas Ford, and Julie Hyzy took on the task of judging. I kept my fingers crossed that they liked my story, and I thought I’d finished the assignment.

Then another story came to me. Another story that riffed on the same urban legend as “In the Cemetery.” Only this one was funny. At least I hoped it was--you never know till it hits a reader.

So I submitted “The Grim,” too. We don’t allow even the most prolific writer to have more than one story in a single anthology, so I figured if the judges liked both, the higher rated one would be in the anthology and I’d figure out someplace else to submit the other one to.

“In the Cemetery” won out for the anthology. But before I started figuring out where to send “The Grim,” Barb mentioned that she was looking for Halloween-themed stories for Black Cat Weekly, and would I like to submit “The Grim.”

You bet I would.

So “The Grim” appeared in Black Cat weekly #165 in the fall of 2025, and “In the Cemetery” appears in Hooked on Urban Legends--and Murder.

And you never know--one of these days I may feel inspired to write a third story about a cemetery grim. It’s a cool urban legend.

What exactly is a cemetery grim, you ask?

You’ll have to read the stories.

Writers with stories in Hooked on Urban Legends--and Murder!

Donna Andrews

Ellen Byerrum

Ginny Fite

Barb Goffman

Shari Held

Kathryn Holland

Smita Harish Jain

Meghan Lewis

Jane Limprecht

Alan Orloff

Pat Remick

K.M. Rockwood

Daphne Silver

Shannon Taft

Marcia Talley

Robin Templeton

Joseph S. Walker

Does your town have an urban legend?

DONNA ANDREWS has won the Agatha, Anthony, and Barry Awards, an RT Book Reviews Award for best first novel, and four Lefty and two Toby Bromberg Awards for funniest mystery. Mystery Writers of America named her a Grand Master in 2026. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Novelists, Inc. Andrews lives in Reston, Virginia. She has written over 30 books in the Meg Langslow mystery series.

INTRODUCING DEBUT COZY MYSTERY AUTHOR TANZY KOHL

2026-10-11T00:05:00.000-04:00

by Korina Moss

I'm giving over my spot today to Tanzy Kohl, a debut cozy mystery author whose first book in her Wigmaker Mystery series, Lethal Lacefront, recently launched. Here she is, in her own words, to tell you what she's learned as a new writer to the cozy mystery genre.

THE ART OF THE SLAY

Did you know that creating a custom wig requires lots of pre-planning? My amateur sleuth, Dee Alexander, will tell you: the dirt is in the details. And when I say “dirt” I mean the hard part that gets your hands dirty so to speak: exact head measurements from the client, their face shape, and the texture of their own hair are crucial details needed to fashion the perfect wig. It’s the same when trying to fashion the perfect cozy mystery. Planting the crime is just the beginning. Skillfully walking the reader through the story, and providing a satisfying ending, is what keeps them coming back.

As a wigmaker and YouTube wig reviewer, I wanted to make The Wigmaker Mysteries a place where readers could immerse themselves not only in solving the crime, but also in exploring a new world: the world of wigs.

SLAY, SNOOP, REPEAT

In Lethal Lace Front, book one of the series, I wanted to ensure that Dee and her best friend, Ruby Jackson, had an unbreakable bond, even when they disagree (and they do...a lot). Especially when it comes to investigating how the victim was killed and why. But I also wanted to weave in the day-to-day world of wig reviewing, so as Dee ticks off the suspects, she also relies on her wig community to assist her. And in between snooping, she shows the reader step-by-step tips on how to “slay” their wig to perfection. I wanted to include those moments to allow the reader to learn about a craft about which they may be unfamiliar. Since I love wigs, and know many others who do, creating a wig mystery was a no-brainer.

UNTANGLING THE MYSTERY

One of my greatest challenges as a writer who normally crafts historical fiction tales, transitioning to cozy felt as difficult as plucking a lace front that has no lace. Practically impossible! But thanks to several cozy mystery experts, including my developmental editor, Cheese Shop Mystery series author Korina Moss, I gradually got the hang of it and was able to bring Dee, Ruby, and the other cast of characters to life.

I had to learn all the expected aspects of a cozy, when to release details and when to hold back. How to plant clues and red herrings, and how to tie it all up nicely, like the purple boxes Dee uses to package all her wigs. By book two, I had gotten the hang of it, and when book three releases, I hope to have it down like a good melt.

KEEPING IT ALL SEAMLESS

As I learn more and more about Dee’s world and the people in it, I want to spin a believable, interesting and humorous yarn from book-to-book, exploring new ways to involve wig making and wig reviewing, while also managing the growth of each character. I love how Dee’s citified attitude clashes with Ruby’s Southern-fried sensibilities. I love how Dee navigates her relationship with the retired Charlotte detective, Godfrey Nash. I also love how Dee carefully balances her motherly instincts with her desire to stay close to her daughter Pria, who’s soon to leave the nest. All these things must be sewn together in a way that keeps the readers’ interest and tells a good mystery at the same time.

Writers: What do you think? Is it hard for you to maintain a reasonable co-existence between the mystery and the sleuth’s craft? Readers: What do you like most: the crime or the craft elements? Tell me about it in the comments!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tanzy Kohl loves to create daring, fun, and interesting fiction. Her first novel, Farley Malone & The Fudged Fables, is her contribution to middle-grade fantasy featuring African American characters. Her adult novel, In 5, 4, 3..., is a psychological thriller that is fast paced with short chapters and multiple POVs.

Her latest cozy series, The Wigmaker Mysteries, follows an amateur sleuth wigmaker and wig reviewer who leaves DC for small town North Carolina to start life over after abandoning TV news and a failed marriage.

Book one, Lethal Lace Front, is available in e-book and large print paperback edition on Amazon. Get the traditional paperback at www.tanzykohl.com, along with a free wig glossary and signed bookplate.

Instagram: @tanzykohl @mymaturestyle (real wig reviews)

For the Love of Sherlock Holmes: Doyle’s Sleuth Reincarnated on the Small Screen (Part 2)

2026-10-10T04:00:00.000-04:00

By Lisa Malice

If you’re like me, you learned to love mysteries from your parents. My first exposure came about when my family outgrew our Sunday night viewing of The Wonderful World of Disney and replaced it with The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie (1971-1977). With different sleuths rotated through the weekly series lineup, my family religiously followed Columbo, McCloud, and MacMillan & Wife catch the bad guys, though my favorite was—and still is—The Snoop Sisters, starring the incomparable Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick as two gray-haired mystery-writing busybody sisters who use their sleuthing skills to help their police detective nephew (Bert Convy) solve real-life murders. Sunday nights during the summer were spent driving home from the family cabin listening to The CBS Radio Mystery Theater. The radio plays, broadcast 1974-1982, were engaging, suspenseful, well-acted, capturing our attention and imagination of the scenes, characters, actions, murders, and motives. (You can access these wonderful radio shows via www.CBSRMT.com.)

These shows captivated my young mind, prompting me to start reading mysteries, ones I pulled off my mother's vast shelves of books. She read the masters of British Mystery--Agatha Christie, P.D. James, Ngaio Marsh, and others, and I followed suit. But as my high school studies focused more on science and math, I found myself under the spell of Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic deerstalker-capped sleuth fascinated me with his vast wealth of knowledge, mastery of logic, and keen abilities of observation and deduction to identify a murderer, his or her motive, weapon of choice, and how the deed was done. I used my paper route earnings to buy my own copy of The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes: 37 Short Stories and a complete novel from The Strand Magazine” by Arthur Conan Doyle (1976), complete with all 356 original illustrations. With more than 600 pages, the book kept me reading night after night when I was supposed to be asleep. I still have the thick tome in my personal library.

Nowadays, I always have a good crime story on my nightstand, but my days also start out with a daily dose of mystery at the gym, eyes glued to my tablet as I watch an episode of my latest (rarely current) tour of murder while sweating away on the elliptical machine. Just the suspense is often enough to keep my heart-rate elevated. My brain cells get a work-out, too, matching wits with fictional detectives which wield powers of observation and deduction to rival that of Holmes. Apart from obvious portrayals of Doyle’s iconic characters, such Elementary (starring Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock and Lucy Lui as Dr. Joan Watson), TV producers and screenwriters have filled the broadcast spectrum with a variety of Sherlockian adaptations. Each sleuth has a unique backstory, personality quirks, and entourages that round out the series bible.

Two current shows are keeping me entertained right now. ABC’s Elsbeth, which is now in its fourth season, stars Carrie Preston as a Sherlockian attorney, a court-ordered observer of NYPD Homicide, who draws on her singular point of view to make unique observations the detectives often overlook. Her astute deductive abilities allow Elsbeth to ID the real villain fairly quickly (rather than the suspect that the cops like for the crime). Like the series drew me into mysteries and made Peter Falk a household name, Columbo, Elsbeth, is an inverted detective show—a howtocatch’em vs. a whodunit—and a joy to watch.

I’ve just discovered Best Medicine, which follows the adventures of a Dr. Martin Best, a big city surgeon who signs on as the town doctor for a picturesque lobster-harvesting village in Port Wenn, Maine. Wait! You say. That’s not a crime show. Well, no it’s not, but every week Dr. Martin Best has a medical mystery to solve that invariably requires a good bit of sleuthing to save one or more of the town’s characters from all manner of diseases, illnesses, and strange conditions (one character claimed his blue skin stemmed from all the blueberries he ate). Doc Best’s keen observational skills, probing questions, and encyclopedic knowledge of medicine put him on par with Sherlock Holmes to close cases. The doc’s gruff bedside manner is often at odds with those of the residents of Port Wenn, a delightful cast of characters. A little romance is also in the air.

Do you have a favorite TV version of Sherlock Holmes? Tell us about the show!

2026-10-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

Making the Most of Your In-person Events

by Heather Weidner

Through the years, I have done tons of book signings, panels, and workshops. I often hear writers grumble if they don’t have amazing sales. These are a few common denominators that I’ve noticed about authors and successful events.

The Presentation:

Always bring a tablecloth and make sure it’s not wrinkled. Many times, the hosts don’t provide table coverings. (Google “stretchy tablecloths.” These are amazing, and you never have to iron them.)
If you make signs or handouts, make them attractive and readable.
Always give out something. Everyone I talk to gets a bookmark. You never know who will buy an audiobook or an ebook later.
I stopped giving out candy when I had some melt in the summer. I have little trinkets for kids (and adults) that relate to my books. Lately, I’ve been giving away sparkly “Pearly Girl” bracelets, mermaid pens, and plastic marine animals for the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries. Kids tell everyone where they got cool swag.
Make your table attractive and inviting. Don’t clutter it with stuff. And don’t pile things so high, guests can’t get close to talk to you. Be careful with tall bookstands that block readers from seeing you.
Don’t stack hundreds of books on your table. That gives people the idea that there are lots and no one is buying them. Put only a few out and create the illusion of “get ‘em before they’re gone.”
Even if there is a bookseller providing books, make sure that you bring a box with you. I have been to several events where the book order was delayed, and I’ve also been to some where the books sold out. It’s good to be prepared.
Take a look at your display from the front after you set up and make sure it looks the way you want it to.

Your Look:

Dress for the event. Some authors have props or a hat. They attract attention. If that’s not your style, then look professional and dress as comfortably as you can.
Wear colors that stand out. You want to be seen in the pictures, and bright colors draw people’s attention.
Stand up if you can. You look more approachable.
Smile and greet people.
Even if people are just walking by, ask what they like to read or what their favorite type of book is.
Do not sit and scroll on your phone. You look bored and boring. People will walk right by.
Look like you’re having fun. Talk with your tablemates. Take pictures with friends. Take pictures with people who buy books. Energy is contagious. People like to see what’s going on, and they don’t want to miss something. They tend to gravitate to tables that look interesting and fun.
Have your quick tag line ready and be able to tell them about your books in a succinct way. No boring dissertations.
It is hard to start conversations with strangers, and it feels weird to talk about yourself so much. If you’re introverted or shy, you need to psych yourself up. Smile, look people in the eye, and talk to them. Not everyone is going to buy a book. But you’ll be surprised at the people you’ll meet. I have recruited a lot of mystery lovers to our Sisters in Crime chapter from these conversations, I’ve found collaboration opportunities, and I’ve gained a bunch of newsletter subscribers.
Caffeine and candy are good for quick energy boosts to keep you going.
Be willing to answer questions. People want to know about you, your writing, and your path to publication. And sometimes, you’ll get some questions that you don’t want to answer, and that’s fine. If that happens, be a good politician and steer toward an answer that you do want to give.
And don’t forget to invite them to sign up for your newsletter list.

Before and After the Event:

Before the event, make sure you have all of the contacts and logistics information.
Make sure you share the event on your website, newsletter, and social media sites. If you have followers in the area, they may stop in to see you.
After the event, make sure to post pictures of all the fun you had. The group pictures are great for this. People love to see who was there. Tag everyone you can on social media.
Make sure to thank the sponsor/coordinator. Their teams work hard to put on these events.

What would you add to my list?

Heather Weidner writes cozy crime fiction for readers who want justice with a sprinkle of fun and a southern accent.

Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.
Her short stories appear in a variety of anthologies, and she has non-fiction pieces in Promophobia and The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers’ Cookbook.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a crazy Mini Aussie Shepherd.

BIG LITTLE TRUTHS by Liane Moriarty

2026-10-08T02:00:00.000-04:00

By Margaret S. Hamilton

“Mary-Louise leaned forward and poked Bonnie in the center of her chest, just beneath her collarbone, the same way she’d poked Celeste in the shoulder earlier that night. Her tone was like hard candy: sweet and brittle. ‘Murdered anyone lately, Bonnie?’” (p.73)

Remember Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, published to popular acclaim in 2014 and followed by the dark comedy HBO series? The five women characters have returned in a sequel, Big Little Truths. It’s the best book I’ve read in 2026.

Set in a small town near Sydney, Australia, Moriarty’s two books combine a traumatizing incident with the often hilarious actions of the five women. In the sequel set ten years after the first book, Madeline faces a cancer scare and upcoming marriage of her older daughter. Widowed Celeste works remotely for a legal publisher and picks up the new guy in town. With her husband in prison for financial crimes, Renata starts her new life taking motorcycle lessons. Jane is married and pondering another pregnancy. Bonnie discovers that yoga will not solve all of life’s problems. An additional character, Mary-Louise, Celeste’s annoying mother-in-law, continues to meddle in Celeste’s life.

The kindergarten children in the first book are now fifteen and enrolled in the local high school. A new, charismatic history teacher, Melody Montclair, joins the faculty. The new principal receives a dead man’s severed finger in the mail.

As in Where’d You Go Bernadette? or Up the Down Staircase, the narrative is enhanced by frequent postings from the principal and the school parents’ Whatsapp site. The transcript of a group therapy session for the kids runs through the book, providing perspective on their joint history project and daily interactions with each other.

Josh and Max are Celeste’s twin surfing sons. Ziggy is their half-brother. Amabella is Renata’s talented and gifted daughter. Chloe is Madeleine’s younger daughter and Skye is Bonnie’s daughter and Chloe’s half-sister.

And we’re off to the races: in addition to all the personal drama the five women are facing as they turn fifty, a middle-aged man driving a green Volvo lurks around town, asking questions about the new history teacher. While researching Ms. Montclair’s past, the kids discover a high school student trafficking situation, which they reveal in a short documentary video. Almost as an afterthought, the source of the severed finger is revealed.

As a veteran parent of three teenagers, I found the transcript of the kid’s comments hilarious, much more interesting than the petty and more serious problems of their parents. The transcript drives the plot and the teens solve the mystery. The parents realize they owe their kids complete explanations about past events, the “big little truths.”

Moriarty’s descriptions are sheer perfection, and she has the uncanny ability to elevate mundane domestic details—Madeline getting her hair styled—into an accurate portrayal of the character.

Readers and Writers, do you enjoy a blend of tension and dark comedy?

Margaret S. Hamilton writes the Jericho Mystery series.

Home - The Official Website of Margaret S. Hamilton

With Special Thanks to Jane Cleland

2026-10-07T02:00:00.000-04:00

by Lynn Slaughter

Several years ago, I took a wonderful workshop from Jane Cleland. She asked us writers to write a sentence or two about what our novels were about. Since most of us were mystery and/or suspense writers, our descriptions usually had to do with a suspicious death, perhaps someone being threatened, and an investigation. I don’t recall what novel I was working on at the time, but I have been thinking a lot about this question in relation to my novel, It Should Have Been You. So, what’s it about? Here’s my two-sentence description: “In the wake of her piano prodigy twin’s murder, seventeen-year-old Clara begins receiving threatening emails, the first of which says, ‘It Should Have Been You…but soon.’ Convinced that her email stalker blames her for her sister’s death, she launches her own investigation.”

After we’d written our descriptions like this one about our novels, Jane asked us a follow-up question: “Yes, but what is your novel really about?” In asking this question, she was encouraging us to dig deeper into the underlying themes and issues addressed by our work.

So, what is It Should Have Been You really about? It’s about the impact on a young woman’s sense of self when she grows up in a family whose dynamics were unhealthy long before being overwhelmed by grief over the loss of a child. Clara’s twin Moura was the undisputed star in her musician parents’ universe, and Clara was more or less an afterthought in their lives. Even Moura discounted Clara and was unfriendly toward her twin. Following Moura’s murder, their devastated mother cannot even stand to look at Clara because she reminds her too much of the daughter she lost.

Beyond the threats to her life and her own survivor’s guilt, these are heavy burdens for Clara to bear. Ultimately, she not only uncovers the identity of her sister’s murderer and that of her stalker, but she finds hope and acceptance in an intentional community of friends and trusted adults outside her immediate family.

I confess that family issues have long been a preoccupation of mine, stemming from my own experiences, the experiences my students have shared with me, and my graduate studies in sociology. The impact of family dynamics hasn’t just shown up in my young adult novels but in my adult novels as well. In Missed Cue, for example, homicide detective Caitlin O’Connor keeps getting involved with married men, even though she knows it’s wrong. Once in therapy, she finally figures out that she’s internalized the messages of the police chief father she idolized. The successful career women he admired avoided marriage and family, he told her repeatedly. By limiting her relationships to those with married men, she has managed to avoid the commitments her dad warned her against. Recognition of the powerful impact of her dad’s dictums ultimately helps her break the pattern in her personal life.

Looking back, I’m so glad I took Jane’s workshop. She made me really think about what matters to me personally and what matters to my characters. Moreover, I strongly believe that digging deeper into the themes and topics of our novels strengthens our work and helps us grow as writers.

BIO

Lynn Slaughter is addicted to the arts, chocolate, and her husband’s cooking. After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, she returned to school to earn her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Her young adult and adult novels have received numerous accolades, including an Imadjinn Award, Silver Falchion Award, two Agatha nominations, and a Moonbeam Silver Medal. This has been an exciting year for Lynn. Death in the End Zone, a sequel to Missed Cue, was released in May, as was her debut middle grade novel, The Big Switch: Varney and Cedric. In September, her young adult novel, It Should Have been You, was re-released by White City Press.

Lynn loves hearing from readers and can be reached on her website at:

https://lynnslaughter.com

Dealing with Competing Objectives

2026-10-06T01:00:00.000-04:00

By James M. Jackson

Both the Story Structure class I teach, and the Revision and Self-Editing class have lessons on constructing scenes that work. Some ideas I try to impart are that

1. Every character in the scene has a goal (or goals) they are pursuing.

2. Some of those goals are in conflict.

3. If there is no conflict, there is no scene.

What happens if there is only one character in the scene? Two things are possible.

Most often, the character is trying to overcome obstacles left in her path by other characters who aren’t in the scene. For example, our Lead is preparing to leave the house, but before doing that, always follows a ritual of tapping for good luck and safe travels the St. Christopher medal nailed to the right of the door to the garage.

Except, the medal is missing because someone stole it.

The other possibility is that the individual has competing or conflicting goals. That would describe the situation I found myself in earlier this year with two goals.

Goal #1 – expand the number of potential readers for my Seamus McCree series and Niki Undercover Thriller trilogy.

Goal #2 – prioritize my work time for efficiency to allow more time to focus on joyfully enjoying life.

Let me explain how these two goals arose. I’ve heard many authors say they write because they must. I write because I want people to read what I write. If you told me no one would read my story, I wouldn’t bother writing it. I suppose it’s an ego thing—probably not something to be proud of, maybe not even something I'm supposed to say out loud. But I am who I am, and that person likes an audience, enjoys engaging with that audience, likes to feel there is a reason for spending all those hours writing, when I could well be doing something else.

According to Bowker, they issued ISBNs to over four million titles in 2025. Adding to that the books published on Amazon without an ISBN, I’ll bet we’ll have close to five million books published in the U.S. last year. With all those new books available, not to mention the millions of backlist books, “Build it and they will come” does not work.

So, to get people to read my stuff, I need to market the books. That takes money (fine, as long as the books bring in more than they cost) and time (to create newsletters, blogs, advertisements and monitor the same).

Which brings us to Goal #2. I enjoy virtually nothing about the process of advertising books. I don’t enjoy creating ad copy, researching comparable novels to get my advertising in front of their readers; I don’t enjoy learning multiple ad platforms, I don’t enjoy creating graphics, or videos, or … the list goes on.

There is a Grand Canyon gulf between these two goals.

I am giving up trying to be all things to all readers. Unlike with my financial investments, where I spread my risk across multiple asset classes, for my books, I’m following Andrew Carnegie’s advice to “put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket.”

I have decided that the best way for me to reconcile my goals is to focus my marketing efforts on one specific venue: eBooks on Amazon. Oh, sure, I still offer paperbacks, and you can order signed ones from my website. And yes, audiobooks are still available. Henceforth, backlist eBooks will only be available on Amazon, either through purchase or through “free” reads for those who pay for Kindle Unlimited. I’ll continue to offer new releases to a wider eBook audience for a limited time.

So, if you are a Kindle Unlimited reader, I invite you to pick up either the Seamus McCree series (8 books, 2 novellas) or the Niki Undercover Thriller trilogy from where you left off, or start with the first book in each series (Ant Farm and Niki Undercover).

That’s my Grand Canyon: ego on one side, sanity on the other. What are your competing objectives in your life or writing? Drop your thoughts into the comments. I’d love to know.

* * *

James M. Jackson writes justice-driven thrillers with brains and bite, including the Niki Undercover Thriller trilogy and the Seamus McCree series. To learn more information about Jim and his books, check out his website https://jamesmjackson.com. You can sign up for his newsletter (and get a novella and two free short stories featuring his protagonists).

Baby Boomers are a Major Force Online by Teresa Inge

2026-10-05T04:00:00.000-04:00

In 2026, baby boomers are no longer casual users of digital platforms. They are active, intentional, and increasingly influential. This generation spends significant time online, controls substantial purchasing power, and engages with content differently than younger audiences.

Smartphone Usage

Raised on rotary phones, party lines, and memorized phone numbers, baby boomers see smartphones as practical tools for communication and information. They check their phones an average of 224 times a day, more than any other generation, using them for messages, news updates, and everyday tasks rather than spending long stretches glued to a screen. (reviews.org)

By comparison, Gen Z averages 4 hours and 6 minutes of smartphone use daily, often in longer scrolling sessions. (reviews.org)

Social Media Usage

Today, boomers scroll through their smartphones with the same enthusiasm they once brought to hanging out at the mall food court as teenagers.

They use platforms like Facebook and YouTube to stay connected with family and friends, engage with trusted brands, and watch longer-form content. In fact, 82.3% of U.S. baby boomers use at least one social media network in 2026 (awisee.com).

By contrast, Gen Z, often called "platform hoppers," favor TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. While boomers stick with familiar platforms, Gen Z moves between multiple short-form, trend-driven apps. On average, Gen Z spends 3.2 hours per day on social media, compared with 1.5 hours for baby boomers, highlighting their different approaches to online content and communities (SocialRails; Sociallyin).

Baby Boomers and Online Commerce

Baby boomers are strong online consumers. An estimated 11.3 million adults ages 55 to 64 and 10.8 million age 65 and older are expected to make purchases through social media, proving social commerce is not limited to younger generations. Their buying power is significant: 63% have a credit card, 39% made an online purchase within the last week, and 30% fall into a high-income bracket. (Awisee.com)

Trust remains a priority. In fact, 62% of boomers regret at least one impulse purchase influenced by social media, making credibility and transparency far more effective than high-pressure sales tactics. (Awisee.com)

As baby boomers continue embracing smartphones, social media, and online shopping, they are proving that digital engagement is no longer defined by age. From rotary phones to smartphones, they have adapted remarkably well. The message is clear: boomers are not just keeping up with the digital world, they are shaping it.

Diet Killers: Recipes for Readers and Writers – Gravestone Fudge from Molly MacRae

2026-10-04T01:30:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to Diet Killers, my series that’s become a bit sporadic and doesn’t always (as I’d originally intended) spotlight a chocolate dessert. We’re barely into October, but Halloween will be here before we know it, so here’s a recipe and a book recommendation to get you in the spirit.

Have you ever wondered what recipe you’d put on your gravestone? I’m not inclined to put one on mine, and I’m willing to bet most of you won’t either. Martha Kathryn “Kay” Kirkham Andrews did, though, and I’m so glad.

Kay Andrews was known, throughout her long life, for her compassion and her wonderful fudge. The two went together; when family and friends needed encouragement, she wrote them a poem and delivered it along with a batch of fudge. What a sweetheart! She lived to be 97 and asked that her fudge recipe be engraved on her headstone so that she could continue making people happy by sharing the recipe. (The original engraving had a typo, calling for one tablespoon of vanilla. The headstone has since been updated to correct the error.) Fudge is sweet, but even sweeter is the final line on Kay’s headstone: “Wherever she goes, there is laughter.”

The larger world now knows about Kay’s fudge thanks to Rosie Grant, a digital librarian in Washington, D.C. She collects and prepares gravestone recipes as a sort of hobby. She’s posted them on her TikTok account @ghostlyarchive and, in October 2025, she came out with the New York Times bestselling book To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes. The book is a collection of forty recipes she’s found on gravestones across the globe. The recipes range from chicken soup to guava cobbler, with honey wheat bread and tea biscuits in between. Most of the recipes are for desserts, though, making sweet memories for the loved ones left behind.

Kay’s recipe, as written on her gravestone, is below in my lovely drawing. So that it's easier for you to make your own fantastic fudge, I've typed the recipe with the list of ingredients first followed by more detailed directions.

On a food chemistry site called Ricardo you can read about why you shouldn’t stir in the two steps where that’s specified, plus clear instructions for how to test softball stage.

Kay’s Fudge

Ingredients

2 squares chocolate (Baker’s Chocolate squares used to weigh one ounce. Now they weigh half an ounce. I used four squares)

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup milk

3 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

Directions

Line an 8” x 8” pan with parchment paper and have all ingredients ready.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, while stirring over low heat, melt the chocolate and butter. When the chocolate and butter are melted, stir in the milk, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Over medium-low heat, let the mixture come to a boil—without stirring. Continue cooking over medium-low until the mixture has reached 234 degrees F (softball stage).

Remove from heat and let cool—without stirring—to 109-113 degrees F. You can hasten the cooling by putting the pan in sink of cold water. Don’t use ice water because the outer edges will cool too quickly while the middle stays hot.

When cool, beat the mixture continually until it visibly thickens and loses a bit of its luster, 5 to 15 minutes.

Pour into the prepared pan, allow to cool completely and, as Kay Andrews tells us, eat.

Would you like to be remembered for a special recipe by having it on your gravestone? What will it be?

Molly MacRae writes the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, the Highland Bookshop Mysteries, and the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest, connect with her on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.

Staying on Theme by Mary Dutta

2026-10-03T01:00:00.000-04:00

I recently signed publishing contracts for three new short stories in themed anthologies. One story was inspired by a city, one by a song, and one by a crime.

I love writing to a theme. There are an infinite number of stories we each could tell, and starting with a broad focus helps me narrow down those endless possibilities. Conversely, a theme can get me thinking about topics I might not have come up with on my own.

The latter was the case when I was invited to submit to an anthology on pickpockets. It wasn’t a subject I had ever considered writing about, and I had a lot of fun researching the details of how those particular criminals practiced their craft. Or used to, anyway. In today’s world a thief is far more likely to rifle through a digital wallet on a stolen phone than ease a physical wallet out of a pocket or purse. I ended up setting the story in the 1980s, so I could include some of the tricks of the trade I had read about.

That story was set in New York City. My newest city story is about Pittsburgh, inspired by a visit there last fall. I’ve published multiple location-based stories featuring places such as Minnesota, Nashville, and Charlottesville. For that kind of story, it’s important to include local details and lore without making them feel shoehorned in. As the winner of the 2020 New England Crime Bake’s Al Blanchard Award for best crime short story set in New England, I became a judge for the next year’s contest. It wasn’t hard to spot the entries that relied on a quick Google search or overused clichés to try and meet the setting requirements. Getting it right takes effort.

I’ve learned to get it right when choosing a song for an anthology of stories “inspired by the music of” a particular artist or music genre. My first foray into such an anthology involved choosing by song title alone. As a result, I struggled to come up with a story that evoked the brief and largely content-free lyrics of the song I had chosen. Lesson learned, I read through the lyrics of many options before choosing the song that I wrote about for a forthcoming yacht rock anthology. Having content to inspire me made my work much easier.

I’m looking forward to the release of these three stories and am already, and always, on the lookout for my next theme.

Do you enjoy writing to a theme? Or reading works centered on one?