PLAYING FOR PIZZA – by John Grisham
written by Fran Paino The master of suspense took a break from his usual mystery, crime, and thriller books to write Playing for Pizza; a football story hatched as he researched settings for another...
View ArticleAn Interview with Elizabeth Buhmann, Author of BLUE LAKE
by M.K. Waller [Notice: Typgress is not authorized to post content from this blog on its site.] When I began Elizabeth Buhmann’s BLUE LAKE, I was–I’m ashamed to say–afraid I would be disappointed....
View ArticleWriting an Academic Mystery
Academic mysteries are a timeless subgenre in crime fiction. Found on almost every list of the best mysteries ever written, Dorothy Sayer’s Gaudy Night is the epitome of British academic mysteries...
View ArticleTHE SCENT OF A WOMAN…THEATER…SEA
by Helen Currie Foster Even just thinking of certain smells can yank me straight back to childhood. Oil paints? Mama working on her first portrait. Jello chocolate pudding mix? My sister standing on...
View ArticleRecommended Reading: Pat Schneider’s Writing Alone and With Others
by Renee Kimball Pat Schneider is a poet-healer, a guide and shaman who believes writing is the means to self-healing. Writing Alone and with others is a writer’s guide to forgiving and giving...
View ArticleVISITING THE AUSTIN DPS – AN EXERCISE IS PATIENCE AND ENDURANCE
by Francine Paino A few weeks ago, I was forced to visit the Austin Department of Public Safety, where I spent four long, long hours. Let me be clear, however, I’m not slamming the Austin DPS. It’s a...
View ArticleSharks: Who, Where, and How to Get Rid of Them
by Kathy Waller This is a shark: This shark does not live in the ocean. It lurks in bookstores, libraries, coffee shops: Disguised as an aspiring writer, it invades critique groups and, fueled by...
View ArticleBook Clubs for Writers: A Doggone Good Time!
By K.P. Gresham I’m a fiction writer, and my world pretty much revolves around my profession. My friends, my colleagues, my editors, my publicists are comprised mostly of people in the writing...
View ArticleAn Interview with Author Lois Winston
Award winning author, Lois Winston, has a new crafting mystery coming out for the holidays! She has kindly allowed me to interview her about her writing and to present her upcoming book, Handmade Ho-Ho...
View ArticleFurther Thoughts on Smell in Literature, or The Dog as Watson
by Helen Currie Foster An author can get great mileage by giving the point of view to a Watson sort of character. The Watson can be present for all events, hear all dialogue and see all clues—while not...
View ArticleTHE GHOSTS OF HISTORY: WHAT THEY CAN TELL US
The late president Harry S. Truman said, “The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know.” People make history. What were the lives of those who came before really like? Men and women...
View ArticleNew Mystery Series: Bullet Books Speed Reads at Texas Book Festival
No matter what they tell you, Texas isn’t all cowboys and cactus and bullets and brush. Texas is also BOOKS, and this weekend there’s proof: This morning, the Texas Book Festival opens on the grounds...
View ArticleBouchercon: It’s All About Community!
No one else in my family writes novels. When I talk about plotting and pacing, my husband gives me the same blank stare that I give him when he goes into detail about software architecture and...
View ArticleCharacters We’re Drawn To
By Helen Currie Foster Last week Big D hosted the Bouchercon book conference. Two sessions made me wonder why we’re drawn to particular book characters, and how key they are to readers. At the...
View ArticleBOOK REVIEW: FULL DARK, NO STARS by Stephen King
Written by Renee Kimball “From the start . . . I felt that the best fiction was both propulsive and assaultive. It gets in your face. Sometimes it shouts in your face. I have no quarrel with literary...
View ArticleThe Arts and Our Society
by Francine Paino Day after day, whether we want to or not, we hear nothing but murder, mayhem, the politics of personal destruction, and a new insistence on rigid lines of political correctness....
View ArticleA Mind Unhinged
by Kathy Waller So you start writing your post about the incomparable Josephine Tey’s mystery novels two weeks before it’s due but don’t finish, and then you forget, and a colleague reminds you, but...
View ArticleThe New Girl Will Scare You Stiff
by K.P. Gresham I can’t put down THE NEW GIRL–Daniel Silva’s latest book, that is. I have long been a fan of Silva’s series featuring Gabriel Allon, art restorer and master spy. The New Girl (Harper...
View ArticleHow to Submit Short Stories to Magazines, Anthologies, & Contests
With so many self-publishing options available to writers, no one has to submit work to a publisher to see it in print. However, magazines, anthologies, and contests provide opportunities for authors...
View ArticleJohn Le Carré, Agent Running in the Field (October 17, 2019)
by Helen Currie Foster John li Carre, by Krimidoedel, CC BY 3.0, via Wikipedia Okay, you already know I’m hooked on le Carré. Never did I think any of his characters would buy my allegiance more than...
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