It takes courage to try anything new. The fear of failure, the fear of change, the fear that if you show part of your true self to a stranger that they’ll stomp all over you. I know many writers who fear sending their work into the world. They fear rejection, they fear success, they fear criticism. They fear a lot — and let their work sit on their computer or under their bed and keep writing and keep filing until they’re so full of fear they’ll never share their writing. Source: piccsy.com via Allison on Pinterest It’s not just writers… Read More

Fellow romantic suspense author Shiloh Walker introduced me to Pinterest when it was still in its beta version and participants had to be issued and invitation. I don’t know whether to thank Shiloh or curse her! I go through social media “phases” where sometimes I’m more active on Twitter, sometimes on Facebook, but Pinterest is one of those places where I visit at least once a day and just enjoy the visual aesthetics. Maybe I like it because I’m a visual person. I don’t have a fraction of the followers on Pinterest as the other social media sites, but that… Read More

Is it just me or is there a plethora of fabulous movies this holiday season? Not just over the Christmas break, but the entire Fall schedule has been pretty good. I saw the latest Bond adventure, SKYFALL, over Thanksgiving break and it was terrific — I really like Daniel Craig in the Bond role after a couple less stellar actors. I took my 16 year old daughter and 11 year old son to SKYFALL, neither of whom had seen a Bond movie before, and they both enjoyed it. Score! I also took the family to see WRECK-IT RALPH (very cute)… Read More

I can not believe I only have 12 days until Christmas. Where did the time go? Usually by this date, we have the tree not only up, but decorated; I have my Snow Villages on display; the garlands are up; the lights frame our exterior. The only thing done is the outdoors–Dan has been working on it for the past 10 days and it looks fabulous. I’m the one who has slacked off. We did drive up to beautiful Apple Hill to cut down a tree. It’s about a 45 minute drive from our house and a terrific place to… Read More

I write long. After twenty books, only five were less than 100,000 words (The Hunt, Tempting Evil, Kiss Me Kill Me, If I Should Die, Stalked) and those five books were between 95-98K. My longest book was Original Sin (125K) followed by Love Me To Death (122K) and Playing Dead (120K). When I average the word counts of all 20 books, I average 109K words/book. So when I think of stories, thinking “short” isn’t easy. I see stories as bigger than a single idea, filled with characters and actions and, well, stuff. However, I love reading short stories. I glommed… Read More

The Murder She Writes gals are either cooking, eating, drinking, or talking today (probably all of the above!) … and we hope all of our U.S. readers you have a fun and safe Thanksgiving Day. I’m always looking for things to do with the leftover turkey … other than turkey noodle soup or turkey sandwiches. Any suggestions are more than welcome!

We all make excuses for why we do or don’t do things we know we shouldn’t or should. My big excuse relates to exercise. I know that exercise will keep me healthy, that I’ll lose weight and feel good. Intellectually, I know that. But I have a million excuses about why I don’t exercise. The time factor is always a good excuse (writing three books a year and raising five kids takes a lot of time!) I walked 2 miles a day for a month and didn’t lose a pound–another excuse. But today I ran into my former trainer and… Read More

What is it about vigilantes, rogue cops, and superheroes that keep us captivated? This trend is nothing new, though over the last few years the vigilante-as-hero has been on the rise. I look back to Westerns as the rise of vigilante justice. When America was a new country and there wasn’t any real system in place to keep people safe. People were responsible for each other–families for their own, neighbors for their neighbors, towns for their towns. Someone comes onto your land to steal your cattle, shoot them. Someone rapes your wife, shoot him. Someone robs the bank? Hunt them… Read More

Five days until STALKED is finally out! It should be available wherever books are sold. I’m excited because every book feels like a gift. Like kids. Hard work, painful at times, but hugely rewarding. I’m currently writing a Lucy Kincaid novella, “Reckless,” which will be out in March. And I’m waiting for my editorial notes for the revisions of STOLEN, my 20th book. It’s also the first book that is mostly in the hero’s head. It’s Sean Rogan’s story, where his past affects his present and he has to make some very difficult choices. For me, writing the hero’s POV… Read More

It’s Toni’s day today, but she’s helping her brother Mike get settled. He’s been released from the hospital (yeah!) and she’s been working double time to make sure he has everything he needs to recover. I know she has a lot to share, so come back in two weeks for an update. AND continue sending Mike and Toni your prayers and positive thoughts. In the meantime … For those of you who have been following Murder She Writes for a few years, you know that I love television. I love television more than going to the movies. Sure, there are… Read More