My two oldest daughters are both going through a bit of turmoil because they don’t know what they want to do with their lives. Katie (18) is in college knows what she doesn’t want to do, and has a few ideas about what she might want to do. She’s in the process of changing her major. Kelly (16) wants to do a whole bunch of things, many focused around learning in college. She wants to narrow it down, but the more she learns the more she wants to learn. I told them both, don’t stress about it. College is the… Read More

I joined Romance Writers of America in early 2003 when an acquaintance brought me as her guest to a Sacramento Valley Rose meeting. It was the January meeting, a panel of category romance writers who also wrote single-title length romance in all different sub-genres. Even though I don’t write category romance, I was stunned at the wealth of information I’d never imagined would be so readily available to those who just ask. I never regretted joining RWA. It’s one of the few professional writers organization that was also open to aspiring writers. I joined the Kiss of Death chapter in… Read More

Damn! I had this post written on MONDAY, three days before my blog day, and I totally forgot to post it. I’m sorry! I have a book due in three weeks and that’s making me tense – tense primarily because I’m not in the zone (writing without awareness of passing time) and I’m still in the “this sucks beyond everything imaginable” mode. I took 10 days off to work on the page proofs for STALKED and in the middle of that, took my daughter to college. Now, I’m back into writing STOLEN and hoping I can figure out why it’s… Read More

We all remember when September brought the launch of all our favorite television shows. The season of re-runs was over. Every major network launched their slate of new and old favorites, building up to it generally starting with a cliffhanger during the season finale (like the end of NCIS Season 9 where NCIS headquarters is blown up–with most of our favorite characters inside.) We wait in anticipation all summer, through re-runs, through teasers, until the season opener. And while we still wait for our favorite shows, no longer do we have to wait for everything. There’s always something new starting…. Read More

We all remember when September brought the launch of all our favorite television shows. The season of re-runs was over. Every major network launched their slate of new and old favorites, building up to it generally starting with a cliffhanger during the season finale (like the end of NCIS Season 9 where NCIS headquarters is blown up–with most of our favorite characters inside.) We wait in anticipation all summer, through re-runs, through teasers, until the season opener. And while we still wait for our favorite shows, no longer do we have to wait for everything. There’s always something new starting…. Read More

I had a great blog idea I thought up when I was at RWA … and I can’t remember what it was. I should have written it down. :/ And then, I KNEW today was my blog day, but then I forgot. I posted our two new bloggers this week (Deborah and B.J.) and I guess my mind convinced me that I’d already posted my blog. So I’m really sorry that I’m so late. By now, you’ve all heard about the RITA and GH winners, but if you haven’t you can read them here. I want to single out Darynda… Read More

I’ve been a member of International Thriller Writers since almost the beginning of their organization. (In fact, I missed being a charter member by three days! Grr.) Since the first, small conference in Arizona in 2006, I’ve only missed one “Thrillerfest” when it conflicted with RWA. If there’s ever another conflict, I won’t be skipping out on Thrillerfest. There are many reasons why I love this conference, not least of which is the thriller/suspense focus. The conference is in New York City and gives me the opportunity to sit down with my editor and agent every year. While meeting in… Read More

It’s summer and I just wanted to give you all a heads up what’s going on at Murder She Writes since today is another free day! We have two new bloggers joining us on Wednesdays (and you’ll just have to wait until next Wednesday for our first new blogger!) so no longer will “hump day” be forgotten 🙂 Yeah! We’re also settling on a new web designer to revamp the blog to highlight our new folks and provide a better blog experience for our readers. Summer is naturally a slow time in cyberspace, so this is the perfect time for… Read More

July is a busy month for romance and thriller writers, and those of us who write romantic thrillers, we often have to chose between Thrillerfest and Romance Writers of America. Two conferences in one month is expensive, but since these are usually the only two conferences I attend, I save up. I find both valuable for not only my career, but my sanity–I get to hang with my fellow writers and see friends I usually only talk to online. I met Toni at the first Thrillerfest in Arizona–still the single best conference I’ve ever been to. We’ve been best buddies… Read More

I’m preparing for my RWA workshop: Thrills & Chills. Writing Romantic Suspense and Thrillers. Normally, I don’t do a lot of preparation for workshops because I only give a few of them, and I’ve given them multiple times so I can practically do it in my sleep. However, T&C is new. I presented it at the Arizona Dreams RWA conference and realized I had far too much information to share in a one hour time slot. So I’m focusing on the one thing that truly separates suspense from all other genres: stakes. There are three things that work in tandem… Read More