I’m thrilled to participate in Banned Books Week. Murder She Writes had joined more than 250 blogs in the effort to raise awareness that books should not be banned. Scroll to the bottom for a list of ALL participating blogs … many of whom are giving away prizes! I’m giving away prizes, too … click here for a list! From Ray Bradbury and FAHRENHEIT-451 (one of my all-time favorite books): “Somewhere the saving and putting away had to begin again and someone had to do the saving and the keeping, one way or another, in books, in records, in people’s… Read More

We’ve often heard the phrase, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” While I do believe there is a final resting place, I also know that the road leading there can be rocky and smooth, curvy and straight, treacherous and safe. No two paths are the same, even if we share the road from time to time with others. It’s sometimes too easy to look at someone else and think their path is smoother or rougher than it really is. And even if we share the journey for a few miles, the way we view the terrain is filtered through… Read More

  Below is my speech to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers last weekend at their Colorado Gold Conference. Well, this is the speech that I mostly gave. After all, those who know me know that I never give the speech I intend to. However, I stuck fairly close to this, going off on maybe 3 or 4 tangents over the course of my time. It was the closing keynote, so I wanted to be optimistic and uplifting, so everyone there would want to go home and write.   We Need Stories You’re not normal. I’m not revealing any deep, dark… Read More

On Tuesday, I sent the page proofs for IF I SHOULD DIE to Ballantine. Page proofs are the last step for the author in the publication process. After writing, revising, and reviewing the copyedits, the page proofs are the last time an author can make changes to her book before it goes to press. Though the proofs are on regular letter-sized paper, it’s formatted like the book will be. There are few changes at this stage—double checking timelines, making sure the copyedited changes were made correctly, fixing typos, tweaking a word here or there. The book is done, just this… Read More

On Monday my kids start school. I’ve already had two orientations (on Tuesday for my second grader and on Wednesday for my third and fifth graders.) On Friday it’s the high school orientation, with a special meeting with just the seniors. Yes, I have a senior. I don’t feel old enough to have a daughter who will be 18 in a few months. :/ I’m VERY excited about the start of school because I get my regular schedule back. Having the kids around is one thing, but summer is also full of playtime, sports practice, summer day camp, shopping, and… Read More

I’m nearly done revising a digital-only, self-published novella for a charity anthology benefitting breast cancer research. ENTANGLED (9.12.11) has a great group of paranormal romance and supernatural thriller writers and I’m thrilled to be included. Because we’re self-publishing it, and because all the royalties for the first year will be donated to charity, I’m not going to see any money on it. And that’s okay because it’s for a good cause. I’ve written other free stories–for International Thriller Writers and for my website–so I’m just happy to do something that contributes back. I decided to write a Seven Deadly Sins… Read More

I’m back from New York City where I was at first the Romance Writers of America conference then the International Thriller Writers “Thrillerfest.” There are many great wrap-ups of the conferences around cyberspace, and it’s kind of old news, so I won’t rehash it here. Besides, I have little to add. But one thing that happened–and is still happening–I want to talk about, because I think it affects all authors … and readers. Self-promotion. There was an undercurrent of angst among authors–and not just debut authors or midlist authors–that they needed to do *more* self-promotion. Many conversations, particularly at RWA,… Read More

I’m back from New York City where I was at first the Romance Writers of America conference then the International Thriller Writers “Thrillerfest.” There are many great wrap-ups of the conferences around cyberspace, and it’s kind of old news, so I won’t rehash it here. Besides, I have little to add. But one thing that happened–and is still happening–I want to talk about, because I think it affects all authors … and readers. Self-promotion. There was an undercurrent of angst among authors–and not just debut authors or midlist authors–that they needed to do *more* self-promotion. Many conversations, particularly at RWA,… Read More

I don’t have a smoking hot excerpt like Lori (CHASING EIGHT–wow. Just wow.) And Sylvia and Rocki took care of the conference advice. But I do have a giveaway today! I’ll be off-line until this evening because I’ve been taken hostage … in an FBI SWAT training program. It’s a tough job but someone … hell, no. It’s not a tough job. Even though it’s going to be ninety-some degrees and I’ll be in a warehouse without A/C, it’s FUN and exciting and part of my job. So don’t be surprised if sometime I write about a hostage situation …… Read More

I didn’t have a blog idea for today because my daughter Kelly was supposed to write a blog about the whole Wall Street Journal opinion piece calling (practically) for the censorship of a glut of YA books, including several that Kelly read and enjoyed. And she wrote it, but didn’t finish it, and she’s sleeping now (because it’s one in the morning) and while I debated waking her up to meet her deadline (I gave her five days!) I decided to let her sleep. (Who says I’m not a considerate mom?) I’m going to make her finish it and I’ll… Read More