Hello Readers and Writers: I’m blogging again at Murder She Writes! I found a very easy-to-use platform called Substack that I’m now using, you can subscribe over at https://murdershewrites.substack.com. It’s free and easy! You just need to share your email and you’ll receive all new blogs in your inbox. I plan to write 2-4 short posts a week, and a couple longer articles a month. I will have book reviews, writing advice, humorous stories of the writer’s life, and more — something for everyone who loves reading and writing! Hope to see you over there. ~ Allison

I deleted two chapters today and I feel good. Okay, not great, but good. No writer likes to delete their words. We want to think that everything we write is amazing when we write it and worth reading … but it’s not. I’ve never been afraid to slash and burn, but too many writers I’ve talked to are scared to death. They either think they’re amateurs who don’t know what they’re doing if they have to cut something, or they think they’re idiots who can’t write. Or — worse — they think everything they write is brilliant and if readers or… Read More

It’s been a busy couple of months! In addition to the release of TOO FAR GONE, the 14th (!!!) Lucy Kincaid thriller, I finished NOTHING TO HIDE, revised, and just received the copy edits today. I know what I’ll be doing over Thanksgiving break! NOTHING TO HIDE is the 15th Lucy book. It was one of those stories that I loved the concept, but was much harder to execute than I first thought. In the end, though, I was very happy with the way it turned out. Though I almost lost the copyedits — the package was nearly destroyed in… Read More

If you didn’t know, TOO FAR GONE is out and has been since last week. I’ve just been really bad about blogging for the last year (or three!) so forgot to announce (though I did send out a newsletter!) TOO FAR GONE hit the USA Today bestsellers list today at #35! (yeah!) I’m still mourning the loss of the NYT Mass Market list, because it would have most likely hit there as well .. only 9 mass markets were in the top 50 of the USAT bestsellers list. Sigh. TOO FAR GONE is the FOURTEENTH Lucy Kincaid/Sean Rogan romantic thriller,… Read More

We’re not supposed to have favorites. Like, kids. I’m a mom and I’m not supposed to have a favorite kid. And I don’t. I might have a favorite kid on one day, and then another day it’s another kid. Maybe the kid who makes me coffee in the middle of the day because he notices I’m dragging, or the one who calls me just to say hello, or the one who plops down on my office couch and spontaneously tells me about his day without me having to drag it out of him … yeah, sometimes I have a favorite,… Read More

Remember when you were a teenager … or maybe more recent! … when you loved filling out personality tests to find out what kind of person you are? Ha … yeah, we already know, right? But now with the Internet it’s so much easier. Seriously, I never took much stock in personality tests. Sure, based on your answers they can tell you if you’re an introvert or extrovert (I don’t think most of us need a test for that); they might give you some insight into why you like a messy desk or a clean desk, or what sort of… Read More

Woo hoo! It’s another release day in the Brennan house. BREAKING POINT — the 13th (!) book in the Lucy Kincaid series — is out today! Bella Caruso survived a nightmare of abuse and betrayal. Today, she has dedicated her life to saving other young women from the hell that almost killed her—first as an officer of the law, then by stepping outside the law and into the darkness where true evil dwells. Now, it appears that the darkness has taken her once again. JT Caruso often worries about his sister, given her line of work. This time, when he… Read More

BREAKING POINT is out in two weeks! I’m really excited about this book for several reasons. 1) The cover. I LOVE this cover. It hits all the right spots for me. It’s suspenseful, big, different, and I think it stands out in a sea of other great thriller and suspense covers. 2) I introduce a new character who is one of my favorites … she’s dark, she’s dangerous, she’s different from most of my characters. I love Bella Caruso, and hope you do, too. 3) BREAKING POINT tackles a difficult subject — human trafficking — but through Bella’s eyes, I… Read More

Yes, I’m being tongue-in-cheek with my title because I’m writing today about adjectives and adverbs. On Twitter, the fabulous Manda Collins — a historical romance writer who I know and love — posted something that at first made me laugh, then made me cringe. Under the caption “This is terrible advice” she posted a screenshot of, well, some terrible advice. I’ve removed the advice-givers name — partly because I don’t think anyone should be personally attacked for their opinion (and I don’t want her to get hate mail!) but also partly because she removed the post. However, because I have… Read More

Hi gang — first, if your comment doesn’t show up it’s because it’s in moderation. I’ve had a huge problem with spam and am trying to find a way to have legit comments just come up, without all the spam. When I woke up and saw 66,000 comments in moderation I realized EVERYTHING was thrown to “pending” not just the spammy links. Argh! Anyway, I’ll see it … just might take a day 🙂 I wanted to share some things with you all … First, I contributed a novella, MIRROR, MIRROR to a charity anthology benefitting domestic violence shelters. It’s… Read More