All Blog Posts Tagged 'crime' (101)

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Beast-True-Paranormal-Investigation/dp/1937004260/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320766912&sr=1-1

Chapter 1

The Night of the Beast…

A Different Kind of Hero

I write a short story series about an atypical hit man. Atypical in that he does things you least expect from a professional killer. And it is this unexpected, unanticipated quirk in the man's personality which I…

Free peek at an essay from Noir Nation No.1 on why Noir is such a hot and trending topic. 

Why Noir Now  http://ning.it/uIwD94…

I’m very honored that SILENT PARTNER won the 2011 SILVER AWARD for BEST in SUSPENSE at Reader’s Favorite.  Thank you!  Congratulations to all winning authors!

This story was a very special project and close to my heart.

Here’s a recent blog post about this book:…

I’ve had this question posed to me recently and I actually had to stop and really think about it. 

How many characters are too many to kill off in a thriller novel? 

Is there a minimum number of murders to a thriller novel?

My first answer was… I’m not really sure.  I don’t think there is a special number of appropriate deaths for thriller or suspense…

I love to conduct research.  This can be a thorn in a writer’s side, but I really enjoy this part of the creative process.  Just think about it… you learn something new every time you research.  You can actually learn a new fact today you didn’t know yesterday. 

It’s quite amazing when you begin to outline the story you want to write, you realize all the little details that you need to research to give your story that added dimension. 

Even though I’ve studied…

When I began developing my characters for my Emily Stone Series, I found it quite helpful to outline the main characters from various perspectives.  Sometimes with recurring characters, a scene might become flat and you’re not…

I would like to introduce my new collection of short stories now available at…

The short story went into decline when so many of the magazines that supported them died. That is not to say there are not short story magazines around from the prestigious New Yorker and possibly Harper’s to the leading newcomer Amazon for online stories. But in the main the rest of them now cater for science fiction and horror which narrows the horizons for most aspiring short story writers. That said there are a number of online publishers of short stories but few of them pay and for…

Many of my early childhood memories involve all of the great books that I had the opportunity to read.  I was a typical kid who loved to be outdoors whenever I could, but I loved my weekly visits to the local library.  I would grab books, stack them high, and take them up to the librarian.  They would be books about animals, adventures, mysteries, and anything else that grabbed my…

I love writing blog posts for other blogs!  There are so many great blogs out there, it's amazing. 

Today I stopped by Blogging Authors.  Here's my post:

I become thoroughly exhausted, both physically and mentally, after finishing a novel project.  In some instances, I felt like I WAS fighting serial killers, solving crimes, and executing daring escapes. 

It’s more important than ever to keep your body and spirit in balance no matter what your daily work or…

As a writer, author, and criminologist, I find that I wear a variety of hats throughout my working day.  Writing, editing, promotion, researcher, and expert are just to name a few.  One of my favorite hats is when I’m beginning a new book – that particular hat is outliner and researcher merged together.  I get really excited all over again, just like it’s my first novel.

The BIG question I hear more than most, “How long does it take to write a novel?”  I can confidently say on average…

Have you ever wanted to adapt your novel into a screenplay?  Or, just wanted to write a script?

I’ve loved movies for as long as I can remember – all genres, drama, action, thriller, and comedies.  The cinema has been a writing inspiration and a fun escape for me. 

I have wanted to write screenplays for as long as I can remember.  Writing quick, snappy dialogue to bring characters to life, cutting away to high impact, action sequences, and making sure that the…

This is a good question.  It’s a solid, straight to the point question about writing.   It’s a question I’ve been asked quite a bit lately. 

How long does it take to write a novel? 

I’ve heard answers from it takes a lifetime to however long it takes you to read a book times a five…

I’m a person who makes lists and crosses things off when I’ve completed them.  It makes me feel positive about what I’ve accomplished when I can see each item marked off that long list.  In fact, I make a lot of lists.  It comes from working in the corporate world, specifically in the accounting area, that I found…

I have been told my books are scary and that there is a horror quality to them because of the serial killers.  I never really thought about how thriller and horror genres sometimes blend their boundaries.  Traditionally, when I think of horror, I think of a crazed ax murderer, vampire, or zombie.  Serial killers…

The Edge of the Sea by Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton is a good writer and I’m convinced of that. Even now she is good. She’s just in a rut of writing stuff that’s X- rated, rather than actually writing a story. Edge of The Sea is a short story she recently wrote that hits much closer to home for any one who read her earlier stuff. It can be found in the Strange Candy Collection.

The story starts with Adria, who find that her room mate Rachel is missing in middle of…

We’ve all been there.  I’ve never really experienced writer’s block, but procrastination isn’t far away for me on some of my writing days.  At times, it’s difficult to stay focused on my story because my mind wanders to other things or I’m distracted because it’s beautiful outside.  Then I seem to be preoccupied…