I wrote my first blog post on my personal blog, workingmomadventures.com, in February 2011. In doing so, I knew exactly how this gig was going to play out. Someone, a publisher or agent or other person connected with the book industry, would stumble across my blog, find my writing fascinating, get in touch with me and lead me forward to fame and fortune. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the publishing world works very differently, so I moved to plan B – write a mystery novel. When I wrote “The End” on the first draft, I just knew I would receive phone calls and offers galore, the boo ..read more

  One of the questions I’m frequently asked is “How long does it take to write a novel?” I could answer “Ten years,” because that’s how long I tinkered with my debut mystery, A Dream of Death, before it appeared in print.  True confession: I’m a serial reviser. Without a deadline, I could revise a book until the Second Coming. If possible, I’d follow my readers home from the bookstore with a red pencil. But now I have deadlines. The problem is telling my publisher how long I realistically need to finish a manuscript. Some writers can turn out two or even three mysteries a year. I ..read more

  Thanks to Maddy’s social media savvy, Baby Cakes Bakery is becoming a huge success—so much so that she’s attracted the attention of her former nemesis, the fiancé-stealing Brandy Denton. When Brandy blows into New Bison like an ill wind and disrupts a vlog Maddy’s filming, their argument goes viral. After Brandy’s body is found in the freezer at Baby Cakes, Maddy instantly goes from viral sensation to murder suspect. As Maddy is still reeling from the murder, a stranger shows up in the bakery claiming to have been a friend of Octavia. He believes Maddy is in danger. When a second body ..read more

When people find out I’m an author, one of the first questions I get asked is: “Where do you get your ideas?” Since I write crime fiction, I try to play nice and not scare them with my answer. It is true my research rabbit holes tend to go dark and deep, teetering on the borderline of the macabre, but as Manfred Mann’s Earth Band sang in Blinded by the Light, “But Mama, that’s where the fun is.” Earlier this month, I was handed a cracker of a deep dive research opportunity when I toured the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office (and associated state-of-the-art laboratories) with fellow me ..read more

To me, grammar is a funny looking word. It is one letter away from being a palindrome – a word that is spelled the same forwards and backwards. It would be “grammarg” if some enterprising person wanted to change it to fit the palindrome mold. If you were trying to guess how to spell “grammar” without ever having seen it, the most likely first guess would be “grammer.” A person who studies and writes about grammar is called a “grammarian.” I am not such a person.  I have a decent grasp of the basics of grammar, such as what is a noun, verb, adjective and adverb. (Those of you who, like me ..read more

I’m always listening to a true crime podcast. Whether I’m cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, driving, or walking the dog, I’m tuned into crime. It helps me with my writing, as I’ve learned so much about police procedures and the current technology out there helping law enforcement to solve crimes. To expand my horizons a bit more this summer, I’ve branched out beyond my usual Crime Junkie, Dateline, and Anatomy of Murder binges (although I very much still listen to them). I’ve been searching for different perspectives and presentations of true crime, and in doing so, I’ve come across some reall ..read more

Seriously? Do I want to turn up the heat? This impossibly hot weather seems relentless. It’s our first topic of the day around my house. Any day we get a drop in temperature, we’re grateful. Which causes me to think about the ‘heat’ in my stories. Is it reflected in my characters’ mental states, their physical actions, and my readers’ enjoyment. Heat in stories can refer to the weather. It often refers to the level of romance. I think of it as a contributor to the level of excitement and ebb and flow throughout my stories. I try to be conscious of how I turn up or lower the temperature level ..read more

Leviathan Wakes is the first book in the science fiction series, The Expanse, written by James S. A. Corey. Mr. Corey is a pen name for two writers, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, who wrote the series as a collaboration. I read the book for the first time upon a recommendation from Goodreads and I’m glad I did. The science part of this science fiction book is solid, and the situations the characters work to resolve have themes similar to situations working adults the world over find themselves in today.   The book is set several centuries in the future. Earth has billions of people li ..read more

I enjoy having my characters discuss books in many of my novels. It must be the old teacher in me rearing its head. I was a high school Spanish teacher in another life, and what I loved most was conducting literary discussions in Spanish with my more advanced students about whatever novel or stories they were reading. I’ve also led many book club discussions and enjoy raising provocative questions regarding the book we've all read to see how the members react. The first time I did this was in my second published book, a YA called A Place To Start. My protagonist's English teacher leads a clas ..read more

The Most Difficult Stage in Writing When it comes to writing, all authors are different. We thought you might like to know what we each find the most difficult stage in writing. James M. Jackson - Writing a synopsis takes me for-flipping-ever. I hate every single second of it, and I count them all. The last one took 20,249 seconds. Connie Berry - The initial draft—just getting words on the page. Once there, the fun begins. I love the quote (attributed to Dorothy Parker?): “I hate writing. I love having written.” Lori Roberts Herbst - Writing the first draft. I love outlining and coming up wi ..read more