As if this writing, I’m 9,000-words into Mask or Raid: Kiki Lowenstein Mystery #17. There’s an outline done already, so that’s good. I have a strong sense of how this particular book starts, so I’m feeling confident as I write. Zinging right along. However, like all my books, I’m sure this one will present its […]
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A Crime Spree Magazine Feature
I thought you may enjoy this article via Crime Spree Magazine regards Jews in Cozy Mysteries. https://crimespreemag.com/jews-in-cozy-mysteries/
Jo Knows How to Tangle: Gurdell
I’ve been playing around with my tangles a lot lately, probably because I’m inspired by Eni Oken’s classes. I saw a print on a pillow and that led me to deconstruction of the design. Deconstruction means taking an image apart and figuring out how to replicate it. Actually, here are the steps: Look at the […]
The Friday Night Mystery Club
I’m often asked, “How long does it take you to write a book?”
The answer is, “Depends on the book.”
The Friday Night Mystery Club took me thirty years. I don’t know why. I don’t have a good reason.
No, that’s not entirely true. As I recall, I submitted it to my (then) agent, and she wasn’t impressed. I now know that agents aren’t always good judges of what will sell. Some, I assume, are. Especially if it means “will sell to a traditional publishing house.” But others aren’t. The world of indie publishing has proved that, time after time.
When I revisited The Friday Night Mystery Club, I’d expected to have to tear it apart. As it turned out, the book simply needed a good polish. As I read it, memories came flooding back. I set the book in Decatur, Illinois, a place where I lived briefly. Included is the milieu of the daily newspaper where I worked as an ad rep. As I re-read the book, I could see the newspaper bullpen, I could feel the rubber cement we used, I could hear the noises of the reporters as they gathered stories for publication, and I could sense the bustle that was so much a part of a news organization.
But The Friday Night Mystery Club is a stand-alone. At this point, I cannot imagine turning it into a series–although anything is possible! So the question was, what do I do with this beast?
There’s an Alien in the Trash Can–My Halloween Project
Every year for the past three years, I’ve entered the HBS Halloween Miniature Challenge. I’ve won first and second places. My entry this year is http://wshe.es/sXecJmuo and you can vote on it from Oct. 26-30, 2020. This summer, I started work on my 2020 project. I decided it would be all recycled and handmade. Let […]
Excerpt from Law, Fully, Dead: Book #15 in the Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series
Tuesday was an ordinary but dreary day. The slush had turned to rain around ten the night before. Now all the frozen patches had melted overnight. Perhaps Tuesday seemed normal because it was totally overshadowed by Wednesday, which was the day that Clancy got the phone call. The phone call. I think of it like that […]
