Joanna Campbell Slan

Thanks for visiting the official website for New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author and Winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence, Joanna Campbell Slan.

Blog

Dreaming of Harlan Coben–and My Own Stupidity

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Grrr. I'm in a ba-ad mood. It started with a bad dream about...are you ready? Meeting Harlan Coben.I know! I can imagine what you are thinking: "Joanna, have you lost it?"Um, Coben's coming to St. Louis on Monday, and he'll be appearing at the Mad Art Gallery from 7 to 9 p.m. (Go to http://www.madart.com/eventsexhibitions/publicevents/leftbankbooksandmadartgall.htm for details.) Which you would THINK would make a long time HC fan like me really … [Read more...] about Dreaming of Harlan Coben–and My Own Stupidity

It Could be Raining…(My BIG Plotting Secret)

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Celebrating my fun interview with Jean Henry-- http://tinyurl.com/d9mtss --and my dinner tonight with my pal Mary Buckham, who is doing a book plotting weekend here in The Lou, I have decided to post my BIG plotting secret.Are you ready?It can always get worse.Yeah. See...that's how life goes and that's what can happen in a book. No matter how dark it is, no matter how horrible the situation, there's always a moment when you think, "Things can't … [Read more...] about It Could be Raining…(My BIG Plotting Secret)

I'd Rather Be Eating Kibble…Or Why Some Books Are Hard to Take

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Every day the Universe conspires to teach me lessons I don't wanna learn. As they say in the movies, "Resistance is FUTILE." And yet, I still struggle.Today, my dog was the teaching assistant. Rafferty decided he didn't want to eat his food. Being a good dog mom, I coaxed. "Ah, come on, Raffie." Then I threatened. "Eat your food." And finally, I resorted to unfair tactics. I poured beef boullion over the kibble.To no available. He licked off the … [Read more...] about I'd Rather Be Eating Kibble…Or Why Some Books Are Hard to Take

Do You Judge a Book by Its Cover?

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I sure do.When my acquiring editor Barbara Moore asked me for cover input, I said, "Please tell the artist to go look around in Archivers. I know there's one close to your office. He'll get a strong sense of what's au courant in scrapbooking. I'd really like my book to be a true reflection of the craft. It's very artsy these days."I guess Kevin Brown did exactly that because the cover on Paper, Scissors, Death is sublime. Honestly, Kevin could … [Read more...] about Do You Judge a Book by Its Cover?

The Teacher is Always the Student

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We had a totally excellent "Getting Published" class last night at Lewis & Clark Community College. First of all, I love their Edwardsville campus at 700 Troy. It's the conclave of brick buildings that I've been told was a former factory site. The classrooms are spacious, light and well-appointed.But what made the class really cool was the students. We had folks who wanted to write novels, those who wanted to write children's books, and a … [Read more...] about The Teacher is Always the Student