September 17, 2025
Today I’m turning my blog over to Z (aka Elizabeth Haines), a fellow Michigan Sisters in Crime member. Z lives in Richland, MI, with her husband, Steve, and their cat princess, Winnie. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, piecing quilts, or attempting, usually unsuccessfully (according to her), to grow tomatoes. Despite reading over a hundred […]
June 16, 2021
For three (3) days—June 18, June 19, and June 20—the ebook edition of SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT will be free. (https://rb.gy/7ae33z ) Check it out! What’s the story about? Being nine months pregnant doesn’t stop P.J. Benson from trying to discover why her friend was killed. But someone thinks she has crucial evidence, and they’ll […]
November 14, 2018
October, for me, was a busy month of promoting the paperback version of A KILLER PAST. I didn’t really plan it that way, but starting last spring and through the summer I kept receiving invitations to speak or appear. All wanted October dates. These invitations included two book clubs, one book store, and one conference. […]
October 31, 2018
Recently I attended the inaugural, one-day Southwest Michigan Writers’ Conference chaired and coordinated by Brian R. Johnston, Head of Public Services at the Lincoln Township Public Library. The event was sponsored by a group of southwest Michigan libraries, and held at the beautiful Niles District Library. Most of the men and women attending were writers […]
September 5, 2018
Writing a story where a character overdoses on drugs? I am, so while I was at the Writers’ Police Academy I attend a session that dealt with that subject. Eric Paulowski was the instructor and, of course, the topic was the opioid addiction that’s been in the news this year. What surprised me was he […]
August 29, 2018
We’ve heard that what you see on CSI isn’t reality, that one can’t get fingerprint matches or facial recognition as quickly as shown, but the truth is, science and computers are bringing us closer and closer to what is shown. Just a week or so ago the news reported how facial recognition identified a man […]
August 22, 2018
Back in the 1940s and 50s the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and others were the cowboy heroes. If a good guy was about to be hanged, the Lone Ranger would ride in and shoot the rope and the good guy was saved. Or Roy Rogers would shoot the gun out of the hand […]
August 15, 2018
Michigan author, Elizabeth (Betty) Meyette, and I decided to travel and room together at this year’s Writers’ Police Academy. We took the 10:15 a.m. Lake Express Ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee and arrived at the Hyatt Regency in Green Bay, Wisconsin around 2:30 p.m. (CDT). Our room wasn’t ready, but the WPA planning committee had […]
August 8, 2018
Tomorrow I leave for Green Bay, Wisconsin to attend this year’s Writers’ Police Academy. This is my third WPA, but my first in Wisconsin. (It used to be held in North Carolina.) writerspoliceacademy My experiences in the past have been fantastic, and, looking at this year’s schedule, I’m sure I’ll once again come home with […]
April 11, 2018
During her session at Sleuthfest 2018, Sharon Plotkin, a Certified Crime Scene Investigator in Miami, Florida, talked about CSI failures and mistakes that can and have ruined cases. During her talk, she focused on two high-profile cases: OJ Simpson and JonBenét Ramsey. Her first point was readers are jurors, and a writer needs to keep […]
April 4, 2018
Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D, forensic psychologist, was one of the Guests of Honor at this year’s Sleuthfest. She gave the Friday luncheon talk followed by a session on “Integrating Forensic Research into Fiction.” Her luncheon talk was fascinating (About the BTK Killer, Dennis Rader) but a bit gory (But no one ran out of the room […]
March 28, 2018
I’d never heard of AWP, so when two writers I know said they would be attending this year’s conference, I asked them to write about their experiences. Please welcome Amy Brown and Patricia Averbach. Making the most of the year’s biggest literary event: AWP ‘18 By guest contributors Amy Brown and Patricia Averbach The Association […]
March 14, 2018
The Agents’ Panel was moderated by Michael Joy, Co-chair of Sleuthfest 2018. The four agents on the panel were: Mitchell Waters, Literary Agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd.; Anne Bomke, The Annie Bomke Literary Agency; Evan Marshall, The Evan Marshall Agency; and Jenny Bent, The Bent Agency. Michael asked questions, which I’ll paraphrase here, and […]
March 7, 2018
Neil Nyron, who recently retired from being the Executive Vice President, Associate Publisher and Editor in Chief of G.P. Putnam’s Sons, gave the welcoming talk Thursday afternoon at the Florida Mystery Writers’ of America 24th annual Sleuthfest in Boca Raton. He’s given 3 other similar talks over the previous three years, each on an element […]
February 28, 2018
If you are reading this blog on Wednesday, February 28, 2018, I am either preparing to leave for or on my way to Boca Raton, Florida for Sleuthfest 2018. (Sleuthfest2018) I’ve attended this conference, which is put on by the Florida Mystery Writers’ of America Chapter, several times now and have always come away with […]
August 2, 2017
Last week, in my blog, I asked others to suggest ways writers might find freelance editors. Here are the suggestions I received: Susan Oleksiw said: I’d include the National Writers Union and its locals. Local chambers of commerce sometimes include editors among their members. In Boston, Grub Street is a good resource for published and […]
April 26, 2017
This will be my last summary of the Sleuthfest 2017 panels I attended. This one was held Saturday evening. Oline H. Cogdill interviewed Reed Farrel Coleman, Jane Cleland, Jess Lourey, and S.J. Rozan. I’m not going to give all of the questions and responses, just the highlights, and I apologize if I misquote anyone. Breaking into […]
April 19, 2017
I’m continuing my summaries of sessions I attended during Sleuthfest 2017 with the Saturday afternoon session titled “Different Paths to Publication.” This panel included Lynnette Hallberg, Sharon Potts, John Keyse-Walker, and Dan Ames with Gregg Brickman moderating. Dan Ames started the conversation by comparing the three common ways of being published today: traditional (large publishing […]
April 12, 2017
David Baldacci was the Saturday keynote luncheon speaker at Sleuthfest 2017. He began his talk by relaying a humorous story about why he won’t go up to anyone reading his book. He said he saw a man reading one of his books and offered to sign it for the man. The man told him, “No […]
April 5, 2017
Saturday morning (February 25), I had a meeting so I didn’t get to “Shooting Solutions, Part 1,” presented by Sharon Plotkin, until it was more than halfway over; nevertheless, I still picked up some interesting information to add to my mysteries. For one thing, Sharon said, “Use gloves to pick up a gun at a […]