by Ellen Byerrum It’s summer. How does your garden grow? This year our pink roses look pretty spectacular, and our lilacs were lovely and fragrant. Still, we lost other flowers to a late spring freeze. In many ways, I suppose, cultivating a garden is like writing a book. It takes time for everything to bloom. If you force it, it won’t flower in the right … Continue reading What Gardening & Mysteries Have in Common (& Fashion Video!)
We welcome to Book Smart suspense author, Kathryn Jane, who wrote the following heartfelt piece about the cost of book piracy. For another riveting account of how even best selling authors can end up being plagiarized by other best selling authors and the wild wild west rules of the book world, also see this piece by Nora Roberts by clicking HERE. Thieves … plagiarists and … Continue reading Thieves… plagiarists and scammers — sisterhood of suspense
by Diana Belchase For those of you interested in writing your memoir, or perhaps the life story of someone you admire, I found a terrific podcast that will help tremendously. While the TheLifeStoryCoach.com is aimed at people who want to make a business of writing — or perhaps, ghost writing — memoirs and biographies, there is a wealth of information for anyone who wants to … Continue reading Win Free Scrivener Software and Write Your Life’s Story
Newfoundland’s Michael Crummey has a way of telling stories hat speak to the Newfoundland experience while also exploring universal themes that appeal to all readers. Awarded the Writer’s Trust Fellowship in 2015, Crummey’s poetry and prose – in multiple genres- have become some of the Canada’s best-loved works. Sweetland is a novel that takes the reader on a journey through a small town, showing the many characters that inhabit such a place. Some are delightful, others are infuriating. Moses himself walks that line throughout the novel. He is at once a sympathetic older man fighting for his right to live his life out in his hometown and a cantankerous old codger, spitting venom at those who cross him. Continue reading Newfoundland Sweet and Crummey Reads
Jonathan Maberry knows how to get into your head. He creates cross-genre thrillers where heroes battle monsters, and he follows teens who see and hear things in their heads. At scaring, thrilling, and understanding the human in us all, he’s a master. And his latest book, Deep Silence, featuring the studly, deeply damaged, Joe Ledger, is out at the end of this month! I can’t … Continue reading Jonathan Maberry: How to Query an Agent or Editor
by Diana Belchase I’m a bit more conservative than most authors. Gorgeous guys on book covers are not my personal style. Still, this gorgeous cover for Gwen Hernandez’s Blind Fury, the first in her Men of Steele series, really has me thinking. Do I really need to be that shy about my heroes best physical assets? I was once asked to contribute a photo of a … Continue reading How Naked Should Your Book Cover Hero Be?
Gothic novelist Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the author of over 30 novels. Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, was published in 1976 and has gone on to become one of the best-selling novels of all time. Rely heavily on concrete nouns and action verbs. Nothing conveys immediacy and excitement like the concrete noun and the … Continue reading How I Do It: Anne Rice on Writing
This week’s guest, author Jacquie Biggar talks about what it’s like to release her first audio book and details the process. Congratulations Jacquie! It’s hard to express the feeling I had this week when Audible released Missing: The Lady Said No to audiobook. Hearing your hero speak for the very first time is indescribable. I’ve been waiting for ACX- (Audible Creation Exchange) the company that produces audiobooks … Continue reading Creating an AudioBook WriterTips with Jacq Biggar
The late Jo Beverley sat down in a final interview with Diana Belchase shorty before she died. Her last book was released today and it is the final jewel in the crown of a much loved and lauded author. Continue reading Jo Beverley’s Last Interview
Author Sharon Wray brings us highlights from this year’s YA’LL fest — a Young Adult book festival in South Carolina. Enjoy! Last week my daughter, my mother, and I held fast to one of our favorite traditions: Going to Charleston, SC for YA’LL Fest, the largest annual Young Adult Book Festival and book signing. With over forty authors and their publishers, publicists, and book store owners running the … Continue reading YA’LL Fest: Where All the YA Fans and Authors Meet Up!
Austin Camacho is incredible. Not only is he former military and the author of ten gripping books, he is also the force behind the C3 Conference. C3 is short for Creatures, Crimes and Creativity — and the event is geared at writers, from those yet to pick up a pen to bestsellers, as well as fans of genre fiction. Whether you love horror, mystery, thriller, … Continue reading 10 Reasons C3 is the Place to Be for Writers and Readers!
Jess Lourey and Shannon Baker are thriller and mystery writers who have, between them, published a whopping 19 books. When they realized Jess’s thriller, Salem’s Cipher, and Shannon’s mystery, Stripped Bare, were set to launch on the same day, September 6, these friends joined forces for the Lourey/Baker Double Booked Tour. Doesn’t that sound delicious? (I promise you it’s better than double chocolate, chocolate-chip cookies!) … Continue reading Kick-Ass or Quiet? Female Sleuths From Miss Marple to V.I. Warshawski
The story of author Sharon Wray’s journey to publication is so inspiring! Please join me (Diana Belchase) in congratulating her on her sale and for her Daphne du Maurier nomination, too. The following article by Sarah Andre couldn’t have said it better! All About Sharon Wray By Sarah Andre Sharon Wray supplied all these photographs…take a look at them…aren’t they SO Sharon Wray?! She’s … Continue reading All about Sharon Wray.
This is a great post by author Dan Blank. Enjoy! It’s really difficult to build an audience for your work, right? Often, I hear people bemoan how things were better in “the good old days.” When we didn’t Source: “I only have 60 followers” By Dan Blank It’s really difficult to build an audience for your work, right? Often, I hear people bemoan how things … Continue reading Every Follower Counts!
By Seattle DogSpot As I sat in the lobby of Amazon headquarters in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, I quickly realized who had the best job in the company: the receptionist. That’s because the dozens of dogs that accompany their people to work there make a beeline for her desk whenever they walk by with the hope of getting a snack from the treat jar she keeps on her … Continue reading Amazon: Dog friendly Seattle’s dog friendliest company
