RISKY PURSUIT

By Nancy G. West                    

We write because when we see things, feel things, and wonder about things, we need to share.

I’ve watched people on the verge of divorce try to decide whether to split up while their children are little or wait until the children are young adults. That’s when Decker Savage popped into my head. An 18-year-old baseball player, Decker still grieves the loss of his baby brother while he dreads his parents’ impending divorce. And things are about to get worse.

 He spots his mother with a mysterious stranger at a dingy café. When the man bolts, and his mother looks devastated, Decker follows the stranger into the darkness. The pursuit leads to a violent confrontation, life-changing secrets, and a dangerous web of lies that threaten to destroy what remains of Decker’s family.

Someone is stalking him, and anonymous notes demand his silence. As the threats escalate, Decker must make an impossible choice: confess to a crime he didn't commit, or watch his family pay the price. With his baseball scholarship on the line and criminal charges looming, Decker must solve the mystery before the stalker strikes again.

When protecting your family means risking everything—
 including your future—how far would you go?

Have you had to make difficult choices? How do you approach them?

 Nancy G. West was a business major who switched to English literature and discovered that writing fiction was a lot more fun than accounting.

She won the Clue award for Nine Days to Evil, and her Aggie Mundeen Rom-Com Mysteries included a Lefty Award Finalist, Chanticleer Awards, and the Raven Award from Uncaged Book Reviews. The Plunge, lead-in to the new spin-off featuring Aggie in The Lake Mysteries, was a June 2019 pick by the American Library Association's Book Club Central. Lake Mystery 2 is in progress. Because she absolutely had to write Risky Pursuit, she ponders Decker’s next dilemma.

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   Goodreads Reviews     Goodreads Lists for Risky Pursuit

Community by Nancy L. Eady

 Greetings from the frozen tundra, here in the great state of … Alabama? I know it sounds weird, but we have stayed cold all week. Our temperatures at night Monday and Tuesday were in the teens, “warmed” up to the 20s Wednesday and Thursday, but tonight we’re plunging right back into the teens, with a high on Saturday in the 20s! The only difference from last week is that I went back to work, since the roads are dry and ice-free. 

And that is important to me, because work is as much about social contact as it is about the legal issues I tackle. It’s one reason full-time remote work isn’t a good idea for me; I miss the people I work with. Which raises the question of how people who are full-time writers satisfy the deep human need for connection and community? 

I’ve studied this issue. One way writers establish community is when they attend conventions or seminars. I’ve been to Bouchercon twice, which is a convention for mystery readers, and it was a blast! I got to meet many of my fellow writers in person and forced myself out of my shell in doing so. On my bucket list for the future are Malice Domestic, Sleuthfest, Crime Bake, and Killer Nashville. Malice Domestic is held in the Washington D.C./northern Virginia area, and is another reader convention focusing on more traditional mysteries, including cozy mysteries. Sleuthfest, Crime Bake, and Killer Nashville are more geared to help writers improve their craft. Sleuthfest is held in Florida every year; Crime Bake is in the Boston area, and Killer Nashville is held, strangely enough, in Nashville. Once I finish my six-month probationary period at my new job, I am going to plan a trip to at least one of them in the next two years. 

Another way to build community among writers is to join a national writing group, such as Sisters-in-Crime and Mystery Writers of America, and one or more of their subchapters. I belong to Sisters-in-Crime, and their on-line subchapter, the Guppies. Besides the fantastic writing advice that I get through the Guppies’ list-serve and other programs, the best thing about the listserv is the chance to meet the other members. Even if I never meet them in person, I still feel connected.

A third way, old-fashioned but effective, is to join a local writing group that meets (gasp!) in person. To be fair, some subchapters of Sisters-in-Crime and Mystery Writers of America meet in person, but there may be other groups as well. An online Google search or a search through Facebook or your social media of choice may help you find them. 

Those are my ideas for making friends and connections in the writing community. What other ideas do you have? Do you think community is necessary for writers? If you’ve tried any of these ideas, which are your favorites? 

Happy New Year

By Suzanne Trauth

The new year is always a good time to take stock of my reading and writing life. I like to think back through the past year and note what I wrote and what I read. Since my recent suspense novel, The First to Die, was released in November, it’s pretty clear what I’ve been doing during the past year: editing and proofreading and promoting. In addition to drafting my next mystery, new writing has been focused on creating marketing materials.

Though I began my crime fiction career with a series of cozy mysteries, I have since turned my focus to psychological suspense. My new book, The First to Die, is a departure for me. I am shifting sub-genres of crime fiction. Shifting genres can happen for any number of reasons: sometimes a story demands a particular category. I wanted to flesh out a narrative that had been on my mind for a while, and I could only satisfy my writing goal through suspense. 

That said, as I take stock of my reading habits during the past year, I’ve asked myself what books have influenced my thinking about, and writing, crime fiction, especially as I shift from cozies to suspense? The answer is: many; but here are a few authors who stood out:

Louise Penny (The Black Wolf) is my go-to writer when I want to create a tight-knit community of characters in a small-town setting. Though a crime writer of more traditional mysteries, with a touch of police procedural, Penny makes me feel at home in Three Pines, with Inspector Armand Gamache, and adds suspense, psychological insights, and intricate stories with twists and turns. She is my north star.

S. A. Cosby (King of Ashes) burns the cover off his latest thriller, literally. His work has steadily increased my admiration for his use of language, beautifully-shaped sentences, and piercing imagery. He thrusts his characters into deep, dark places and isn’t afraid to watch them fight for their lives. Cosby has his finger on the pulse of contemporary life…and death. He gives me courage.

Laura Lippman (Murder Takes a Vacation) is in this group because she also took a step away from her staple—suspense and thrillers—to pen this witty, intelligent, engaging mystery that captivated me with its humorous, but poignant, take on love, independence, and aging. I appreciate the flexibility of her writing and her shifting perspective in crime fiction. She is a great role model.

Megan Abbott (El Dorado Drive) thrills me with every one of her books. I never know where she will lead me, but I willingly follow the leader, and learn that sometimes the reader needs to be cajoled into joining this expedition. Bread crumbs are dropped, senses are stimulated, sentences well-crafted, the story drenched in atmosphere so thick I can almost touch it. And underlying her mesmerizing plot is a frightening darkness that I must acknowledge—humanity can be terrifying.

Ann Cleeves (The Killing Stones) is an inspiring master who schools me with every book: here is how a writer describes windswept, isolated, weather-beaten island life. Combining vivid settings with ingenious plots, Cleeves has such compassion for her characters that I feel for them all—even the guilty ones. And of course, there is her work ethic as she juggles several outstanding series…

Oyinkan Braithwaite (My Sister the Serial Killer) makes me ask: Is there a better title for a crime novel? She wastes no words in this slim mix of the wicked and the witty and teaches me that less is definitely more. Her story is captivating and compelling, giving me all I need to track the crimes and yet not too much—I am forced to read between the lines to follow her protagonist’s journey. She trusts me to keep up.

I will continue to read these writers into the future. But in case I need more, and different inspiration, here are a few authors I plan to tackle in 2026:

Lori Rader-Day (Wreck Your Heart)

Lou Berney (Crooks)

Michael Connolly (Nightshade)

Karin Slaughter (We are All Guilty Here)

Lisa Scottoline (The Unraveling of Julia)

Lisa Jewell (Don’t Let Him In)

Who inspires you? Who do you plan to read this coming year?

Suzanne Trauth is the author of the suspense novel The First to Die, the Dodie O’Dell mystery series—Show Time, Time Out, Running out of Time, Just in Time, No More Time, and Killing Time—and What Remains of Love, an historical romance (Firebird, American Book Fest, Chanticleer book awards), as well as plays and non-fiction books. In her previous career, she spent many years as a university professor of theatre and when she is not writing, she coaches actors. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Dramatists Guild, and the League of Professional Theatre Women and has appeared on many panels at Bouchercon Mystery Conferences. She lives in Woodland Park, New Jersey. www.suzannetrauth.com

An Interview With Tammy Barker

by Grace Topping

In recent years, if you have attended Malice Domestic, a gathering of fans and writers of traditional mysteries held each spring in Bethesda, Maryland, you may have met Tammy Barker. An enthusiastic supporter of mystery authors, Tammy attended author panels, wearing her sleuth-like fedora, and handed out treats to the authors she met. After attending Malice for several years, the writing bug bit, and Tammy challenged herself to join the ranks of mystery-writing authors. It took years of hard work learning the craft of fiction writing and developing a mystery novel, but her efforts have finally paid off. Her debut novel, Call In For Murder, was recently released, much to the delight of the authors who have cheered her on at Malice. It is a pleasure to interview Tammy about her first book. 

 

Call In For Murder

Call-in radio host Ashley Compton is Las Vegas’s best friend when it comes to giving relationship tips to strangers. But when a repeat caller is found murdered after exposing her woes on the air and accepting the challenge to put up or shut up, Ashley questions if her homespun advice was the catalyst for the murder.

Afraid of losing her job and destroying her reputation, Ashley heads to the seedy side of Las Vegas to snoop around. There she encounters shady dealings: lies, gambling, adultery, and potential criminal activities. When her two-timing and felonious suspects spout glib excuses to justify their behaviors, she digs deeper and is threatened, injured, and gets what she dishes out: advice she doesn’t always like.

Can Ashley’s sleuthing skills catch the killer, or will she end up just another crime statistic? Can she save her career, or will she be put on the Do-Not-Call list?

                                                                                    www.amazon.com

 

 

Welcome to Writers Who Kill, Tammy. Congratulations on the publication of your debut novel, Call In for Murder.

 

Thank you very much, Grace. I’m excited to be here with all the murder experts.

 

Ashley Compton, your main character, works for a call-in radio show giving relationship tips to strangers. Does Ashley need to have any special qualifications to give advice, especially when her advice to one caller could have resulted in her being murdered?

 

That’s a great question. When I started, I did my research. Many people on the air and in print don’t have the qualifications to give professional advice. Even lawyers and doctors might have that disclaimer “This article/show is for informational and educational purposes and does not constitute professional advice. Consult with a professional who can assess your situation.” As long as Ashley doesn’t say she’s a professional, she should be safe, unless someone wants to take things to a whole ‘nother level. That’s why she’s called Miss LARE, instead of that 90s movie where Dolly Parton was called Doctor Shirlee. Ashley doesn’t want people to know she’s not a professional, because they might not listen to her. But the way she gives advice, she wouldn’t be fooling anyone.

 

When Ashley begins to track down the caller’s killer, she is remarkably brave—even challenging a casino owner who could possibly be connected to the mob. Are you anything like Ashley?

 

I don’t know if Ashley is brave or goes with her gut, reacting before she thinks. I believe it’s the latter. And yes, I’m like Ashley there. I pulled overnight security at a high-rise apartment building, and once someone called in a domestic dispute. I immediately went upstairs to diffuse the situation without calling the cops first. It was my job. And there was the time I was held at gunpoint, tried to protect the other customers, and gave an accurate description of the two perpetrators. They were caught two weeks later doing it again, and my description was exactly what the pictures showed. I don’t think I’m brave, I just do what I need to do.

 

What inspired you to set your mystery in Las Vegas? From your descriptions of Vegas, it sounds like you know the place well.

 

I wanted a mystery involving the mob and gambling because of my absurd fascination with it. I originally had the idea of Atlantic City. Did you know AC was originally supposed to be a spa and health resort for the wealthy? But the more I tried to design the story, the more I realized AC wouldn’t fit. And since I have an affinity for the old crooners and Elvis and Manilow, I thought of Las Vegas. I visited it several times, conducted interviews, watched people, took pictures, took odd tours, grabbed maps and books about the history and the parts of Vegas people don’t know. That’s why I have a Las Vegas secret tidbit in my monthly newsletter. I want readers to know Las Vegas like I do.

 

You write about the older or seedy side of Vegas, which sounds a lot different than the glitzy strip of famous hotels most people think of as being Vegas. Did you visit the older side to do research? Do you recommend visiting that side?

 

The Strip is glamorous, Downtown is a bit slummier, and off the strip can be sketchy, but there can be danger in every town. Yes, I visited the older parts because I didn’t want a murder set on the Strip. I wanted it to be “locally”, not “touristy.” I researched so I knew where I was going beforehand, and someone always knew where I was. Going to the older parts of town, or at least off the main drags is interesting. That’s where I got the feeling for what the locals were like, because I believe there can be such fakeness on the Strip and Freemont Street. Check the unknown places out if you want, act like you belong there, and don’t go anywhere after dark by yourself. You’ll be fine.

 

Everyone should be so lucky to have a friend like Nathan. What is it about Nathan that makes him stick to Ashley, even when she doesn’t always heed his advice?

 

Poor Nathan. He considers Ashley his pet project. He knows her life, even what’s not in the story. They met when she first moved to town, and he was nosy about L.A. He may not understand, but he’s there for her. In his eyes they are “friend soul mates,” if that is a thing, even if she doesn’t always listen to his advice. She is a control freak like me. He got her the radio show job interview because of his connections, and her advice helped him in the past. He feels like he “owes her.” He’s a romantic at heart, so he would never give up on his project. 

 

In an interesting subplot, Ashley’s ex-fiancé Frank relentlessly pursues her, even when she is quite firm that she doesn’t want anything more to do with him. Why won’t Frank take no for an answer, especially since he was unfaithful to her to begin with?

 

When I created Frank, I was using my past. Someone not as goodlooking as Frank but had the same attitude. Frank thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips. He doesn’t take no for an answer because he dumps women, they don’t dump him. Plus, there are people who think being unfaithful is okay. He’s the kind of person who always wants what he can’t have. He can’t have Ashley, so he must win her back. Will he keep trying? Is he falling for her because she’s elusive? Will I kill him off in a later story? Right now, I have no clue.

 

You have been attending Malice Domestic for years. What came first, your interest in Malice as a mystery fan, or your desire to write mysteries? Did Malice inspire you to start writing?

 

I went to Malice for the first time in 2005 when I saw someone walking around with a prior year’s bag and asked about it. I had never even thought about writing anything for real. I’d always liked writing reports in school, but fiction writing was never in my mind. After a couple of years, I started asking myself what if I tried to write a mystery, just to see if I could do it? I messed around with the idea for several years before I started in earnest. Then it took several more years before I became serious. But the short answer is yes, Malice and subsequently Nanowrimo (National November Writing Month) is what got my writing started.

 

Will you be participating on panels at the next Malice?

I have volunteered to be on a panel in April (as well as any other opportunities they offer self-published authors); it just depends on if they have one that would be a good fit for me. I would love it. Or maybe they will make me a moderator, which will be a lot of homework to do fast so that I do the authors justice. And depending on the panel, will a fedora (my signature look) work?

 

Absolutely. You wouldn’t be the same without it. 

 

After years of working on your manuscript, you found an agent who was excited about your work. Did her unexpected passing inspire you to take publication of your book into your own hands?

 

I was very excited when Dawn Doddle offered me representation. She was at the top of my list for boutique agents. We were ready to send the manuscript to publishing houses when she passed. I tried getting another agent, but it wasn’t the same as with Dawn. When my husband got sick last year, I decided to take the bull by the horns and self-publish. Dawn is always on my mind, and I contacted her daughter to ask if Dawn would be disappointed if I self-published. I was given the green light and went for it.

 

As an accountant, I would imagine that you deal with a lot of structure. Did you bring that structure to your story and know where it was going, or did you write it by the seat of your pants?

 

Accounting is done by planning because of all the rules. There is a structure, and one must make sure the numbers are understood. The opposite end, the auditing, is like solving a mystery, with clues and/or red herrings to tell an auditor if something looks out of place; what we call “creative bookkeeping.” I never made the correlation in real time before you asked me this question. Accountants are organized, and yes, it does come through in my writing. I create detailed settings, characters dossiers, and a list of necessary and potential scenes before I write a single word. But that doesn’t mean I don’t veer from my plan, which I do often enough. There is a scene in book two that shocked me at the end of writing it, because I had not planned it at all.

 

What’s next for Ashley?

 

I am in the process of revising book two in the series, which I plan to release in October 2026. In this one, Ashley’s hit a little closer to home, because she personally knows the main suspect. It’s Nathan being accused of murder. The theme for this book is fashion and keeping your social ranking and appearance in Las Vegas. Ashley has to deal with a secret at work and is asked to help another friend with sleuthing to get a promotion. She’s going to be a busy gal in book two.

 

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned since you started writing?

 

I learned two important things, if I may. #1 Writing is not a solitary journey, you must network. Yes, writing by yourself is the norm, but the process is not done alone. You need to ask people advice on stuff you know nothing about, use sounding boards for ideas and solving problems, accept encouragement to keep trying, and have professionals do what you can’t (such as editing or cover art). Networking is key.

 

 #2 Finish the book!

 

Thank you, Tammy. I look forward to reading book two.

 

 

Bio: Tammy Barker is a serious, by-the-book Washington, DC government accountant by day and a wildly imaginative fiction writer by night. She writes contemporary traditional amateur sleuth mystery novels and historical pulp fiction short stories. Her other loves include reading anything, restoring or refurbishing vintage items, small home repairs, cooking and baking, classical piano, and wishing she lived during the 1940s and 1950s. You can find her website at tammybarkerwriter.com, where you can learn more about her writing ideas, and get to know Miss LARE a bit better by reading her advice.

 

 

Grace Topping is the USA Today bestselling author and Agatha Award finalist of the Laura Bishop Mystery Series. 

The Sweet Excess of NOLA's Mardi Gras Carnival Season by Martha Reed

As a child growing up in the American Midwest (Ohio and Kansas) I considered the Christmas holiday season to be the festive highlight of my year. Christmas week leading into New Year’s Day still wipes me out with seeing the out-of-town relatives and the newcomers, catching up on their latest happenings, and getting the spreads ready for the get-togethers, the football game halftime shows, and the special holiday cocktail parties. But since I’ve started writing my New Orleans Mystery series and researching NOLA culture, I’ve come to realize that for hardcore New Orleanians, Christmas is just a pre-game warmup. NOLA's Carnival season begins on January 6th, AKA Twelfth Night, the last night of the twelve days of Christmas, and then it runs for 43 more days until Fat Tuesday (AKA Mardi Gras), February 17th, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.

Yikes! I am a rank partying amateur. These NOLA folks are professional caliber party animals.

Twelfth Night is important because it's the day the Christmas holiday decorations and trees are taken down and New Orleanians traditionally start hunting for an iced King Cake.

What’s a King Cake, you ask? It’s only the carbohydrate version of crack cocaine. Once you try a slice, you will annually crave it. (Trust me on this.) Fashioned from a ring of slightly sweet brioche dough, a King Cake is iced with vanilla glaze or frosting and gold, purple, and green sprinkles. It also features (or hides) a plastic Baby Jesus figurine. Tradition holds that whoever gets the slice with Baby Jesus on it (or in it) needs to treat their friends to the King Cake the following year.

And since NOLA is ground zero for traditional superstitions, it’s also important – once you slice into the King Cake to keep the same knife in the box for good luck until the entire cake is gone. This last item may just be lazy housekeeping – there’s so much sugar in the frosting there’s no way any germs could get into it and otherwise you’ll just keep unnecessarily dirtying knives as you keep returning time and again for one final slice. (Trust me again on this.)

Between beignets and King Cake, NOLA is out to get you.

Also during Carnival, Mardi Gras parades roll through the streets featuring elaborate floats hosted by social clubs called krewes. Some krewes like the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club go back to Carnival’s very beginning. Participants in this krewe are famously known for tossing prized beaded necklaces, fake gold doubloons, and plastic coconuts into the crowds lining the sidewalks. Some krewes, like the Krewe of Tucks, irreverently throw jeweled toilet brushes.

I’ve even invented a krewe of my own – Krewdio-54 whose members are disco music devotees. Laissez les bons temps rouler! I suspect that in my next NOLA Mystery this group will be parading down St. Charles Street dancing to Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer while on roller skates.

Have you visited New Orleans during Carnival/Mardi Gras? What was your experience like?

Cold and Ice by Nancy L. Eady

If every television, computer, tablet, and cell phone in your house stopped working last week, you may have missed the giant winter storm that slid through a good portion of the United States Friday and Saturday. When I looked at the watches and warnings for the Deep South on Thursday and Friday, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia were awash with colors showing the possibility of ice and snow. Yet Alabama, smack dab in the middle of those three states, stayed colorless. A low from the Gulf of Mexico centered itself in such a way that warm moisture from the Gulf staved off the worst of the storm for us, although it gifted us with a ton of rain both Saturday and Sunday. The downpour stopped about 3:30 Sunday afternoon.

Even the Gulf low, however, couldn't stave off the Arctic weather we are experiencing now.  By the time the downpour stopped on Sunday, the temperatures were already nose-diving from the earlier high of 53.  Sunday night's low was 18, and Monday night's is going to be even worse, at 12. In a state where a “normal” winter low is between 30 and 50 degrees, such low temperatures shock all of our systems. 

The cold is bad enough on its own, but none of the water left by the rain Sunday afternoon had a chance to run off the roadways into the ditches before the temperature dropped below freezing, so our roads are going to be nightmares today, Monday. Since the temperature today is only expected to reach 33, the ice may not start melting until Tuesday. In a state where a single reported snowflake triggers a wave of closings, ice on the road is deadly. People down here don’t know how to watch for it, how to drive on it, or how to avoid it.

The only upside to the way this storm came through is that we avoided ice accumulations on the trees and power lines. I plan to hunker down until tomorrow, when hopefully it warms up enough to clear the roads. 

There is, as always, at least one silver lining. Even if the roads ice over from the standing water, we have power.  I can use at least some of the time I spend huddling in my house working on my writing. I am looking forward to it. Now I have to settle the debate on whether to work on revising a finished draft or adding new words to the current WIP. I’ll probably just flip a coin to decide. 

Do you like to write when the weather has you cooped up indoors? If not, what is your favorite writing weather? 

Reviewers You Want to Kill by Coralee Hicks

Please welcome my dear friend, Coralee Hicks, to Writers Who Kill. This essay is the result of several long conversations she and I have had about books and reviews. ~~Annette Dashofy

Definition: 

A book review is a critical evaluation and analysis of a book that summarizes its content (plot, themes, argument, etc.) but primarily offers a reasoned assessment of its strengths, weaknesses, effectiveness, and overall quality, helping potential readers decide if the book is worthwhile. It combines description with critical commentary, analyzing the author's style, purpose, and contribution to its field, rather than just retelling the story.  

This definition comes from Google. I assume it is from AI as it didn’t cite the source. It does cover the process of reviewing, a task that I have been doing for almost all my professional life as a librarian. I believe in the purpose of reviewing and continue to post on non-professional sites like Goodreads and NetGalley. I do wonder now how important are reviews in the world of publishing in the 21st Century.  

Where does reviewing fit in writing and publishing: A Very Brief History.  

It’s part of the human condition to live and engage in the world. All art can be understood as a means to express our experience through different media, from concrete examples like painting and sculpture; to pure sound such as jazz, classical, and rock; to dance. All the muses, if you will, including the spoken and written word. Once the review is presented, a general reaction will be for others to engage and offer opinions about the event. 

Ancient texts from Greece mention commentaries on previous works. Romans analyzed and commented on scrolls written by prior historians. The strength of our knowledge of the past can be attributed to the analytical process of studying what was popular, or what was censored, in the past.  

In the West, as literacy became more universal, books, pamphlets, broadsheets, and newspapers began to flourish. By the mid-18th Century, two journals devoted to book reviews were published in England. In America, the New York Times began devoting a special section for books in 1896. However, as late as 1970, it can be said that the field of reviewing was, for the most part, reserved for white men of certain social status, who wrote reviews for other white men who belonged to the “same clubs.” 

The ferment of the 1970’s and the introduction of the World Wide Web opened the review process to any interested person. Today, a quarter way through the 21st Century, Artificial Intelligence plays a significant role in reviewing, by taking over mundane tasks such as grammar checks, print layout, and checking for similar sources. However, AI has yet to get a handle on critical thinking or nuance. To date, while AI can regurgitate text, it cannot create new concepts. 

Reviews as a marketing tool 

During most of my library career, my reviewing was secondary to the reader’s advisory part of the public service. In my public library system, there was a process for book acquisitions. All titles went through a review process that ensured the material would meet the standards of the formal library associations. Book budgets in the public sector come from tax dollars, and for this reason, material also has a process where the public has/had a right to request a review to “deselect” a title from the collection. Reviewing material was the foundation for building trust with the public. That the library was presenting the best material for the needs of all the members of the community. If a reader was looking for “something good” to read, standard questions followed, which would guide the reader to the shelves or displays that matched their interests.  

(There’s a possibility of discussing heated politics, but I don’t think this belongs in this article i.e. Freedom of Information and censorship.) 

Marketing has always used reviews as a promotional tool. Readers, who use online sources such as Goodreads or Amazon, can assume the information is reliable and choose to purchase a title. This is similar to the old “word of mouth” buzz that was used in the mid-20th century. Once a review is published, a favorable review can be used for promotional purposes. Book jackets frequently have favorable quotes from authors lauding the material. Publishers also will use other media sources to promote a book, such as podcasts. Favorable reviews will interest promoters and might lead to increased sales. In addition, advertisements that pop up online are enhanced by positive reviews that might lead the reader to a new author, which is beneficial for writers who self-publish, use indie presses, or have contracted with small presses. Lately platforms such as Patreon, Substack, and, to an extent, Facebook provide fan bases that will build a readership leading to success.  

What is a “bad” or not useful review 

Let’s focus on reviews that discuss the mystery genre. 

In my opinion, one of the top flaws is found in a review that offers spoilers rather than a simple plot synopsis. If I want to know who the perpetrator is, I should get the book and read the last chapter. Otherwise, this is cheating.  

This type of review usually comes from someone who is not really committed to writing the review. Saying “This was stupid” or “I didn’t like it” is not helpful. Saying “I was not happy when she went into the basement knowing there was a hot wire in the water,” is helpful.  

When the book is clearly identified as a sub-genre and the reviewer states otherwise, they are 

not playing fair. Saying a cozy is not blood curdling or erotic enough is missing the point for a cozy mystery.  

A reviewer who gets overly picky with the storyline isn’t helpful. Yes, in true crime stories, someone might get caught up in the details. However, fictional mysteries may be reality based but can be more fluid. What does it matter if the streets in the town do not match the actual town layout? For example, right now in Seattle, it will take more than an hour to get from point A to point B due to road construction. Unless this pertains to the plot, does the setting matter?  

A review that seems to be written by a super fan or perhaps a family member isn’t especially helpful. Very few books are “timeless,” “destined to be a best seller,” or “beloved by millions.”  

Then, there are the reviews that are simply cut and paste sections from the book jacket, which is plagiarism at best or just laziness.  

What is my personal philosophy?  

Over my years as a reviewer, I have developed a personal belief on reviewing. Now that I am retired, I limit my reviews to genres that I enjoy: mysteries, fantasy, especially fantasy mysteries, those written with a Young Adult audience, and those written by and for people of diverse backgrounds. I have chosen not to review books that I simply do not care for.  

I think every book has an audience, and the reviewer should honor this. I am committed to writing unbiased reviews. When I do encounter a plot that I find to be problematic, I will not submit the review. For example: I turned down a plot where a woman was forced to overindulge in drinking and then was made a source of humor for the rest of the story. Not funny and not good. I am squeamish, and if violence occurs in vivid graphic detail, I probably cannot finish the book. Mysteries do involve victims.  It is one thing for a body to fall off a cliff.  It is quite another for the next five pages to describe the gathering of each of the body parts.  

The fact that I’m reading an eBook or holding a hardback tells me the writer has passed many hurdles before the title got to me. The book has had an editor and a copyeditor and most likely has gone through many revisions. I feel this book deserves every chance to find the right audience and become successful. That is my job as a reviewer.  

Coralee Hicks has been reading and reviewing books for many years. Now retired she lives in Tampa FL  in a book-filled home with her daughter and 3 cats. 

  

It’s a Plan

By Kait Carson

"If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else."—Yogi Berra

Sometimes, Yogi, you can end up someplace else even with a roadmap. Sigh—sad truth. But then again, unintentional trips down sideroads can provide the best scenery. That’s as true of the writing life as it is of real life. I confess I’m the type of person who would get in a car and go. Turn wherever suits my fancy, stop at the cute bed-and-breakfast, picnic on the grass beside a babbling brook. There was a time in my life when I would go to the airport and book on the next departing flight. In short, I’m flexible, and that’s served me well. As random as it sounds, it wasn’t. I always had a plan. The plan was always flexible, but the aim was to collect experiences.

Now that I’ve morphed into a full-time writer, those experiences are useful. So are the thirty years of journals lining my bookshelves, but that’s another blog for another day. This blog is about planning. And welcoming 2026.

As you have probably guessed, I’m not good at ironclad structure. Gives me hives. What I crave is flexible accountability, and lots of color. After all, I came of age in the era of Carnaby Street and Peter Max. My idea of a perfect plan combines two desk calendars, one wall calendar, and one wall chart. Full disclosure. I have two wall charts, but the second one is only for word count, and I wish they made more colors for dry erase markers. Alas, there’s not much to choose from in that regard. That aside, this is how my plan to plan or not works.

It all begins with the Quo Vadis Minister agenda. The new ones usually drop in August, and in my mailbox soon after. The first pages feature an annual page a month calendar. I use it to record birthdays, deadlines, and appointments. I use the interior weekly pages to keep track of how I spend my time and record my word count. A nice, big column on the right side lets me write my aspirations and cross them off when I accomplish them. At the end of the week, I transfer those hours into a spreadsheet. I aim for four hours of writing work daily and another two of marketing. If the spreadsheet is falling short, I do a deeper dive to figure out what happened and what, if anything, needs to change. Items like health, weather, power outages, and multiple non-writing appointments happen. If I’m spending too much time on Wordle. That needs to be addressed. There’s only so much slack my flexibility will permit.

 The Happy Planner is my true planner. It’s perfect for figuring out my writing process so I can set realistic deadlines. Last year I learned that for the first draft, plotting takes ten days, writing takes sixty, and editing another thirty. I map those events out in big blocks and decorate them with stickers and colored pens. Each day has a blank box where I fill in the word count. Empty blank boxes make me itch.

My final calendar is by Suzy Toronto. By now you can guess the attraction. It also serves as my at-a-glance calendar. The blue boxes are birthdays, the pink deadlines, and the orange stripes at the bottom have the names of our fifth weekday bloggers. The boxes are big enough for me to see them without my glasses. A huge plus for a writer of a certain age. Besides the colorful format, I love the upbeat introductory essays.

The last link in the chain is about writing. I have an old-school whiteboard calendar hanging on the wall behind my door. Instead of dates, the boxes each represent a chapter, and the Post-It notes serve as guides for the events that need to happen. As I write each chapter, I remove the Post-Its for everything except red herrings and clues, and add a different color Post-It representing red herring resolutions. By the time I finish the first draft, I have a visual skeleton of the book, and I’m able to spot those pesky plot holes. And if the book takes an unexpected sideroad midway through, rearranging Post-It notes to suit is a simple solution.

What about you? How do you plan your time and production?

 Kait Carson writes the Hayden Kent Mysteries, set in the Fabulous Florida Keys, and is at work on a new mystery series set in her adopted state of Maine. Her short fiction has been nationally published in the True Confessions magazines and in Woman’s World. Kait’s short story, “Gutted, Filleted, and Fried”, appeared in the Silver Falchion Award nominated Guppy Anthology Hook, Line, and Sinker. Her nonfiction essay was included in the Agatha Award-winning book Writing the Cozy Mystery. She is a former President of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, a member of Sisters in Crime, and Guppies.

Evolution and Context by Nancy L. Eady

If you study nature, you can see the ongoing process of evolution all around you.  For example, in a city in Britain, there was a moth that was mainly white, although a few individuals were black.  But over time, as Britain became more industrialized, the moth’s primary color changed to black, the reason being that the blacker the streets, sidewalks, and surroundings became from smoke and oil residues, the easier it was for the moth’s predators to see the white moths before the black moths. 

Language and grammar evolve as well.  One of the beautiful things about English is the rate at which it conjures up new words, adds new meanings to existing words, and switches grammar rules around.  

For example, in English class in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, I was taught that if you were writing about a person who could be either male or female, you were supposed to just use the pronoun “he.”  “He” was understood to be inclusive of all genders.  

As I started writing briefs and studying the law in the 1990’s, I noticed that rather than just using “he,” many writers shifted to “he/she” or “he or she.”  

So, in the 1970’s, I would write the following sentence: 

“Mary Castlemayne got angry at the person who entered her house without wiping his shoes, no matter who he was.” 

In the 1990’s, that sentence morphed to: 

“Mary Castlemayne got angry at the person who entered her house without wiping his or her shoes, no matter who he or she was.”  

Or

“Mary Castlemayne got angry at the person who entered her house without wiping his/her shoes, no matter who he/she was.”  

In the 2000’s, as people become more aware of personal pronoun choices, that sentence then became: 

“Mary Castlemayne got angry at the person who entered her house without wiping his/her/their shoes, no matter who he/she/they were.”  

Now, in the 2020’s, I have noticed another shift, toward the sole use of the pronoun “they” in such situations.

“Mary Castlemayne got angry at the person who entered her house without wiping their shoes, no matter who they were.”  

I am torn by this latest iteration.  I do not hesitate to use it when it makes a sentence less cumbersome, but at the same time, part of me cringes whenever I do so because an atavistic voice in the back of my head keeps shouting that it’s wrong.  

So, to my official grammarians out there, and the many excellent writers who contribute to and read this blog, I would like to know if you have noticed this as a trend, and whether you think the 2020’s use of “they” instead of “he” or “he or she” or “he/she” or “he or she or they” or “he/she/they” is proper grammar?  Am I the only one who has noticed this change?  Is there another way to tackle this issue?  

Technology: The New Wild West by Connie Berry

 

I’m careful online—I really am. I don’t click on suspicious emails, and I never give my information to anyone. I know that those “wonderful” book club fans who love my latest work are just AI solicitation. And yet two days ago my computer was hacked and my personal information was accessed remotely. Someone started ordering high-ticket items with my VISA card. All I did was click on an invitation from a writer friend. And yes, her computer had been hacked, too.

Fortunately, I alerted VISA right away. I won’t be charged for the pricey I-phone or the 18K gold necklace from Nordstrom. Still. This feels a lot like a house invasion. And the emotional toll is only the beginning. My entire computer has had to be erased and then restored (incompletely). All my credit cards have been stopped. And all my passwords are in the process of being changed. The criminal had even changed a few of my passwords so I was temporarily locked out. The entire process is going to take me weeks if not months.

I know how people in the 17^th century must have felt embarking on a stagecoach journey. Would they arrive at their destination safe and sound, or would they have to surrender all their valuables to highway robbers? It’s the Wild West out there online.

Fortunately, I’ve recovered my WIPs. For one awful hour or so, I thought they’d been lost.

Here’s the bottom line: you can’t trust anything online these days. Not even if it comes from someone in the writing community. Begin with the assumption that someone is trying to scam you. Be sure to send copies of your work to yourself daily. Changing passwords is a pain, but losing a manuscript you’ve worked on for months is unthinkable. And the most difficult part? We need technology. Writers need computers. And the new world of AI is coming, whether we like or not--for good and for ill.

What is the cleverest scam you’ve received? Forewarned is forearmed.

Killer Questions: Our Favorite Holiday Traditions

Killer Questions – Our Favorite Holiday Traditions

With so many holidays between Thanksgiving and New Year’s now behind us, we thought it would be interesting to compare our favorite holiday traditions.

Debra H. Goldstein: I have two favorite holiday related traditions. One is simply gathering together as a family to light the candles for Chanukah and then to play dreidel for pennies. The other is one Jewish families also often do – going out for Chinese food on Christmas eve.

Sarah E. Burr: Christmas movies and Christmas carols. I love to sing, and holiday songs are just so stunning. "O Holy Night" and "We Three Kings" are two of my favorites to belt out whenever, wherever.

Grace Topping: My absolute favorite holiday tradition occurs on the first Saturday in December, when the City of Alexandria, Virginia, holds its annual Scottish Christmas Walk through Old Towne Alexandria. Alexandria is the site of the first Scottish settlement in the New World, and the Scots come out in full force to celebrate. The Walk features bagpiping bands, Scottish clans walking behind banners proclaiming their clans, representatives from Dundee, Scotland, the sister city of Alexandria, antique cars, groups of dogs from breeds originating in the United Kingdom, everyone throwing candy to the kids along the route, and Santa and Mrs. Claus at the end. The Walk has been the kick-off for the holiday season for my family for the past 35 years, and my grown children come into town just for the event. My husband is always so concerned about getting parking that we have frequently been the first people standing on the street awaiting the event.

Lori Roberts Herbst: We collect ornaments from places we travel. Getting them out every year is a way to relive our wonderful memories.

Kait Carson: Growing up we had two hard and fast Christmas traditions. The youngest child fixed the angel to the top of the tree, and the person who found the pickle ornament received a special present-usually cash. An antique mouth-blown pickle still takes pride of place in my Christmas ornament collection.

Judy Murray: I have many but if I had to choose it would be the overnight Christmas Day evening with everyone under one roof. 

Korina Moss: Doing all the holiday things leading up to Christmas, so that Christmas Day is just staying home in our pjs in front of the fire and relaxing, then eating Chinese food for dinner. All the holiday things usually include: walking through the Holiday Lights Spectacular at the RWP Zoo, visiting the display of gingerbread houses at the library, visiting Yankee Candle village, and spending a couple of days walking through the Christmas magic in NYC.

Heather Weidner: Enjoying time off with family and friends, looking at all the holiday lights, and decorating for Christmas.

K.M. Rockwood: Every year, we'd put on our PJ's, ready for bed on Christmas Eve, then hang our "stockings" (really one of our best sturdy pairs, usually hand-knit red wool) and then my father would read or tell Christmas stories. He'd start with the poem A Visit from St. Nicolaus, go on to the traditional Christmas Visitor, and add one of his own Lucky Left Hind Foot rabbit stories. In later years, The Grinch joined the list. It was my favorite part of the holiday.

Marilyn Levinson: Going around the table, each person saying what he/she is thankful for.

Shari Randall: For Thanksgiving. Honestly, we all just eat until we can't take another bite.

Paula G. Benson: When I was growing up, my Grandfather, succeeded by my Aunt, were the postmasters for a one person run post office where we sent our presents. I remember going with my Mother to our local post office. She always mentioned where our package was being sent. It was a recognition and an appreciation that the post office kept families connected.

James M. Jackson: Shanksgiving: We share a thanks-giving dinner with our neighbors on Shank Lake on a convenient weekend when people are available as we are apart on Thanksgiving.

 

A Little History for the Holiday

 by Paula Gail Benson

 

Martin and Katie Luther

My first experience onstage (at age ten) was with the St. Paul’s Players at my church, St. Paul’s Lutheran in Columbia, South Carolina. Now, I’ve taken on duties as director and writer for the group. Each year, in addition to other presentations, we have a Christmas/holiday dinner theatre production in early December.

This year, we offered The Love Letters of Katie and Martin Luther. For those unfamiliar with their story, Martin became a monk whose teachings led to the Reformation. One idea he wrote about was that monks and nuns could break their vows of celibacy and marry without sin, because those vows were an illegitimate and vain attempt to win salvation. Katie, who had lived in a convent since she was five years old and became a nun, heard his message and with eleven other nuns escaped to have families of their own. When Martin could find no other male Katie would accept as a husband, she suggested that he marry her. Together, they made a home in the Black Cloister, had six children (four of whom lived to be adults), and entertained guests and students.

For our production, five actors participated in a readers’ theatre style program (where the actors do not have lines memorized, but read from scripts, letting their spoken inflections and interpretations rather than physical actions be the focus). Because the presentation concentrated on the language, the audience could listen to the the history of and some of the words spoken by Katie and Martin, their daughter Margaretha (the only daughter who survived beyond childhood), Martin’s father Hans (who hoped his son might become a lawyer), Pope Leo X (who argued with Martin over his 95 theses and ultimately excommunicated him), and Leonhard Koppe (a merchant who bravely rescued Katie and eleven other nuns—risking his own life if he had been caught).

John Arnold, who has played various roles in previous St. Paul’s Players’ productions, including Sherlock Holmes and Santa Claus, took on the role of Martin. Penry Gustaufson, in her first role with the Players, brought spirit, frankness, and charm to Katie, enchanting us all by singing “From Heav’n Above to Earth I Come,” a hymn written by Luther for his family to sing at Christmas. As Margaretha, Janie Fulmer, asked questions about how the Luthers met and married. Olin Jenkins, as the Pope, took the mallet from Luther’s hand to gavel the order of excommunication. Scott Stepp took on two roles, as Hans Luther and as Leonhard Koppe, changing his voice subtly to indicate the difference in status of the men. Susan Moffitt provided pre-show music and accompanied Penry during the hymn while Billy Itter handled lights and sound. Tim Scott did a marvelous job catering the function.

Readers’ theatre was a new approach for us, but it worked well for this play by keeping the audience focused on concepts rather than staging. Also, for a year when we all had lots of added responsibilities, rehearsals were easier to accommodate using a readers format.

For each production, we select a “cast project” to seek donations from our audience. This year, we chose Food for the Soul, a ministry providing free meal programs, emergency overnight sheltering, and year-round homeless sheltering for people in need in Kershaw County, South Carolina. We were grateful to raise $600.

If you are not familiar with the story of Katie and Martin Luther, you might wish to read Michelle DeRusha’s Katharina and Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun and a Renegade Monk (Baker Books 2017) or Ruth A. Tucker’s Katie Luther: First Lady of the Reformation (Harper Collins/Zondervan 2017).

Did you discover or participate in any unique historical holiday traditions this year? Did any involve the theatre?

The Luther Rose

Writing Resolutions - Why Bother? by Debra H. Goldstein

Writing Resolutions - Why Bother? - by Debra H. Goldstein

For the past few weeks, we have been inundated with writers of articles and blogs, podcasters, TV interviewers, and even family members discussing New Year’s resolutions. One common theme is how many of the resolutions, like exercising to lose weight or writing 1,000 words a day, aren’t followed through upon. Many reasons are given for individual failures: “I got sick and couldn’t get to the gym,” “I got sick and couldn’t get out of bed long enough to write one word let alone 1,000,” or “I got carried away by the season and set an unrealistic goal for myself.”

The latter often is the case. But, I ask you, why set yourself up to be disappointed? Why bother using time and energy to make a resolution? Why not simply do the act, whether it is exercise or writing, to the best of your ability on any given day?

Some say that making the resolution provides accountability. After all, success reinforces good behavior. That’s wonderful, but what level of accountability does failure instill? Will the exerciser or writer crawl into a ball and opt not to do anything rather than strike out again?

Maybe I’m being cynical about resolutions? What do you think? Would you rather simply do what you can or adhere to a resolution (and will you stick to it)?

 

Giving My Author Website Its Annual Checkup (No Waiting Room Required) by Sarah E. Burr

Author websites have a funny way of becoming invisible to us. We build them with care and big plans, and then we move on to the next book, the next deadline, the next shiny project. Before we know it, months or even years have passed, and our website is quietly doing its best with copy that no longer quite fits who we are or where we are in our writing careers.

This year, I decided to tackle a website refresh. Not a dramatic teardown or a full redesign, mind you, but a thoughtful check-in. And honestly? It was far less painful than I expected.

Your Website Is Part of Your Author Toolkit

We talk a lot about newsletters, social media, ads, and book launches, but your website is the one place online that belongs entirely to you. Algorithms cannot hide it. Platforms cannot change the rules overnight. It works for you around the clock, welcoming new readers while you are busy writing, reading, or sleeping. That alone makes it worth visiting on a semi-regular basis.

A yearly refresh is not about perfection. It is about alignment. Does your website still reflect the stories you are writing now? Does it clearly tell new readers who you are and what kind of books they will find? Does it feel like a warm invitation or a confusing hallway of links?

Start With the Front Door

For me, the biggest update was my “homepage hero section.” That opening text is doing a lot of heavy lifting. It needs to answer three questions quickly: Who is this author, what do they write, and am I in the right place?

If a new reader lands on your site and has to work too hard to figure that out, they may leave before ever clicking deeper. A small tweak in wording can make a huge difference in clarity and confidence.

Think of it as greeting someone at the door instead of shouting your book list from the next room.

Make It Easy to Begin

One of the most helpful things you can do for readers is give them a clear place to start. When you have multiple books or series, abundance is wonderful, but only if it is presented with intention.

A yearly refresh is a great time to ask yourself whether a brand-new reader can easily figure out what to read first. If the answer is no, that is not a failure. It is simply an opportunity to guide them a little more gently.

Your Website Does Not Need to Do Everything

This is important, so I will say it again. Your website does not need to do everything. It does not need to hold every thought you have ever had, every post you have written, or every platform you have ever tried. It needs to do a few things well. Welcome readers. Explain your work. Offer a way to stay connected. Everything else is a bonus.

A Little Maintenance Goes a Long Way

You do not need to wait for a new year, a new release, or a total brand overhaul to check in with your site, either. Even setting a reminder once every few months to read your pages with fresh eyes can be incredibly helpful. Think of it as dusting the shelves rather than rebuilding the house.

Your author website is a quiet partner in your career. It shows up every day, whether you are paying attention or not. Giving it a little care now and then is not just good marketing: It is good stewardship of your work and your readers.

And the best part? Once you are done, you can close the tab and go back to the part you love most: Writing the next story.