Murder, mystery and crime blog written by several authors of short stories and novels.
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by Maureen Milliken The newspaper article wasn’t anything exciting. Someone in New Hampshire was running out of time to claim their $100,000 lottery win. I read the story half-hoping that I'd bought a Powerball ticket in Franklin, New Hampshire, last September and somehow forgot about it and the winner was me. Even though I haven’t bought a Powerball ticket in a while and can’t remember the last…
As I write this at 8:30 at night, I am waiting for my daughter to get back from the pet store, gearing up for the fight I know we’re going to have as soon as she gets back. It’s not that she’s coming home with a pet we haven’t given her permission to have (been there, done that, with three rabbits, a guinea pig, a kitten, two frogs and four hermit crabs over the last four years), but one of our…
Writing is a Craft and a Career My all-time favorite craft-of-writing book is Chris Roerden’s Don’t Sabotage Your Submission (published originally as Don’t Murder Your Manuscript ). I learned so much from that book as a new writer that I’ve recommended it to others many times. The book covers no fewer than twenty-four newbie traps to avoid, including Bloody Backstory, Fatal Flashback, Dying…
by Grace Topping Niki Unbound Devastating intel. No one left to trust. A government that wants her erased. But walking away isn’t in Niki’s DNA. All her working life, she’s disappeared into false lives to keep her country safe. Now that country has cut her loose—no sponsor, no support, no return. Then she learns of an imminent decapitation strike designed to seize the presidency—and no way to stop…
The Mary Roberts Rinehart Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime recently announced an open call for their next anthology titled: “Gold Bridges, Dark Rivers.” Oddly, I’ve never written anything set in my hometown, so I sharpened my pencil and got down to it. Pittsburgh has so many idiosyncrasies I didn’t know which one to pick. The most glaringly obvious one is Pittsburghese, our local dialect,…
There is nothing worse than knowing that you have a deadline and staring at the blank page (or screen) and having absolutely no idea what to say. I mean zilch. What guidelines do I use in deciding what to write for this blog? My first requirement is that it be a topic that can carry me for somewhere between 500 and 1000 words. Sometimes I’m just under, sometimes I’m over, but that length works…
Over twenty years ago, when I first decided to focus on my lifelong passion of writing fiction for publication, I had a vision of what my days as an author would look like. I would spend the mornings creating prose, then spend my afternoons with my feet up, reading the latest bestsellers to keep up with the trends. I confess, on rare days, this fantasy comes true. Maybe one day out of the month,…
by Jule Selbo Being a ‘guest’ on a blog is an honor. The regulars on Writers Who Kill have years of writing experience and great books resting under their blog-umbrella. Being a guest here means I get a chance to talk about my latest book , 6 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery , and muse a bit about my writing experience and the fact that I am a ‘recovering Hollywood screenwriter’. My screenwriting career…
I unexpectedly needed duck tape Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. Pulling into a parking spot, thinking about a project with a deadline instead of my parking, I ended up grinding the front of the car on a low curb. I have done that before, but today was special. This time, the scraping shook the plastic bottom of the front bumper loose on both the driver’s and passenger's sides of the car. It…
When it comes to cats, I sometimes think there are two kinds of people. The cat haters shudder when you mention the word "cat." "They're sneaky." "They climb everywhere." "They don't listen." "They won't love you like a dog will." The cat lovers smile when you tell them you have cats and are eager to see photos of your fur babies. Often they will pull out their phone to show you pictures of their…
Killer Questions – Favorite Type of Books to Read We are often asked what each of us likes to read. Consequently, as part of our year of favorites, here is what each of us most enjoys reading: Annette Dashofty : Mystery and thriller. Heather Weidner : I like lots of genres, but mysteries are always my go to favorites. Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Three Investigators…
by Paula Gail Benson I was excited to see The Odyssey as the big summer movie. I remember the joy I had reading Bernard Evslin’s The Trojan War, and very much anticipate watching Christopher Nolan’s adaptation. Maybe another reason I feel “connected” to Nolan’s production is through the actor Logan Marshall-Green, who plays Melanthius, Odysseus’ disloyal goatherd. Logan and his twin brother,…
Returning to CozyLand ~ The Joys and Challenges of Writing Cozies by Kassandra Lamb I recently had a little chat with myself about whether I should retire from writing. My third series is winding down (four if you count the romantic suspense I’ve written as Jessica Dale), and I was debating where to go next. I decided to go back to writing “just for fun,” and not worry so much about the business…
Last week, my husband, our two dogs, and I headed to Maine to spend some time with my parents. I was fully prepared to relax. I brought a stack of books and planned to sit outside, enjoy the lake, explore a few towns, eat good food, and generally do as little as possible. After a busy summer of releases, promotions, and more, I thought I’d earned it. Maine apparently had other plans for me. Things…
Here I am. Drowning in research. Let me explain why I could use your help. As many of you know, mystery series is centered around a busy little town at the very top of the Chesapeake Bay. Over the span of my first four books, I decided that Helen, my heroine, is more believable and interesting when she gets caught up in crime solving that introduces what I consider ‘a setting within a setting’.…
What Grover Taught Me about Writing Mysteries By Heather Weidner I am Gen X, first-generation Sesame Street and first-generation MTV. One of my favorite children’s books of all time was the classic, The Monster at the End of This Book . I still have my copy. Mystery, fantasy, suspense, monsters. This book had it all. As I look back on some of my childhood favorites, I realize I’ve been reading…
By Margaret S. Hamilton “ Tradwife is a term for a married woman who embraces traditional gender roles and values and tends to share the details of her life on social media.” (Britannica.com) “The goal of the influencer is not to be loveable, and it is not to be unbearable. The goal is to be both at once. In other words: addicting.” (Natalie) In Burke’s satiric 2026 debut, Yesteryear , fictional…
by Grace Topping The Bush Tea Murder Food journalist Naomi Sinclair doesn’t expect a side of murder with her passion fruit juice. But when her return to Saint Thomas heralds a series of troubling cases, ranging from petty theft to cold-blooded murder, that threaten her tight-knit community, that is exactly the kind of unsavory treat she must sink her teeth into. Luckily for her neighbors, Naomi is…
Dialog in fiction is important. It gives the reader important information. It enhances character development. It sets tone. It can provide a touch of humor. It carries the story along in a natural, reader-friendly way. In writing, every “rule” exists to achieve something specific. And yes—rules can be broken. But before one is broken, the writer needs to understand what the rule is meant to…
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