Barbara Fradkin's Blog, page 23

Working With An Editor

 by Sybil JohnsonThis week I'm working on edits to my short story, "Fatal Return," which will be in the latest Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles anthology, Angel City Beat. Our editor is the fabulous Barb Goffman, recent recipient of the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award. She’s also received numerous other awards for her short fiction.I like being

Writing Time (Or Not)

 by Charlotte HingerLast June I had the pleasure of watching my friend, Michael Gear, receive Western Writers Spur Award for Best Short Fiction. Michael is of one of favorite authors. Not only is he a mesmerizing speaker he is generous in giving other writers a boost. Seperately or with his wife, Kathleen, (both are renowned archaeologists)  he is responsible for over 70 novels. I

It's a Miracle

 Donis here. I've just started a three month gig as Writer in Residence at the Glendale, AZ, Public Library, and the work on my latest manuscript has suffered a bit as I try to get things started and keep everything in order. This very day (Thursday Sept. 12), I'll be teaching a class on world building, and since I haven't done an in-person class since the pandemic, I've been spending the

The shifting season

 Labour Day weekend has been an annual turning point all my life. First as a child, when I had to give up carefree summer play, either on the city streets or at the cottage we rented. The rigours (and boredom) of school beckoned. Then later as a university student. It seems I spent endless years at university at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Ten years, to be exact. After I

Preparation

by Catherine Dilts Gardening and fiction writing both begin with a dream. Inwriting, it’s the spark of a story idea. In gardening, the dream is often bornin the depths of winter, with a yearning for warm days and neat rows of greenthings. For either of these dreams to come true, you have to prepare.What might sound surprising is that the preparation phase ingardening is not about seeds

Farewell Mystery Magazine

 by Sybil JohnsonI've been writing a fair number of short stories recently so I've once again become aware of what markets I can submit them to. A lot of the places that have either published my work or that I've submitted to before have since folded. Among them are Spinetingler Magazine and Mysterical-E. Though I've seen nothing that officially says the latter is gone, the last issue was

When Writers Don't Have a Clue

 by Charlotte HingerI was intrigued with Thomas's discussion of viewpoints. My Lottie Albright delves into old murders which causes new murders. It's not really a cold case series, as it focuses on the present day murder. T Thus it technically morphs into a suspense. Will my historian/undersheriff figure out who did it back then in time to prevent becoming the victim on the next page?In

Writer in Residence

I enjoyed reading Tom's entry about critique groups. I've belonged to a venerable group for years, and they have been invaluable to me, especially by helping me decide which way to go on stories. One thing I've learned from allowing my work to be critiqued is that often what I think I wrote and what readers think I wrote are two entirely different things. One difference between my group and Tom's

A Different Kind of Energy

I am delighted to join the Type M for Murder crew with mysecond post! I’m finding a wealth of insights into the fiction writing process andthe writer’s life in other authors’ blog articles. I hope I can contribute newideas based on my own journey.This spring and summer, I have been exploring parallelsbetween my gardening efforts and my fiction writing. Writing and gardeningshare phases of

Head Hopping

 By Thomas KiesFor the last few months, I’ve been mentoring acritique group that meets every Monday night at a local wine bar.  The perfect location for the perfect Cabernetor Malbec and pleasant discussions about writing. Most of the members of the critique group areholdovers from my last creative writing class. Once the class was over, theysurprised me by offering to pay me (