Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 233

On a Writer's Memory

The inspiration of this post comes from the fact that I got up this morning and looked at my calendar, thinking, "Okay. It's Wednesday.  Where am I blog touring today?"

And today was a day I hadn't scheduled a tour stop. :)

My calendar is in the picture. It's a disaster area.  It has to-do lists and the entire agenda for the family—whether it's the kids' scouting stuff, dental appointments,  manuscript deadlines, the dog's heartworm pill reminder—whatever.

I'd like to say that my memory ...

Got an Uncooperative Muse? Working Around Her

Hope y'all will pop over and visit me at Terry's Place where I'm posting on working around an uncooperative muse.

I was also interviewed for a Memphis food blog, Hungry Memphis, about Delicious and Suspicious if you're interested at taking a peek. :)

Starting Out With Your Blog

Lately, I've gotten a few emails asking me the best way to launch a blog.

I think there must be a lot of different ways to do it and I'm not sure mine is the best approach.  In fact, my blog had been launched for about five months before I decided to try and accelerate growth in number of readers.

Here's what I did:

First of all, I joined Dani's Blog Book Tour, which is a free class run through Yahoo Groups.  You may not have the time for this (and she's just started a brand new...

Twitterific

Here are writing links that I've posted to Twitter for the past week. If you're looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand corner of the blog (on the black header right above my blog name…next to the Blogger symbol…the small search window is next to the magnifying glass) and the roundup with your subject will come up. To narrow your search down on the page, do a CTRL+F, type your subject, and hit enter.

Don't forget to revise your...

Focusing On Our Strengths

I'd admit right away that I don't know how to dress.

I've never cared about clothes.  I wear a sort of uniform every day during the summer: a v-neck cotton tee-shirt (I have them in every color), shorts, and flip flops. They're…comfortable.

Then I have dresses. When I go to book signings or conferences (or church), I wear these very pretty dresses—because it's either the dresses or the shorts and v-necks! 

I have nothing in-between. Dinner out at a nice restaurant, but not a fancy one...

Some Basics to Remember When Writing Your Mystery

Today I'm going to be genre-specific and talk a little about writing mysteries. Mysteries aren't only my favorite genre to read, they're my favorite to write, too. Hope you'll join me on Roni Griffin's Fiction Groupie blog to learn more about writing mysteries.

Writing Our (Food) Region

It's the traveling version of Mystery Writing is Murder today!

First up, I'm at the Cozy Chicks blog—a great group of writers who are also friends of mine. Today I'm posting on how writing about food in our books can add local flavor to our novels.

And, if you're looking for a quick and easy hors d'oeuvre for your next summer gathering, look no further than my bacon-wrapped, cream cheese-stuffed jalapenos at the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen!

Shakespeare and Twitter?

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for the good wishes and congratulations yesterday. :)  It was an exciting day for me—and apparently also a very busy and tiring one,  since I fell asleep last night before 10:00!

Today I'm at my friend, Teresa's, blog…she's the Journaling Woman.  I have a little muse on authors from the past and social media.  Hope you'll join me. :)

Release Day—and Contest Results

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for their encouragement and support in the comments and emails I've received. It's really appreciated!

Delicious and Suspicious releases today and I couldn't be more excited. :) I think I'm going to drag my family out to the bookstore so they can see it on the shelf.

Berkley Prime Crime ran a short Q&A with me and put it up on their website. Looking in their sidebar, I'm thrilled to see my book alongside such great July releases.

My contest ...

The Way We Market

As you can imagine, I'm in a marketing haze right now. :) I've got postcards with the Delicious and Suspicious cover on them that are on their way to libraries and bookstores.

I've sent out ARCs for my book to newspapers and book blogging reviewers.

I'm running a contest (last day to enter!) :)

I'm also setting up lots of visits on different blogs so that a variety of different readers can hear about my book.

I have a book tour set with Jennifer Stanley, Krista Davis, and Avery Aames ...