Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 2

Big Things Coming Soon — Stay Tuned!

by Dietrich

We’ve all seen authors dropping cryptic hints on social media about big news they can’t share yet. Teasers that spark curiosity but also prompt questions like, Why the secrecy? and Who decides what to share and when? 

Vague posts like Big things coming soon, stay tuned! build anticipation while respecting professional constraints. The publishing world is complex, with agents, publishers, editors, and marketing teams all shaping when and how news is shared. Contracts may still be in neg...

Shhh, Don't Tell Anyone

 

Terry here, with the question of the week: 
I see a lot of writers post vague messages about news they “can’t talk about yet”. What are your rules about what and when to release info on upcoming releases, big contract news, exciting things on the horizon? Do you decide what and when to reveal, or is it coming from agents, publishers, etc? 
Rules? Rules? I’ve got no rules. When the contract is signed, I shout about it. No hesitation. And no, I usually don’t post “teasers.” If I’m going to be showi...

Penmanship Confessions by Matthew Greene

Handwritten or typed? Some writers, even today, will hand write a first draft. Some have 3rd grade penmanship from the atrophy our handwriting has suffered. Do you still hand write any part of your writing process or are you all type, all the time? 

My second grade teacher was very troubled by my penmanship. She would hover over my shoulder clucking her tongue at the misshapen loops of my Bs and the sad, sorry tails of my Rs. Things got even worse when we made the switch to cursive, and this teac...

Scary Stories by Poppy Gee

Writers should establish systems that create calm in the chaos that can come with creativity.

I recently lost 30K of a novel in progress and had tostart again. What’s the biggest setback you’ve had in your writing, and how didyou overcome it?

This is the one of worst things that can happen to a writer. It's a real life horror story that happened to my blogging colleague Eric, who wrote this question. Read his post here to see how he coped by writing his way through the despair.

I’ve lost sectio...

No crying on the yacht, by Catriona

I recently lost 30K of a novel in progress and had to start again. What’s the biggest setback you’ve had in your writing, and how did you overcome it?

[Be there in a bit after I've driven down to give Eric a hug... Okay, I'm back.]

That has never happened to me, but it's like the idea of accidentally grating your knuckles off while zesting a lemon: you don't have to experience it to wince.

I have had some disappointments more than setbacks as such, but they still rankle. Mostly because I can't c...

Just keep typing by Eric Beetner

 I recently lost 30K of a novel in progress and had to start again. What’s the biggest setback you’ve had in your writing, and how did you overcome it?

I wrote this month's questions, so that 30K that went missing? That was mine.

My hard drive had a meltdown and in an instant everything went dark. I have a backup drive, but I had been doing that most human of things and putting off for months the notices that the drive was full and could no long backup effectively. What I could recover from it wer...

Fly with the Birds, Swim with the Fishes

 

Irecently lost 30K of a novel in progress and had to start again. What’s thebiggest setback you’ve had in your writing, and how did you overcome it?

This question hit me hard.If you’ve lived this scenario, you know the panic, the adrenaline dump, thecortisol crash later—and the litany of profanities you didn’t know existed inthe primordial lexicon of pain.

My next novel, Eyes to Deceit—a fictionalizedtake on the 1953 coup that returned the Shah of Iran to power, sowing seeds forthe 197...

After the Fall

I recently lost 30Kof a novel in progress and had to start again. What’s the biggest setbackyou’ve had in your writing and did you overcome it?

 

Just reading thefirst line of this question gives me the shivers. I would say that is my worstnightmare, except rats still roaming the earth freely, this would be a veryclose second. What to do after a situation like this? Well, after the cryingand puking and cursing the universe, there’s nothing to it, but to do it,right?

 

So, while I ha...

Memories of conferences past - by Harini Nagendra

It’s Bouchercon week where crime writers from all over will gather. We’ve talked a lot about the pros and cons of conferences, but I want to know your most memorable conference experience- good and bad. What’s the conference moment you’ll never forget?

I've never been to Bouchercon - indeed, I've never been to a mystery writer's conference in the US, though of course I've been to plenty of academic conferences in the country. I'd love to make it to Bouchercon or any of the big mystery writer even...

Remembrance of Bouchercons Past

It's Bouchercon week where crime writers from all over will gather. We've talked a lot about the pros and cons of conferences, but what’s your most memorable conference experience, good and bad. What's the conference moment you'll never forget?

Alas, I am not able to attend Bouchercon this year, but I have so many wonderful memories of years past. My most memorable experience had to be in 2017 in Toronto, when HEART OF STONE won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original and the Macavity Award...