Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 200

Read All About It! About what? About Everything!

"With American Thanksgiving just around the corner, it's getting near to present-buying time. What five criminally good books would you recommend and for whom?" By Catriona

I've recently read all of these and loved every one. Loved some of them - wait, no, all of them - so much I wondered why I bothered. That feeling is the essence of bittersweet - it's the best bit of reading and the worst bit of writing.

There's cozy, hard-boiled, literary and classic here. And a master-class on how to start...

Perfect reading choices for...by Cathy Ace

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Some gift recomendations - by RM Greenaway

With Thanksgiving coming up in the USA – please take the chance to give us five titles or criminally good books you think would make great gifts…and tell us for whom they’d be suitable.

Here are some old, some new, some big, some small...

In the Barren Ground by Loreth Anne White. Not finished yet but so impressed by the writing, and am just waiting for a chance to get back to it. The opening of the blurb says it better than I can:

In the Barrens, a vast wilderness in northern Canada bordering t...

Books as presents? But of course!

Early holiday shopping challenge: With Thanksgiving coming up in the USA please give us five titles or criminally good books you think would make great gifts ...and for whom. 



- from Susan


MURDER IN THE WHITE HOUSE, by Margaret Truman except that we now know it was the prolific and admirable Donald Bain who really wrote the series.  And who could it possibly be for other than the Donald.

MURDER IN SAINT GERMAIN, by Cara Black for my Francophile friends, of whom there are many.

KILMOON,...

Danny Plissken, or My MWA Pin Escaped From New York

Many of us who blog here belong to writerly organizations (like Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers Association (UK), Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers etc.) and some don’t. What benefits do those who belong to such groups feel they derive from their membership, and – for those who don’t belong to any – why have you chosen that route?

Although I've enjoyed career activities in three different fields, the idea that I was an active professional in th...

A Message from the Mayor

Many of us who blog here belong to writerly organizations (like Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers Association (UK), Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers etc.) and some don’t. What benefits do those who belong to such groups feel they derive from their membership, and – for those who don’t belong to any – why have you chosen that route?

By Jim


Like most of us crime writers, I am a card-carrying member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, I...

Getting out there

by Dietrich Kalteis
Many of us who blog here belong to writerly organizations (like Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers Association (UK), Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers etc.) and some don’t. What benefits do those who belong to such groups feel they derive from their membership, and – for those who don’t belong to any – why have you chosen that route?
I have to admit I’ve let some memberships lapse lately as I’ve become caught up in my own writin...

A Key Part of a Writer's Life

By R.J. Harlick
What benefits do you derive from belonging to a writing organization?
The short answer is many and varied benefits. It all depends on the organization. I belong to six, each of which serves a very different purpose.
In my early days as an aspiring crime writer, I joined a local Ottawa-based organization called Capital Crime Writers at the recommendation of another aspiring author. It proved to be one of the smartest moves I made for it became my primary support group in the early...

Writers Organizations

Terry Shames answering the question: What benefits do I get from writers’ organizations?
I belong to a few writers’ organizations. Two of them stand out as being the important influences in my crime writing career.
I’ve belonged to Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime since long before I was a published writer. I joined the organizations because I thought I could learn something from other members—and I was right! Both organizations have given me a lot more than I returned to them i...

Writing Advice: 5¢

There are a large number of online sites offering advice about many aspects of writing. Do you still use, or have you ever used, any of them? If so, which and why?

by Paul D. Marks

I don’t think I use online writing sites very much. I’m not saying I never use them, but right now none come to mind. On occasion I’ll search a specific question on Google and might go to one site or another. But there’s no writing “advice” sites that I use on a regular basis.

What I do use fairly regularly is Grammar...