Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 3

Hearts and Minds Before Hashtags

Winning “hearts and minds” began long before hashtags — and the firstbattlefield wasn’t online. It was psychological, political, and deeply human.

In Eyes to Deceit, I wanted to explore the summer whenAmerica learned to bend truth into strategy. In 1953, Operation Ajax toppledIran’s democratically elected government — a covert success that would echo fordecades. Behind the cables and code names were men who believed they weredefending democracy, even as they dismantled it. That paradox — b...

Where's Jimmy Fallon when you need him?

 

Since we justwrapped “spooky season,” do you subscribe to any writing superstitions? Anymythical or spiritual practices that help your process?

 

This is astrangely difficult post to write. Mainly, because I’ve kind of lost my writingway and thinking about my writing routine is shing a megawatt light on thereason why.  I don’t know that I have anywriting superstitions, necessarily, but definitely routines that I’ve followed,more or less, since writing my first book. Well, not everything...

Results May Vary from James W. Ziskin

How do you find a balance - if you try for balance - between the overly neat bow at the end of the book and the potentially unsatisfying open end. Is it easier in crime fiction than other genres? 
Great question this week. I believe the answer (s) depends (depend) on the work you’re writing. There are times when we crave the restoration of order in the fiction we consume. Other times, we like to be left hanging, perhaps as a come-on for a sequel. Or maybe just a murky conclusion that gives us pau...

Slow cooker stories - by Harini Nagendra

This week's prompt: Describe the perfect writing retreat, real or imagined

I have a folder full of links to writing retreats saved on my computer. When I'm feeling low, bored, depressed, or have itchy feet, I open it up, and go to each link, reading about the venue, the writers in residence, and any blogs that I can find which describe the experience of being at the retreat. Photographs are a bonus. It always lifts my spirits.

I did spend three months at one absolutely wonderful fellowship in Berl...

A Great Place to Steal Ideas from James W. Ziskin

This week’s question asks us to describe the perfect writing retreat, real or imagined. 

Last night I dreamt I went to Wandsworth again. 

Wandsworth House is a writers retreat. Never mind that I’ve never been on a writers retreat or to any place called Wandsworth, I just wanted to use that great opening line, which I came up with all by myself. Really!

In my dream, the retreat was to be a creative weekend spent in drafty old mansion on a desolate island off the Cornwall Coast. The house was accessi...

Putting the world on pause

Describe the perfect writing retreat, real or imagined.

b y Dietrich

My perfect writing retreat is a place where creativity can thrive, distractions are forgotten and stories can come alive. It is a sanctuary—whether real or imagined—away from notifications, obligations, and, most importantly, self-doubt. 

I picture a cozy cabin tucked into a forest, where sunlight filters through ancient trees to dapple a weathered desk. Or a cliffside cottage, where the rhythmic crash of waves against the shore sy...

I'll Show Up

 

Terry here with our question of the week: Describe the perfect writing retreat, real or imagined. 
My perfect writing retreat has to be imagined because it doesn’t exist. Or rather, maybe it exists for some male writers, but very few women writers. 
First of all, the ideal retreat is one that I don’t have to do anything to make happen. I just show up with my computer and a bag packed with essential clothing and toiletries. It can be the mountains or the seashore. An island. A cabin in the woods. ...

Retreat to Vermont - by Matthew Greene

Describe the perfect writing retreat, real or imagined.
"Perfect" is such a tricky word. And I happen to have the unenviable habit of letting the "perfect" be the enemy of the "good." So, of course, when I read this prompt, I started imagining exotic getaways with ideal creative circumstances. A trip on the Orient Express, perhaps. Or a private island with no cell reception and ample snacks.
But then I remembered last weekend.
As it happens, I've just gotten back from a little DIY writer's retreat...

'My Heart at Evening': Love at First Sight by Poppy Gee

 My mum used to mark a J in the inside cover of librarybooks with a soft pencil, to show that my dad had already read them. Dru AnnLove's record of what she reads evolved into an award-winning, guest-infesteddaily blog. Where do you sit when it comes to reading notes? Do you keep arecord, write reviews, make annotations in the margins . . .?

I like writing reviews of books and I like posting them on Instagram,with a beautiful photo of the book. As I hit ‘post’, it feels like I’m throwinga...

Five stars (count them), by Catriona

My mum used to mark a J in the inside cover of library books with a soft pencil, to show that my dad had already read them. Dru Ann Love's record of what she reads evolved into an award-winning, guest-infested daily blog. Where do you sit when it comes to reading notes? Do you keep a record, write reviews, make annotations in the margins . . .?

Dru's Book Musings, by the way. 

I keep a record of what I read, here on my blog. I have no memory of why I started except that it was a round-up of m...