K.P. Gresham's Blog, page 10
October 26, 2022
Terry Shames’ Samuel Craddock Mysteries: A Genre-Bending Series and One True Sentence
Terry Shames’ Samuel Craddock Mysteries: A Genre-Bending Series and One True Sentence
Texas mystery author Terry Shames’ latest book, Murder at the Jubilee Rally, has been reviewed on ABC News.
To use a folksy phrase—Folks, that ain’t hay.
The ninth in Shames’ Samuel Craddock Mystery series, Murder at the Jubilee Rally focuses on conflicts residents of Jarrett Creek, Texas, experience when a motorcycle rally prepares to open outside of town—and the challenges Police Chief Samuel…
October 18, 2022
50,000 Words in One Month? Are You Crazy??
50,000 Words in One Month? Are You Crazy??
By K.P. Gresham
Yep, it’s that time of year again for NaNoWriMo. (Short for “National Novel Writing Month.) And yes, the challenge is to write 50,000 words in the month of November.
Although this event is nation-wide and writers of all genres participate, Sisters in Crime is a major sponsor of the event. All members of Sisters in Crime are able to take advantage of twice a day write-ins, zoom…
October 11, 2022
JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDSFrancine Paino AKA F. Della N...
JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS
Francine Paino AKA F. Della Notte
Depth and realism. How do authors achieve it? Great writing, of course, but research into every aspect of character development, periods, and settings is essential. Readers often wonder how writers decide on the backdrop for their characters’ emotions and thoughts. Again, the answer is research.
Writers are intrigued and…
October 3, 2022
Writing “It Came Upon a Midnight Ice Storm”
Do I ever use details from my life in a story? Yes.
By N.M. Cedeño
People like to ask writers, do you ever use details from your life in your writing? Answer: Sometimes. It depends on what I’m writing. If I’m writing science fiction or noir, nothing in the story may be evocative of my life. Other times, details from my life do creep into my stories. “It Came Upon a Midnight Ice Storm” is one of those stories that has a bit of my life in…
September 19, 2022
FOOD AND A GATHERING PLACE
FOOD AND A GATHERING PLACE
by Helen Currie Foster
A critical tool for mystery writers is creation of a gathering place. We watch desperate clients rush straight to Sherlock Holmes’s Baker Street lodgings––often the first place where we meet his client, learn what the client hopes Holmes will do, and encounter Watson, Lestrade, and various witnesses. A gathering place gives us––and the sleuth, whether amateur or…
September 12, 2022
Who Gets What? And Why? And Who Said?
Who Gets What? And Why? And Who Said?
by Kathy Waller
My mother used to tell me I should become a lawyer. “You’re analytical,” she said.
I think she meant I was argumentative, but that’s a different story.
I would like to be analytical in the way lawyers are, but I’m not. And I don’t think on my feet. If I were practicing criminal defense, my clients would be halfway to prison before I realized I should have said,…
September 5, 2022
Moonshine is Mighty Fine and ILLEGAL!
Moonshine is Mighty Fine and ILLEGAL!
By K.P. Gresham
Still on the research kick, I’m in the process of learning all about moonshine. No, not how to drink it. How to make it. While plotting out my next book, Death Takes the Fifth, I realized moonshine (and by extension, moonshiners) would play an integral role in the story. Let’s be clear—making moonshine is a against the law in 48 states unless you’ve got a distributor’s license,…
August 30, 2022
MOTHERS, DAUGHTERS AND SISTERS IN LOVE AND WAR
MOTHERS, DAUGHTERS AND SISTERS IN LOVE AND WAR
Francine Paino, AKA F. Della Notte
Relationships between mothers, daughters, and sisters, as they relate to one another as individuals and as a family unit, are complex. Now wrap them in the horrors, deprivations, losses, and dangers of World War II in Russia and France, and you have the foundations of two exceptional novels of mothers, daughters, and sisters in love and war.
Authors Kristin…
August 18, 2022
Book Review: David and Goliath – Underdogs, Misfits, and The Art of Battling Giants
Book Review: David and Goliath – Underdogs, Misfits, and The Art of Battling Giants
by Renee Kimball
“Giants are not as powerful as they seem and sometimes the shepherd has a sling in his pocket.” — Malcom Gladwell
David with the head of Goliath. Caravaggio. Public domain. Wikipedia.
Malcom Gladwell is not a “new author.” He has been writing for the New York Times since 1996, and is the best-selling author of many books. But more than that, Gladwell is a one-of-a-kind…
August 8, 2022
The Flavor of the Place
We got so much from the mother country, England, but…did crumpets make it across the pond? Hope you enjoy this blog. Let me know about the poem search!
by Helen Currie Foster
August 8, 2022
Our family’s favorite mystery quote (bolded below) appears in Strong Poison, by Dorothy Sayers, where detective Lord Peter Wimsey first meets novelist Harriet Vane. Vane’s on trial for murder, accused of systematically poisoning her former lover with arsenic.
Wimsey suspects the lover’s uncle, Norman Urquhart, bu...
