Resources for Mystery Writers
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Probably one of the things I’m emailed the most about by other writers is how to find mystery writing resources.
Sometimes I feel that many mystery writers aren’t very visible online…at least to other writers. I think there are many more fantasy and romance writers who are active and interactive online. There are plenty of mystery writer blogs that are reader-facing blogs, but not very many that deal with crime writing. I’m guessing that’s why I get the emails.
Now I’ll have a post to refer writers to. :)
Blogs to Follow:
I’ll start out with Margot Kinberg’s blog. Margot is a mystery writer and avid mystery reader with an encyclopedic memory. Both readers and writers follow her blog. If you’re interested in considering common themes in murder mysteries of all sorts (including international mysteries), I highly recommend her blog. It will help you read as a writer.
K.B. Owen has some nice resources for the historical mystery writer.
D.P. Lyle, M.D. really knows his stuff. He’s an award-winning author of fiction and non-fiction and has worked with writers on Law & Order, CSI: Miami, and Monk, among many others. He also maintains a list of forensic resources.
Fiona Quinn writes romantic suspense, but her blog covers all aspects of crime and crime investigation.
Thriller writer Sue Coletta knows a lot of law enforcement professionals and posts informative interviews on her site. She has a list of forensic resources for writers. dditionally, she hosts an informative Twitter chat every other Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST : #ACrimeChat (next one on the 14th, if you want to tune in live, but you can just look up the hashtag to see older chats.) As Sue puts it: “I couldn’t do my job if it weren’t for my police/coroner/firearm/profiler consultants/friends. Of which, I have many.” She taps into their knowledge every other week.
Lee Lofland is a veteran police investigator and writer with expert advice on a variety of topics. His blog is especially good for adding realism to a crime novel since he tells his experiences in sometimes gritty detail.
A group of mystery writers posts on The Kill Zone, including James Scott Bell.
In terms of the mystery writing community, I frequently recommend that new writers look into joining the Sisters in Crime group (and men are welcome) known as the Guppies (the Great Unpublished. :) )
Courses (covering a variety of different areas): The courses I’d recommend (and which tend to be more bang for your buck) are the ones through the Romance Writers of America…regardless of your genre (I took several about 10 years ago and they really helped me out). Some upcoming online classes are listed here (search the page for ‘online workshops’: https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=517 . Other RWA opportunities: http://rwasd.com/register/ and http://lowcountryrwa.com/workshops/2017-online-courses/ . Most of them are just $25 for non-members of the RWA.
I wrote a series on cozy mystery writing.
This is what I’ve got, but I have the feeling I’m missing some great blogs (maybe some of yours). What resources have I missed?
Resources for mystery writers:
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