Friday morning at SleuthFest began the editor and agent panels. Here’s a summary. AGENTS Kristyn Keene likes women’s fiction, thrillers, crime fiction. Mel Berger likes an “important” book or one that has potential for being a commercial success, including romance and thrillers. Victoria Skurnick is looking for “great” books with a unique voice. No sf/fantasy. … Read more
SleuthFest Thursday, February 26, 2015 Thursday at SleuthFest is a day of special workshops. I got there after lunch and ended up at The Art of Embalming talk by George Rafaidus from Ford Funeral Home in Michigan. Attendees were treated to slides and descriptions of the embalming process, plus other behind-the-scenes details of how funeral … Read more
How to Write Short Fiction—and Why Your Readers Think You Should! Joanna Campbell Slan More and more authors are discovering the power of short fiction to market and promote their work. I’m certainly one of them. Several years ago, I promised my readers that I would write a short story a month in the run-up … Read more
One of the topics I’d researched for Hair Raiser was pre-need funeral plans. I firmly believe people should address this issue before their demise. It saves your loved ones from having to make these choices during a difficult time. You get to choose what you want, and when the time comes, all your heirs have … Read more
Back in 2000, when I wrote Hair Raiser, I was interviewed about the story. I’m repeating it here so you can see some of the thoughts I had at the time. First tell us anything you want us to know about Hair Raiser. Here’s the story blurb: When hairstylist Marla Shore volunteers for a fund-raiser … Read more
HAIR RAISER A Bad Hair Day Mystery by Nancy J. Cohen Hairstylist Marla Shore volunteers for Taste of the World, a fund-raiser sponsored by Ocean Guard. It’s a decision she soon regrets. First Chef Pierre’s rum-soaked Bananas Foster goes up in flames, making her wonder if sabotage caused the incident. Her suspicions deepen as more … Read more
When designing a book cover, a number of items need to be considered. What is the genre? The mood of the story? The background setting? What type of “look” do you want to get across? Is this best done with photography or illustration? Do you like people on the cover? Can you describe a particular … Read more
Our festivities for the Mystery Writers of America national board meeting began at a signing event on Friday night at Mysterious Bookshop. Here we chatted with other authors, fellow board members, and fans while sipping wine. A good time was had by all. Dinner followed at Sammy’s Noodle Shop. It was great to … Read more
Somewhere in the middle of my current WIP, I froze with hesitation. It seemed as though I could finish the book within the next fifty pages, and I had one hundred pages to go. Where would I find enough material? I staved off a full-blown panic attack by realizing this same fear struck me with … Read more
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 13,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many … Read more