Anthologies & Lemon Meringue Pie As the editor and publisher of four (soon to be five) multi-author anthologies of mystery and suspense, I’m often asked how I select the stories that appear in the collections. It’s a fair question. Over the course of those five anthologies, I’ve read close to 400 submissions. Of those, I’ve […]
The holidays are almost over and I’ll be sad to see them go. Because I love it all: the music, the lights, the food, people being a little nicer to each other . . . But there’s a good chance I’ll soon be getting a lot more writing done than I have in the past few weeks. Between shopping, preparing, wrapping, socializing, etc., it’s been hard to be productive. Whether you’re a writer or you devote your time to anything else on a regular basis, I’m sure you know exactly what I mean. But sometimes I wonder if the distraction… […]
1. “So you’re a writer. Anything I might have read?” Unless you just handed me a list, how would I possibly know what’s in your personal library? People’s tastes are vast, varied and unpredictable. Some subsist on a focused diet of romances, or history, or celebrity memoirs. Some wouldn’t touch a book with pink in its cover art and others will go from Proust to Janet Evanovich and back again without a hiccup. […]
Most writers have heard the adage, “Write what you know.” It’s a good principle. If you’re writing about something you know the story will sound authentic and hopefully the passion and sincerity will ring through to the reader. But what if what you want to write is a murder mystery? […]
Is life stressing you out? Take a breath and relax. Or so we’re told. Some days, it’s not so simple. I’ve learned how to breathe four times in my life. Once, with that first, lifegiving gasp. The second time, when I was five and learning how to swim. Third time, in acting class, with lessons on voice projection and breath control. The most important breathing lesson came a decade later. As a young adult I was introduced to biofeedback, a kind of visualization technique used to control some of our body functions like heart rate, breath, muscle response, and brain waves. It can help relax muscles, decrease heart rate, and slow and deepen breathing. It has been clinically proven to help with a myriad of ailments. […]
Reviews By Lois Winston I recently read a review from a national newspaper for a memoir that has received quite a bit of hype. The reviewer gave it only two stars, stating that the book left her frustrated because it didn’t live up to what it had been purported to be. Instead of “a dissection […]
New Beginnings by Nancy J. Cohen January is a time of new beginnings. And so it is for me in writing my next book, #18 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries. I’m in the “Discovery” stage of writing. This involves choosing the setting, doing preliminary research, and then identifying the suspects. Since I’m more of […]
Pentimento by Debra H. Goldstein The first time I came across the word pentimento was when I read Lillian Hellman’s book, Pentimento: A Book of Portraits, which were short autobiographical pieces. I thought the book was merely okay, but the word fascinated me. Pentimento, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the reappearance in a painting of […]
Holiday Cheer from All of Us We’re delighted you enjoy visiting with the authors of Booklover’s Bench. Nancy J. Cohen, Maggie Toussaint, Diane A.S Stuckart, Cheryl Hollon, Debra H. Goldstein, Terry Ambrose, and Lois Winston wish everyone a joyful holiday season. This year we’re each sharing our favorite holiday beverage. Cheers to all! Let’s hear […]
The perfect decoration for the Holidays! By Cheryl Hollon This is the first holiday season after my beloved mother passed. It is a bittersweet joy to hang this treasured banner on my wall to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas. It’s a fascination we shared from my childhood. One year, my mom’s sister-in-law gifted her […]
