Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart Archive

Ode to a Pumpkin

I have an embarrassing confession—well, more like three confessions—to make regarding pumpkins. The first is that while I knew tomatoes were fruit, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I learned pumpkins are actually veggies. Sigh. I guess that’s why they make such great pies. Fortunately, this new knowledge does not take away from […]

Cozy vs. Crazy

As the author of the Tarot Cat Mysteries, the Georgia B&B Mysteries, and the Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries, I definitely qualify as a cozy mystery author. We’re talking sleuthing cats, earnest female amateur detectives, quirky independent shops: the cozy mystery trifecta! But popular as the subgenre is, you long-time readers know that cozy mysteries don’t […]

Can You Hear Me Now?

While wandering the ‘net searching out ideas for a blog post, I stumbled across a factoid that had slipped my memory. And that fact? It was eighteen years ago this month that Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone (the actual commercial version wasn’t formally released until June of that same year.) Eighteen years! We’re talking […]

GHOSTIES AND GHOULIES AND COZY MYSTERIES….

With Halloween on the horizon, my thoughts turn to jack o’ lanterns and haunted houses…and scary books! Yep, ever since I first learned to read, I’ve always contended that nothing is better than a story with a few supernatural chills. But as the years piled on, I realized that I couldn’t do explicit blood-and-gore horror […]

Same old, same old

While recovering from health issues a few months ago, I found myself unable to do much besides watch TV. But I swiftly learned that even my television viewing had limitations. Mentally, I wasn’t up to nice juicy mysteries featuring plenty of corpses…not even the civilized British mystery series. That also let out 24-hour news channels […]

Mining the Golden Age

A while back I wrote about the virtual book club I had joined through my local Sisters in Crime chapter. Our focus has been on female mystery authors, primarily those who started writing during the so-called Golden Age of detective fiction (though we’ve expanded to include authors whose careers began as late as the 1960s). […]

Speaking of Which

I read a great quote from everyone’s favorite source, Anonymous: Never make fun of someone who mispronounces a word. It means they learned it by reading. And while Anonymous can often be full of it, in my opinion this particular saying is a truism for the ages. Reason being, I’ve spent a lifetime knowing what […]

The Magic of Book Club Reading

The first time I joined a book club was back when I was probably 12 or 13 years old. It was summer, and my mom was looking for activities that would keep us kids out of her hair for the next couple of months. Fortuitously, she saw a notice at our local library about a […]

Color My World!

Not only is September 14th my brother David’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Bro!!), it’s also National Coloring Day. According to the crayon gods, today is the time to embrace our inner child and revert to a time when our biggest worry was picking the right shade of blue from the box of sixty-four. Yep, coloring isn’t […]

Critters on the Covers…

Book cover artwork is both the joy and bane of authors. This can be a particular issue in the cozy genre where cute is the default and cats are ubiquitous, sometimes even when the book doesn’t have a single feline in it. Fortunately for me, all my books with cats on the cover are indeed […]

The Sound of Silence

I’ve been seriously writing for 30 or so years, and it still never ceases to amaze me when my fellow authors talk about the music they listen to while they write. Some stream tunes from their favorite online channel; others go old-school with their CD collection. And a few overachievers compile specific playlists for each […]

Double Takes…

Twins. Doppelgangers. Clones. These characters have been staples of fiction for centuries, from Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities to Edgar Allen Poe’s William Wilson to Tana French’s The Likeness. And don’t forget movies like The Shining and Dave and The Prestige, the latter of which (spoiler alert!) […]

In the Bag

I was searching online for an interesting blog subject for this month when I stumbled across the following topic prompt: What’s in your bag? The question was meant for the person writing the blog post to answer, but as a writer, I think this query would be a simple but brilliant way to get to […]

The Road That Probably Won’t Ever Be Taken

While working on new proposals to send to my agent, I’ve paused (okay, procrastinated) a bit by reviewing some of my long-ago book and series concepts that never saw the publishing light of day. Some were rejected outright by editors or agents. Others never got beyond a vague outline. And still others had a few […]

New Year Thoughts

For 2023, our author collective resolves to take positive actions to make the world better in some way. There’s so much we can do for the people we already know and for those we haven’t met yet. Here are a few thoughts about how one kindness often begets another. First we shouldn’t worry about what […]

Happy Holidays to All of You from All of Us!

Happy Holidays to all of our friends, fans, and writing communities! Our authors are here to share their self-care tips that help them make it through the busy holidays. When your schedule gets overloaded, remember to take time for yourself. It will get better. Plus, what fun it is to de-stress with us! Maggie Toussaint: […]

Taking the (Virtual) Bait

Okay, I admit it. I’m a sucker for click bait. You know, those internet articles with clever headlines meant to lure you into scrolling through pages of ads in search of compelling content. A flight attendant spills her top ten best travel tips? You bet I’ll read that. A frequent park-goer lists the dozen most […]

On Bee’ing an Author…

If you’ve hung out with writers long enough, you know the terms “plotter” and “pantser” when it comes to crafting fiction. The plotter is an author who writes a full outline of each book in advance of starting it, mapping out each scene and character interaction and red herring from page one to the end. […]

Playing for Keeps

About 20 years ago, my mother bought herself a two-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle. Its artwork was a copy of “Children’s Games”, a painting by the Flemish Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder. If you’re not familiar with that work, it features a detailed town square crammed with somewhere between 200 and 300 boys and girls (the […]

Period, comma, exclamation point…

I was at my hair appointment a couple of months back, about to pay my stylist, when I heard the ominous tones of the Imperial March from Star Wars. Nope, Darth Vader wasn’t approaching. It was the ringtone on my cellphone assigned to my hubster. (Hey, Honey, it’s all in good fun…honest!) I silenced the […]

Whatchamacall-hat…

I recently read an article from the Atlas Obscura folks about the name confusion surrounding the toboggan. No, not the sled. Instead, the author referred to the traditional winter knit cap that supposedly bears the same name. Interesting, but then it gets confusing. You see, the author states that people up North who actually ride […]

Shying Away from Things

Buckle up, all you reserved and retiring types! Next week is National Introverts Week. Celebrated annually during the third full week of March, this informal recognition is meant to shine the light (oh, no!) on folks who define themselves as introverts. Which makes it our week, given that a large percentage of readers and writers […]

I may be old - Let's Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

I may be old, but…

If you read my “Let’s Talk” post published last year at right about this time, you might know that tomorrow is my birthday. And it’s not just any birthday. It’s one of those major landmarks, get the government involved, officially OLD birthdays. The one where you look at yourself in the mirror and ask, where […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S Stuckart

Posted on November 11, 2021 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

ELEVEN ELEVEN ELEVEN… By Diane A.S Stuckart The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Even the most casual history buff will recognize this phrase from 1918. That’s the point in time when the Armistice between the Allied forces and Germany officially took effect. The agreement marked the end to fighting in […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S Stuckart

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Handy Little Things By Diane A.S. Stuckart I have three desks in my home office. Do I need three desks? No. Can I get rid of at least one of them? I’d like to but moving them into the office originally was hard enough. Wrangling even the smallest one out again would take a good […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S Stuckart

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

A Dog’s Life… By Diane A.S. Stuckart Today is “Work Like a Dog Day”. Never heard of it? Neither had I, though apparently it’s a holiday meant to honor those who put out extra effort on the job. Or, ha ha, maybe it’s meant to shame the rest of us who don’t. Because, if you […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S Stuckart

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Father Knew Best By Diane A.S Stuckart This coming Sunday is Father’s Day, but I won’t be visiting my dad to celebrate, considering that he has been gone for more than twenty years now. Still, I think of him often and even have a picture of him at my desk. To be totally honest, however, […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

I’ll Never Leaf You! By Diane A.S. Stuckart Tomorrow is Arbor Day, celebrated annually on the fourth Friday of April here in the US. The holiday has its roots (pun intended!) in Nebraska, where the 19th century pioneers who first settled there lamented the territory’s lack of trees. According to the Arbor Day Foundation’s website, […]

Let’s Talk with Debra H Goldstein

Posted on April 15, 2021 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

The Taxing Art of Writing by Debra H. Goldstein In any year but this one, today would be Tax Day. In every city, there would be long lines of cars containing people who barely slept last night waiting to drop their tax returns at the post office. Normally impatient people would restrain themselves knowing that […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S Stuckart

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS… by Diane A.S. Stuckart I blame Maggie Toussaint for today’s blog post. When I submitted my January entry for this column, she emailed me back to say that she’d hastily read its title and thought it said something about peeing. We both LOL’d at that, but then she got me thinking. […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S Stuckart

Posted on January 28, 2021 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

PICKING UP SPEED… by Diane A.S. Stuckart Today (January 28) is my birthday! No, I’m not going to tell you how old I am, although I’ll admit to being perilously close to a “milestone” celebration. While I’m not one who ignores birthdays—heck, I never pass up a chance to eat cake!—as each year passes I’m […]

Let’s Talk about Resolutions

Posted on December 31, 2020 by Terry Ambrose

We hereby resolve to… by Debra H Goldstein, Nancy J Cohen, Lois Winston, Cheryl Hollon, Diane A.S Stuckart, and Maggie Toussaint I’ve given up resolving to do things like exercise, lose weight, or be a kinder person; so, my resolutions for 2021 (beyond hugging family and friends again) are 1) embrace my tendency to procrastinate […]

Let’s Talk about Light

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Terry Ambrose

Happy Holidays to All! What a strange year 2020 has been! And there’s good news-we’ve all survived the pandemic thus far. Keep up the great work of protecting yourself and your family by wearing masks and social distancing until we get through the vaccination process. Meanwhile, your friends at Booklover’s Bench want to help shine […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S Stuckart

Posted on November 26, 2020 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

A Very Happy Un-Thanksgiving By Diane A.S Stuckart If you think about it, Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday. It’s non-denominational, family-oriented, not limited to a particular social/economic/ethnic group, requires no presents be exchanged, and traditionally encompasses a full four days of celebration (read, time off from the day job). Of course, the whole meal-turned-major banquet […]

Let’s Talk with Diane AS Stuckart

Posted on October 15, 2020 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Terms of Endearment by Diane AS Stuckart As a child growing up in Texas, I learned that the correct reply was never a bald yes or no when answering an adult’s question. Only yes, ma’am or no, sir would do. (The corollary being that nope, yeah, or uh huh were never an option!) Beyond that, […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A S Stuckart

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

A Sign of the Times by Diane A.S. Stuckart With each new novel, it gets harder and harder to come up with just the right few words. No, I’m not talking about writing the book’s opening paragraph—that all-important “hook”. I don’t even mean the novel’s final line that puts a neat bow on the 80,000 […]

Let’s Talk with Diane AS Stuckart

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

National Hot Day Day by Diane A.S. Stuckart Today is National Hot Dog Day, a celebration of what might be considered the USA’s original “fast food”. And unlike all the other foods that get their own holidays (yeah, you, National Artichoke Day), the intrepid wiener deserves every accolade it gets. Not just because they taste […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

PICTURING THE PAST By Diane A.S. Stuckart I admit it. I spend far too much time procrastinating on Facebook when I should be writing my next novel. And, no, I’m not busy promoting my books there. Instead, my preferred hangouts are those pages where followers post all manner of things strange and unusual. (Why? Because, […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

The Cruelest Month? By Diane A.S. Stuckart As we draw the curtain on April, let’s acknowledge that there’s something quite special about the fourth month of the year. Forget the official holidays—April Fool’s Day, Tax Day, the Passover and Easter holidays—not to mention made-up holidays like National Grilled Cheese Day and National Tartan Day (though, […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

SNAKES ON A PYRAMID By Diane A.S. Stuckart Not enough hours in the day. That’s a complaint I often make, and maybe you do, too. Whether it’s because we over-commit, find ourselves distracted, or simply get a late start, too often we go to bed knowing we didn’t accomplish half of that day’s to-do list. […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

I’ve Got Your Number By Diane A.S. Stuckart I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty chuffed about the year 2020. Not that anything terribly special has happened to me since January 1. It’s more the whole symmetry thing with the numbers 2-0-2-0. You know the anticipation when you’re waiting for your car’s odometer to […]

Holiday Let’s Talk

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Terry Ambrose

Happy Holidays! Today, we’re sharing how holiday traditions changed over the years. New birth and Hanukkah for Nancy. December holidays for our family in the earlier days meant gathering around the menorah each evening in the dining room, lighting the candles, and then watching our kids open one of eight or more gifts for Hanukkah. […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Christmas: It’s a Wrap! by Diane A.S. Stuckart When I was growing up, a big part of Christmas had to do with wrapping presents. While holiday music played, we started with the basics: bright colored paper with Christmas motifs, fancy bows made with satin, velvet, and glitter, and gift tags that said “To” and “From”. […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Black Sneakers and Pumpkin Carols By Diane A.S. Stuckart I was Goth before Goth was a thing. Back in the 1960s, I was the little girl in black tennis shoes (never white or pink like the rest of my school friends). On weekends, I was known to parade around with a towel-sized remnant of black […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Ticket to Write By Diane A.S. Stuckart A few years back, a car accident happened right in front of me while I was on my way to work. After the police got things under control, they asked me to fill out a witness report. And so I took the clipboard the responding officer handed me […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on August 8, 2019 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Under Cover Operator By Diane A.S. Stuckart One of the most exciting things with every book you publish is seeing your cover art for the first time. I’ve been incredibly fortunate in that, for many of my novels, I’ve been able to contribute ideas for the cover (they’re not always used, but I do get […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on June 27, 2019 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Spoiled Rotten By Diane A.S. Stuckart Who doesn’t hate spoilers? Not me…sometimes. It depends on whether or not I have a vested interest in the movie/book/TV show being spoiled. As I’m writing this, we’re just a few days past the series finale of Game of Thrones. Confession time…though I’d read articles about the show on […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

THE BEAT GOES ON…SOMEWHERE By Diane A.S. Stuckart Many authors refer to their books as their babies, acting appalled when an interviewer asks which story is their favorite. (You wouldn’t ask me which of my children I like best, would you?) And there is some rationale to that comparison. Books are, in a sense, born […]

Lets Talk with Diane A S Stuckart

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Fur Baby Follies By Diane A S Stuckart According to the calendar, it’s Spring…though, here in Florida, we’re pretty much Springtime all year ‘round. (Except for those annual forays into “wetter than heck” weather, and a few awful months of “hotter than heck” temps). But I still like to think of this time of year […]

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Digging through the mental recycle bin by Diane A.S. Stuckart By the time this blog post is published, I will have celebrated yet another birthday (nope, not telling which!). Once one has lived a decent number of years on this earth, one’s brain tends to experience the occasional bout of data overload (a far preferable […]

Let’s Talk with Diane Stuckart

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Diagnosis…Incurable! By Diane Stuckart Yes, I have it. I’ve suffered from this condition for years…actually, for most of my adult life. It’s an ailment that primarily afflicts readers and writers, though some regular folks get it, too. I never knew this syndrome had a name until recently, when I stumbled across a web article describing […]

Holiday Scents Group Post

Posted on December 20, 2018 by Nancy J. Cohen

HOLIDAY SCENTS Dear Friends, We’re sharing our special holiday scented memories with you. Enjoy! POTATO LATKES. Since we celebrate Hanukkah, my favorite holiday scent is the smell of potato latkes frying in oil. When I grew up, we lit the menorah candles each night for eight nights and got a small gift as well. Potato […]

Let’s Talk with Diane Stuckart

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

Wiping the Slate Clean… by Diane Stuckart I just erased my white board. I had a long list of to-do’s that I’d been knocking off, bit by bit, and this blog post was my final item. Now, with that task crossed off, I get to start with a clean fresh slate, er, board, and start composing […]

Let’s Talk with Diane Stuckart

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Diane A.S. Stuckart

On Being the New Kid by Diane Stuckart Back when I was in grade school, I envied the occasional kid who showed up as the official “new student” a couple of months into the school year. Class would be halted while said new boy or girl was brought to the front of the home room […]

Let's Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart

Let’s Talk with Diane A.S. Stuckart Archive

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