Summertime and the Reading Is Easy by Maggie Toussaint When I was growing up, my favorite place to read was in the hammock on the porch. I loved the way the hammock wrapped around me, cocooning me into the story world. I explored so many wonderful authors and learned the virtue of being an armchair […]
Where do Ideas Grow? by Terry Odell Based on my post last April, when I asked readers what they’d like to ask authors, the most common question was “Where do you get your ideas?” I don’t know about any other authors, but I just go out to my yard and pick one off my idea […]
The Right Tool for the Job by James M. Jackson Growing up, I learned everything my father could teach me about repairs, which is to say almost nothing. Dad was a classical absent-minded professor, much more interested in ideas than in fixing stuff. Because I had a habit of breaking windows (boys will be boys), […]
Plot Ideas by Nancy J. Cohen “Where do you find new plot ideas for series books?” is one of the responses we received from our Booklovers’ Bench reader poll. For me, this has never been a problem. One book seems to segue into the next as though my characters’ lives are naturally evolving. For example, […]
Happy Birthday! by Karla Brandenburg What? It isn’t your birthday? Well, mine is this week, and with it comes the dilemma of “what do you want for your birthday?” As I get older, there are fewer things that I haven’t already bought/will buy for myself, so when someone asks me that question, I have to […]
Short Idylls by Tina Whittle One of my favorite things to write is short stories and their slightly longer cousins, novelettes and novellas. Writing a book is an all-consuming endeavor, and when life has piled a lot on my plate, I enjoy a writing project that I can dip a toe in whenever I have a […]
What’s Cooking with Maggie by Maggie Toussaint I’m cooking up books this summer! Vacation Appetizer. Summer used to signal a time to slow down and smell the ocean breeze. These days, writers are making tracks everywhere during the summer to connect with readers. Through Southeast Mystery Writers of America, I’ll be at reader functions in […]
Falcon’s Prey: A New Release by Terry Odell I’m excited to announce the release of Falcon’s Prey, Book 8 in my Blackthorne, Inc. series. It’s an action-adventure/covert ops/romantic suspense (I always had trouble staying inside boxes!). When I wrote Identity Crisis, Book 7 in the series, the hero, Brett “Scrooge” Cashman, had been left to […]
Summer Reading by James M. Jackson Even though as I am writing this (4/18), winter is still gripping the upper US, and the summer solstice is not until June 21. For many people, the Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer. And warmer months mean Summer Reading. Studies have shown that children who do […]
Short Fiction by Nancy J. Cohen I’ve never been a big fan of short fiction. I prefer to read a novel that I can sink my teeth into, as the proverbial saying goes. I like to get absorbed in the story and love the feeling when it’s so good that I don’t want it to […]
