“Write your own damn book” – Bill Corbett
In truth, I think Bill was a little frustrated with me. He was a poet, after all. A lion of the avant garde and a champion of art for art's sake. I was the new wife of his old friend and colleague, a fledgling writer upset with the negative feedback I'd gotten from...
read moreFIVE QUESTIONS with thriller author Gabriel Valjan
I first met crime fiction author Gabriel Valjan at the great New England Mobile Book Fair, where he started to talk to me about books and cats. Needless to say, we got on like a house on fire, and I was not surprised to learn that his international thrillers are fun,...
read moreDeadly Ink, here I come!
Do you know about Deadly Ink? This "biggest little" mystery/crime fiction con takes place every year in Iselin, NJ, not far outside NYC. This year, after several years of trying, I am finally making it – and tomorrow I'll be on two (!!) panels, one for each side of my...
read moreHappy International Cat Day!
Do you purr at your cat? I talk to Thisbe, of course, much as I spoke to Musetta and Cyrus before her. I'd never thought of purring at my little tortie, though, until a journalist for Inverse contacted me for this article. Now, of course, I want to try it. Only Thisbe...
read moreFIVE QUESTIONS with muso Brett Milano
Author Brett Milano and I go back years – from when he was making his living (and his name) as a music critic for such publications as the Boston Globe and Boston Herald and we'd meet up in long-gone clubs like the Rat or TT's. He's since gone on to other projects,...
read moreListen now: “Under the Radar with Callie Crossley”
Tune in on Sunday at 6 p.m. to WGBH-FM 89.7 or listen online anytime, as WGBH host Callie Crossley talks to me, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Peter Swenson for her summer thrillers club. Callie's great – she read our books and had really smart questions. Did she stump us?...
read more“a delightful read….” RTE on FEAR ON FOUR PAWS
Writing for Reviewing the Evidence, a crime fiction journal, onetime Pinkerton investigator and former journalist Ruth Castleberry takes on my Fear on Four Paws, noting, "the exchanges between various animal characters and Pru are skillfully done and sound genuine....
read moreMeet Pru Marlowe, animal psychic…
Raven-award winning book blogger Dru Ann interviewed Pru Marlowe, protagonist of my pet noir series (including the new Fear on Four Paws) on her blog here. Plus, she's giving a book away! Click through to find out how to...
read moreFIVE QUESTIONS with thriller author Amy Shojai
Before Amy Shojai started writing thrillers, she'd authored more than 30 serious animal-care books: The woman knows her beasts! In recent years, she's turned that knowledge into "thrillers with bite," penning suspense novels with realistic animal characters. We've...
read moreWriting across the spectrum
Even if you adore chocolate, sometimes you want chips, right? And after a salt binge, I usually find myself craving something sweet and spicy. So why should authors content themselves with writing only one kind of book – or even one kind of mystery? That's the...
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