Blog
Ebooks on sale!
What's your poison, cozy or dark? Cats or rock and roll? For reasons beyond my ken, three of my older books seem to be on sale at Amazon today: A SPELL OF MURDER (the first "Witch Cats of Cambridge" cozy), WORLD ENOUGH (my first Boston rock noir), and CROSS MY PATH...
Crime Bake is back!
After a COVID hiatus, New England Crime Bake is BACK! Presented this year as a hybrid event, this (usually) annual conference gathers writers, readers, and fans to discuss the art and craft of crime fiction – with a special presentation by this year's guest of honor...
Rick Berlin’s Big Balloon (a love story)
I write about the Boston music scene, but Rick Berlin has lived it. Emerging from the COVID shutdown with two new recordings and a bunch of upcoming gigs (see below), Rick has also captured his particular wit and self-reflection in a new book. The Big Balloon (A Love...
The Devil’s Music
A new Gabriel Valjan novel is always reason to celebrate, and this one hits close to home! Gabriel tackles many of the same themes that I do – the unreliability of memory and our tendency to reframe history to suit our needs – though in his case, that history is the...
Sets & crimes & rock & roll
In real life, the wonderful New York Times best-selling author Caroline Leavitt and I talk about writing all the time. So she revived her blog to put down some of our Q&A. You can read an excerpt below or click over to her space here:...
Kings River Life feels the HOLD ME DOWN beat
"This novel really takes you into the grimy world of a traveling band and the melodies behind the music...." THANK YOU, Kings River Life! The magazine is also offering a giveaway. See below: "Hold Me Down" By Clea Simon: Review/Giveaway November 05, 2021 Review by...
Happy pub day, Cathy Ace!
One of the. most miserable parts of the pandemic is that I miss my friends! Ace author Cathy Ace – see what I did there? – perhaps tops among them! Smart, funny, and wise about the writing and publishing, Cathy is someone I always look for first thing when I surface...
#TBTwith Mystery Maven Sara DiVello
Did you miss my HOLD ME DOWN pre-launch event with Mystery and Thriller Maven Sara DiVello? Not to worry, our host for the evening – Houston's MURDER BY THE BOOK – has put our talk up on Youtube and Facebook and I'm sharing as a #TBT! We're not taking questions...
Talking craft with Dale Phillips
I got to chat with fellow New England mystery author Dale Phillips over at his blog a while ago and hadn't had a chance to share till now. We tackled the writing process, music books and how to craft a compelling story. Here's how it starts: So how did this novel come...
HOLD ME DOWN “will grab you by the heart…”
"Hold Me Down, acclaimed author Clea Simon’s new suspense novel about a hard-driving punk rocker dragged into the trauma of her wild past by a murder in her present, will grab you by the heart even as it makes you grip the edge of your seat. Life as a successful...