Murder She Writes

ABANDONED

We’re not supposed to have favorites. Like, kids. I’m a mom and I’m not supposed to have a favorite kid. And I don’t. I might have a favorite kid on one day, and then another day it’s another kid. Maybe the kid who makes me coffee in the middle of the day because he notices I’m dragging, or the one who calls me just to say hello, or the one who plops down on my office couch and spontaneously tells me about his day without me having to drag it out of him … yeah, sometimes I have a favorite, but it’s short-lived, because I love them all.

Ditto with books. I love all my books — and hate them — equally. Such is the writer’s life. We have highs and lows. We usually love our book when we start it. It’s new, it’s exciting, it’s fresh.

Then we hate it. We get stuck, our characters don’t cooperate, we have no idea who the killer is or how to catch them or if they even should be caught because after all they killed a child rapist and shouldn’t all child rapists be dead?

Then we love it because we type THE END and it’s done. It’s now our favorite book of all time because it’s DONE. It’s OVER and we get to start something new!

Then we get revisions and we think, “Damn, we really suck. We can’t write.” But we muddle through and think, okay, maybe this doesn’t suck as much as we think. But we are so damn tired of reading and reading and rewriting and rewriting and cutting and slicing and adding and subtracting … we want it to just be DONE.

Then a couple months pass and suddenly the page proofs are on our desk and we can sit down and give the book one final proofread. And that’s when it’s real. “Did I write this? This isn’t half-bad. It’s actually pretty good. In fact, I really like it. Except, why I use the word ‘retribution’ three times in one paragraph AND NOT CATCH IT THE FIRST HUNDRED TWENTY SIX TIMES I READ IT!”

Yes, this is the writer’s life.

August 14, 2018Allison Brennan, Books, Books, Books!, Writing & Publishing — 9 Comments ↓

Tagged with: Abandoned, Allison Brennan, cold cases, Maxine Revere, mystery, neurotic author, new release, publishing, thrillers, writing
Posted in Allison Brennan, Books, Books, Books!, Writing & Publishing

Who Are You? Personality Tests

Remember when you were a teenager … or maybe more recent! … when you loved filling out personality tests to find out what kind of person you are? Ha … yeah, we already know, right? But now with the Internet it’s so much easier.

Seriously, I never took much stock in personality tests. Sure, based on your answers they can tell you if you’re an introvert or extrovert (I don’t think most of us need a test for that); they might give you some insight into why you like a messy desk or a clean desk, or what sort of work environment suits your personality, but to dig down deep into what makes you tick and where you will thrive (or not thrive) — hmmm, not really.

Except for one.

Twenty years ago I was working on a political campaign and the candidate also was part of a family business. Working with family is a completely different animal because, you know, you can’t really fire someone. They hired a business consultant who had them take the Myers-Briggs test on Temperament, Character and Intelligence. The benefit to their business — and their family — was phenomenal. They all read about their family/staff members in order to find out how they best work. When you understand how someone thinks and works, you can better work with them. I could go into great detail, but short version? Their business and family relationships started to thrive and so Greg, who I worked for, bought all his campaign staff the book PLEASE UNDERSTAND ME by David Keirsey because he wanted to know where we landed and how we work best.

I was skeptical, but I took the test. (This was before the test was online, we had to do the “hard work” of scoring ourself!)

I was an ENTP: “The Inventor.” And wow. It was me. Especially how I get bored with repetitive work and am always seeking ways to outwit the system. I ended up reading the entire book and learning how to better work with my colleagues because I finally understood how they work best and how to better communicate.

August 11, 2018Allison Brennan, Writing & Publishing, Writing Life — 5 Comments ↓

Tagged with: Allison Brennan, character, creativity, extroverts, introvert, Lucy Kincaid, Maxine Revere, personality test, Sean Rogan, writing
Posted in Allison Brennan, Writing & Publishing, Writing Life

Erica Spindler, Storyteller Extraordinaire!

I’m thrilled to have my friend and amazing suspense author Erica Spindler back to Murder She Writes. Enjoy! And while you’re enjoying her blog, check out her latest book FALLEN FIVE.

A Good Gumbo

The first time I heard of gumbo, I was twenty-years-old. I grew up in the midwest, in a blue collar, factory town. We ate things like beef stew, pot roast, and goulash. And a lot of noodles and potatoes. A salad was iceburg lettuce and tomatoes, drowned in French or Thousand Island dressing. Nothing wrong with any of those things, but they’re not gumbo.

This was before the whole Cajun food craze hit, before Paul Prudhomme became a celebrity chef, and way before Emeril Lagasse exclaimed the now famous “Bam!” How did I hear about this exotic dish? My boyfriend—now husband—had lived in Louisiana for a few years, and during their stint there, his mother, learned how to make it. By the way, she also introduced me to okra around the same time and I’m still not a fan.

My knowledge about, and appreciation for, gumbo has grown since that first introduction, all those years ago. I now live in the New Orleans area and am exposed to some of the best in the world—including my husband’s.

The origins of gumbo are disputed, but many give the nod to the influence of Louisiana’s French Acadians. These people were hunters and fishermen and they tossed whatever they had on hand into their pot—and the resulting creation was rich and delicious.

I’ve come to think of my writing and my books this way. I add a little of this, a little of that—whatever I have on hand—to make what I hope is something that’s like a good gumbo. Something hearty, with depth of flavor, unexpected additions, and enough spice to provide my own brand of “Bam!”
Read more ›

February 13, 2018Allison Brennan, Books, Books, Books!, Guest Bloggers — 3 Comments ↓

Tagged with: Allison Brennan, Erica Spindler, Fallen Five, suspense, writing
Posted in Allison Brennan, Books, Books, Books!, Guest Bloggers

Welcome Back Lisa Black!

I’m thrilled to host Lisa Black again at Murder She Writes. Not only because she’s a terrific person, but because she writes terrific books — with fabulous covers. Look at this cover of her upcoming book PERISH … just gorgeous, dark and evocative and tells a story in and of itself.

So please welcome Lisa and read her very interesting post … then head on over to her webpage to read an excerpt!

GREED IS NOT ALWAYS GOOD

When a bank or financial firm’s loan officer tells you “I want to be sure you get the best loan possible,” it might be a good idea to remind yourself that this person does not work for you. He or she works for the bank.

In other words, trust but verify.

There is not a better lesson for this caution than the case of Countrywide Financial Corporation. A short ten years ago, Countrywide was a $500 billion home loan machine with 62,000 employees. Founded by Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide made standard home loans to people with excellent credit as well as ‘subprime’ borrowers with not-so-great histories. They provided home equity lines of credit. They serviced other loans, doing the grunt work of collecting payments and disbursing them to investors, which provided a great database of borrowers to call up and offer a ‘better’ deal. Intensive telemarketing drove the business.

All well and good, business as usual. Until you take a closer look.

February 5, 2018Books, Books, Books!, Our Guests & Friends — 4 Comments ↓

Tagged with: Guest Bloggers, Lisa Black, new books, Perish, predatory lending, suspense, thriller
Posted in Books, Books, Books!, Our Guests & Friends

Guest blogging …

I’m guest blogging today over at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. But it’s not a traditional blog. I’m answering questions as if I’m one of my characters — specifically, Bella Caruso who has a pivotal role in BREAKING POINT, the 13th Lucy Kincaid thriller.

I don’t usually like writing as if I’m a character. I can’t say why — I have writer friends who write letters and scenes from deep in first person character as a form of “pre-writing” to help them understand their character’s motivations and goals. I’ve never done that.

But Lois offered up her blog to those of us in the Sleuthing Women box set, and I’m always willing to try something at least once. (Except skydiving. I will never jump out of a plane willingly. Or bungee jumping. Or walking over one of those glass bottom bridges spanning a thousand foot ravine. You see the trend …)

February 1, 2018Allison Brennan, Books, Books, Books!, Guest Bloggers, Writing & Publishing — No Comments ↓

Tagged with: Allison Brennan, Bella Caruso, blogging, Breaking Point, character blog, characters, Criminal Element, Lois Winston, Lucy Kincaid, writing
Posted in Allison Brennan, Books, Books, Books!, Guest Bloggers, Writing & Publishing

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ABANDONED

Who Are You? Personality Tests

Erica Spindler, Storyteller Extraordinaire!

Welcome Back Lisa Black!

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