If you didn’t know, TOO FAR GONE is out and has been since last week. I’ve just been really bad about blogging for the last year (or three!) so forgot to a
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 k
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 …
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 h
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 fa
Woo hoo! It’s another release day in the Brennan house. BREAKING POINT — the 13th (!) book in the Lucy Kincaid series — is out today! Bella Caruso su
BREAKING POINT is out in two weeks! I’m really excited about this book for several reasons. 1) The cover. I LOVE this cover. It hits all the right spots for me.
Hi gang — first, if your comment doesn’t show up it’s because it’s in moderation. I’ve had a huge problem with spam and am trying to find
This summer I binge watched HAWAII FIVE-O (all 7 seasons) and loved it — great ensemble cast, over-the-top action, great dialogue. It was an all-around fun cop s
First, before we get to our irregularly scheduled program, great news! SHATTERED is #67 on the USA Today bestseller list. via GIPHY If you haven’t bought SHATTER
As a dancer, I make a pretty good volleyball player.
Dance has never been my thing. Sure, I did the obligatory square dance lessons in grade school (at least, in Texas, they were obligatory). But ballet didn’t take and in high school the drill team wasn’t exactly beating a path to my door, begging me to join. I’ve never even watched much dance, unless you count occasional episodes of Dancing with the Stars.
So when some friends invited us to a Texas Swing Cookout
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Every woman has shortcuts. Lots of mine happen in the kitchen. I love salad-in-a-bag, taco dinner kits, and instant pudding. My bread machine occupies a prominent spot on my counter.
My favorite culinary shortcut is one I discovered just this year, when the combination of soccer carpools, math tutoring, and a book deadline threatened to send me over the edge.
I discovered the Soup Peddler. The Soup Peddler has been a local hero for years now.
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My guest blogger today wears so many hats, I can’t count them. Besides being an author in multiple genres (Urban Fantasy, erotica, paranormal, young adult) she is a mother of three, a college professor, and an officer of my local RWA chapter. I have no idea how she gets it all done! Please welcome Tessa Adams, whose latest book SOULBOUND takes place in my home city of Austin, Texas.
In my dark new Urban Fantasy, Soulbound, I tell the story of Xandra Morgan, a witch with an unfortunate power. She sees dead people—not ghosts, but the actual bodies of people who died violently. Even worse, she has a compulsion to seek these bodies out, and to help find their killers. So when a serial killer strikes Austin, Texas (her home town and mine as well) and starts marking his kills with the symbol of Isis—the same symbol that has marked Xandra since the day she was born—her life takes a very dangerous twist, one that threatens not just her magic, but her very existence.
Though this book is dark, I found that I really enjoyed writing it. Though I’ve set a couple other books in Austin, this was the first one where I really got to explore the city and show my readers what it is I love about the place I’ve called home the last few years. I set a lot of the book at iconic sites in Austin—some of the places were body dumps but other places were simply important to my hero and heroine. So I thought I’d take the opportunity presented by this blog to take you on a walking—okay, reading—tour of my current hometown.
The Paramount Theater, a movie theater and performance venue downtown in the tradition of old Hollywood movie houses. There’s one big theater, lots of gold/gilt trim, pictures on the ceiling and red velvet seats. Link: http://www.austintheatre.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Home
Town Lake/Lady Bird Lake, which is next to/under the Congress Street bridge, a place Austin is famous for because at twilight hundreds and thousands of bats swarm out from underneath it and take to the night sky. Link: http://www.texasoutside.com/townlake.htm
The Capitol Grounds: Austin is the capital of Texas and our capitol building rotunda stands taller than any other in the country—including the one in DC. This was done purposefully, as the Texas government wanted to make sure that theirs was the most intimidating, beautiful capital in the country. http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/CVC/home/home.html
Austin Farmers Market, Downtown: This is one of my favorite places to take the kids on a Saturday morning. We pick up tea and breakfast pastries from one of the booths, then eat them while we wander around buying vegetables for the week and looking at all the cool foods and funky art that is available. Link: http://www.sfcfarmersmarket.org
6th Street: These days, most of 6th Street is a little too crazy for me, but I do occasionally enjoy sitting down at one of the piano bars or live music venues and catching some tunes. As much a part of Austin’s culture as UT and our music festivals, 6th Street has to be experienced to be understood. http://www.6street.com/
The Continental Club: One of the hottest live music venues in Austin, this place embodies the city’s Keep Austin Weird motto. It’s the first place I went to hear live music when I moved here and it’s still one of my favorites. Funky, fun and with a rich history, it’s a great place to kick back and have a good time. http://www.continentalclub.com/Austin.html
The UT Tower, which was made famous by Charles Whitman in 1966 when he shot and killed 14 people from the top of it. The observation deck was closed for years, but it has since been reopened. It offers one of the best views of Austin. Link: http://www.utexas.edu/universityunions/texas-union/scene/tower-tours
Kerby Lane Café: The best place for pancakes in Austin, bar none. A funky little café that embodies the Keep Austin Weird vibe, Kerby Lane is my favorite place to eat breakfast in town. Most weekends they have a street musician playing music on the sidewalk near the front door to keep the hordes of starving Austinites calm J Link: http://www.kerbeylanecafe.com/
Thanks so much for having me today!
My mother’s did the day she was walking down the street in Austin, Texas, and the woman beside her was hit by a sniper’s bullet. The gunman was Charles Whitman—the original school shooter—and the ensuing 96-minute ordeal took the lives of sixteen people and robbed a town, and a nation, of its innocence.
The clock tower at the University of Texas, the site of the infamous shooting rampage by Charles Whitman.
Whitman’s 1966 shooting rampage on the University of Texas campus made a lasting impact on my mother, and I heard the story of that terrifying day many times growing up. We visited UT frequently for football weekends, and I remember walking across campus with my mother and her pointing out the bullet holes in the concrete balustrades (some are there to this day) and the place on the main drag where she was standing when the shooting broke out.
People often ask me where my story ideas come from, and in the case of my new book SNAPPED the inspiration is very personal. The book opens with a sniper scene. My mom’s experience helped me write the character of Sophie, the story’s heroine, who gets caught in the crossfire.
The hero of the story is Jonah, a member of the SWAT team called in to confront the shooter. Having never stormed a building and taken down an armed assailant, I decided to do a little research on this topic. I interviewed a police sniper whose job it is to train–day in and day out–for the moment when people’s lives are at stake and there is only one chance to get it right. Wow, do those guys have a stressful job!
The day I began the story, I went to the UT campus and walked the crime scene. Once I had a feel for how I wanted to begin, I hiked over to the student union, sat down with my laptop, and wrote the first chapter of SNAPPED.
This book–which I dedicated to my mom–is very personal to me. I set out to take readers on a journey that begins in a very dark place, goes through twists and turns, and ends in a brighter spot.
I’ve been thrilled with the early reviews for this book, including a 4.5 star review from RT Book Reviews, which named SNAPPED a Top Pick for September. And this feedback from BookPage made me smile, too:
“SNAPPED is romantic suspense at its best.”
To celebrate the book’s release I’m giving away a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble and a signed copy of SNAPPED. Leave a comment for a chance to win!
SNAPPED (Pocket Star Books)
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Snapped-Laura-Griffin/dp/1451617364
Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Snapped/Laura-Griffin/e/9781451617368?itm=8&USRI=Laura%20Griffin
Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly three dozen romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband, five children, and assorted pets.
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FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid tackles her most dangerous case yet ... while her fiance Sean Rogan receives life-changing news.
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