writing

Blog Archives

Terrific Trio: Ellison, Spindler, Kava are back!

See me jumping up and down? I have three of my favorite people on my blog! Not just three talented, amazing authors (who write about murder — double great!) but three wonderful, down-to-earth women who I like and admire.

JT with her cats, Jordan and Jameson (Or is it Jameson and Jordan? I can’t tell them apart!)

Not to play favorites (because like my children, it’s hard to pick a favorite author), but I’ve known J.T. almost as long as I’ve been published. Her debut thriller ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS came out in 2007, a year after my debut novel. And she asked me — ME! — then totally an unknown to read and blurb her book. I remember reading it on the plane from Sacramento to RT in Florida and being completely and totally hooked. We met for the first time at the first Thrillerfest, in Phoenix, AZ, where I met some of my favorite people in the business — that’s the weekend I also met Toni McGee Causey, who you all know from her time here as a contributor to MSW.

But I digress (surprise, surprise!)

When I heard that the Terrific Trio were back with a new book, I had to have them here on Murder She Writes. I’m not one for boring interviews (yawn) so I asked them a few fun questions and I hope you enjoy their answers.

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Tagged with: Alex Kava, Allison Brennan, Erica Spindler, J.T. Ellison, reading, Slices of Night, Storm Season, suspense, thrillers, writing
Posted in Allison Brennan, Books, Books, Books!, Our Guests & Friends

My First Writing Retreat

My first book THE PREY was released on December 27, 2005 and my 30th book, MAKE THEM PAY, will be released on March 7th … only 3 short weeks away. I can write anywhere, by necessity, but I’ve never been on a writer’s retreat before … (You can click through to MAKE THEM PAY for all the pre-order links and whatnot!)

Make Them Pay — the 12th Lucy Kincaid thriller — on sale March 7th!

Before I sold my first book, I worked full time in the California State Legislature. And, I had kids. At first three … then four … and then five. Before I sold, I wrote at night after the kids went to bed. They were younger and I had a den in the house, so I could close off from the world and write for three hours every night after they went to bed, before I crashed for six hours. Then I’d wake at six a.m., get the kids off to school or daycare, and commute to work. It was a gruelling schedule, but I knew it wouldn’t be forever. My dream was to make my living writing fiction, and I knew that to achieve that dream I had to work my ass off for however long it took.

I quit my day job three years after I seriously started writing. By that time, I had the five kids and no longer had a den. I moved my desk into the living room, but that afforded no privacy. I’ve always been able to work with noise … it’s the interruptions that kill me.

So I started writing at Starbucks. Or a pub. Depended on what time of the day (or night) it was.

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Tagged with: Allison Brennan, creativity, editing, Make Them Pay, NOLA, procrastinating, publishing, writer's retreat, writing
Posted in Allison Brennan, Writing & Publishing, Writing Life

Notes and Thoughts about SHATTERED

This weekend, I finished editing my copy edits for SHATTERED, the 4th Maxine Revere cold case mystery (on sale 8.22.17.) I received them on Monday the 9th, but didn’t sit down to work on them until Thursday … and finished them in three days. Trust me when I say I never get through copy edits so quickly. I was worried, so I spent Sunday and Monday morning going through them a second time because for certain I had missed something. I made a few more tweaks, but in the end, I’m very, very happy with this book and will be sending it back to NYC tomorrow … early. (Well, my editor won’t get them that early because I’m going to send them 2-day rather than overnight and save me about $40!)

The first thing I thought when I finished reading this book was how much I loved the story … and then I panicked. What if I love it but no one else does? How can I judge my own work? I already have a hard enough time judging my own stories.

Case in point: I wrote a book and sent it to my agent. I don’t want to say too much about it yet, but I loved the story and the characters. My agent read it and while he liked it (sort of) there were several problems. One big problem and several little problems. I spent ten weeks on and off working on revisions … and the story is SO much better than the original. I changed one seemingly small plot point, but it had a ripple effect through the story and the ending rocked.

But I thought the original was really good, too — and now I’m biting my fingernails waiting for notes on the revised book.

What if my concept of good and bad is flawed?

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Tagged with: Allison Brennan, cold case mystery, copy edits, editing, fear, Justin Stanton, Lucy Kincaid, Mariah Stewart, Maxine Revere, publishing, SHATTERED, writing, writing advice
Posted in Allison Brennan, Books, Books, Books!, Writing & Publishing

Great Writing Advice

I saw this on Brad Thor’s Facebook page and wanted to share, because I could have written this myself (except, of course, for having a wife and going on my Honeymoon in Paris part …)

Writer’s write.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re an outliner or someone who is more organic, whether you work on a PC or a Mac or if you’re better writing in the morning or the afternoon/night (I’m the latter on all three counts). All that matters is that you write. You must put words on online casino in canada paper (or on a screen) every day and keep moving forward.”

If you need a kick in the pants, read Brad’s advice.

More soon!

Tagged with: Brad Thor, writing, writing advice
Posted in Uncategorized

Arrow, Walking Dead, and more

I mark the sign of my favorite shows as those I not only look forward to every week, but those I dread the season finale not only because I’ll miss the show, but because I know something is going to happen and it’s going to be devastating to the characters and — more importantly! — to me. Using that criteria, the two shows that I now mark as my favorites are ARROW and WALKING DEAD.

If you want to catch up on ARROW, Lavinia Kent and I publish an article every Friday evening over at the HEA blog. This week’s summary is here. “Broken Hearts” brought back the absolutely fabulous actress who played Carrie Cutter, aka “Cupid.” But like with most ARROW episodes, there were double meanings galore, including the relationship between Oliver and Felicity.

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Tagged with: Arrow, character, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, season finales, television, the walking dead, writing
Posted in Allison Brennan, Movies and Television

Featured Blog Posts

Blog Archives

Terrific Trio: Ellison, Spindler, Kava are back!

My First Writing Retreat

Notes and Thoughts about SHATTERED

Great Writing Advice

Arrow, Walking Dead, and more

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