I’m on Mykonos. Yay. The Kardashians were here when I arrived. Boo. They left. Yay. Michael Jordan arrived. Yay. Okay, I’ll stop now while the “Yays” have it.
Blog at Poisoned Pen Press
A Lone Daffodil
by Mary Reed Wordsworth’s poem relates how he saw a host of golden daffodils growing wild in the Lake District, but we city dwellers had to purchase the yellow trumpetted flowers at the greengrocers. Each spring, my mother bought the first bunch of daffies she saw. They went into a truly hideous green jug made [...] Read More →
Mysteries and the Unreliable Narrator
As a trial lawyer by day and an author by night, I don’t find the “unreliable narrator” an abstract concept. Indeed, I have been mulling over the subject for awhile and have posted some thoughts on my website here and here. But the topic is particularly relevant to those of us who write or read mystery novels. First, some background: The “unreliable narrator” [...] Read More →
Where Am I? What Day Is This?
Ann Parker here, regular (?) blogger at the Poisoned Pen Press blog on the 15th of every month. However, this month’s post comes straggling in late, as I didn’t realize until this morning (sitting in the car repair shop) that today, yes, today is (was) the 15th!
POTTY WORDS
Back in the day, there were words that could and often did earn a kid a mouthful of soap and water. They were variously called swear words, cuss words, vulgar words, off-color words, smutty words, blue words…bad words. Today, many grownup people, whether they’re talking to children or to other grownups, call them potty words. [...] Read More →
Grades, Phooey
So Amazon invites me to review a book I recently purchased. Okay, sure, I enjoyed the book, and appreciated the author’s craft, and would be delighted to help promote it. But first, before I write a word, I’m supposed to grade it, one star to five. Nuts to that. I teach writing, and the [...] Read More →
Got Content? Get Readers
Today I’m using a guest blog from a top industry professional who gives tips for selling books. Michele Crockett is VP of content services for Penton’smarketing services group. A former editor and publisher at Penton, the largest business-to-business media company in the U.S., Michele now helps companies engage with Penton’s millions of readers in 17 [...] Read More →
Writer, Traveling
I’m just back from four days in London on my own, following a vacation in Ireland with my husband. I love London. It’s been a long time and I was thrilled to go back. I have no British connections of any kind, except one, but that’s an important one. I’ve been reading English books my [...] Read More →
Planning a Book Launch . . . ideas?
I’m in the process of planning the launch for CAPACITY FOR MURDER, third in the Professor Bradshaw series. I am not what you’d call a great party planner, but luckily, I have a friend who is. Jesikah, a talented emerging YA fantasy writer– her Pinterest page immerses you in her words and world–is a former [...] Read More →
Destination Unknown
Did any of you know for sure what you wanted to be when you grew up? Did you become that? (The job or career, I mean; I’m assuming “grown up.”) I wasn’t ever sure what I wanted to be. I picked a college major not because it aligned with my future goals but because 80% [...] Read More →