By PJ Parrish Note: This post contains some salty language. Got an interesting fan email the other day. It was from a long-time reader who had just gotten around to getting our most recent Louis Kincaid book The Damage Done. She … Continue reading
“Good authors, too, who once knew better words / Now only use four-letter words writing prose / Anything goes!” – Cole Porter, 1934 By PJ Parrish A convenient convergence of events led me to my topic today. And thank you, Calliope, because I had … Continue reading
“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” – Neil Armstrong * * * What is a cozy mystery? And how has this popular sub-genre evolved over time? Since fellow TKZ contributor Dale Ivan Smith … Continue reading
When I was writing my first novel, a friend asked what kind of book it was. I said it was a cozy mystery, but she didn’t know what that was, so I explained, “It’s a mystery with no explicit violence, … Continue reading
Automated Editing? Or Not?” Terry Odell In the process of doing the final pass of the manuscript for Deadly Relations before sending it to my editor, I ran checks through several automated programs. I use SmartEdit to check for overused … Continue reading
By John Gilstrap In the past few years, audiobooks have become the fastest growing segment of the book industry. In 2018, according to this article from GoodEReader, audio book sales in the United States alone topped $1.2 billion, for the … Continue reading
By John Gilstrap Happy Wednesday, everyone. Today, we take on the work of a brave writer who submitted his first few hundred words for some input. First, I’ll present the piece as I received it, and then my comments will … Continue reading
Anyone remember HAL9000 from Arthur C. Clarke’s 1968 Space Odyssey series? HAL, or the Heuristically Programmed ALgorithmic Computer, was the artificial intelligence (AI) voice that famously said, “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” That series was set … Continue reading
As a retired police officer and now starving artist writer, I pay attention to others who write true crime and crime fiction. I read (actually skim) more for craft than story because I’m still very much in the learning curve … Continue reading
By John Gilstrap Happy New Year, everyone! Yeah, I know the year is two weeks old, but this is my first post of 2020. It’s been a quarter of a century since HarperCollins published my first novel, Nathan’s Run. (Why … Continue reading