I was lucky enough to snag an ARC of Timothy Hallinan's most recent release, Fields Where They Lay , a new Junior Bender mystery. Tim has been nominated for the Edgar and Macavity Awards, and Herbie's Game won the Lefty in 2014 for  the best comic mystery. As a long-time fan of Tim's writing, I was thrilled to get the advance copy of this book that releases in October. I first got acquainted with his work when I was reviewing for BloggerNews.com and received a copy of Breathing Water, a Poke Rafferty Thriller . That was back in 2010, and I have read a number of other books in the Poke Rafferty series, as well as the Junior Bender series. It's hard to say which I like better, as they both are so well-written and packed with fascinating characters and interesting places. Junior Bender is not your ordinary thief. He's a cultured thief, if cultured and thief could actually be used in the same sentence, but as you get to know him, you recognize that he is wel...

I’m a nut for Christmas books. Every year, I get my hands on at least a half dozen from authors like Ann Perry who writes a special holiday novella. This year, I quite accidentally ended up with about a dozen Christmas books on my Kindle, from authors I never would have discovered without their free promotions through online newsletters like Pixel of Ink . Here are a few I can’t wait to dig into starting December 1 st when my holiday cheer begins in earnest:   Forever Christmas   Merry’s Christmas: A Love Story One Imperfect Christmas The Secret Christmas Ciphers  A Simple Amish Christmas   Catch That Santa I’ll probably also buy this Nora Roberts holiday book coming out on December 11th. It's a bit pricey for a Kindle book at $6.99, and more than I might ordinarily pay, but this author writes a fine tale. How about you, readers? Do you do any kind of special theme reading for the holidays? Cook...

Are you feeling a chill in the air lately? For the first time in a long time, I'm actually looking forward to snow. See, I've been looking at this festive cover for months, and it's finally time to share it with the world. Friends, I want to introduce you to the latest from Red Tash Books, Let It Snow! Season's Readings for a Super-Cool Yule . I'd love to tell you more about how this collection came about, too.   See, it's kind of Dani Greer's fault.   Over the summer I threw in a story with several of the BRP bloggers and a few other regulars of the BBT Cafe.   The result, The Corner Cafe , continues to garner great reviews and was a really fun experiment for me as a writer, as I decided to set my contribution in the world of my first novel, the best-selling dark fantasy, This Brilliant Darkness .   The Corner Cafe was the first of what would become seven anthologies I would contribute to in 2012.   I quickly realized the value of these ...

This poem first appeared here at The Blood Red Pencil in December 2009, but the very first publication was in 1980, when I was writing a weekly column for a suburban newspaper. Throughout the years I have dusted it off to share again with a new group of readers. Enjoy. Tis the day before Christmas and all is not done, Things on the “to do” list number a million and one. There are cookies to cut while the oven is hot, And a gift for Aunt Mildred. Egad! I forgot. There are presents to measure, to balance and wrap, If the stacks are not even the kids will know in a snap. The turkey is snug in the freezer so cold, Will anyone notice if I put dinner on hold? Tis the day to test stamina, courage, and brawn, The survivors are heroes at next morning’s dawn. Just when I thought I was running out of time A stranger appeared with a smile so sublime. He was dressed all in silver from his head to his toe. And I blinked my eyes twice to see if he would go. He patted my shoulder and gave me a lat...

Tis the day before Christmas and all is not done, Things on the “to do” list number a million and one. There are cookies to cut while the oven is hot, And a gift for Aunt Mildred. Egad! I forgot. There are presents to measure, to balance and wrap, If the stacks are not even the kids will know in a snap. The turkey is snug in the freezer so cold, Will anyone notice if I put dinner on hold? Tis the day to test stamina, courage, and brawn, The survivors are heroes at next morning’s dawn. Just when I thought I was running out of time A stranger appeared with a smile so sublime. He was dressed all in silver from his head to his toe. And I blinked my eyes twice to see if he would go. He patted my shoulder and gave me a latte, “Your’re almost there,” he said. “The rest will be easy. “Don’t worry, don’t fret, don’t get in a frazzle, Together we’ll do it with narry a hassle. I’ll hang the tinsel and check all the lights, You bathe the children...

Good Grief, Christmas decorations in the stores before Halloween! Can't we enjoy this Season first before rushing to the next one? My Fall decorations seem out of place somehow, what with all the Christmas lights popping up in the neighborhood. Soon I'll need to get my Christmas card list updated. I wouldn't want to send those cards out too late, say, maybe around Christmas. You may ask What does her griping have to do about writing? A lot. When you write, pay attention to sequence. In other words, put the action before the reaction. Don't have someone cry or laugh before first showing a reason for that emotion. Wrong: Mary wiped the tears from her eyes. The mums reminded her of mother who'd always loved flowers. Right: The mums reminded Mary of mother, who'd always loved flowers. Mary wiped the tears from her eyes. Likewise, don't give away the plot right away or you'll ruin the fun for the reader. Spread an information trail first and let the readers f...