By Lois Winston Like Henry Higgins, grammar crimes make me cringe. I’m sure you remember his immortal words: “Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?” He then went on to add, “In America, they haven’t spoken it in years.” He wasn’t wrong. Grammar Crimes Thanks to my junior high school English teacher, […]
Today we welcome Mystery/Thriller Author Luke Murphy to The Stiletto Gang. From Shawville to Port Hope: Finding Inspiration in Small-Town Life Writers are often asked where their ideas come from. The truth is, inspiration can come from anywhere, in many forms—a conversation, a news article, a memory, or a place that never quite leaves you. […]
By Lois Winston I have a love/hate relationship with computers. Recently I’ve been mired in ePub software woes. Oh no! Fifteen years ago, I decided to enter the world of indie publishing. I first spent time as a hybrid author, one foot still in traditional publishing while dipping a toe into the indie world. Eventually, […]
Today, we’re joined by cozy mystery author Jacqueline Vick, author of the Frankie Chandler Pet Psychic Mysteries. There’s a long tradition of animals playing important roles in mysteries—especially cozy mysteries—and readers never seem to get enough of them. Why is that? Consider these beloved series: Lilian Jackson Braun’s The Cat Who . . .mysteries Marian Babson’s […]
By Lois Winston What started in Sweden in 2007, quickly made its way throughout Europe, and showed up in the US in 2011? The best marketing idea ever: subscription meal kits. Hello Fresh was the first, quickly followed by Blue Apron. Now there are countless curated services for all dietary needs for both humans and […]
By Lois Winston It occurred to me recently, that I’ve been dodging disaster for most of my life. Although, I never realized it at the time, I’ve always been one or two degrees of separation ahead of disaster. Dodging Disaster #1 I was a young teen the first time I dodged disaster. I had run […]
Noir Mystery Collaboration By M.E. Proctor A few days ago, a friend posted a picture of New York in the 1940s, all neon and jazz clubs with big names on the marquees, accompanied by this caption: I want a time machine! Ah, to be able to go back in time to see legendary performers on […]
By Lois Winston “Grandma, what’s your #1 favorite book of all time?” My #1 favorite book of all time? As part of a Readathon at his elementary school, my nine-year-old grandson recently asked me this question. You might think this is a simple question with an even simpler answer. Not for me. I’ve been impacted […]
By Leslie Wheeler Three years after our parents died, my sister and I finally sold our childhood home. Giving up a place with so many happy memories was hard, but I believed we had to do it. Houses are meant to be lived in, and neither my sister, nor I, nor our children wanted to […]
By Lois Winston Embroidered Lies and Alibis, the fifteenth and newest book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, released fifteen days ago. Like all my other novels, both the mysteries and the non-mysteries, it was inspired by real life events. As I may have mentioned in the past, I’m a news junkie. I read […]