By Saralyn Richard Once in a while in the writers’ journey, serendipitous moments occur, and they seem magical. I’ve had three such moments recently and will share them with you. First of all, I’m writing an historical mystery that takes place in my hometown, Galveston, Texas, after the 1900 Storm, which is still the deadliest […]
Many of you know that my sidekick for many years was a naughty-turned-nice sheepdog named Nana. Nana was our second sheepdog, and we had high expectations for her, since our experience with the breed was stellar. In fact, we’d always believed sheepdogs were people in dog suits. Nana, however, surprised us by being the wildest, […]
According to Stephen King, “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.” Much has been written about the importance of the first line of a novel. And lists of the best first lines grace the internet with abundance. Here […]
My current work in progress is a historical mystery, my first foray into writing in that genre. It’s also the book I’ve wanted to write since I was fifteen years old. There are a lot of reasons the project has stalled over the years, but now that I’m fully into it, I’m finding so much […]
A Big, Happy Announcement! By Saralyn Richard Winning a Silver Falchion award is a big deal! Like the Edgar from Mystery Writers of America, and the International Thriller Writers award, the Killer Nashville silver falchion contest is an annual international competition that draws hundreds of entries from the finest mystery writers in the industry. The […]
In the business of writing mysteries, a person can hardly avoid the police. I know. I’ve written seven mysteries, eight if you include my children’s book, which is a bit of a mystery. Throughout the journey, I’ve relied on advice from various law enforcement personnel to help me tell an authentic, believable story. Sometimes I […]
The Killer Nashville conference is coming up next month, and I’m going. Getting ready has brought back memories of my first KN conference, and this article I wrote afterwards. It explains why, like the swallows to Capistrano, I’m eager to return. How the Killer Nashville Conference Changed My Life as an Author The benefits of […]
One of the many tasks an author tackles when she has a new book released is to develop a list of discussion questions for book clubs. While I enjoy every part of researching, writing, revising, publishing, and marketing a book, creating discussion questions is one of my favorites. Years of doing lesson plans, creating assessments, […]
Word Games I’ve played word games for as long as I can remember. Crossword puzzles, acrostics, Scrabble, Boggle, and MadLibs were all favorites before apps like Words with Friends, Lexulous, Upwords, and Wordle came on the scene. I love them all, and I play regularly with friends, strangers, and computers. Recently my nephew told […]
When a new book is released, celebration ensues. Not just for the author, whose joy in sharing the new product with the world is undoubtedly immense. Other stakeholders can participate in the launch activities and have fun in the process. Who are the other stakeholders? The obvious ones are the editors, cover artists, formatters, […]