Carolyn Haines | CHARACTERS OUT OF CONTROL

This summer, the 9th Bones book, GREEDY BONES, will be released by St. Martin’s Minotaur. I’m hard at work on the 10th book. People often ask me if I grow weary of the characters in Zinnia. After all, I’ve been in relationship with them for ten years or better, which is longer than many marriages.

I never get tired of the Zinnia gang. They’re old friends to me. Trusted friends who share wisdom, laughter, shenanigans, and a zest for life that I often find in my real life friends and in the letters of many readers who’ve written to me. Sarah Booth, Jitty, Tinkie, Cece and Millie bring out the best in me, I think. One of the most interesting things is how much these characters have grown and changed over the books, exactly as real people do.

Click to read the rest of Carolyn's blog and to leave a comment.

Dianne Emley | Ten Commandments of Fiction Writing

Thank you, Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog today! I’m Dianne Emley, author of the L.A. Times bestselling Detective Nan Vining “thrillogy”: THE FIRST CUT, CUT TO THE QUICK, and, just out, THE DEEPEST CUT. These three are a thrillogy because they have an overarching storyline in which Nan Vining obsessively pursues the man who attacked her and left her for dead, the creep who Vining and her teenage daughter call T.B. Mann—The Bad Man. The Nan Vining series continues! I’m working on the fourth which will be out in 2010.

I’ve learned a lot about the art and business of writing since the first book hit the shelves. I’ve become not just smarter, but wiser. I’ve developed a few rules that I strive to follow when I’m writing and editing a book and some that govern my behavior when the book is out. I’d like to share these with you. Herewith:

Dianne Emley’s Ten Commandments of Fiction Writing

1. I shall heed good editorial advice, shun bad advice, and learn how to tell the difference.

Click to read the rest of Dianne's Commandments!

Cindy Keen Reynders | Appreciating Family

As a kid, I couldn’t wait to grow up and get away from home. I thought my brothers and sisters were annoying. I thought my parents were straight from the Stone Age. After high school, I went to college, got married, then I was off and running. I lived in Texas, Japan, South Dakota, Colorado, moved back to Japan, then back to Colorado. Finally, twenty-two years later, I moved home to Cheyenne, Wyo. which is full of my relatives.

After all those years and all those places, you’d think I’d sit down and write a book about my travels. Somehow I became fascinated by the dynamics of the home folks; the ups, the downs—everything. So I wrote a book about an off-the-wall family in the small, fictional town of Moose Creek Wyoming. I focused particularly on sisters Lexie Lightfoot and Lucy Parnell.

In my book, The Saucy Lucy Murders and its sequel, Paws-itively Guilty, Lexie has moved back home after a divorce. She finds that with age, she and Lucy have mellowed. Nevertheless, the sisters still manage to backslide into the roles of bossy, older sibling and younger, rebellious sibling.

After several mysterious murders occur in town, Lexie decides the local law officers aren’t doing their jobs, and she feels the need to intervene. It’s only natural that she would call upon her sister for help. Lucy, misguided as she is, lends her church-going spirit and humorously rigid outlook on life to all the cases the sisters decide to sleuth.

So if you like mysteries, if you like sisters and perhaps have one, and if you like laugh-out-loud adventure, try reading my stories. I promise, by the time you’re finished, you’ll have gained a new appreciation for family.

Cindy Keen Reynders
www.cindykeenreynders.com

Karen E. Olson | SHOT GIRL

My fourth Annie Seymour mystery, SHOT GIRL, came out on Election Day. So far, reviews and comments from readers have been good. All are saying it's the best in the series.

It was the hardest one to write.

I decided to do something different with SHOT GIRL. With each book, I embrace a different style. My first book was a traditional mystery, the second is what I call my Mafia book, and the third is much more fast paced and thriller like. In SHOT GIRL, Annie is an unreliable narrator.

I had a friend express surprise that I would do this in the fourth — and last — book in the series. Wasn't it a risk? she asked. Sure it was, but I wanted to see if I could do it, if I could pull it off. When I'd started writing the book, I'd just finished reading Scott Turow's PRESUMED INNOCENT, in which he masterfully portrayed an unreliable narrator. Could I do that with Annie? I thought. It was worth a shot.

My goal was to have the reader ask throughout the book: Is Annie telling me the truth? What is she keeping secret? I know she's not telling me everything. But why?

I had to really think about how I was going to write this book, and since I don't outline there was a lot of going back and checking for inconsistencies. At one point Annie has a key that the reader doesn't realize she has. How did she get it? I had no idea. I kept a sort of graph about halfway through writing the book so I could keep track of the questions I had to answer before my editor got her hands on the manuscript.

I'm not sure I would ever do this again because it was difficult. But all reports indicate that I was successful. Annie most definitely is going out with a bang.

Karen
www.kareneolson.com/

Cynthia Baxter | The Importance of Creating a Compelling Main Character

What goes into writing a good mystery? While it’s critical to have a compelling plot filled with twists and turns, I’ve always believed that the book’s heroine – and the development of her “real life” – was at least as important.

When I started writing the Reigning Cats & Dogs mystery series, I wanted the focus to be my protagonist, Jessica Popper. Jessie is a veterinarian with a mobile services unit, essentially a clinic on wheels. I chose to make her practice mobile instead of based in a regular office because she needed an excuse to go out into the community every day, talking to suspects and ferreting out clues. But since I love to incorporate humor in all my books, I wanted her to be sassy, independent, and strong-headed, as well as someone who was battling a few demons. The main one is her conflict over commitment, which provides the ups and downs she experiences with her boyfriend Nick. (I tried to model their relationship after the sparkling repartee in those wonderful old Katherine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy flicks – or one of my favorite movies of all times, It Happened One Night.)

The Reigning Cats & Dogs series was already moving along nicely when I came up with an idea for a second series, one that featured a travel writer. I’ve done some travel writing, and it occurred to me that it would be fun to set each book in a different location as my heroine researched a new spot for a magazine article. But as I started to write the Murder Packs a Suitcase mystery series, I wanted to create a heroine who was completely different from Jessie Popper. So I made Mallory Marlowe a little older, as well as less secure in her career and herself. Perhaps even more importantly, I made her central conflict the exact opposite of Jessie’s. While Jessie struggles with her fears of getting into a committed relationship, Mallory is dealing with the loss of hers, the result of her husband’s sudden death. And while the members of Jessie’s family all have four feet (one has wings), Mallory has two almost-adult children. That gives her a support system that Jessie doesn’t have – and isn’t sure she wants.

It’s been a challenge, alternating between the two series and having to go back and forth, getting into the head of each of my two heroines. Writing about two such different women requires a totally different mindset. I “hear” them in my head and I “see” them in various situations – and the experience is strangely different. Thank goodness that in the end, both Jessie and Mallory have the same goal: discovering “whodunnit!”

Cynthia Baxter
www.cynthiabaxter.com/

Vicki Lane | No Manolos, No Makeup, and the Romantic Interest is Bald

"She flowed into his arms and they stood silently for a moment: two middle-aged people, much encumbered by heavy winter outerwear and vintage emotional baggage, but, for the moment, in perfect harmony."

So, I get the invitation to blog on Fresh Fiction and I accept joyfully, especially since the kind folks here have named my recent release In a Dark Season “Pick of the Day” (5/25/08). I start checking out some past blogs and then I see the covers of featured books. Hmmm. Flowing hair, heaving bosoms, and more six-packs than a convenience store. Oh dear! This isn’t what I write – do they really want me?

Mind you, I have nothing against tempestuous heroines and hunky heroes – I’ve drooled my way through a Judith Krantz title or two before this. But when I began to write in 2000 – at the age of fifty seven – I’d already spent about ten years, looking around for role models -- older women who were aging in the way I hoped to. It seemed as if the media was crawling with gorgeous twenty-somethings and the occasional cute, feisty old lady and in real life there was a great middle ground of women trying desperately to give the illusion of being younger than they really were. But I was looking for women who were unapologetic about aging -- un-lifted, un-dyed, and un-Botoxed. I was looking for women who didn’t feel defined by their age – women to whom age was irrelevant. So I invented her.

My Elizabeth Goodweather Appalachian Mysteries have as protagonist a woman ‘of a certain age’ -- not beautiful or even beautifully dressed -- but a woman in her fifties whose long braid of dark hair is shot with silver threads, a woman whose knees aren’t what they once were, and who wouldn’t know a Jimmy Choo if it stomped on her instep. (Wouldn’t feel it either, as she’s usually wearing hiking boots.)

Elizabeth doesn’t dwell on her age or her hot flashes or her weight or her graying hair – she just gets on with solving the mystery – traveling up and down the dark hollows and coves of her mountain county (Signs in the Blood), weaving her way through the quirky art scene of nearby Asheville (Art’s Blood), exploring the world of the Cherokee (Old Wounds), or deciding what to do about the man who wants to marry her (In a Dark Season). And yes, he’s balding.

Really, Elizabeth’s age is peripheral to the story – this is NOT “Geezer Lit.” But she is aging gracefully -- and my greatest pleasure is hearing from the many women who feel like she’s a friend they look forward to visiting every year.
My very favorite email was from a woman who wrote: “Elizabeth makes me want to stop dyeing my hair and be who I really am.”

Amen, sister!

Vicki Lane

Website -- http://vickilanemysteries.com/
(Almost) Daily Blog - http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/
Monthly Amazon Blog
Random House Podcast

Rhonda Pollero | Finnley is soooo not me!

I’ve heard that a lot since the debut of my of the Finley Anderson Tanner series. I can’t attest to how much she and I are alike. Yes, Finley and I share the same sense of humor and I suppose her moral code mirrors my own. That’s pretty much where the similarities end. Well, excluding the fact that she’s blonde and short. That’s a function of practicality. Being blonde and short myself, I know how to dress Finley (fairly high heels are important) and the physicality of the character’s actions reflect the fact that unless she started dating Michael J. Fox, she’d never know what it felt like to dance with her head resting on a guy’s shoulder.

In all other aspects, Finley and I couldn’t be less alike.

She’s a shopper, something I personally loathe. I’d rather remove a kidney than go to a mall. The whole idea of window-shopping makes me want to stick pencils in my eyes. Finley’s also heavily in debt, another personal taboo of mine. But the biggest difference is that she’s an underachiever by choice. I’m so much of an overachiever that I probably could benefit from lengthy therapy.

Crafting a character is never easy – nor should it be – and there will always be a sprinkling of the author’s personality and/or personal experiences in his or her characters. Figuring out where to draw the line can be tough, especially when doing an on-going series.

Knowing Finley needed room to grow, so I gave her some hefty flaws. In KNOCK OFF (available in paperback now), she takes her first foray into the realm of solving a crime. She isn’t all that adept in the beginning, but by the end of the book, she’s learned a few things, although she’s a long way from attaining the moniker of amateur sleuth. At best, she’s an accidental sleuth.

In the second book, KNOCK ‘EM DEAD (on shelves February 27th), she builds on what she learned in the first book, though she’s still a long way from a crime-solving whiz.

Finley marked a detour in my career. After writing more than 25 romantic suspense novels under my pseudonym Kelsey Roberts, I wondered how books penned by Rhonda Pollero would be received. Different name, and different flavor. Was there enough mystery to satisfy mystery fans? Was the sizzle between Finley and Liam enough of a subplot to draw fans of my romantic suspense? I honestly didn’t have a clue and after a lot of angst filled soul-searching, I decided I had to put those concerns on the back burner and just tell the story.

I’m glad I took the chance. People seem to love Finley as much as I do.

And that’s the bottom line, isn’t it? A writer is a storyteller; everything else is just window dressing.

Happy Writing . . . Rhonda

www.rhondapollero.com/ www.kelseyroberts.net/

Hank Phillippi Ryan | Keeping Mom Happy

My mother is so mad at me. She’s in the midst of reading Face Time, the newest Charlotte McNally Mystery. It’s just been named a Book Sense Notable Book, and it's on the Boston Globe Best Seller list.

I say: Hooray. And I expected the same reaction from my mother. But Mom, who has only read the first ten pages or so, actually said: "I’m sure that’s lovely, dear." You have to imagine the "Mom" tone. Maybe you've used it a time or two yourself. Or perhaps, you've heard it. I'm thinking all daughters have.

Turns out, Mom is unhappy with Face Time.

To be sure: Mom is terrific. She’s almost 80, and is absolutely beautiful. An artist, a reader, a wonderful intellect. (She doesn’t have a computer, so she’s not reading this.) I’m her oldest daughter, and any psychologist will tell you that can cause some friction.

So anyway. Why is Mom mad? She thinks I’ve “used her for art.”

It’s true: Charlie McNally’s mother in Face Time is a bit—persnickety. She’s opinionated. She thinks, for instance, that Charlotte might want to give up her very successful 20-year TV career to marry some tycoon and become a tycoon wife. No matter that Charlie is happy with the personal life (pretty happy, at least, for a 46-year-old single woman who is married to her job) and happy with her professional life (pretty happy, at least, even though she’s fearful she’s going to be replaced by someone younger).

Mom also thinks Charlotte (she refuses to call her Charlie, saying, “nicknames are for stuffed animals and men who play sports”) might want to visit the plastic surgeon for some face time of her own.

Now Mrs. McNally is not, I repeat, not, my mother. But in these days of controversy over whether books that are purported to be memoirs are actually true—I find myself fighting to convince her that my book is truly fiction.

It’s ALL MADE UP, I tell her. Yes, Charlie has a Mom, and I have a Mom. But I’m not Charlie and she’s not you.

Silence on the other end of the phone.

“Of course it’s me, dear,” she finally says. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

So I’m wondering, do any of you have a problem with this? Do people “recognize” themselves in your books—and you have to convince them it’s a fictional character they’re recognizing? Would you “use” someone for “art”?

Or if you’re a reader, do you assume fictional characters are real people just put on paper?

And as it turns out—as Mom will find out if she’ll just persevere and get to the end of the book—it’s not only a mystery, and a romance, but kind of a love story between mothers and daughters. My editor said she had tears in her eyes when she read it. One reviewer told me she downright cried at the final scene. (Which is odd, you have to admit, in a murder mystery.)

Yes, as authors we take elements of reality. Then we polish, and tweak, and exaggerate, and accessorize. But the fun is making up something completely new. Creating a new world. New characters and new relationships. And it’s ALL MADE UP.

Okay, Mom?

Do you have a contentious relationship with your mother? (or daughter?) Do you understand each other? I'd love to hear from you--just check my website. And let's chat.

With love to all mothers and daughters...

Hank (okay, it's Harriet but you must never reveal that...and of course, it was Mom's idea.)

PS: And oh--being a reporter myself, (www.hankphillippiryan.com/) I do have news! PRIME TIME, the first Charlotte McNally Mystery, is a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice nominee!

And there's more: AIR TIME, the third Charlotte McNally Mystery, is now scheduled to be published in the next year or so, followed soon after by DRIVE TIME. Here are some hints: Someone has a baby. Someone leaves town. Someone decides NOT to get married. Do you think you know who?

Enter Hank Phillippi Ryan ONE DAY ONLY BLOG contest TEN WINNERS!!!!

Sheila Lowe | Between the Lines – Forensically Speaking

Are you a CSI buff? Do you watch every episode of Cold Case, Forensic Files, Law & Order and all the spinoffs? Then you are one of the people who have turned forensics into a hugely popular field. These days, DNA, fingerprints, and all that technical stuff makes fantastic (or more correctly, realistic) fodder for fiction. So what better time to introduce a new kind of forensic expert?

I’ve been in the field of handwriting analysis for forty years and occasionally, I testify in court cases as an expert witness. My practice includes working on cases of forged wills, anonymous letters, and all sorts of legal chicanery, as well as behavioral profiling. And my clients have never been as savvy or as interested in what their handwriting says about them as they are today.

At the same time, there are some who believe that in an age of Ipod, BlackBerry, and text messaging, handwriting has lost its relevance. But the truth is, your handwriting–chicken scratch though it may be–remains an important form of personal expression, and it paints a true portrait of your personality. The way you arrange your handwriting on the page, the style you use, and the rhythm as it “moves” across the paper, reveal social graces (or their lack), thinking patterns, behavior, fears and defenses, and much more. Studying this highly complex interaction between brain and hand helps the expert glean important information about what makes the writer tick.

So, after analyzing more than ten-thousand handwriting samples over my career, I was ready to kill someone. Not literally, of course. As a big fan of mystery novels since childhood, and the author of non-fiction handwriting analysis books, I’d always wanted to write a mystery. So, the Claudia Rose, forensic handwriting expert mystery series, came into being [ISBN: 978-0-451-22369-2]. Working closely with LAPD Detective Joel Jovanic to solve a series of unspeakable crimes, Claudia delves deep into the trail of ink, jeopardizing her safety to uncover the secrets of personality in some very high-profile suspects.

Although most of the cases that come across my desk are fairly prosaic, from time to time I get calls that lift the assignment well out of the ordinary–like the former FBI agent who wanted to get me involved in a Satanic cult, or the detective whose client had disappeared in the Middle East and was feared dead, or the scumbag attorney who had perpetrated a huge fraud on an unsuspecting group of investors, or the one about Elvis... (yes, really!) Those are the kinds of cases that form the basis for Claudia’s adventures, beginning with Poison Pen, which asks the question, Can handwriting be faked to make murder look like suicide? Read the first chapter at www.claudiaroseseries.com/

One thing I’ve learned over the past forty years of practice as a handwriting analyst is this: you may be able to change your looks, your tone of voice, or your body language, but regardless of what you show to the world, like DNA or fingerprints, handwriting always tells the truth.

To learn more about handwriting analysis: www.sheilalowe.com/

Lois Greiman - Fantasy Freebies!

Hey, I have a new Christina McMullen UN-mystery (Unmanned) coming out at the end of the month, so…in honor of Christina and her less than stellar dating history, I ask: Who’s your fantasy freebie?

Okay, I understand that some of us have husbands/boyfriends/significant others who wouldn’t agree to a freebie even if the seven horsemen of the Apocalypse were thundering down on us from the sky. But if you could spend the night with anyone free of guilt, blame, and venereal disease, who would it be?

Christina and I discussed this at some length. It was a difficult task, sitting around with my imaginary friend, thinking about hot men, debating their various attributes/body parts, but for you Fresh Fiction readers…anything.

Anyway, we came to the conclusion that while physical appearances can hardly be discounted (let’s be honest--we’re all shallow here) there are actually other factors which might be more important. Attitude, for instance. Personality. Then there’s that strange inexplicable thing I’ll simply call the ‘wow’ factor.

After this long cerebral discussion, Christina was rather chagrined to admit that her choice would be Colin Farrell, because even though she’s an intelligent woman with a PhD, she has a thing for bad boys with inarticulate Irish accents. (You have to forgive her; she once bought a picture frame that was sold with a photo of a hot guy. She kept the guy in the frame, gave him a name and a history and claimed him for her own. Christina’s got some problems, PhD and all.)

But, I digress.

As for myself, I’m going to have to go with Viggo Mortenson. But it can’t be just the run-of-the-mill Mortenson…it has to be the Aragorn version of Mortenson. He has to have the hair and the sword and that novel-inspiring ‘bring on the hounds of hell’ look in his eye that makes men bristle and women go all noodley. I want the whole enchilada, sour cream and all.

So….what about you? What’s the most important element you look for in a freebie? And…considering those elements…who’s your ultimate pick? Who’s the one person you’d want to spend one mind-bending, bone-melting night with?

State your preferences,by entering my one day only blog contest ladies. I’ll be giving away a signed, fresh off the presses copy of Unmanned to one fantasizing commenter.

Nancy Bush | THE BINKSTER's BLOG

(with a little help on the keyboard from Nancy Bush):

Most of you know, I'm a pug and star of the Jane Kelly Mystery Series by Nancy Bush. You probably think I lead this glamorous life. Not so! Today, as usual, I woke up and thought about food. Then I trotted out to my bowl, which was empty, and thought some more about food.

This is a continuing problem for me, and you'll see just how much when you read the books. I show up in the first of the series, CANDY APPLE RED. The truth of the matter is that Nancy actually wrote about the pug in the book before she bought me. (I'm sure there were MAJOR revisions to CANDY APPLE RED once I became flesh and blood.) In the story Jane is a reluctant dog owner. The Binkster is thrust upon her. Well, suffice it to say, I worm my way into her heart pretty fast.

But back to today--

After checking my bowl again, I climbed on the couch and waited for someone to feed me. Nancy came downstairs and headed out to the Coffee Nook—yes, that's the same coffee shop featured in the Jane Kelly Mystery Series—which is what she does every day. Ken came down a few moments later and fed me. Relief! Then he put me in my little fuzzy bed in the passenger seat of the car and drove me to the Coffee Nook.

At the Nook, Nancy and Ken took me for a walk so I could use the facilities and then they carried me inside where Julie—owner of the Nook—gave me a crumb or two from one of the muffins. Blueberry are my favorite. We do this most weekday mornings. Personally, I think I could eat a whole muffin, but there's this weight issue thing. (Sigh)

We all left the Nook, and Ken drove off to work. Nancy and I stopped by a local bookstore to see her new book in the window, ULTRAVIOLET, before we went home. It's snazzy! And, of course, I'm featured in it. In UV there's a dog who's moved in next door to Dwayne. This dog's totally bark-worthy, and I let him know. Not quite sure whether I like him or not. But It's great being a central character, although Jane Kelly's the real top dog. Boy, does she meet some kooks in that book. Wedding crashers! Botox babes! Rabid Junior Leaguers! And, of course, there is murder. Jane's client is that beautiful, scary Violet Purcell, first introduced in ELECTRIC BLUE, who's now accused of killing her favorite ex-husband by clobbering him with a tray on the day of his daughter's nuptials. You can read more about the book at www.nancybush.net/, where you can also join the Binkster Fan Club and a chance to win cool prizes.

But I digress . . . you wanted to know about me, right? So after the trip to the Nook, Nancy wrote on her laptop on the living room couch, and I got to curl up next to her. Sometimes I put my head on the keyboard. This creates drama as Nancy sucks in a breath and says, "Wait, wait! That paragraph just disappeared!" She feels obliged to tell me—again—that she's writing the book, not me. Like I'm missing that point. I would just like a chicken strip, or liver treat, or hey, basic dog kiblets are perfectly okay.

Nancy's been a little distracted as she's working on three books at once. She's finishing the proposal for the next Jane Kelly Mystery, which she's calling PINK CADILLAC. (I'm hoping I get to ride in it and hang my head out the window!) She's also writing a romantic suspense novel with her sister, Lisa Jackson, AND she's putting the final touches on the proposal for her own first stand-alone thriller, which should be out in 2009. Yeah . . . she's a little crazed right now. I have to snort a lot to remind her I'm there. Sometimes she reads me a passage from her new book. I cock my head and pretend to pay attention, but if it's not about me, I don't really care. To keep Nancy on track, I'll put my paw on her leg, just to remind her I could use a snack.

I worry sometimes that she'll get so caught up in writing that she'll forget about dinner. And I could expire before Ken gets home.

Maybe it's time for that head on the keyboard again.....

The Binkster

Shirley Damsgaard | "Witch" is Better -- Romance or Mystery?

How did a small town Midwesterner ever decide to write about witches?? Well, I’ve always been the type of person who believed if I could read about it, I could do it, so when at the tender age of 48, I decided to write, I bought every book about the craft of writing that I could. The first piece of advice was to write what you like to read, and at the time I was reading a lot of romance. Okay, so we’ll try our hand at romance.

I bought (again) the books I deemed necessary to help me with my quest and set about writing a romance novella. I leaned two things. First of all, I can’t write a love scene to save my life!! And if one is going to write romance, love scenes are kind of important! The second thing I learned is that if you use a password, be sure, and write it down. You might not remember it six months down the road if you don’t. Yes, I pass worded that terrible novella, but forgot what it was! The good thing is—that piece of literature, and I use the term loosely, is forever lost and can never come back to haunt me!!

What to do now?? It was during one of my whines about my lack of skill that my late husband suggested I give mysteries a go. He pointed out I was always ruining movies for him by telling how they would end. He thought writing mysteries would be a more profitable way to exercise my talent at figuring out plots, and leave him alone to enjoy his movies!

Okay, so mysteries it would be, but what type of mystery? Since I have no background in a profession, such as law enforcement, that would lend itself to creating a detective, I knew my protagonist had to be an amateur sleuth. The problem was deciding what type of amateur sleuth. I’ve been interested in the paranormal since I was a teenager, so how about a psychic? What a great idea! It was such a great idea that several, already published authors, had the same thought! I needed a different kind of a hook.

Another interest of mine has always been folk remedies, herbs, old wives tales—it wasn’t much of a leap to jump from folk medicine to folk magick, hence witches. More books about the subject were purchased, and Ophelia and Abby were born! And it’s been fun! I’ve met psychics, real witches, a rune-master, a Native American medicine man, and lots of others who’ve made my life more interesting than I ever conceived it could be. Not bad for a small town Midwesterner who can’t write a romance!

http://www.shirleydamsgaard.com/

Jerrilyn Farmer | Advice from "Mad Bean" for a Killer Event!

A great party, like a great mystery, needs to provide a few surprises and even a twist. I have given a good deal of thought to both parties and mysteries because I write about Hollywood event planner/caterer Madeline Bean, and it is her job (when not dodging murderers) to make sure every party guest has a good time.

Pulling off a remarkable party isn't a snap, but it helps to start off with the fun concept. Think vices! Do your friends enjoy imbibing? Try a wine tasting evening. Are they into gluttony? Make sure you feature gourmet goodies. Would they like to gamble? Have an Academy Awards party and keep a tote board to track each guests predictions in each category--perhaps surprising the group with a cool prize for the highest totals. Or try a casino theme. Now if your girlfriends are like mine, they don't mind flirting, so by all mean pick a theme where everyone dresses up so the women can let their necklines plunge.

In my books, the larger-than-life Hollywood types require the Godzilla of all party concepts--from a wedding held at the Natural History Museum's Hall of Predators (KILLER WEDDING) to a Black-and-White themed charity ball (PERFECT SAX) to supplying dim sum carts pushed by pretty girls at a private mah-jongg dinner on Chinese New Year (DIM SUM DEAD). Get creative with your theme and it makes all your party decisions so much more fun.

Invitations to your Vegas night can include wads of play cash to entice the big rollers. The menu on Valentine's Day can include a chocolate fountain and large strawberries for dipping. For some guests, only one drink gets them tipsy--but if that one drink is their twelfth or thirteenth, they might appreciate your party bar offering a cool signature drink. A great Mojito (theme: Cuba of the 50's) or Bellini (theme: Lotto!--buy all your guests Lotto tickets and watch the numbers called out on your big screen tv) can certainly get the party in a festive mood fast.

Have a blast designing the menu, decorating the space and providing a little interactive entertainment, and your guests will remember your party long after the night. Just a tip, though: to make sure your evening is a true success, try to avoid inviting disapproving neighbors, the dullest man in your office, or any would-be murderers.

Jerrilyn Farmer
http://home.earthlink.net/~jerrilyn/index.html

Gemma Halliday | High Heels Mysteries

Yay, I get to be on the Fresh Fiction blog! (squee!) Hi all! I’m Gemma Halliday and I write the High Heels Mysteries about L.A. shoe designer turned crime fighter, Maddie Springer, and the sexy yet stubborn LAPD detective, Jack Ramirez. So far I’ve had a blast writing about Maddie’s many adventures. In Spying in High Heels she navigates the L.A. freeways (no small task!) to track down a missing boyfriend, $20 million in embezzled funds, and ultimately, a cold blooded killer - despite the interference of one sexy detective, trying to derail her ‘girly’ investigation at every turn. The second book, Killer in High Heels, begins with a mysterious phone message that leads Maddie to Las Vegas were she encounters a group of Prada smuggling shoe counterfeiters, a handful of aging drag queens, and once very scary mobster. Not to mention the likes of Ramirez, hot and bothered to see her interfering in one of his investigations. Again.

The third Heels installment just hit bookstores and, not to play favorites, but I think I had more fun writing this one than any of the others! Undercover in High Heels finds Maddie back in L.A., Hollywood to be exact, where she goes undercover as the new wardrobe assistant on the set of TV’s hottest prime time soap, Magnolia Lane. Which sounds like a dream job until a beautiful young starlet winds up dead on the set. Now it’s up to Maddie to catch a killer as she sifts through a leading lady with a secret, an actor on the verge of a nervous breakdown, a sexy cyber scandal, and one tabloid reporter who'll stop at nothing to get the story of the century. Not to mention the case's familiar lead detective, Jack Ramirez, whose patience with Maddie is wearing thin, maybe for good this time.

While book number three hits the shelves, I’m also crossing my fingers that Maddie and her gang may be expanding into other mediums soon. Spying in High Heels is currently in development with the USA Network for a TV show in the upcoming 2007/2008 season! This is completely thrilling news to me not only as a writer, but also as a huge TV watcher. Okay, maybe watcher isn’t exactly an accurate description. I’m a total addict. Take away my TV and I go into withdrawals, trolling the Internet for updates on all my favorite shows. The ones I can’t live without: Grey’s Anatomy (man, did I cry during the season finale! Burke, how could you?), House (why am I always attracted to the bad boys?), Law and Order: CI (moving to the USA Network in the fall!), and of course the show that Maddie’s fictional Magnolia Lane is modeled after, Desperate Housewives (OMG – did Edie really kill herself?! Over Carlos?! No. Freakin. Way.).

So, if any of you are willing to come out an publicly admit to being TV junkies too, tell me what your can’t-live-without shows are and I’ll send one lucky commenter a signed copy of Undercover in High Heels.

Until then, happy reading (and watching!)!
Gemma Halliday

www.gemmahalliday.com

Here is my group blog (it's brand new – we're very excited!):http://killerfictionwriters.blogspot.com/

http://www.myspace.com/highheelsmysteries

http://www.killerfiction.net/