Compassion, loyalty…and crime
Back in June, my chapter of Sisters in Crime held an open reading at City of Asylum bookstore here in Pittsburgh. I participated with my unpublished novel, Shattered Sight. It is not a Laurel Highlands book, but features a homicide detective in Niagara Falls, NY who is…struggling, shall we say, with some personal issues he’d really rather not admit he has.
Enjoy!
Calling all readers!
Smashwords is running their annual Summer Sale. The entire Hero’s Sword series is part of this sale, with all books being discounted through the month of July.
So if your child is looking for some reading material over the summer–or if you want them to be looking for some reading material–check it out!
Oh, and there are probably a lot of great books for you to enjoy, too. Happy reading!
This morning (Wednesday, actually) a friend of mine posted a picture of her rhododendron in full bloom and said, “I swear they burst into bloom overnight!” I have rhodies – I understand. Continue reading “A seed to a bloom”
So I survived my first Malice Domestic. On crutches, thanks to wonderful friends – old and new – and a gracious hotel staff. I even took some pictures. And all I can say is…
One week. One week. Say it with me now…
ONE WEEK!
At this time next Thursday, I’ll probably be on the road to my friend and critique buddy Annette Dashofy’s place and then on to Bethesda. There’s really just one question: Continue reading “Countdown to Malice – 1 week”
It is now officially two weeks until I leave for the Malice Domestic conference in Bethesda MD.
Let me say that again: It is two weeks until I leave for Malice Domestic.
Some developments since last week. Small, but big to me.
First, I have a roomie! I was on the fence for a long time about this conference, mostly because of the hotel expense. Then I farted around so long I lost one potential roommate. Another friend of mine decided not to attend Malice this year. So I resigned myself to rooming alone.
Now, I have a weird relationship with roommates. I like the company. At the same time, I’m a horrible introvert and I’m afraid that unless I’m with someone I know well, I’ll come off as a snobby loser. This is made worse when I don’t know the person I’m rooming with. Plus, this is a time when I’ll have to travel with an injection for my MS and some people are creeped out by that. Best be on my own. Maybe.
Therefore, when the message came across the Guppy email listserve that someone was looking for another Guppy willing to share her room, I was hesitant. I mean, what if the other person was horrible? What if the other person thought I was horrible? The possibilities – especially when one is a writer – were endless.
But I took the plunge. Turns out I do know (kinda) the woman who needed to share. I met her at a Sisters in Crime event in Cleveland. So we aren’t complete strangers. This should work out. And I’ll (hopefully) make another friend. It’s all good.
The other development? I received an email this morning about selecting my table for the Agatha Awards banquet. I’m not terribly sure how this works, but I believe every nominee for an award “hosts” a table at the banquet. Other writers (and readers because this is a fan-centric conference) can request to sit with one of these authors.
So again, I had an opportunity to step outside my comfort zone, as it were. I could request to sit with authors I know well – but who are awfully popular (thus lowering my chances of being assigned to that table). I could request to sit with my friends.
But be proud of me, friends – I took the plunge. The three authors I listed are all people I know, but again–I don’t know them terribly well. Plus there are all the other guests at that table. More new friends. Yay!
So there you have it: this week’s Malice Domestic developments. Next week? The big wardrobe unveiling!
by Liz Milliron (Mary Sutton) / @LizMilliron
Well, it’s real. In four weeks from today, I’ll be on my way to a new adventure. Malice Domestic.
This is a conference I really never planned to attend. I don’t really write cozy/traditional mystery so it never seemed to be a good “fit.” Plus, this writer has a very limited budget and the dollars always seemed to go elsewhere.
For many years, I set writing goals. I looked back – I have graphics going back to 2013 and I may have done it before then. You may remember that I didn’t set any goals for 2016. To quote Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman”: Big mistake. Big. Huge. Continue reading “2017 – Here I come!”
Wow, looking over my past half-dozen posts it seems like I’ve been a busy little reader, haven’t I? And you might be asked, “So what happened to the writing, huh?” Continue reading “On multi-tasking and outlines”