Today I’m talking about my dog over at the SleuthSayers blog for mystery writers. Writing about one’s pet probably does’t strike you as having anything to do with the mystery genre, but allow me to blow your mind with a few things. The Doberman breed, in particular, has strong ties to the military and law enforcement, in real life and fiction.

That’s one reason I hope you’ll stop by to check out my post.

The other reason is, yay, cute dogs! Ours is just over a year old, which means he is still very puppy-like in his looks and behavior, though growing fast…

When writing short stories, I focus on the plot, characters, and the setting of the world I’m creating. I tell it as well as I possibly can in the moment, and devote time afterward “polishing” that first draft.

On most stories, it typically takes me two to three days to reach the second draft phase. From there, it depends how much more time I’ll tinker with it.

Am I completely satisfied with it? If yes, then I stop and submit the piece to a market.

If not, more tinkering…

The Happy Hollisters were a family of crime fighters in a book series I read as a kid. Today I’m talking about them over at SleuthSayers. At first, I wanted to just talk about the Hollisters, but the conversation turned into something deeper…

I’ve been ghostwriting so long that I often feel like I’m living inside the sausage factory that is modern American publishing. Unless you’ve spent time inside the machine, you are likely to think that it’s a really big deal to get a book deal. It can be, but if you spent any time with authors you’ll quickly find that most of them hate the way their publisher handled their last book. Not enough promotion. Not enough support. Not enough…anything.

A few months ago, I told the story of the most egregious example of publisher-fail I’d ever seen. And this was for a book that the publisher paid six figures for…

One of the most charming and fascinating books for kids during the 1980s was Masquerade, by Kit Williams. At first glance, it was just another children’s picture book. On a deeper level, however, it was a map to a jewel-encrusted treasure buried somewhere in England. All you had to do was study the gorgeous illustrations for clues that would lead you to the spot where the author—a consummate illustrator, sculptor, clockmaker, and wizard—had hidden a golden amulet in the shape of the book’s protagonist, Jack Hare.

It’s Friday, so I’m over at SleuthSayers with a post about what to bring on a day hike. I know—it’s a little out there for me. I’m no Bear Grylls, but trust me, the post is appropriate this summer for two reasons…