Aunt Saffi is on a roadtrip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. What have I learned so far? 1. No sane person RVs through California’s Central Valley or the Mojave desert in July. 2. Dante’s Inferno is actually located in Lost Hills, CA. Sulfurous water. Blazing temps. But the KOA camp is fine and there are…
Category: About Books
Reviews, comments, and recommendations.
Raven About Series Authors
I devour series books from authors whose work I love as if they were truffles that might melt in a heatwave—like those many of us have been experiencing this summer. As I gobble up the goodness, I don’t really think about the hours and days and months and, sometimes, years that the author spent on…
Cozy Cover Reveal!
At long last, the cover of the first book in my Pacific Northwest Cozy Mystery series has been uncovered. Wow! This really evokes the setting for MURDER AT LAST CHANCE COVE. I started writing this series while staying in the real version of the fictional RV park in this book. Those of you who know…
Genre-Shifting Writers
When I first started writing, I wrote what I read: fantasy, for the most part, and romance. (I was 20-something, so the latter was probably a given.) I came very close to publishing a romance novel with Del Rey. An editor read the manuscript I sent and liked it. If I was willing to do…
Lessons from a Children’s Bookseller
Over several years, I worked part-time at a fabulous children’s bookstore in Ashland, Oregon: Treehouse Books. Before my bookstore experience, I thought two decades as a children’s magazine and book editor, teaching workshops on writing for children across the country, and becoming a published author of multiple children’s books had taught me all I needed…
Embracing the Crone
When my daughter was young, she once told me—in all innocence—that I have a witch’s nose. Shall we say I was not…grateful….for her statement of what she saw as an incontrovertible fact. After all, witch’s noses all look a certain way, right? Long and beakish, perhaps topped off with a wart sprouting several wiry hairs….
Writing Totems
A few years ago, I worked one day a week at an amazing children’s bookstore in Ashland, Oregon—Treehouse Books. Jane, the owner, inspired me by populating the store with items that I’m sure represented the magical/mystical spirits that bless her life: fairies, gnomes, ravens, owls, trees, even the occasional piggie evocative of my own Rufus….
Always Another Story
Recently, I’ve been writing short books for an educational publisher. There are no advances or royalties for this kind of writing. It’s flat-fee, work-for-hire writing and the writer gets a lot of input from the editors and series “authors” who, in this case, are big-name educators. This kind of writing can be an amazing teacher….
It’s a Journey…not a destination
One of the toughest things for me about writing a cozy mystery series is the need to know quite a few important things about upcoming books…before they’ve been written. Editors want a synopsis that describes the characters, plot, and setting with as many juicy pertinent details as possible. Before cozies, when I sat down to…
The Problem with Series
I love series…and I hate series. A great series has characters and settings to fall in love with and get to know. There’s edge-of-your-seat anxiety as the plot heats up and unfolds, and you can’t wait for that oh-so-satisfying conclusion. Here’s what sets my teeth on edge: a great series has a completely satisfying conclusion…
Cozies & Kim Griswell 