Left Coast Crime Conference

I’m off to the Left Coast Crime Conference 2016 in Phoenix this weekend, three days with my fellow fictional crime aficionados. During the excitement of registering on Thursday morning, meeting and greeting old friends, I will be given a conference tote bag that...

Finishing Your First Mystery

Chances are if you’re reading this, you’ve  written a lot of words, some pages, some chapters, which are causing you a lot of pain. It feels like you’ve done a lot of thinking, a lot of typing, but it isn’t a book. You know that. And you’re about to give up. In the...

A Very Private High School

I wish I felt more enthusiasm for the launch of my new Dave Mason mystery. For me, once I’m finished a book, that is, the revised revised final final version, I’m really done with it. And by then I’m onto to the next book and all its problems and challenges. I want to...

Writing a Mystery: What I’ve Learned

I took a break away from the hard work of writing another police procedural mystery when I’d finished the third in the series called On Behalf of the Family. At that point I was waiting for the proofreader to finish up. I couldn’t look at the manuscript one more time....

Pushing Past Writers Roadblocks

Damn, it’s hard to reconnect with your story having taken three days off to be a tourist in downtown Los Angeles. It’s hard to reconnect with your story—or whatever you’re working on—after taking any time off. You lose your momentum. So many excuses are available. I...