Get Five New Short Stories – Free

These five short stories are not available anywhere else: Contract for Lois, Nurse Jean, Driving the Galaxie, 9 Minutes to 1960, and Bottled Up. Subscribe to my free monthly newsletter, and you’ll receive these stories right now, plus another new short story each month.

Go here for more information and to sign up and [...]

Writing Mystery – Never Let the Words Get In the Way of Your Story

Don’t Try to Impress the Reader with Fancy Words Have you ever searched your Thesaurus for twenty minutes trying to find the perfect word? And when you found it, was it a word you’ve never used before? Throw it away.

Fancy words are fine for literary fiction. But in the mystery genre you [...]

Character Quiz – Answers

If you haven’t taken the quiz yet, go here to take it. This page has the questions AND the answers.

1. Which character was in two Greg Tenorly books as well as in Sweet Ginger Poison? Answer: Jane Appletree (Bicycle Shop Murder, Hideaway Hospital Murders)

2. Which character was in Illusion of Luck and [...]

Character Quiz

(This quiz was included in one of my Insider Newsletters a few months ago.) If you’ve read all my books you just might know the answers to these questions about my characters. Jot down your answers and then follow the link at the bottom for the question/answer sheet.

1. Which character was in two [...]

The Greatest Writer in the World

You are the greatest writer on the planet.

How does that sound? Your name at the top of bestseller lists. Instant name recognition. Tons of cash in the bank.

That would be cool. And few writers would turn it down. But back to reality. That’s a lot of pressure. Only one person can [...]

Fiction Writers: Use a Free Newsletter to Stay in Touch with Fans

There is plenty of turmoil in the publishing, distribution, and bookselling industries these days. At least we, as authors, have the one thing that none of these businesses can do without: the content that readers want.

But it can be very discouraging if just when your book sales begin to take off, the bookseller [...]

Prince of Pumpkinshire (audio)

Here is the audio version of my humorous short story, Prince of Pumpkinshire. It’s read by me, so I hope you enjoy the Texas accent.

Description: Chip’s life is changed forever after an encounter with bullies in the woods on Halloween night.

[...]

Writing Fiction in The Matrix: There is No Spoon

Have you seen the movie, The Matrix? If you haven’t, you won’t understand what I am about to say.

For me, writing fiction is like being in The Matrix.

When I began learning to write fiction, I was like Neo when he first awoke—learning martial arts from the master, Morpheus. I plugged into My [...]

Amazing 10 Year Old Writer/Illustrator

Today I received an email from a ten year old girl named Jane Cooper. She asked me for permission to illustrate my flash fiction short story Santa Closet. Jane has a blog, The Vacation Called Life, where she writes stories and illustrates them. So I decided to check it out.

It is amazing. And [...]

Should Novels Have Parental Ratings Like Movies?

What if novels and other fiction came with parental guidance like movies? Could the rating system of the Motion Picture Association of America be applied to books? Imagine a PG-13 mystery. Or an R-rated thriller. Seem like a silly idea?

I’m not so concerned about young children reading my books. It don’t think [...]

Sweet Ginger Poison sequel coming soon

Ginger Dead House is the sequel to my Kindle bestselling cozy mystery, Sweet Ginger Poison. UPDATE (1-10-12): GINGER DEAD HOUSE is available now

DESCRIPTION:Ginger and her fellow Domino Girls pool their funds to buy an old Colonial-style home on the outskirts of town and convert it into a bed and breakfast. The house [...]

Creating Amazon Kindle Bestsellers

My cozy mystery, Sweet Ginger Poison is on several Kindle Bestseller lists: #4 in Women Sleuths, #6 in Mystery, #28 in Suspense. The chart below is screenshot of the sales info from my Amazon Author Central account. (Click for a larger view.)

Three of my other books have also been on bestseller lists. [...]

New Cover for ICY HOLLOW

I’m very excited about the new cover for my second Rebecca Ranghorn mystery, ICY HOLLOW. Now I just have to finish writing the book.

Description: The dying words of a ruthless businessman to his daughter seem to implicate her fiancé. She lies to the cops, leading them to believe his death was [...]

ICY HOLLOW – Book Two of the Rebecca Ranghorn Mystery Series Coming Soon

Icy Hollow, the second book of my Rebecca Ranghorn Mystery Series is coming in several weeks. Rebecca’s buddy, Gabby G’Blee, is back to help her solve the murder. More details soon. Click on the cover to enlarge. If you haven’t already read the first book in the series, NAKED FRAME, you can find it [...]

Free Novels with Ads: Dead on Arrival

eBook Prices Are Falling Ebook prices have fallen, with many self-published books going for $2.99 or less. Even the major publishers have dropped the price on many of their ebooks. This has many industry watchers speculating about where prices are headed. Some have suggested that eventually the standard price for a digital book will [...]

Free Short Stories (suspense, humor, horror, fantasy, adventure)

Read my short stories free online. I write stories in various genres and combinations of genres, such as suspense, crime, humor, horror, fantasy, and adventure. (I also write mystery and suspense novels.)

To read a short story, click on it’s cover:

Get five new short stories FREE right [...]

Halloween Short Story for Junior High Students

One of my favorite short stories I’ve written is Prince of Pumkinshire. It’s a fun Halloween story for junior high kids.

SYNOPSIS: Chip’s life is changed forever after an encounter with bullies in the woods on Halloween night. Length: 1,898 words.

So, read it to your junior high students or send them to [...]

NAKED FRAME – New Murder Mystery Coming in October

Rebecca Ranghorn is a private investigator specializing in cheating husband cases. After she is framed for murder, her best buddy from high school comes to the rescue. But when she goes “undercover” in a nude café to gather clues, Rebecca puts both of their lives in danger, and they begin to understand that [...]