Last week, and over the weekend, I attended Bouchercon (the world mystery convention) in Raleigh, North Carolina. The conference moves around, with a different host city (and organizing committee) every year, but consistently draws hundreds of writers and mystery fans to wherever it pitches its murder-loving mayhem. The conference features four days of engaging, interesting panels on anything and everything connected with crime fiction and its creation. My favorite panel this year featured a presentation on cadaver dogs, run by cadaver dog expert Cat Warren and mystery author Kate Flora. The presentation also included a demonstration by a local Sheriff and his cross-trained cadaver /
Read moreMonth: October 2015
How to Avoid Unscrupulous Publishers
*I’m in Raleigh, NC, this week attending Bouchercon, so today’s post is focusing on publisher scams…our discussion of author email and marketing will continue next week. With the explosion of small and micro-presses in the United States (and abroad), authors sometimes have trouble telling the legitimate presses (and offers) from scams. In light of that, let’s spend a little time discussing how to recognize–and avoid–an unscrupulous publisher. 1. Legitimate traditional publishers never require writers to pay money out-of-pocket for (or as part of ) a publishing deal. In a traditional publishing arrangement, the author pays nothing out of pocket, and any permitted deductions from
Read moreA Visit to Ginkakuji (Part 2)
(For the first half of the adventure at Ginkaku-ji, start here.) After hiking a mountainous path to see Ginkaku-ji’s famous Silver Pavilion from the elevated vantage point atop the temple gardens: My son and I descended the slippery stone steps (carefully–I didn’t want to ruin the trip by falling off a mountain right at the outset) through groves of bamboo, pine, and maple: …to the famous gardens that surround the pavilion itself: Although most people refer to the temple as Ginkaku-ji (“Temple of the Silver Pavilion”), its actual name is Jishō-ji (“Temple of Shining Mercy”). Construction of the main temple began in 1482, on the
Read moreA Visit to Ginkakuji (Part 1)
On the third morning of my recent research trip to Japan, we visited Ginkaku-ji, the “Temple of the Silver Pavilion,” named for its founder’s intended desire to overlay the roof of the temple pavilion with silver leaf. Time and cost defeated that plan, and the temple (largely constructed during the 15th century) retains its original wooden roof. Like many famous Japanese shrines, the entrance to Ginkaku-ji lies at the top of a narrow road lined with a variety of shops selling special snacks, souvenirs, soft-serve ice cream in flavors we don’t often see in the West (here, we saw peach and chestnut in
Read moreThe Shinobi Mysteries are Moving House!
I’m thrilled to announce that, in 2016, the next installment in the Shinobi Mystery series will be published by Seventh Street Books. In even more good news, the publisher is planning to release this new book in trade paperback format. Huzzah! I’ve had overwhelming requests from readers and bookstores to get the Shinobi Mysteries into paperback format–which seems to be the one that most of you prefer to read–and I’m delighted that Seventh Street is interested in making that happen, too. I can’t tell you–yet–when the cover will release, but the book is right on schedule to release next summer (probably in July), and
Read more