Must Read Blogs For The Crime Fiction Writers ~ Researching

Mark Young’s Hook ‘em and Book ‘em blog is one of my personal favorites. It’s a blog that’s always interesting and topical.

Hook ‘em and Book ‘em. http://hookembookem.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

I took a Romance Writers of America (RWA) course on the History of Forensics given by Doug Lyle and it was fantastic…just as his The Writer’s Forensic Blog is.

 

The Writer’s Forensic Blog.  http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

On Lee Lofland’s blog The Graveyard Shift, a writer can learn to cook with cops and also find out about a myriad of things law enforcement officers face every day.

The Graveyard Shift. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/home/

 

On the Law and Fiction blog, Leslie Budewitz, author of Books, Crooks and Counselors, will tell you whats going on with the Supreme Court, at the state court level…or you might just get a Saturday writing quote.

Law and Fiction.  http://www.lawandfiction.com/blog/

 
A blog I find myself going back to repeatedly is PoliceOne.com. You can find so much info here from breaking police news to article on the police wife and a policeman’s life. http://www.policeone.com/police-blogs/

If you need to know what’s going on with the Supreme Court of the United States, you can’t beat the SCOTUS blog sponsored by Bloomberg Law. http://www.scotusblog.com/

The Wascally, Weasely, and Most Dreaded Modifier Dump

I love to describe. In my two novels, BURNING HEARTS and GOODBYE NOEL in the Sanctuary Point series, I can’t wait to visually portray the landscape, the aroma coming from a kitchen, and the latest 1940s fashion statement. Sometimes I have to put the brakes on. I don’t want the opening words of my next work in progress to sound like this…

“Gertrude rushed into the gothic, Victorian mansion’s dimly lit, heavily book-lined library on shaky legs and clasped her perfectly manicured hands to her pounding heart in an attempt to calm her fraying nerves. She managed to overcome the churning in her stomach and forged ahead past the brocade upholstered Queen Anne chair behind the Chippendale desk strewn with the pages of an ancient occult manuscript. On the parquet floor on the other side of the antique oak desk she spied the body of a middle-aged, balding man in a brocade smoking jacket and a pair of brown suede slippers who had a wooden handled, military stiletto sticking out of his back.”

You see, I have this teensy-weensy affliction. I greatly desire that my reader will know exactly down to the most minute detail what my heroine and hero are feeling, what the room looks like and what aromas might be gracing the atmosphere. So, I must therefore hold myself back, and utterly restrain myself. I have even gone so far as to take an oath to banish adjectives and adverbs from the pages of my manuscript.

Oh, and those dreaded weasel words…will they constantly plague me?  Some people say it seems likely that one “many” is too many in a chapter, but it also could be argued that it could be way too few except on those very rare occasions when it is obviously needed to make the author’s point. Of course unless the author is obfuscating by using an abundance of abstract words that might tend to obscure the meaning rather than elucidate the author’s point for the reader.

And so, dear and gentle reader, I hope this clarifies everything for you.

For an example of my writing when I get it right, you might try…

http://goo.gl/8KpQ3

 

http://goo.gl/EB9s5

 

GOODBYE NOEL and BURNING HEARTS Final in the Grace Awars 2011

I’m honored to have two novels final in the Grace Awards 2011 and I’m deeply appreciative of my loyal readers who took the time to vote for my stories. I have the best readers ever, I’m sure.

GOODBYE NOEL finaled in the Suspense/Mystery/Thriller/Romantic Suspense category.

Historical Romantic Thriiler ~ bodies piling up, kidnap, a warm love story.

 

 

 

BURNING HEARTS finaled in the Romance/Historical Romance category.

Historical Romantic Thriller ~ A sweet love story, arson/murder, action.

Read An E-Book Week: March 4 – 10

Wow, How Exciting Is This???

Here are a few crime fiction novels available in ebook form:

 

GOODBYE NOEL, by Nike Chillemi  ~ Historical Romantic Thriller ~ Bodies piling up, kidnap, warm love story.

 

 

 

BURNING HEARTS, by Nike Chillemi ~ Historical Romantic Thriller  ~ Arson/murder, action, sweet love story.

 

 

 

 

 

KILL SHOT, by Anne Patrick ~ Contemporary Romantic Thriller ~  Former combat medic is home and somebody is trying to kill her, almost as disturbing is the sheriff who’s trying to save her.

 

 

FIRE AND ASH, by Anne Patrick ~ Suspicious fire claims the life of college student, what investigators discover rocks the whole town.

 

 

 

THE WITCH TREE by Kain Kaufman ~ Contemporary Cozy ~ Genealogist finds woman’s body, husband blames her,  modern Wiccans confound the issue, killer targets her.

 

 

 

 

 

OFF THE GRID, by Mark Young ~ Contemporary International Thriller ~  Force Recon trained Seattle police officer finds a body that plunges him into terrorism and intrigue.

REVENGE, by Mark Young ~ Contemporary Thriller ~ A highly trained killer bent on revenge threatens ex-cop now teaching criminology at the college level.

 

 

 

 

 

A HEART OF JUSTICE, by Janice Cantore ~ Contemporary Police Procedural ~ Two Eastern European girls with tattoos, one dead. K-9 officer and her partner plunge into human trafficking.

 

THE KEVLAR HEART, by Janice Cantore ~ Contemporary Police Procedural ~ K-9 officer’s passion is finding abducted children and bringing them home alive, because she was once abducted by a vicious pervert…and now he’s back, maybe.

What Did Ladies In Sanctuary Point Get For Valentine’s Day?

In the 1940s gifts a gentleman might give a lady for Valentine’s Day would include hand mirrors, scented soap (gardenia and apple scents were popular in the late 40s), and believe it or not a flannel nightgown.

So, what did Lorne give to Erica yesterday? Enquiring minds want to know…

What did Ian give to Katrina?

 Let’s take a look…

 

 

 

 

Actual vintage vanity set available at http://tinyurl.com/6nl8u8s

Vintage style scented soap much like that sold in the 1940s is available at.  http://tinyurl.com/7yth3cn

 

 

 

What Lorne would not get for Erica and Ian wouldn’t dream of getting for Katrina is something like this…

Actual Vintage Flannel Nightgown courtesy of Photobucket.

 

 

 

 

As nice as this is…what Loren and Ian might’ve gotten for their wives for Valentine’s Day in the area of sleepwear might’ve looked more like this…

Actual vintage nightgown courtesy of Photobucket