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Showing posts with the label Dead Detectives

October Deals and Answers

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  Here are the answers to the High-brow Proverb quiz in the 10-1-23 newsletter. Did you get your free copy of The Dead Detective Agency ? You will love Seamus! 1. Prudence and sagacity are the worthier condiments of intrepid courage. Discretion is the better part of valor.      2. It is fruitless to become lachrymose because of wasted lacteal fluid. Don't cry over spilled milk. 3. Freedom from guile or fraud constitutes the most excellent principal of procedure. Honesty is the best policy 4. A rotating lithoid fragment never accrues lichen. A rolling stone gathers no moss. 5. It is not proper for mendicants to be indicators of preference. Beggars can't be choosers 6. A strong feeling of affection can cause the universe to rotate on its axis. Love makes the world go 'round. 7. Folks deficient in ordinary judgment scurry into areas in which celestial beings dread to set foot. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. 8. Every article which coruscates is not fa

Taking Criticism

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E-book available on Amazon. Print soon Writers have to learn to accept criticism. It starts with your editor, who takes out some of your favorite passages because they don't advance the plot. "But it's a commentary on society!" you whine. "You're not a philosopher. You're a mystery writer," is the reply. Then you get the beta reader who wants the story to end differently. "Why didn't she hook up with the sheriff?" "I preferred to suggest that she might and let the reader imagine it. I didn't want to start another whole thread in the last few pages." (Pouty face) "I think you should say it." Later come the readers, who go on Amazon and say things like, "The author speaks of a 'dollar' but there were no dollars in Tudor England." Actually, the word was slang for a coin called a crown in the 1500s. But don't let my months of research top your assumption you know what you're talkin

What Am I Working On, You Ask.

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The weekend was great. Lots of people come "home" to our tiny town for the Fourth festivities, so we ran into old friends everywhere. The question often came up, "What are you working on now?" Short answer: the 4th Dead Detective Mystery, but it's been interrupted a lot by the other three in the series. The first book The Dead Detective Agency, was published in 2011, the second, Dead for the Money , in 2012. Then the publisher got overwhelmed and didn't move forward with Book 3, even though it was edited and ready to release. At the beginning of this year, I asked for the rights back (the contracted time was up) and went about re-releasing the books with new covers, which you learned about last week if you're a regular reader. (I don't want people to re-buy the books, thinking they're new.) Now it's time to finish Seamus' story, so my first priority is Dead to Get Ready--and Go , in which he will investigate his own murder. Its rele

Choosing New Covers

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I asked the original publisher of the Dead Detective Mysteries to give me back the rights to the books. They were very nice about it, and I began the process of re-publishing them. Since audiences are often interested in how book covers come about, I thought I'd share my experiences with this series. When publishers accept a manuscript, they often ask the writer for her ideas on what the cover should look like. There is NO guarantee they'll listen, and other writers I've spoken with had covers they hated or felt didn't represent their books at all, but they were stuck with them. When asked about a cover for Book #1, I said I pictured a girl on a ship with a mysterious man in the background. My publisher's cover artist chose this as the cover for The Dead Detective Agency. Some people liked it; some didn't. A couple said the girl looked like my daughter; others said she looked like a robot. My first reaction was disappointment, but I recognize that I am NO ju

And the Winner Is--

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Almost everyone liked the cover with the two figures on it best. I can't show it to you yet in final form, because I asked the cover artist to do a little touching up, which she confided this morning is driving her crazy. (Better her than me!) I don't like the messiness around the girl's left hand, and since I have no idea how much work it is to smooth that out, I asked. Apparently it's a lot. Anyway, I should have that cover soon, so the first two Dead Detective books can be re-issued by the end of June. Don't buy them again if you've already read them. I mean, you can if you want to...   :) I talked to a fan who thought she liked Book #3 (DEAD FOR THE SHOW) better than Book #1, so she went back and re-read the first one. Now that's dedication! I almost never re-read books, except of course for editing and re-editing and re-re-editing. By the time mine are published, I'm tired of them. It was interesting, therefore, to read the first 2 DD books se

Help Me Pick a Cover

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The Dead Detective Agency will soon be re-released, since I got the rights to the series back from the original publisher. I must choose new covers, and these are some options the cover artist sent me. I'd love some feedback. This is Book #1, where Tori finds out she's dead and on the ship that takes people to the Afterlife.  .

New Dead Detective Mystery

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DEAD FOR THE SHOW is scheduled for release today. It's ready on Kindle for sure. (If you don't have a Kindle, there's an app you can download to get your other e-readers to read Kindle books. I know nothing about this, being a Kindle owner, but I'm told it's great.) The book is also available in paperback from Ingram, which means you can order it at a bookstore and they'll have it in a day or two. I don't see the print version on Amazon yet, but it's in the works. There's no way to predict how long it takes after we approve the proof copies. So what is this one about? DEAD FOR THE SHOW is Book #3 of the Dead Detective Mysteries, featuring Seamus, a throwback to the '50s who operates pretty well in 2015. In this one he's investigating the death of a the woman who refuses to believe she's dead. She was a member of a a theater group in Toronto, and Seamus ends up trying to protect her sister so she doesn't end up dead as well. T

An Interruption in Freebies

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Winner of KILLING SILENCE was Patti T.   Due to the death of my laptop (purchased a scant six months ago) I'm suspending the freebies for this week. I hope the Princess Bride Effect is in play and the infernal machine is only mostly dead, but since I'll be traveling for the next few days, I have to leave it behind. I can't deal with daily updates to this blog on my iPad. Remember, my IT has DIO in the middle. I've decided to pick the giveaways up again in May, when the third Sleuth Sisters book comes out, so stay tuned!   And don't forget to look for DEAD FOR THE SHOW, which will release on Monday whether I'm ready or not!

What Am I Working On?

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Someone asks me this about once a week, so I thought I'd attempt an answer. I just finished the final edit for the 4th Simon & Elizabeth mystery, Her Majesty's Mischief . If you've been paying attention, I had some trouble choosing a title for this one, and readers gave me some great suggestions. I chose this one because it has a double meaning. Simon is sent to Scotland to try to determine if Mary, Queen of Scots is hatching mischief in the form of revolt against Elizabeth, now Queen of England. In his absence, Elizabeth hatches some mischief of her own, secretly sending Simon's old friend Calkin to investigate a murder in Simon's family. Both endeavors lead to trouble, of course. I have no release date yet for that one, but they said I'll get Advance Review Copies in December, which means it should come out about two months later. I will let readers know through my newsletter, so if you aren't signed up, you can text 22828. It will ask for a passwor

Loser Mystery #3 and Dead Detectives, Too

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I know I've said it before, but it looks like this time Loser #3* really will release on August 9. If you're signed up for my newsletter (below on the right side), you'll be reminded when it's available on Amazon, and I'll post on FB when I have actual copies in O-town and for signings. My itinerary is posted here, just above this box, so you can track me down in various places if you want a personalized copy. *Killing Despair is the third and probably final book in the Loser Mysteries. Though I love Loser and have enjoyed sharing her adventures, right now there's no continuation that does her justice in my head. I refuse to write a book just because a series is doing well, because it's too easy to get stale and repetitive. Loser was broken in Killing Silence, better but a long way from healed in Killing Memories . In Killing Despair she faces the things that almost destroyed her and comes to a sense of peace about it all. I hope you have enjoyed her jo