Peg Herring, Mystery Author

      Several of my online connections ask "What Are You Reading?" periodically , and they always get lots of answers. It's interesting to me to see which books others are enjoying, and I like boosting authors' possibilities for more sales by naming my favorite of the moment. FYI: I just finished James Comey's Central Park West and enjoyed it. I LOVED Benjamin Stevenson's book, pictured above, so I went out and bought the second one, Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect. One thing I notice in lists of current reading is the variety of books people choose and enjoy. People I know and like read books I wouldn't even consider. People I don't know recommend books that sound good, so I download a sample to find out if I agree. If I do, I buy the book. If I don't, I go on to other things. But if any author wonders why everyone in the world doesn't love their books, the answer is there. Tastes vary--widely--and a lot of a book's "good&q

BEFORE I FORGET YET AGAIN: Now is your best chance to find my entire ebook collection for a promotional price at @Smashwords as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! Find my books and many more at https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos/ all month! #SWSale2024 #Smashwords FAKE, my new mystery, is with the copy editor after MAJOR revisions done on the advice of my content editor. While beta readers and critics alike loved the story, editors aren't paid to love anything. My editor, SS, admits she loved the book too, but she felt the story was told out of sequence. That meant a LOT of shifting paragraphs and chapters around, which means I have to be careful to make sure everything that needs to be in there is, and it's where it needs to be. Though there were times during the revisions when I wanted to pull out all my hair, I saw in each instance that SS was right. Yes, this chapter would be clearer if Jo narrated it. Yes, this phone call is more telling if it occurs in

  Questions for Readers (and My Personal Answers) Question 1: Do you prefer stand-alone books or series? My answer: Both. I like a good standalone for new, interesting characters and a great plot. Some stories have to be one-offs, because it wouldn’t make sense to continue them. (A reader claimed I should write a sequel to one of my books in which all the major characters were dead at the end!) Series are great for going back to familiar places and people. While for authors it often becomes difficult to find new directions in a series, readers seem okay with repetition. Just ask James Patterson and Janet Evanovich. Although series are fun (and generally easier to write), I eventually get tired of them. My publisher was eager for me to continue the Loser Mysteries (Peg Herring), and fans asked for more of the Kidnap Capers (Peg) and the Sleuth Sisters (Maggie Pill), but I felt like I was done with those people. I didn’t want to force myself to write about them to the point tha

  I got interested in Shepherd.com, Ben Shepherd's attempt to help readers connect with authors through recommendations, over a year ago. Authors get their books on the site by telling readers about stories with similar themes. I compared my book, Sister Saint, Sister Sinner, to others with sisters as the main characters and sisterhood as a theme. You can see the complete post HERE. The cool thing about this site is you search by the kinds of books you like to read, so you don't need titles or author names to locate books you might enjoy. Today is my day to be featured on a new endeavor as Ben lets authors list their 3 favorite books read in the last year.  It was difficult to choose 3 books, since I read a lot, but I tried for a variety. I copied the image above, but you can also see it at Shepherd.com. https://shepherd.com/bboy/2023/f/peg-herring  You can see the overall results at Shepherd's Best Books of 2023 page  

Truth in Advertising: My hair is no longer this color! Over the last few months, I've written about how I came to self-publish and what I do in that process. Once your cover is great, your MS is perfect (we hope), and your formatting is set for whichever sites you plan to present on, there's just promo left to do...always...forever...eternally.  A person trying to make a living by writing has to promote. Those who aren't (like me) do as much as we choose. Writers understand that promoted books, (often books that aren't as good as yours) will sell, while unpromoted books mean that no one even knows you've got a new one out there. We begin promo long before a book is available for sale. We talk about it online. We do cover reveals. We offer samples. We try to get bloggers interested enough to feature the book. We solicit reviews. Add standing on our heads and screaming, "IT'S MY NEW BOOK!" and you have some idea. The biggest problem is that no one kno

 Though I'm not sure how, I recently heard about Shepherd.com The people there are trying to change the way we find new books to read online, and I'm all for that. When you type in "mystery" or "crime fiction" in most book-finding sites (like Amazon), you get a list of the 8 or 10 biggest-selling writers, like James Patterson, Michael Connelly, and Janet Evanovitch. The problem with that is that telling me Michael Connelly has a new book is useless. I've already bought it, read it, and passed it on to a friend. Also, some of those big names don't interest me, for a variety of reasons. I'd like new suggestions, new authors to try, but it's hard to choose, and the list goes on forever, with no hints as to which ones I'll really like. Enter Shepherd.com. Right now, things are in the beginning stages, but the site categorizes books with a clever teaser: "The Best Books about..." You can search by title or author and along with the

I was thrilled with the response to my giveaway in August, so thanks to all who requested a print book. I'm sorry if you didn't get one, but they went fast! I've been receiving emails from readers, some letting me know the book had arrived in the mail, and others letting me know the reader had finished and would be posting a review. One clever girl even put a pic of the book on Facebook, so I got some free advertising. To one and all, thank you! The process was hectic for a while, since I wanted to get the books in the mail ASAP. The people at my little post office were patient and helpful. I combed local dollar stores to get enough bubble mailers of the correct size. There was time spent, and money. Why would I do that? Writers often spend hundreds of dollars on advertising that goes out into a world of people who don't care much about their books. I chose to spend that money to send books to people who'd already noticed me, either here on the blog or by signing

A word I hear sometimes when people talk about me is "prolific."  Yes, I do have a lot of books out, and that can get confusing. Did you miss a book? Maybe a whole series? To help readers decide if they're up to date, I've devised a list a la Seinfeld, using "The one where..." THE LOSER MYSTERIES     Killing Silence- The one where we meet Loser, a woman who lives on the streets of Richmond, ignoring just about everyone until she feels compelled to help a little girl and her dad. Killing Memories- The one where Loser goes home to West Virginia, intending to live alone, but finds connections to people who need her, especially her crime-solving expertise. Killing Despair- The one where Loser goes back to Richmond to face her past and learn what exactly happened the night her husband died. THE KIDNAP CAPERS KIDNAP(.)org- The one where Robin becomes a criminal by helping her neighbor right a wrong--and decides she likes putting cheaters in their place. Pharma Con