Peg Herring, Mystery Author

Sunday Update: The promo is finished. 80,000+ people downloaded the book, and there was a big jump in sales for the audio book as well. Friday Update: Down to #3 in Free Books on Amazon but #1 for Women Sleuths. I'll take it! Thursday Update: THE SLEUTH SISTERS is now #1 in Amazon's Cozy Mystery List. Imagine me dancing around the kitchen! Wednesday Update: THE SLEUTH SISTERS is currently #1 on Amazon's list of FREE books. The FREE days last until Saturday, so if you haven't downloaded it yet, now's your chance. Most people know by now that Maggie Pill is also me. She writes cozy sleuth mysteries, and her first, THE SLEUTH SISTERS, will be FREE for Kindle from Tuesday, November 25 to Saturday, November 29, 2014. Here are a few tidbits:         Set in northern Lower Michigan         Concerns sisters who start a detective agency for widely different reasons         Deals with sisterly issues in a funny way         Involves some tromping around in the U.P.

I've been up for two hours. Actually, two hours and twenty-three minutes. Why? I don't know. I'm lucky if I sleep until 5:00 a.m. There's no pressure on me. There's nothing I have to get done. Yes, I go to bed early, but it doesn't make much difference what time I go to bed, I still wake up early, and if I've stayed up at night, it just means I'm groggy all day. I like working in the morning. I feel fresh and ready to tackle anything. The problem is that no one else is up. That request I sent yesterday hasn't been answered yet because every sane person is ASLEEP! So I putz. I check my sales. I clear out my spam folder. I do some laundry. I write a blog. While the rest of you sleep. Note: John is as bad or worse, and the upside of that is twofold. First, we agree on getting up early, and second, we get some great shots like the one above: sunrise over Grand Canyon.

If you know someone who writes, you might have noticed her idea of fun is different from that of other people. An invitation to go shopping might be answered with, "I have a chapter that just won't work out right, so I think I'll stay home and work on it." Conversations all turn into analyses of publishing. And don't think about asking what she's working on if you don't have half an hour to listen to the Next Great Idea. Two things authors enjoy are talking about books with other readers and talking about books with other writers. I did both those things recently, so I count it as a great week. First, I visited Petrolia, Ontario, where a lively group of readers listened to my spiel on mysteries, offering their own suggestions as we went. The library is in an old train station, and the town itself is charming. I highly recommend visiting, and I have promised to return (in summer, of course. Everything is better in summer!) The Petrolia visit was

I tend to book fewer author events once October is gone. In the first place, the tourists have returned home, at least the ones who shop for books. Visitors who come north in the fall and winter tend to have goals like skiing or snowmobiling, so they don't visit bookstores much. In the second place, people who live up north start heading south. Michigan bookstores don't host many authors outside the summer months because there just isn't the return on the time invested. In the third place, the weather is full of surprises, so booking a trip to Traverse City or Grand Rapids is a bit of a crap-shoot. Will I be able to get there, will it be a nail-biting ride, and will anyone else show up if I do make it? In the fourth place, I need time to focus on writing. I plan one more Dead Detective book (though #3 has yet to appear). I got the cover art for the 4th Simon & Elizabeth (left), which comes out early in 2015, and I'd like to do one more of those. And my Maggie Pil

I manned the Midwest Mystery Writers of America table for a while, with the able assistance of E.A. Poe I returned last night from Magna Cum Murder, a mystery conference held in Indianapolis, IN at the beautiful Columbia Club. One can safely say that a good time was had by all, and the organizers, led by the indefatigable Kathryn Kennison  do a great job of making everyone feel at home. Since I've attended many Magnas, I saw lots of authors I've chatted with, dined with, or sat on panels with in the past, either at Magna or at other cons. Molly MacRae, Sarah Wisseman, Sharan Newman, Tony Perona, Albert Bell, Dan (D.E.) Johnson, John Desjarlais, Monica Ferris, Ann Margaret Lewis, Carla Norton, Elaine Orr, Carol Preflatish, Lori Rader-Day, and Brenda Robertson Stewart. Among those authors you will find a wide array of mysteries, from woo-woo to cozy to deadly serious. What does one do at a mystery con? If you're an author, you sit on panels and discuss wh

This weekend I'm headed to Magna Cum Murder, a mystery con that's fairly close to home (only 7.5 hours!). Magna is organized by the folks at Ball State University, and it's a great place to see old friends from the mystery community and meet new ones, especially fans. From Friday p.m. until Sunday, we'll discuss our favorite genre, bemoan the current state of publishing, and enjoy being with people who get it, who know how much fun it is for very nice people to read, write, and talk about violent death. I'm on two panels. On Saturday I'll be discussing historical mysteries with Sharan Newman, Albert Bell, Sarah Wisseman, and C.J. Norton. Historical discussions often focus on how much research an author should do and how much inclusion of history in a mystery is enough...or too much. My Simon & Elizabeth Mysteries got me on this panel, and since the fourth book of that series ( Her Majesty's Mischief ) is due early in 2015, I'm pleased to be there.

The Loser Mysteries Loser is like no character you've met before: homeless, dirty, and mostly silent. Join her as she finds her way back from the dark places she's been. Find out why she fell into despair. See if she can learn to cope again, to sleep in a bed, meet someone's gaze, and possibly accept there's something worthwhile left in her life. ********************************************* Killing Silence (Book #1) Loser sleeps in alleys, washes up in gas station rest rooms, and eats when she can. Lost in her own misery, s he barely notices the hardships of life. When a child captures her attention and that child's welfare is in doubt, however, Loser calls on long-forgotten resources to help. Can someone who lives among the lost become a rescuer, or will her demons--and a vicious murderer--defeat her? Ebook  Print ****************************************** Killing Memories (Book #2) Ebook: Print Upset by the attention su