Old News

As I write this, the “May 21, 2011 Rapture” predicted by a California preacher has failed to materialize. It was all over the Internet for a week beforehand and one day after. Now? Not a word on the first page of Google, CNN, Yahoo, or MSN. The world moves so fast today that like the “Rapture moment” any hot news item may be cold and old in 24 hours.

The mystery series I’m writing takes place in the present day. I always have to make certain that I don’t have my characters talking about a fad that couldn’t hold the headlines longer than a month. We can always count on “stupid celebrity tricks” to be in the news, but beyond the expected drugs-and-rehab duet, it’s impossible to predict which celebrity will be all over the headlines by the time my next book goes to press. In addition, I’m a geek who doesn’t keep up on fashion, but fortunately I have co-workers who do.

I mention Paris Hilton in my next book, but will her name make people scratch their heads come February? Will the musician I have my characters listen to be a one-hit wonder? I’ve read recently published books that referenced an event whose fifteen minutes were over six months ago.

Writers: How do you avoid “missing the moment?” Do you keep tabs on current events in news, sports, entertainment? Do you beg your copyeditor to let you make a last-minute change? Or do you only make references to long-lasting celebrities and news—the Beatles and gas prices, for example?

Readers: Do you just chuckle when a present-day book talks about something outdated? Or does it take you out of the story altogether?

If you’ll excuse me, I need to refresh MSNBC again.

Newspaper photo copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Inkspot News - April 3, 2010

G.M. Malliet is interviewed by Carol Casey in the latest CUA Magazine. The spooky, ghost-haunting-a-monastery photo is by genius photographer Ed Pfueller.

Alan Orloff has two upcoming radio appearances. On Tuesday, April 6 at 7:38 a.m. Pacific Time, he will be interviewed by Baron Ron Herron on KZSB 1290 AM, Santa Barbara, CA. Also syndicated/rebroadcast on KNRY AM 1240 (Monterey), KNWZ-II (Palm Springs), and 99.7 (Queensland, Australia). Hear it streaming on-line here. On Wednesday, April 7 at 9:45 a.m. Central Time, he will appear on Let's Talk w/Jena O'Connor on KORN 1490 AM, Mitchell SD.

Inkspot News - October 31, 2009

Beth Groundwater will appear at the Lake George, Colorado library on Saturday, October 31st from 2:00 – 3:00 pm. The address is 37900 Hwy 24, Lake George, CO 80827.

Martha Cheves reviewed Beth Groundwater's book, To Hell in a Handbasket, at her "A Book and A Dish" blog (http://marthaskitchenkorner.blogspot.com/) and posted Beth's recipe for yummy Fruitcake Cookies in time for holiday baking.

Inkspot News - October 10, 2009

Many Midnight Ink authors will be appearing at the Bouchercon mystery conference this coming week in Indianapolis, IN. If you see us there, please say hello. Also, we will be appearing on various panels and at other events as follows (MI authors indicated in boldface type):

Thursday, 9-9:55am
KILLER HOBBIES
Five crafty authors discuss the hobbies that drove them to murder.
Joanna Campbell Slan (moderator), Sally Goldenbaum, Margaret Grace, Beth Groundwater and Betty Hechtman.

Thursday, 1:30-2:25
SOUTHERN VOICES
What’s special about Southern mysteries.
Cathy Pickens (Moderator), Vicki Lane, T. Lynn Ocean, A. Scott Pearson, Deborah Sharp

Friday, 9:45 am - 11:15 am
2009 FIRST NOVELISTS
A speed-dating event with 24 of the 2009 first novelists who are attending Bouchercon 2009, sponsored by Mystery Scene. Annamaria Alfieri, Allan Ansorge, Judith Borger, Lisa Bork, Rachel Brady, Rebecca Cantrell, Gayle Carline, Kate Carlisle, Connie Dial, Margaret Fenton, John Ford, Jamie Freveletti, Bryan Gilmer, Seth Harwood, Lawrence Kaplan, Tracy Kiely, Vincent McCaffrey, Stuart Neville, Diana Orgain, Stefanie Pintoff, Sharon Potts, Stephen Schwartz and Dennis Tafoya

Friday, 10:30 - 11:25
WHY CHARACTER IS DESTINY
Why plotting from character makes fiction more plausible and compelling.
Kit Ehrman (M), R.J. Ellory, Jess Lourey, Marcus Sakey, Larry D. Sweazy

Friday, 10:30
CAROLYN HART HOT TICKET EVENT
Carolyn Hart (Hot Ticket Author), Julie Hyzy (Board Member Host), Joanna Campbell Slan and Beverle Graves Myers (Featured Authors)

Friday, 3:00 – 3:55 pm
THE NEVERENDING PUZZLE
The traditional cozy mystery: its place, its rules, its future.
Carolyn Hart (M), Parnell Hall, Ellen Hart, G.M. Malliet, Katherine Hall Page

Saturday, 10:30 am – 11:25 am
CRAFT ROOM
Beth Groundwater
Making a killer mystery gift basket.

Saturday, 1:00 - 2:00
SUE GRAFTON HOT TICKET EVENT
Sue Grafton, Beverle Myers, Julie Hyzy, Jess Lourey

Saturday, 1-1:55pm
CRAFT ROOM
Joanna Campbell Slan
Make and take a scrapbook page designed especially for Bouchercon!
See it here: http://joannaslan.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html#4779708734549245704

Saturday, 2:30 - 3:25 am
CRAFT ROOM
Cricket McRae
Making fizzing bath salts

Sunday, 9:00 to 11:00 am
THE BAZAAR
An opportunity to meet over 70 mystery writers, including Midnight Ink authors, and get signed books, hosted by J.A. Konrath

Inkspot News - October 3, 2009

At The Rap Sheet, Keith Raffel tells "the story behind the story" of his just-released novel, Smasher.

And over at The Big Thrill, Keith discusses Smasher with fellow thriller-writer Mark Terry.

*****

G.M. Malliet is a guest blogger at Murder by 4.

Inkspot News - July 25, 2009

Terri Thayer will be selling and signing books today at the Fabric Patch booth at the IQA quilt show in Long Beach, CA.

Also today join G.M. Malliet and women-of-mystery Donna Andrews, Susan Froetschel, and Marcia Talley as they discuss the writing life at the Frederick County Public Library. Time: 1-3 p.m. Address: 110 E. Patrick Street, Frederick, MD.

Inkspot News - July 18, 2009

G.M. Malliet will be appearing with women-of-mystery Donna Andrews, Susan Froetschel, and Marcia Talley at the Frederick County Public Library on July 25 at 1 p.m. Address: 110 E. Patrick Street, Frederick, MD.
G.M.'s Death of a Cozy Writer was an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association bestseller in June: http://www.mysterybooksellers.com/bestsellers.html

Terri Thayer will be selling and signing books at the Fabric Patch booth at the IQA quilt show in Long Beach, CA on Friday and Saturday, July 24th and 25th.

Inkspot News - June 20, 2009

G.M. Malliet will be at the Deadly Ink conference in Parsippany, NJ, from June 27 to 28. Lincoln Child is the conference's Guest of Honor and the Toastmaster is Jeff Cohen. A review of G.M.'s latest book, Death and the Lit Chick, appeared in the June 14 Denver Post.

Inkspot News - April 25, 2009

Malice Domestic (Go to http://www.malicedomestic.org/ for details)

Joanna Campbell Slan will be appearing as a newbie!
May 1 @ 11 a.m.- Malice Go 'Round

Deborah Sharp, newbie author of Mama Does Time, also snagged a spot at the Malice Go'Round event, which is kind of like speed-dating with authors wooing readers.

Deb will also be among authors appearing at the New Authors Breakfast, Sat., May 2, 7:15 am.

Both of our Agatha Award nominees G.M. Malliet and Joanna Campbell Slan will be on a panel with other nominees at the Malice Domestic Conference:
May 2 @ 10 a.m. - New Kids on the Block: Our Best First Novel Nominees. Shawn Reilly, Moderator.

We'll find out who brings home the trophy at the Agatha Awards Banquet at 7PM that evening.

Non-nominee (but still a nice person!) Deborah Sharp will also appear on a Malice Domestic panel, North-South-East-West, This is Where We Kill the Best. Saturday, May 2, 1:30 pm. Moderator is Judy Cater, and other panelists are: Joanna Carl, Carole Nelson Douglas, Cheryl Solimini.

G.M., Joanna, Terri Thayer, and other Midnight Ink authors will be appearing on May 4 at the Festival of Mystery, hosted by Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont PA (go to http://www.mysterylovers.com/ for details).
-------

Master Class on Mystery Writing in the Bay Area

Ellen Sussman, a terrific writing teacher and bestselling novelist, has put together a "master class" on mystery writing. Here's Ellen's description of the class:

Three acclaimed mystery writers, Cornelia Read, [Inkspot's own] Keith Raffel, and John Billheimer, will join me in a panel discussion about their craft. I'll ask them about plotting the mystery novel, about character development, about conventions of the genre, about breaking those conventions. I'd like to find out what we non-mystery writers can learn from these masters of plot, character, voice. And for those of you who are writing mysteries, we can find out how these three have succeeded in a very competitive field.

The class is scheduled for in Los Altos Hills, CA on May 13 for three hours starting at 6.30 and the cost is $60. If you're interested, email ellen at ellen@ellensussman.com. Should be fun and informative.

Inkspot News - February 28, 2009

G.M. Malliet's second book in the DCI St. Just mystery series, Death and the Lit Chick, received a starred review this week in Publishers Weekly: "Malliet's satirical take on the mystery scene is spot-on." The book is available for pre-order now. The third book in this series is scheduled for release in 2010.

Joanna Campbell Slan's article "Travels with Joe: Power Promotion in One Day" appeared in the March issue of RWR (Romance Writers Report), the publication for members of Romance Writers of America. Joanna will be teaching a class called "The Practical Guide to Publication" at Chesterfield Arts today, and her new Writers Digest Writers Online Workshops class "Getting Started Quickly in Scrapbook Journaling" will begin on March 18. To register go to http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/

Reminder: One week from today is Left Coast Crime, where three Midnight Ink alumni are award nominees: Sue Ann Jaffarian, Tim Maleeny, and G.M. Malliet.

Inkspot News - February 14, 2009 (Happy Valentine's Day)

G.M. Malliet made the headline of the Murder Circle!

Keith Raffel has this week's entry over at the Rap Sheet in their series of great but forgotten books. Check it out.

Joanna Slan was a guest last night at http://www.blogtalk radio.com/Circle-Of- Seven She also did a scrapbook crop at For Keeps Sake, 4530 Lemay Ferry Road, in St. Louis.

Inkspot News - January 17, 2009

G.M. Malliet will appear on a panel with other Chesapeake Crimes 3 anthology authors at the Urbana Library in Frederick, Maryland, at 2 pm on January 18 to discuss her novel and her short story in the collection. Anthology authors are: Mary Ann Corrigan, Carla Coupe, Meriah Crawford, Barb Goffman, Sasscer Hill, Mary Ellen Hughes, K. B. Inglee, Peggy Jaegly, Clyde Linsley, C. Ellett Logan, G. M. Malliet, Carolyn Mulford, Jayne Ormerod, Shelley Shearer, and Marcia Talley.

On January 24, G.M. Malliet will be part of an all-day mystery event in Middleburg, Virginia, hosted by the Books & Crannies bookstore.

Deborah Sharp will talk about her mystery debut, Mama Does Time, Jan. 24 on the Thrills and Chills mystery panel at BookMania!, in Stuart, Fla. The panel meets at 4 pm. The 15th Annual BookMania! event at the Blake Library lasts all day, and features some two dozen nationally known authors in discussions, readings and signings. Deborah's co-panelists for the mystery portion include Alafair Burke, James Swain, Hallie Ephron and Lisa Unger.

Inkspot News - January 3, 2009

Join Midnight Ink authors J.B. Stanley and G.M. Malliet at Books and Bling - a "keep the lights on" event being held January 31 at Creatures 'n Crooks Bookshoppe, Richmond, VA. In fact, the event runs through the entire month of January. From the C 'n C Web site:

Over 100 authors from across the country have contributed to the incredible reader reward prizes to be given away throughout the month of January. That’s right! Whenever you shop at Creatures ‘n Crooks, you have a chance to win a fabulous prize! Prizes will be given out each week and you’ll never know which reader will receive a reward! (This includes phone customers). Reward prizes include signed books from authors in the field of mystery, fantasy, horror, nonfiction, and children’s fiction.

Contributions include a vampire basket from Charlaine Harris, a character donation from Margaret Maron, gold and sapphire earrings from Denise Swanson, a Carolyn Hart basket, a culinary basket with goodies from Joanne Fluke, a historical mystery book prize including a vintage Tiffany necklace, a fantastic fantasy book crate with signed books by George R.R. Martin and much, much more.

Some of the authors attending the January 31st event are Katherine Neville, Donna Andrews, Ellen Crosby, Maria Lima, Ellen Byerrum, Andy Straka, Joseph Guion, John Gilstrap, Austin S. Camacho, Maggie Stiefvater, Kristy Tallman, Dennis Danvers, Elizabeth Blue, and Tee Morris. We’ll all be there to shower you, the reader, with attention and prizes!

Inkspot News - December 6, 2008

G.M. Malliet is giving away 3 free copies of her book Death of a Cozy Writer at GoodReads.com. There are only 4 days left in the giveaway.

Inkspot News - September 13, 2008

There is a lot of news from the Midnight Ink authors this week:

Sue Ann Jaffarian will be speaking in northern California this next week at the following events:

September 15, 2008 - 12:00 p.m.
Women in County Government
400 County CenterHall of Justice
Redwood City, California 94063

September 16, 2008 - 6:00 p.m.
San Mateo County Legal Secretaries Association Hospitality Dinner
Dominic's at Poplar Creek Restaurant
1700 Coyote Point Drive
San Mateo, CA94401


Joanna Campbell Slan will be Dennis Griffin's guest on Meet the Author, Tuesday, September 16, at 8:30 EST. Dennis will be asking her about her new book Paper, Scissors, Death. You can hear the show by going to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dennisngriffin If you've never listened to Blog Talk Radio before, you might want to visit a few minutes before the show and register as a listener. You'll be able to text in questions and comments. The show will be archived on the site shortly after it runs and can be played back as a podcast or downloaded.


G.M. Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer and Cricket McRae's Heaven Preserve Us have both made the August bestsellers list of the INDEPENDENT MYSTERY BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION (IMBA).


Terri Thayer, author of the newly released Old Maid's Puzzle and Stamped Out, is hosting a launch party on Saturday, September 20th from 1-4. The party will be held at the Heguera Adobe, Wessex Place in Milpitas. Food, fun and books will be available. Two author talks, one at 1:30 and one at 3:30pm. Stamping techniques will be demoed by Holly Matubas. Join us!

A second party will be held Sunday, September 21st at Always Quilting from 1-4pm. Author talk will be at 2:30.

Terri will be guest blogging at Bookends LLP blog on Wednesday, Sept 17th. Stop by and see why September is my favorite month. Leave a comment.
http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/


Felicia Donovan, author of THE BLACK WIDOW AGENCY Series, will be at several signings in the coming week. She will be at the Exeter, NH Public Library on Wed, Sept. 17 at 6:30PM, The Stratham, NH Public Library on Thurs, Sept. 18 at 6:30PM, and the Tuftonboro, NH Public Library on Sat. Sept. 20 at 10:30AM. For more information and directions, please visit http://www.feliciadonovan.com/

Inkspot News - September 6, 2008

Felicia Donovan, author of THE BLACK WIDOW AGENCY series, will make a guest appearance on the on-line Writer's Chatroom on Sunday, Sept. 7 from 7 - PM. Just go to
www.writerschatroom .com and click on "Enter Chatroom" to join in.

Terri Thayer, author of the newly released Old Maid's Puzzle and Stamped Out, will be a member of the Night Owl Mystery Panel at the East of Eden Writer's conference in Salinas, CA, Friday Sept. 5th. She will also be one of the breakfast keynote speakers on Saturday, Sept. 6th, talking about the importance of a writing gang.

Sue Ann Jaffarian is guest blogging today at The Lipstick Chronicles.

G.M. Malliet's debut book in the ST. JUST MYSTERY Series, Death of a Cozy Writer, has made the June bestseller list at Mystery Lover's Bookshop and the July bestseller list at The Poisoned Pen bookstore.

Inkspot News - August 30, 2008

August Moon, the fourth installment in the Murder-by-Month series by Jess Lourey, has received a starred review from Booklist, which calls it, "...hilarious, fast paced, and madcap!" September Mourn is scheduled for a fall 2009 release.

G.M. Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer made the #3 spot on the list of July 2008 Bestsellers in trade paperback at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ. She will be signing the book at Hard Bean Coffee & Booksellers in Annapolis, MD, on September 13 from 1 to 3 pm. If you haven't yet visited this store, you're in for a treat. It's a local institution, along with the nearby Naval Academy.

Inkspot News - August 16, 2008

Terri Thayer will be speaking at the Saratoga branch of the Santa Clara Library along with fellow mystery authors Penny Warner, Michelle Gagnon, Mark Coggins, and Cara Black. Panel
begins at 7:30 pm.

Tom Schreck's "On the Ropes, A Duffy Dombrowski Mystery" hit number five on the best selling list of the Independent Mystery Book Sellers Best Sellers for July 2008 for Trade Paperbacks.

Tom's second Duffy Mystery "TKO" is also available now at independent booksellers (and all bookstores) every where.

G.M. Malliet will be signing her new book, Death of a Cozy Writer, on Saturday, August 23, at Creatures 'N Crooks Bookshoppe, Richmond, VA. Donna Andrews, Ellen Byerrum, and Ellen Crosby will also be signing. Time: 2-4 p.m.

InkSpot News - 16 June 2007

Attention all boxing fans! If you tune in to HBO Saturday night at 9:30 pm for the replay of last Saturday's pay-per-view classic Miguel Cotto vs Zab Judah you'll notice that Midnight Ink author TOM SHRECK was one of the judges. The fight form Madison Square Garden is already being called the fight of the year!

Tom Schreck's boxing novel, On the Ropes, A Duffy Dombrowski Mystery, debuts this September.

InkSpot News - 9 June 2007

JULIA BUCKLEY's upcoming Madeline Mann is reviewed by Kirkus!

"In her bright debut, Maddy is a welcome addition to the cozy scene."