Maggie Pill Mysteries

 I've been plagued by the cover for the first book of my upcoming new series. In concerns a private detective working with two kids who are uber-smart but were raised in the jungle. They're all fun characters to write, and I hope they appeal to my readers. The problem was that I didn't like any cover for very long. I'd look at it and think, "That might work," but then a few days later I realized it didn't. I put two possibilities up for fans to react to, and I got some excellent results. Though they didn't know what it was, I could tell they weren't impressed with what we'd done so far. When this happens, I have to stop thinking about it for a few days and then...think about it. I discovered that trying to picture the main character, the "Cutest Little Killer," was not going to work, and that's what was making me uncomfortable with what we had. So. Here's the direction we're going now, and I'd love some reactions. I th...

Writers are supposed to write what they know, but once you start writing, you realize you don't know as much as you thought you did. I was raised on a farm, so I have a sense of life there, but that was (mumble-mumble) years ago. Things are different now. As the Sleuth Sisters Mysteries go on, I find myself wandering through Fleet-Farm type stores with new interest. "Look!" I tell my husband. "This is how they water chickens nowadays." "Huh,"  he replies. In the Work In Progress, there is real estate fiddling, so I need to know about deeds and sales and Realtor duties (and yes, that has to be capitalized.) I visit an acquaintance in real estate, and he gets me started. When I run into a snag, I call him and he helps me make it work. "Wow!" I tell my husband. "Dan sure knows the real estate business." "Huh." I've mentioned before the friends who help when I write about exotic animals, like the reindeer in B...

I have many, many people in my writing life who help me out. My friends Paul and Debbie, for example, met with me while I was writing Murder in the Boonies and answered lots of questions about reindeer. My friend Connie reads my stuff when it's still half-baked and gives constructive criticism. My sister loves everything I write and provides encouragement. Yay for them! On the other hand are the people who don't help and even get in the way at times. When I was writing one mystery series, I needed information about a park in another state. I wasn't able to go there and look at it, so I wrote to the park management and asked if they'd answer some questions. I stressed that they'd be specific, like "Is the park well-lit at night?" and I offered them a free copy of the book when it came out. At first I got an enthusiastic "We'd be pleased to help." However, when I sent five questions requiring only short answers, I got no reply. I waited tw...