Maggie Pill Mysteries

   People often ask when the next book is coming out, and the answer at this moment is April 4th. This one is THIRD CRIME'S THE CHARM, and it's the 3rd installment of the Trailer Park Tales series. Some readers become confused about which books they've read and which they haven't. I have the same issue, and several times I've bought the same book twice. It seems to happen to me most often when I read it as an e-book. That doesn't sink in for me the way a print book does, so I realize about halfway through that I know exactly what's going to happen next and what this character or that one is going to say. Drat! Here's a helpful guide for my books. A la Seinfeld, I've made a list in which your memory is prodded by a statement beginning with "The One Where..." TRAILER PARK TALES (I was smarter with this series, using "once," "twice," and "third" as clues to the order.) Once Upon a Trailer Park: The one w...

(Thanks to reader Margaret who sent this darling pic of her cat Murphy with Sleuth Sisters Book #2)   I recently read a post where a woman said she re-reads books at bedtime because knowing what happened makes it unlikely she'll be kept awake by the story. A woman who bought my book at an author signing told me she reads the last chapter first, so she knows if the rest of the book is worth reading. In times of stress, my sister re-read favorite books as a way of comforting herself. They were usually romances, because one of the requirements is a "happily ever after" ending. Reading fiction serves many purposes in our lives. There's enlightenment, vicarious adventure, understanding of other times, places, and peoples, and, like the examples above, comfort, intellectual stimulation, and sleepiness.  Often I see lists of "MUST READ" books, and the implications of the NYT , Oprah, and other best-seller lists is "Here are the books you should be reading....

The title reference is to a Shel Silverstein poem, but it applies to books sometimes, too. An author I read and enjoy, Tim Hallinan, explained in a recent book that he'd killed off a bunch of characters because there were just too many for readers (and Tim) to keep track of. Well, that's nice for him, but he doesn't write cozies. You can't just kill off people readers know well in a cozy. It isn't done. Consider the Sleuth Sisters. There are the sisters, of course: Barb, Faye, and Retta. Each has a love interest: Barb has police chief Rory Neuencamp, Faye has husband Dale, and Retta has recently been seen with FBI agent Lars Johannsen. Two sisters have pets: Faye has Buddy and Retta has Styx, and they really are characters. Then there's Faye's irascible mother-in-law, Harriet. There's Gabe, the lovable lunk who thinks he's a detective, and his girlfriend Mindy. And in the last book readers met two of Faye's sons, Cramer and Bill (who's...

I'm working through the final edits of Sleuth Sisters Mystery #3 (MURDER IN THE BOONIES). I enjoy writing the series, and people have been really nice about letting me know they're waiting for the next one. Writing a popular series means I have characters I already know (which makes them a little easier to write), a guaranteed audience (which translates to income, so I'm not writing solely for my own enjoyment), and a following that spreads the word about the books much farther than I could do on my own. The down side comes with promotion, and while it isn't a big deal, it's interesting. Selling a series means you start with Book #1. Very few people want to start reading a series in the middle. While it's possible to jump in midstream at times, it's usually best to get to know the characters from the first. So when I go to events like author fairs and book signings, I sell a ton of THE SLEUTH SISTERS (and usually run out) but fewer of 3 SLEUTHS, 2 DOGS,...