Maggie Pill Mysteries

Amazon is the best friend a writer can have, and the worst enemy. Sometimes both at once. Amazon allows us to present our books to the world, but it presents them it its own terms. Amazon's Algorithms, things I have little grasp of, choose which additional books to show to visitors to a site in the form of "YOU MIGHT LIKE..." It's a great thing to be chosen this way, because people who never heard of you before are offered your book without even hunting for it. On the other hand, if the algorithms don't latch onto you, you're probably going to forever remain in obscurity. The Sleuth Sisters are (Choose one: A) Lucky, B) Amazing, C) Specific) enough to have gained the attention of the AAs. I often get recommendations to buy Maggie Pill's books when I go on as Peg Herring. That's great, and as long as the newest installment rises high enough in some rankings (Amazon has a ton of them), people see older titles on the page as they consider what to buy ne...

I have three weeks to make sure everything is AOK for the 6th Sleuth Sisters Mystery, Peril, Plots, and Puppies. I think I'm ready. Preorders are available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Peril-Plots-Puppies-Sisters-Mystery-ebook/dp/B078V8X9J6 It will be available from all ebook providers, B&N, Kobo, etc. Print version is coming along. Reviewers are pre-reading (they like that). I'm sure there are things I should be doing, but I can't think of what they'd be. In this book, the sisters take on two cases: shutting down a puppy mill and finding a murderer. Neither their client nor the puppy mill owner is fun to deal with, and the added complication is that Barb was seen near the murder scene, doing a Correction Event as the Grammar Nazi. Each sister has her own concerns, but of course they come together when it's time for Sister Power.

One of the criticisms I hear of Audible is how expensive audio books are, and I sympathize. Many of my fans save credits or scrimp to buy my newest book, and it's discouraging for authors, who know a new listener probably isn't going to risk $20 plus to try her book. Lately they seem to be getting it, and I have had two hopeful signs. One is that they put my old MACBETH'S NIECE release (written as Peg Herring) into a special romance category that gives readers a price break. The other is that they're having a sale this week (Feb. 18 to 25) on "First of a Series" books, and they included THE SLEUTH SISTERS for less than $6.95 (whatever that means!) That means if you haven't heard Judy, Laura, and Anne perform as Retta, Barb, and Faye, you get a bargain chance. https://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/The-Sleuth-Sisters-Audiobook/B00MW75YF0  And since Book #6 is in the works, you'll have some enjoyable listening ahead!

It's a terrifying thing for an author to say, "I will have this book ready on..." A hundred objections come to mind: what if I hate it? what if the editor hates it? what if, what if, what if? Still, there comes a time, and it's here. Peril, Plots, and Puppies is slated for March 23, and you can pre-order it here: https://www.amazon.com/Peril-Plots-Puppies-Sisters-Mystery-ebook/dp/B078V8X9J6 If you've missed any of the former books, you've got two months to get caught up!

Working Cover Files If you keep up with my adventures, you know I was conflicted about a sixth Sleuth Sisters book. I do NOT want to be the author who stretches a series beyond logic, and I feel strongly that if I'm not interested in the plot, my readers won't be either. That was reinforced this past week as I read a book by one of my favorite authors, who has a long-running series I've always liked. The new story was beyond belief, with the detective getting naked in front of a crowd of people to force a confrontation that made very little sense and wasn't believable, at least for me. I never want the Maggie Pill name attached to a book just to have a new one out there. With that said, I found myself interested in the sisters again somewhere in August, and the questions began. What if Barb is caught, or almost caught, doing her Grammar Nazi thing? What if it's because there's a murder nearby, so the Nazi is a suspect? That was the germ of the idea for Boo...

?????????? I know what my fans will say if I ask: Should the Sleuth Sisters series be done? I've already heard it from some: "No! We love them!" I get that. But what is the saturation point for a series? I always thought it was five books, but I've got #6 mostly done, and I like it. The sisters still have issues to work through, and the two cases this book covers are interesting (There are dogs in one; that's always good.) But in my own reading, I tend to lose interest when a series goes on too long. Yes, I've read twenty-three Sue Graftons, but I space them out so I don't get sick of Kinsey. I love Harry Bosch too, but I was pleased to see that Connelly expanded to the Lincoln Lawyer books and is trying out a new character in The Late Show.  I think I'll know if there should be another Sleuth Sisters book. What happens is my brain starts telling me the story when I'm ready to write it down. There's no telling when that will ha...

I went to see SOMETHING ROTTEN this week, a very enjoyable show. In it there's a number in which Shakespeare sings about it being "Hard to Be the Bard." That got me thinking about writing and the levels of difficulty involved. It is hard, but it's also fun. It's hard to write the whole thing . I can't tell you how many people I've met who have three (or five or eight) chapters of a novel written but just can't go farther. Writers get that, but they also get past it. It's hard to make it good . Writing well takes a lot of understanding of language, story, syntax, conversation, style, character--all those things your English teacher used to go on about. They matter. It might be true that everyone has a story inside, but not everyone is ready to tell it well enough that others want to read it. It's hard to make it better. Another group I meet a lot are those who have written their masterpiece and can see absolutely nothing wrong with it. Fi...