Besides being a successful author, blogger, and teacher, Tara carves out some time to support other writers such as myself. She has, over the past few weeks, featured my fiction on her very clever Fiction, Five, Friday!
http://taraford.weebly.com/fiction-five-friday
We are of like minds…’pay it forward’. Thanks, Tara 
Never one to break with tradition…..there’s a side story with regard to my enthusiasm for Susan Macneal’s writing.
The first of the Maggie Hope spy mysteries, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary, (which I highly recommend) is fiction but based in fact. The author was fortunate enough to have had several interviews with Churchill’s private secretary before her death. The book is about a ‘typist’ who was relegated to a menial job because of her gender. She was actually educated in mathematics and cryptology and could easily have fitted in with MI-Five (British CIA) but for her being a woman.
I was so taken by Winston Churchill’s pets having the run of the war offices….and how Susan wove this little fact (with many others) into her story so deftly. At the time I was looking for lighter material to round out my collection
of short plays for the classroom. An idea came to me of Mr. Churchill noodling away in front of his easel and Nelson, his cat talking to the audience; telling them something about the times that they lived in, an anecdote or two about the Prime Minister and of course, listening patiently to Mr. Churchill’s comments about the world at large.
July 1st, the fourth and newest book in the Maggie Hope series will go on sale.
Continue reading “MacNeal’s release of new book Sparks Give-away!”
So I’m currently working on Book 5 in the series, The World of Murder. The Taste of Murder takes place in and around the Food 
Network and cooking shows.
My two detectives, O’Roarke and Garcia are waiting for the elevator to take them down to the lobby at the Food Network studios. And who walks off the elevator but Arnold Miller, Broadway star… and one of my characters from The Act of Murder.
I stared at my screen for a second and, even though I was alone in my studio, asked aloud, ‘Arnold, what are you doing in this book?’ I got no answer of course so decided to see where Arnold would lead me. My readers know by now that I am a staunch believer that at some point the story takes over and the writer goes along for the ride….we become the typist. So why was I surprised when Arnold rushed out of an elevator and almost mowed down my two murder cops? Well, it turns out that Arnold knew my victim and his lover. He really filled our ear with all the latest gossip!
When I wrote the chapters using the serial killer’s voice, I was slightly creeped out by the character that I had created. But when my narrator, Daniel Dorse created the killer in the audio version of Book 4, The Angel of Murder, I was REALLY creeped out. It seemed a perfect time to share an excerpt of the audio book with my readers, followers, and fellow writers. 
If you want to hear more click here for another excerpt.
The World of Murder is available in paperback, e-books and Audio.
www.audible.com, www.amazon.com, and iTunes.com
Audio SAMPLE, click here angel2
‘The World of Murder’ books are available in paperback, e-books and audio.
Narration by: Daniel Dorse, www.acx.com (the voice of Jack O’Roarke)
EXCERPT © from book:
O’Roarke and Garcia sat in the conference room where they had organized their murder board. They were very uneasy about the ritualistic way in which Brittany James had been laid out and knew that this was just the beginning. They hoped and prayed that they were wrong. Continue reading “Take a Peek Into a Killer’s Mind…If You Dare!”
Just released! Book 4 in the World of Murder series is in AUDIO now!
Murder cops, O’Roarke and Garcia have a serial killer on their hands in Book 4 of The World of Murder series. The bodies of children, dressed for communion, are turning up in all five boroughs of New York City and there are no suspects. To complicate their investigation, a private detective has been hired by one of the families to find one of the missing girls. In spite of all their efforts, O’Roarke and Garcia watch as their case goes cold. Who is this monster and when will he strike again?
Available at: www.audible.com, www.amazon.com, and iTunes.com AUDIO SAMPLE:angel
Audible.com is offering it FREE now with a free trial membership!
REVIEW: ……‘what really makes this book interesting is that the author lets us see into the mind of the killer without giving away the identity. All the while you are wondering how the perpetrator can get away with it, you are seeing the world as the murderer sees it. It’s chilling, and insightful, and a nice addition to the police work and the side stories.
Oh, and there’s a new character, a PI, that I hope we’ll see more of, either in future World of Murder books or in his own series. A good read.’
‘The World of Murder’ books are available in paperback, e-books and audio.
Narration by: Daniel Dorse, www.acx.com (the voice of Jack O’Roarke)
Remember, no ritual should ever take the place of actually getting words on the page . But they can help you shift your mindset just enough to see things in a fresh way.
In the immortal words of novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler: ‘Technique alone is never enough. You have to have passion. Technique alone is just an embroidered potholder.’
‘What are your rituals, Trish?’ Oh, yes I did promise to share my rituals…..I wake up naturally (34 years of alarm clocks were more than enough, thank you!) sometime before 9AM, depending on what my body needs and how long I was up during the night, writing. Continue reading “Do you have Strange Rituals When Writing? (part 2)”
Like so many other prolific writers (that I’ve interviewed) we are multi-taskers. And if we aren’t naturally, we learn pretty quick that we should be. As I finished writing the last few pages of ‘The Angel of Murder’, the story line for the next book was rattling around in my head. I edited book 4 one last time and published it. I then immediately sent it to my narrator/producer to begin the audio-book. This also requires my time as I listen to and edit each chapter.
‘Sugarek had barely released her newest book in the World of Murder series entitled ‘The Angel of Murder’ when she was already deeply into the plot of her next one. A famous chef-judge on a successful cooking show has been murdered. Detectives O’Roarke and Garcia have a cold case dumped on them in spite of O’Roarke’s vehement insistence, “We don’t do cold cases!”
Follow the two murder cops behind the scenes and onto the TV set of a wildly popular cooking competition where the suspects are plentiful and the case is three years cold.’
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
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Lee Goldberg: ‘ I am an ex-Navy SEAL, freelance Sexual Surrogate and a professional Pierce Brosnan impersonator. Okay, that’s not true. But I want this biography to be really exciting, so pay attention. If things bog down, I’ve been instructed to add a car chase or some explicit sex.Here’s the real story. I writes books and television shows. My mother wanted me to be a doctor, and my grandfather wanted me to go into the family furniture business. Instead, I put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist.’
The Interview with Lee (part 2)
Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?
A. That’s such a broad question, it would take a book to answer it. But in simple terms for me, it looks like a 400 page manuscript printed out on my desk…and lots of empty diet coke cans in my recycle bin. Continue reading “Interview with Lee Goldberg, best selling author (Part two)”
I first met Lee while publishing my interview with Janet Evanovich. He recently co-wrote The Chase with Janet. His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he wrote the eight books in the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced. He followed that up by writing fifteen bestselling novels based on Monk, another TV show that he worked on. So I was delighted when Lee agreed to be interviewed.
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please upload a photo/s of your shed, room, closet, barn….)
A. I have an office in my house where I write surrounded by books and James Bond posters (I alternate the posters every month or so). But I can, and do, write just about anywhere.
Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.) Continue reading “Interview with best selling Author, Lee Goldberg (part 1)”
Book 4 in this chilling, surprising mystery series is now available on the author’s web site and at www.amazon.com.
Murder cops, O’Roarke and Garcia have a serial killer on their hands in Book 4 of The World of Murder series. The bodies of children, dressed for communion, are turning up in all five boroughs of New York City and there are no suspects. To complicate their investigation, a private detective has been hired by one of the families to find one of the missing girls. In spite of all their efforts, O’Roarke and Garcia watch as their case goes cold. Who is this monster and when will he strike again?
REVIEW: ‘As with previous investigations in ‘The World of Murder’ titles, readers are also in the dark about the perp’s identity, and are given just as many clues as the detectives on who the murderer could be. This approach in “The Act of Murder” keeps readers interested, capturing attention first through probing the emotionally charged personality of an abusive director and then by offering a series of clues that embrace the essence of a murder mystery puzzle along with insights into motivations on all sides.
Of course crack detectives O’Rourke and Garcia would be chosen to oversee such a high-profile case. As chapters progress, murder mystery fans are drawn into an ever-complex, changing story that holds not just too many perps, but many twists and turns of plot. The story marches deftly to a gripping, unpredictable courtroom conclusion, involving murder mystery fans every step of the way and creating directions that change at a moment’s notice in a winning recommendation for even the most seasoned murder mystery fan.’ ~~ Midwest Book Review
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