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Category: Mystery

This image is a composite of two square images. At left it says, “SoonerCon 31 June 30-July2, 2023,” superimposed over a science fictional-looking image. Farther down on a multicolored design are the words, “What is Harlan Zephyr Up To?” Then it says, “SOONERRCON 31 IS JUNE 30-JULY 2, 2023 Embassy Suites Hotel & Conference Center in Norman.” At right is a screen-grab from a video on the SoonerCon Facebook Page shows three images from past shows and auctions. Across the top a runner reads, “Oklahoma’s Premier Pop Culture Convention.” Below that, it says, “Check out the Art Show & Charity Auction,” and “SoonerCon 31, June 30-July 2, 2023.”
A SoonerCon 31 Summary

A SoonerCon 31 Summary

By Jan S. Gephardt I promised a SoonerCon 31 summary, and I mean to deliver in today’s post. But this overview won’t be our last glimpse of SoonerCon. I love this convention, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s event. However – as at every convention – this one provided some “learning takes.” Our dealers table experiment continues, although after SoonerCon 31 the effort is looking ever more dubious as a genuinely money-making proposition. We had another unfortunate entomological…

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This is a predominantly dark gray image, featuring a drawing of an astronaut with wings against a dark sky with a yellow crescent moon. The words say “Starbase DemiCon: A New World. Des Moines Holiday Inn Northwest, 4800 Merle Hay Rd.
Demicon 34

Demicon 34

By Jan S. Gephardt It’s that time of year again: getting ready for “con” season, and specifically for DemiCon 34. Repeated blizzard events over several recent years have discouraged us from attending Capricon in February. This means DemiCon, an annual, early-May convention in Des Moines, Iowa, has become our “new normal” first science fiction convention of the summer season. But for DemiCon 34, things will be a bit different from our usual. Some of the changes were planned, others not….

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This image is created from two square-shaped images. The one on the left features a drone’s-eye-view of an old-fashioned black manual typewriter on a white background. The words say, “Your words are as important to an author as an author’s words are to you. Please leave a review. Katieroseguestpryal.com.” on the left is a predominantly black design with white, gold and tan dots around the edges. In the middle it says, “Feed an author LEAVE A REVIEW it takes five minutes and helps more than you can IMAGINE. ErinPhillips.me.” Many thanks for these images to Katie Rose Guest Pryal and Erin Phillips, via Rebecca's Write Inspirations.
Due a Review

Due a Review

By Jan S. Gephardt I’ve been reading some very enjoyable books recently. They really are due a review. I’m an Indie author myself. Co-publishing out of a micro-press I run with my sister counts as “indie,” trust me. Thus, I know how vitally important reviews are. But frankly, reviews are important to all writers, whether indie or traditionally published. Every single review posted by an individual reader tells the world that this author wrote a book someone felt moved to…

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“Brook, you don’t sound like yourself.” My reply came out of my mouth before I could choose it. “I am not the person I was three weeks ago and I will never be that person again.” Surprised by my own response, I relayed it to my therapist who was helping me work through issues surrounding my brother’s death. “Of course you’re not,” she said. “and one of the best things you can do for yourself is to know that you are a different person now.” Author Brook Noel.
Dealing With Death in Reality and Art

Dealing With Death in Reality and Art

By Jan S. Gephardt A whole cluster of holidays happen during what is for the Northern Hemisphere a season of harvest and winter’s onset. The common thread that weaves through them all is dealing with death. I’ve written about Halloween/Samhain, Día de los Muertos, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day on my “Artdog Adventures” blog in the past. Indeed, my “Virtual Ofrenda” is one of my most enduringly popular posts. Through them all, I’ve kept coming back around to…

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Candy, streamers, gift bows, and other party objects surround the word “Celebrate!!!”
The Road to Release Day

The Road to Release Day

By Jan S. Gephardt I feel as if I’ve been on the road to Release Day for most of this summer, but at last it’s here! We made it! A Bone to Pick should now be available in print and ebook formats through a wide variety of outlets! What’s it about? In case you’re new to this blog, here’s the book description. for A Bone to Pick: XK9 Rex is a dog who knows too much. Now his past is…

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I’m so sorry to have to write this! Change of plans: I won’t go to FenCon after all.
One Schedule-Change

One Schedule-Change

By Jan S. Gephardt One schedule-change. That’s all it technically boils down to. One simple scratch-out on a calendar. I’d planned on going, but now I’m not. Except, it’s not a simple thing at all. Not simply one schedule-change. No, it’s actually a whole end-of-summer tipped upside-down in a cascade of if-this-then-that change, after change, after change. Deciding not to go to FenCon, it turned out (as I knew it would), led to way more than one schedule-change. I Love…

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A hot, hazy Dallas skyline.
My Summer Getaway

My Summer Getaway

By G. S. Norwood Well. I finally did it. I made it safely through months of writing major grant proposals. Organized three far-from run-of-the-mill concerts. Took on some new job responsibilities, on top of the two full-time jobs I’m doing already. And I survived. Now, my friends and readers, it’s time for my summer getaway. I’m looking for a place that will allow me to relax. Spend some quality time looking at outstanding scenery. And be much, much cooler than…

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Airstream + Dog = Happy Trails (and Tails)

Airstream + Dog = Happy Trails (and Tails)

by Guest Blogger Daniel J. Hale RV travel with Man’s Best Friend is an irreplaceable bonding experience. It’s also the very best kind of travel, especially during a pandemic. Airstream + Dog = Happy. I’d been jonesing for an Airstream since I saw several of the streamlined aluminum travel trailers during a road trip to the Great American Southwest in 2001. By early 2019, after my second stint as Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America. (best known for…

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The authors featured in this post are Jen J. Dana, Kylie Logan, Margaret Mizushima, Jodi Burnett, Diane Kelly with dog Junior, and Ann Vanderlaan with dog R. Kane.
K9 Mysteries

K9 Mysteries

By Jan S. Gephardt “K9 Mysteries” is a category that doesn’t currently exist. Well, it doesn’t, if you ask Amazon or the BISAC categories. But I want to wrap up our Women’s History Month series (a day late; sorry!) on women writers of mysteries, romance, and science fiction with some brilliant practitioners of this officially-nonexistent art form. The mystery genre is chock-full of subcategories: cozies, thrillers, police procedurals, noir, and on and on. And many of those categories have subcategories:…

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Top Row, L-R: Deborah Crombie (with Dax), Anna Lee Huber, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Catriona McPherson, and Louise Penny. Middle row: Ingrid Thoft, Jenn McKinlay, Julia Spencer Fleming, Paige Shelton, and Rhys Bowen. Bottom Row: Hallie Ephron, Elly Griffiths, Maggie Robinson, and Amy Pershing. (See complete photo credits in IMAGE CREDITS below).
Mystery Woman

Mystery Woman

By G. S. Norwood Male authors, including Edgar Allen Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, were pioneers in crime fiction—a genre which arose in the mid to late 1800s.  Even Charles Dickens tried his hand, with his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. But, from femmes fatales to the distraught daughters of the landed gentry, there has usually been a mystery woman at the heart of any crime novel. And it wasn’t long before women began to…

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