The Killer Nashville International Writer’s Conference was the first of its kind I’ve ever attended. I didn’t know quite what to expect but tried to put my best foot forward: Served on 3 panels (Writing Spies and Espionage, Settings, Witness Reliability),...
#booknews category
Heading to Killer Nashville
Aug 23, 2018 | #booknews
I'm heading to the Killer Nashville mystery writer's conference, where 43 MISSING, the 6th Detective Emilia Cruz novel, is a finalist for the Silver Falchion award for Best Procedural. The award has multiple categories and many of the finalists are very...
The worst writing advice ever. Not kidding.
Feb 20, 2018 | #booknews, #truestory
“But the novel is set in Mexico,” she said. “All the characters are Mexican.” “That’s right,” I replied. “Lives of the people fighting the drug cartels. And Mexico’s class structure.” More than 5 years ago, I was speaking on the phone to a well-known American author...
Read the first chapter of 43 MISSING
Dec 12, 2017 | #booknews, #EmiliaCruz
For most authors, the final draft of a mystery novel is markedly different than the first. In fact, the first chapter of 43 MISSING was rewritten a dozen times. Nothing really clicked until the book was done. Then I went back and wrote it with a hint of premonition....
A Tale of Two Murders, courtesy of the John Feit trial
Dec 6, 2017 | #booknews, #truestory
A few days ago I got an email from Josh Gaynor, a producer for the CBS show 48 Hours. He had run across my short story “The Angler” about the 2007 murder of Father Richard Junius in Mexico City. Father Richard was the pastor of Saint Patrick’s Church when I was...
The real story behind 43 MISSING
Nov 28, 2017 | #booknews, #EmiliaCruz
43 MISSING, the latest Detective Emilia Cruz novel, is fiction but is based on a true, unsolved crime. A big, terrible, words-fail-me unsolved crime. 43 Missing In September 2014, forty-three students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School disappeared while in...
Gripping Audible Mystery Series Flies You to Acapulco
Sep 14, 2017 | #booknews, #EmiliaCruz
The first four books in the Detective Emilia Cruz series set in Acapulco are all available on Audible from Tantor Media! The books are narrated by the fabulous Johanna Parker, who also voiced the Sookie Stackhouse series. Johanna has really...
New Travel Book! The Insider’s Guide to the Best of Mexico
Jun 23, 2017 | #booknews
THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO THE BEST OF MEXICO was released this week on Amazon, Nook, Scribid, Playster, Inkterra, and Kobo. It is already #1 on Amazon's Hot New Releases list for the Mexico Travel category! It's a unique collection of stories, essays, and photographs...
Open Letter to Readers About Sex
May 17, 2017 | #booknews
My first novel, THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY, contains two sex scenes. The first catches Luz de Maria and Eddo as they fall in love with an emotional depth new to both of them. The second is when they reunite after each separately survives violence at the hands of...
New Release! PACIFIC REAPER, the New Detective Emilia Cruz Novel
Apr 2, 2017 | #booknews, #EmiliaCruz
New release! Detective Emilia Cruz goes up against the cult of Santa Muerte, Mexico's forbidden saint of death in PACIFIC REAPER, the 5th novel in the series set in Acapulco. Without giving anything away, early reviews say REAPER is the most powerful Emilia Cruz...
When Detective Emilia Cruz Meets Santa Muerte
Mar 25, 2017 | #booknews, #EmiliaCruz
Every Detective Emilia Cruz novel uses unique aspects of Mexican culture to create crimes and situations that would not be possible anywhere else. In PACIFIC REAPER, Emilia confronts the cult of Santa Muerte, the saint of death embraced by drug cartels. Someone is...
Coming Soon! PACIFIC REAPER: A Detective Emilia Cruz #Mystery
Mar 10, 2017 | #booknews, #EmiliaCruz
PACIFIC REAPER, the 5th book in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series will be released for Kindle on 28 March, with the paperback version coming the following week. Detective Emilia Cruz discovers an altar to Santa Muerte at a crime scene and the case will impact...
Romantic Suspense Who’s Who: Brilliant Academic Meets Iraq War Vet
Feb 18, 2017 | #booknews, #thrillers
AWAKENING MACBETH was recently reviewed by Kirkus Reviews and there was so much emphasis placed on the characters that it read like a Who's Who guide to romantic suspense. The book's premise of an academic falling for an Iraq War vet ("Both Brodie and Joe are...
Travelling in Dreams with AWAKENING MACBETH
Feb 10, 2017 | #booknews, #thrillers
AWAKENING MACBETH, is full of secrets. My family secrets become my character's secrets. Their secrets become a frightening truth. "A page turning paranormal romance"-- KIRKUS REVIEWS. Cue the trailer! https://youtu.be/i0JwaqVbEqI Family secrets My grandmother used to...
Romance’s Newest Hero is a Wounded Warrior
Jan 27, 2017 | #booknews, #thrillers
Two weeks ago, I posted this picture on my Facebook page. (You can thank me again later, dearest reader Karen) The wounded warrior in the picture is Brian Taylor "BT" Urruela, taken by photographer Michael Stokes, and he serves as visual inspiration for the character...