#authorlife
Behind the scenes of the writing life, including protips and personal best practices
AI Scams and Spam Targeting Authors: My Inbox is Still Laughing
Blogger extraordinaire Anne R. Allen recently posted a warning to authors who get lots of emails gushing over their books. All those emails are an AI-driven scam, which Anne detailed here: Authors, Those Flattering Emails Filling Your Inbox—They’re All an AI Scam I'm...
The impact of Martin Cruz Smith, author of the Arkady Renko series
Let’s talk about mentors for a moment Especially when you are taking on a new challenge, a mentor can show the way, guide you around obstacles, or simply be a sounding board. Being a mentor is a way of both giving back and helping others rise to their fullest...
Your virtual summer in Italy with the Galliano Club historical fiction series
Aaaah Imagine yourself lounging on a hotel balcony in Positano, an Aperol Spritz in one hand, condensation rolling down the glass and cooling your palm. Below you, the Mediterranean is a translucent shade that’s impossible to define. One moment the water is a smooth...
How to Introduce Yourself with Confidence
It’s summer. Also known as the Season of Author Conferences and Book Festivals. This means that I’ll be introducing myself to lots of strangers. In noisy situations, dull situations, spur-of-the-moment situations. But even if you aren’t an author at a bookish event,...
New YouTube Sensation: Amato2Berrick Crime Conversations
I've teamed with UK author Jane Harvey-Berrick, who writes the Cornish Crime Thriller series as Berrick Ford, in a new YouTube project! Our Amato2Berrick Crime Conversations features short videos (7-10 minutes) in which we discuss what makes crime fiction so...
Not Quite James Bond but a good career nonetheless
My CIA career has come up several times lately, during new release promo events for BARRACUDA BAY, the latest Detective Emilia Cruz mystery. House of Mystery podcast When I was chatting with House of Mystery podcast co-hosts Alan Warren and Joe Goldberg, one of them...
How to Add a Book to Goodreads Lists
Goodreads is a great resource for readers. One part review platform, one part social sharing, all parts clunky and hard to navigate. Yet it is worth taking the time to navigate the platform because you'll discover great new reads and reader friends. Putting books on...
She was Emilia Cruz. So was she.
The top question I get from readers? “Is Detective Emilia Cruz based on a real person?” Yes, sort of. Emilia is a composite of three different people. All contribute in unique ways to the character, including Emilia’s analytic skills, innate suspicion of others’...
My Author Year in Review: 2024 Edition
Phew! 2024 was quite a year. Here's a swift recap: 2024 in review: New releases 1 Backlist glow-up: AWAKENING MACBETH, 2nd edition 2 Audiobooks: MADE IN ACAPULCO and THE LISTMAKER OF ACAPULCO 1 Box Set: THE COMPLETE GALLIANO CLUB SERIES 4 Large Print Editions: ROAD TO...
Gifts from my mother
My mother passed in October at age 95. Although she’d been declining for some time and dementia had robbed us of who she really was, the loss still hit like a hammer blow. Many of my writer friends know that I wrote the Galliano Club series during the pandemic, using...
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