The Final Twist at Murder By The Book

What a great time we had May 24 at Murder By The Book. Friends, writers and readers filled the bookstore meet the writers of The Final Twist, Houston chapter of Sisters In Crime. We celebrated Texas Mystery Month with delicious snacks - veggies, cheese, crackers, cookies and awesome red velvet cake balls. Wine was served at the end.




They came to hear us view our opinions and answer their questions as a panel. The subject was "What Came First ..." We covered characters, plot, location, past experiences, and writing styles. Mark and Charlotte Phillips write, fight and live together as a husband and wife team, and explained how they were able to work together with very different styles. Loretta Wheeler acts out scenes - sometimes violent - with her Aussie husband, sometimes shocking their neighbors who can view their antics through open windows. Gayle Wigglesworth writes off travel expenses when she sets her mysteries in exotic locales. Pauline Baird Jones prefers to write her way, and explains why she doesn't go the way of the New York publishing houses. I explained how the locale of my book, LESS DEAD, affected the story and told how my go-go dancing years gave me story ideas. Cash Anthony writes screenplays and knows just the right questions to ask to bring out interesting facts about the authors.

I look foward to seeing The Final Twist anthology "A Death In Texas" come out in September with a short story by yours truly entitled, "Searching for Rachel" about teen runaways and the sex trade. I'm betting the launch party at Murder By The Book will be a big success.