SpysGamble

The Spy’s Gamble

It was an honor to work with Howard Kaplan on two political/espionage thrillers, including The Spy’s Gamble, which was released on June 5th. Kaplan holds a BA in Middle East History and has lived in Israel and traveled extensively through Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, experience which informs his writing. The Los Angeles Times says Kaplan’s writing is “in the best tradition of the genre” and that he is “without peer in his grasp of the delicate and explosive relationship between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”

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Senioritis by Jon Bennett

Jon Bennett is becoming a bit of a regular here, and it’s a pleasure to welcome him back. I worked with Jon on his debut novel, Reading Blue Devils, in which Bennett uses a student rebellion at a fictional high school to tackle serious topics such as the US’s struggling public education system, bullying and racism. As the school year comes to a close around the country, Jon has stopped by to address a phenomenon found in every high school: senioritis.
Tushhog

Tushhog

“At some point in the revision process, writers inevitably lose sight of the words they’ve written. The sharp eye and mind of Elizabeth White can help you see your work anew. She tells you where you’ve done your job well, and where you’ve made a mess of things—story notes, line edits, fact checking, you name it. And all this feedback comes with the vibe of a smart friend who gets what you’re doing.” — Jeff Hess

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The Search for Surprise by Jeffery Hess

I have the pleasure of knowing Jeff Hess as a friend, and the honor of working with him as an editor. Jeff is here today because the second book in his Scotland Ross series, Tushhog, is out now from Down & Out Books. Given my involvement with the book it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to review it, but I’m more than happy to turn the floor over to Jeff to ruminate on the idea that the writing process is a search for surprises, and sometimes you have to go down some wrong roads to get where you ultimately need to be.
SavannahSecrets

Savannah Secrets

It’s a pleasure working with Alan Chaput on his Vigilantes for Justice mystery series set in Savannah, Georgia. The first book in the series, Savannah Sleuth, was released in December of 2017, followed by the second story featuring Savannah social icon Patricia Falcon, Savannah Secrets, in March of 2018.

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Writing About Race: Do I Have The Right? by Jon Bennett

I had the honor of working with Jon Bennett on his novel Reading Blue Devils, in which Bennett uses a fictional high school student rebellion to tackle serious topics such as bullying, the struggling American educational system, and racism. During the course of writing the book, and since its release, Bennett has struggled with the question of whether he, as a white man, has the ability to adequately represent Black and Latino characters or, indeed, if he even has the right to do so.
RogerMorris

A Series of Extraordinary Crimes By R.N. Morris

It’s a pleasure to welcome R.N. Morris back to the site today. I first started reading Morris during his Porfiry Petrovich series, in which Morris took the magistrate from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and put him through the paces of original mysteries. After four successful books in that series, Morris switched gears, and advanced the timeline a bit, with his current DCI Silas Quinn novels. The fourth in the Quinn series, The Red Hand of Fury, is out now in the UK. Those outside the UK can order it from the Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide. Today, Morris talks about the challenges of keeping a series fresh.
CharlesSalzberg

Sometimes The Toughest Thing Is To Live In Your Own Skin by Charles Salzberg

Shamus Award nominated novelist Charles Salzberg is here today in conjunction with the publication of his latest novel, Second Story Man, out now from Down & Out Books. In the book, Charlie Floyd and Manny Perez, investigators from Salzberg’s novel Devil in the Hole, team up to catch self-described “best damn thief in the whole goddamn world” Francis Hoyt. The story unfolds from their alternating points of view, and Salzberg explains the challenges that can occur when trying to capture the authenticity of multiple voices, especially when they represent backgrounds and experiences far removed from the author’s own.
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Steady Madness

“I’ve worked with Elizabeth on both self-published and traditionally published books. Each time I found her to be extremely professional, timely and she provided a great knowledge of the genre of crime fiction, as well as fixed my grammatical travesties. I could go with any number of people to correct my spelling, but Elizabeth gave my writing a bit more that I feel really helped push it to its final stage.” — Mike McCrary