by Helen Currie Foster We read to learn, we read to be entertained. We begged at age three, “Tell me a story.” The stories began, “Once...

“All things are poison and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not a poison.” Paracelsus, Swiss physician (1493 –1541)...

by Helen Currie Foster In the back of the closet I recently unearthed my mother’s old Caswell Massey “Gardenia” bubble bath. The...

by Renee Kimball “Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of...

by Kathy Waller “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.” ~ Mark Twain (or...

by K.P. Gresham My Go-To Seasonal Escape! When the holidays come around, I can’t help it. Sometimes I get so stressed I just wanna kill...

by Renee Kimball Ex Libris, Confessions of a Common Reader, author Anne Fadiman explains the origin of the term, “common reader”—which...

Try to imagine a mystery without its setting. What? You’re having trouble? Open a mystery and be denied the setting. What? You’re getting...

by K.P. Gresham I recently appeared on a “Writing Humor in Mysteries” panel at the Pflugerville, Texas, Library along with fellow authors...

by Renee Kimball “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” ~ Mary Oliver “Ten times a day something...

Mystery readers are tetchy. We want an interesting plot with a fair shot at noting each clue—but don’t want to guess whodunnit too soon....

I know, you’re asking yourself what barbecue has to do with mystery writing, my other beloved topic. Barbecuing, like writing (see K.P....

by K.P. Gresham This pandemic thing is getting really old. (A quote from Captain Obvious, obviously) But we writers have one thing in our...

Why, exactly, do we take such interest in what our favorite detectives eat or what a character like Aunt Agatha grabs for first at...

Memoir – noun:  a narrative composed from personal experience  – Merriam Webster Dictionary. Every memoir reminds us of the faraway and...

Lately I’ve been thinking about remarkable people who never got to see the significance of their work, regardless of its brilliance....

By Helen Currie Foster So, did you dress up for Halloween? Did you buy a mask in New Orleans, or Venice, perhaps one with feathers? What...

Sometimes, as an author I am asked where I get ideas for my short stories. I get my inspiration from books and articles I read, places I...

by Renee Kimball Neil Richard Gaiman will turn 60 this year. Gaiman’s stories and characters are now in our hearts and embedded in our...

by Helen Currie Foster “Tell me a story,” begs the child. “Tell me a story about before you met me,” the lover entreats the loved one....