Any book with ‘Corpse’ in the title is going to be A-OK with me. And my Novel Magic guest, Lori Pollard-Johnson, spins a tale with a hidden body and a couple of BFFS who need to get to the bottom of a mystery. Women, Friendships, and Home Renovation I’m often asked where I get my story ideas from, and my answer is always the same: people. I meet someone intriguing, or observe someone behaving outside the norm, and a […]
Novel Magic
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My Novel Magic Guest today writes cozy mysteries–Golden Retriever Mysteries. Read on to find out how his own wedding may have provided inspiration for Blessing of the Dogs–the latest in the series. Wedding Mishaps by Neil Plakcy Your wedding can be one of the most important days in your life. But even with lots of planning, you can still run into trouble. While my own wedding wasn’t an emergency, it did have to happen pretty quickly. My husband and I […]
What I wouldn’t give to have been an investigative reporter. I tried and even worked for a small newspaper for a bit, but the closest I got to reporting was editing ad copy. Author Alana Lorens’ experiences were much more exciting. Read how she used her knowledge to write her latest book, Remnants of Fire. The Fascinating World of Investigative Reporting by Alana Lorens When I was in my 20s, I knew I was destined to be a writer. I […]
SteamPunk Fantasy–If you’ve never tried it, my advice is to start with Laura Strickland’s Buffalo Steampunk Adventures. Not sure what Steampunk means? Think Victorian history–with a touch of science fiction. Really, it fits as a kind of magic realism, too, but that isn’t all. Novel Magic steams full speed today and welcomes Friend of the Universe, Laura Strickland. When Fantasy Meets Reality by Laura Strickland We live in a magical world. Beneath the ordinary and the every-day, there lurks something […]
Writers Block is no joke. My guest, Author Candace Hardy, tells us how she learned to overcome that pesky fear of the blank page. Writing and Publishing My Debut Novel—with Writer’s Block By Candace Hardy My debut novel was born in November 2019—at NaNoWriMo, of course. It’s no surprise that I didn’t write 50,000 words during that first NaNo. At that time, I didn’t have a method for managing my writer’s block. All the years I worked full-time, I fit […]
Ghostly Operas are on tap for this Novel Magic post. Author Erica Miner–also a noted violinist–tells us all about the inspiration for her latest mystery–Prelude to Murder. Opera in the Ghostliest City in the US: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? by Erica Miner Opera stories are among the bloodiest, most violent ever written. An opera house is the perfect environment for mischief and mayhem. What takes place offstage can be even more dramatic than what occurs onstage. At the Santa […]