Murder and Mayhem

2007-04-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

WHY DO W WRITE???

I often wonder what makes ANYONE sit down and write books or anything else. IS it something inside our brains that clicks on one day when we're a child, or older, that says, "Write this!"

I've heard plenty of writers say they had one book in mind and that stretched to two or three. They just kept going. I've known writers who were almost at the top of their profession only to lose it and start all over again.

WHAT MAKES US KEEP GOING???

There isn't a lot of money in it for most people, like all the other arts. It has to be some divine madness that possesses us all making us stay up late to find those perfect words, challenging us to change a character, even though it means changing a thousand words of text that may never be seen by anyone other than ourselves.

We exhaust ourselves to promote at places where only two readers sit and wait (if we're lucky), take abuse from critics who are wannabewriters who don't have the courage to do it themselves and listen to doomsayers who can only talk about how books and the written word are old fashioned.

WHY DO WE WRITE??? Because we'd be crazy if we didn't, I guess. Because we were born to record something of our time that we were here, if only for a moment. Because it is what we do. Nothing else matters.

Joyce
Swapping Paint and Poisoned Petals
May 2007
www.joyceandjimlavene.com

Murder and Mayhem

2007-01-02T05:57:00.000-08:00

Murder and Mayhem

Congratulations, Joyce, for your award nominations! And congratulations to all the authors who have been reporting such great reviews and good news. Since we're all sharing, here's some highlights from me:

PBS aired a 30-minute program on my latest suspense/thriller, Ricochet, in November, covering the book's controversial topic of illegal immigration and terrorism, to great reviews;

Negotiations are underway for the movie rights to two of my books, The China Conspiracy and Songbirds are Free (to be released in October 2007) with two different Hollywood studios;

I have been selected for the faculty of the Spring Book Show to be held in Atlanta in March 2007, and will also be speaking on the author's role in promoting their books;

Ricochet has been nominated for two IPPY awards: in the mystery/suspense/thriller category and the U.S. Southeast Regional Award;

Ricochet was rated in the Top Ten Books to Read by reviewer Julie Failla Earhart (St Louis Dispatch);

Reviewer Richard Blake said Ricochet is "...a masterfully written novel of conflict, intrigue, adventure and romance. It is a book that begs for more of p.m.terrell."

Midwest Book Review said: "A fearsome and at times explosively violent story of stolen and misused identities and edge-of-one's seat intensity, Ricochet keeps the reader hooked right up to the fearsome finale. Also highly recommended are Terrell's previous novels, "Kickback" and "The China Conspiracy".

Lots more reviews have been coming in for both Ricochet (released September 2006) and Take the Mystery out of Promoting Your Book (released October 2006), garnering both books a perfect five-star rating. Some are posted on my web site under "Media Watch" at www.pmterrell.com.

I hope you all have a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

p.m.terrell

Murder and Mayhem

2006-09-29T04:59:00.000-07:00

Murder and Mayhem

Joyce

I haven't been a very good participant in the Carolina Conspirators network, but I think the group is great. I think the new blog will help us keep up with what's going on easier than the e-mail links. Hope to see lots of comments here!
John Staples

Here we are

2006-09-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

Wow! I didn't realize how small it would be in here. I wonder if we can put all the members of the Carolina Conspiracy in this one blog.

Let's give it a try, eh?

The Carolina Conspiracy is a group of North and South Carolina Mystery authors. Most of us have been in theis crazy business for a long time. Together we have like a thousand years of experience writing and publishing mystery. Some of us are publishers as well as writers. Some of us are crazier than others

I'm Joyce Lavene of the Joyce and Jim Lavene duo. We write a few mystery series. Our website is www.joyceandjimlavene.com. When we aren't writing, we like photography. We have a Nikon D-50 that is a dream!

We'll try to answer questions about writing, post experiences with good and bad bookstores, editors and agents. We'll dish on whatever comes to mind.