Teresa has added two new reviews under her movie/book tie-ins: Witness for the Prosecution (1957) a standalone, and
King of Clubs (1989) Hercule Poirot with David Suchet

Under “Mysteries” – I just finished reading a rollicking good paranormal cozy mystery with a 1930s mystery flavor (with magic). “Marked Raven” is a 4 sparkler read that you should definitely look at. But do yourself a favor and read the first one in the series first. It will make the second one oh so much better.

Birthdays: Isaac Babel (1894), Wole Soyinka (1934), Marcia Brown (1918), Carolyn Mackler (1973), David Storey (1933), Jane Hamilton (1957), John Clare (1793), Monique Wittig (1935)

Tip: When making changes to a manuscript, keep a copy of the original in case you need to go back. And always back up everything.

Thought for the day: “Write. Write what you love. Write what makes you excited — journal, stories, memoir, anything. Be honest. Don’t be shy about putting in whatever you want. You can always edit later. And then, once you’ve gotten some significant writing done, throw out, revise, start over.” – Carolyn Mackler

Jumpstart: What are you afraid of? What makes you cringe and pull the covers up over your head? What will you not read or watch because of the way it makes you feel? Write these feelings down and use them for your character.

Birthdays: Henry David Thoreau (1817), Pablo Neruda (1904), Donald Westlake (1933), Joan Bauer (1951), Johanna Spyri (1827)

Tip: What is your tagline? This is similar to branding. Use as few words as possible to define your writing. For instance, a friend of mine uses: “Mystery, mirth, and mayhem” for her offbeat cozy mysteries. Another uses “Love with a shot of adrenaline” for her action/adventure romances. What is yours?

Thought for the day: “Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.” – William Faulkner

Jumpstart: Finish this: There she stood, at the door to the cabin, looking like…

Birthdays: Susan Bogert Warner (1819), E.B. White (1899), Harold Bloom (1930), Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (1938), Patricia Polacco (1944)

Tip: Everybody has little quirks. What kind of quirks can you give your characters? Does he carry a good luck charm? Does she wear a purple silk teddy under her prim and proper business suit? Does he?

Thought for the day: “Writers write about what obsesses them…the darkness is always there. I go where the pain is.” – Anne Rice

Jumpstart: Go through your high school yearbook and pick out two or three people and write about them now. What is the “class clown” doing? The “most likely to succeed”?

Birthdays: Marcel Proust (1871), Alice Munro (1931), Jean Kerr (1922), Mildred Wirt Benson (1905), Mary O’Hara (1885), Dianne Ochiltree (1953), Candice F Ransom (1952)

Tip: What is your brand? A brand is something that defines what you write. Stephen King’s brand is horror. Zane Grey’s was westerns. Nora Roberts is romance. When people see your name, what type of writing will they identify with you?

Thought for the day: “Someone will always ask ‘How long does it take you to write a novel?’ I hardly ever give them the real answer. ‘It depends,’ I will say. ‘A year. Sometimes three or four.’ The real answer, of course, is that it takes your entire life.” – James D. Houston

Jumpstart: Take two characters from different books and introduce them. What would happen if Tom Sawyer met the three musketeers? Or how would Nancy Drew deal with Sherlock Holmes? Would they solve the case together? Or fight each other?

Birthdays: Ann Radcliffe (1764), Oliver Sacks (1933), June Jordan (1936), Nancy Farmer (1941), Barbara Cartland (1901), Dean Koontz (1945), Glen Cook (1944), Jamie Ford (1968), Thomas Ligotti (1953)

Tip: Set up a system to track submissions, deadlines, marketing events, and more. Make the system easy enough to use but detailed enough so you know what’s happening when.

Thought for the day: “The main advice I’ve given every beginning writer I’ve ever talked to is, ‘Do it’. You’ve got to stop talking about it and sit down and do it. Put your ass in front of a computer and do it.” – Glen Cook

Jumpstart: Finish this: And so, I trudged off to work, my stomach roiling from…

Playing catch up (again!) so here are a bunch:

Under “Mystery” (though there’s also a lot of romance in this cozy): Lost Souls ParaAgency and the Three Witches of Burberry (yes, long title!) – a 5 sparkler fun paranormal romantic cozy mystery. Lots going on in this one, but it’s all good.

In “Romance” (though it could go under mystery too!) – a 4 Sparkler “Undercover in Venice Beach” – confusing for me at first, but the ending is definitely worth the read.

In “Fantasy” – Empire of Air and Shadow by C.A. Masterson – a 4 Sparkler. I would have given it a 5, but it doesn’t have an ending. It’s a serialized book so the story continues in the next book. But very well-written.

In non-fiction: Fast Metabolism Weight Loss Diet Plan by Megan Johnson McCullough – 5 sparklers for this diet cookbook. Great tips and recipes here.

And in Teresa’s Movie/Book Tie-ins: two new ones for you to enjoy: “Love from a Stranger” and “The Incredible Theft”

Birthdays: Robert Heinlein (1907), Nikki Giovanni (1943), Harriet Ziefert (1941)

Tip: Hooks keep a reader reading, keeps them turning the pages. They answer the questions: who, what, why, when, where, how. They should pull your reader in and keep them interested. They’re especially a good way to end a chapter.

Thought for the day: “If you describe things as better than they are, you are considered to be a romantic; if you describe things as worse than they are, you will be called a realist; and if you describe things exactly as they are, you will be thought of as a satirist.” – Quentin Crisp

Jumpstart: Your character is a straight-laced good girl, but now she has to do something out of character – strip, or commit a crime, or hurt someone. What does she have to do and why? How does she react?

Birthdays: Verner von Heidenstam (1859), Cheryl Harness (1952)

Tip: Symbols or props can be important in a story. Where would we be without the light sabers in Star Wars or the Sherlock Holmes’ pipe and hat? Do you have any symbolic props in your stories? Can you add them?

Thought for the day: “A gem cannot be polished without friction nor man perfected without trials.” – Chinese proverb

Jumpstart: Use the following in a mystery scene: school bell, blush, barbed wire