by Judy Penz Sheluk | May 10, 2025 | My Publishing Journey
A Guest Post by Jim McDonald I first met Jim McDonald at the Tottenham Public Library a week before the massive Covid shutdown of March 2020. His short story submission, ‘Ticket Out’ to Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers grabbed me from the first paragraph and...
by Judy Penz Sheluk | Dec 23, 2023 | Let's Talk About Writing, One Writer's Journey
This blog was originally posted in January 2022, but a recent discussion on the Sisters in Crime daily digest prompted me to send it out once again. That’s because many newbie writers make the mistake of being “clever” and quoting lyrics with...
by Judy Penz Sheluk | Oct 14, 2023 | Guest Posts, One Writer's Journey
Every author has their own “secret sauce” when it comes to crafting their books. In today’s guest post, Marilyn Levinson shares 12 things to keep in mind when writing a mystery series, and her advice is spot on. My personal favorite is #8, because...
by Judy Penz Sheluk | Feb 25, 2023 | Behind the Scenes, Let's Talk About Writing
For authors making the query rounds in the hopes of landing a publisher or an agent, much is made of being able to categorize the genre and sub-genre of your book. Defining an entire series is equally, if not more, important, if for no other reason than to inform the...
by Judy Penz Sheluk | Feb 18, 2023 | Let's Talk About Writing, One Writer's Journey
Several years back I had the pleasure of attending an event that featured Giles Blunt, author of the much-lauded Detective John Cardinal mystery series (if you haven’t read him, or watched the TV series, Cardinal, based on his novels, you must). At one point in the...
