Friday, May 29, 2009

Mysteries & Suspense -- What's the Difference?

Can someone explain the difference between mysteries, suspense and thrillers? I love fast-paced page turners and two of my favorite authors fall into that category--James Patterson and Harlan Coben. Their writing styles are similar in that you can't put the book down, they're contemporary in nature, always have many plot twists, with tons of suspense and surprises along the way.

However, Harlan Coben's books are placed in the "mystery" section of book stores while James Patterson's are found in the "suspense/thriller" section. Why is that?

While we're at it, does anyone know the difference between chick lit, women's fiction and contemporary romance?

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Hampering Criminal Investigations

This week, news of a possible pedophile involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann surfaced. Madeleine's parents are now suing officials over claims that their daughter's investigation was hampered by police by saying that not only is Madeleine already dead, but that the parents were somehow involved.

What do you think? Did the police miss the mark by focusing their investigation on the parents and not looking further for other possibilities? In a husband/wife crime scenario, the spouse is always the first suspect, but should they always be the MAIN suspect?

Do you think the police handled the investigation appropriately?

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

About Editing

I have something about editing on my blog but thought I would also post it here. How do you edit? Do you edit as you go or after you've finished your novel? And do you edit on the computer or print out a hard copy?

I'm in the editing phase of my novel and would love to hear any tips from some of you great writers! Also if anyone knows of a professional editor, please pass along his or her name.

March Meeting

    Schyrlet Cameron-  Schyrlet is half of the writing team CC Brown. CC Brown is the pseudonym adopted by the two sisters,  Schyrlet Camero...