by Susan Van Kirk | Oct 22, 2023 | Blog, historical fiction, reading, writing novels
The past few months, I’ve been uploading posts from my fellow Level Best Book authors. Today, I’m posting a review of a most remarkable book from that publisher. I love historical fiction books, and Jane Rubin’s new novel, In the Hands of Women, is truly an amazing...
by Susan Van Kirk | Oct 17, 2023 | Blog, mysteries, small towns, suspense
Twelve years ago, when I began writing my Endurance Mysteries, I was just starting to write novels, and I continued the series as I thought of new directions. Not knowing that there was such a thing as a character arc or series arc, I continued that series as new...
by Susan Van Kirk | Oct 9, 2023 | Blog, fiction, suspense, writing
Whenever I tell someone I’m a writer, the question I’m most commonly asked is: ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ The question supposes that ideas are phantasmal, evanescent creatures that can be plucked from the aether with the correct combination of lures and...
by Susan Van Kirk | Oct 2, 2023 | Blog, fiction, mysteries, writing
Susan: Another fellow Level Best Books author steps it up on my blog, and what an amazing tale she has to tell about the switch in her life from one career to another. Enjoy! Years ago, I switched from a career as a violinist at the Metropolitan Opera to one as an...
by Susan Van Kirk | Sep 25, 2023 | Blog, mysteries, reading, suspense, writing
As a writer, I create characters. Or perhaps, bits of them already exist in my memories and my everyday encounters, and they need me to piece together the puzzle, bringing them to life as new personalities. Although it’s nice to have a mental image of them as flesh...
by Susan Van Kirk | Sep 18, 2023 | Blog, fiction, writing, writing novels
Liz Milliron is a Level Best Books author who writes the Laurel Highlands Mysteries set in southwest Pennsylvania. Featuring a Pennsylvania State Trooper and a Fayette County public defender, the series is up to the sixth book, which comes out on September 19....
by Susan Van Kirk | Sep 11, 2023 | book reviews, historical fiction, mystery
I love history, and when you add “mystery” to the description, I’m hooked. I had the opportunity to read Skye Alexander’s latest story, The Goddess of Shipwrecked Sailors, which is now out from Level Best Books. It’s sensational. Set in December 1925, the mystery...
by Susan Van Kirk | Sep 4, 2023 | Blog, historical fiction, mysteries, reading, writing
Of the many questions my readers and other writers ask me, my favorite is why I gravitate to historical fiction rather than contemporary topics. My questioners seem awed by the amount of research I undertake. They don’t know my secret. For me, writing historical...
by Susan Van Kirk | Aug 28, 2023 | Blog, mysteries, suspense, writing
When I described the method of remote viewing in I Scream Man, the first novel in my “Nut Cracker Investigations” series, readers thought I should call it paranormal. However, remote viewing is not supernatural in the sense of ghosts and vampires. You might be...
by Susan Van Kirk | Aug 21, 2023 | Blog, mysteries, suspense, writing
Hello! I’m Mary Karnes, the author of WEDDING BRIDE AND DOOM, the first in the Wedding Planner Mystery Series which was published August 22, 2023, by Level Best Books. It’s a cozy mystery series about an amateur sleuth who happens to be a wedding planner. This was...
