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 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...
by Susan Van Kirk | Aug 14, 2023 | Blog, mysteries, reading, suspense, writing novels
Today I’m welcoming Arlene Kay, a Level Best Books author, to my blog to talk about her latest mystery and her love affair with bad guys! Welcome, Arlene… Mystery writers populate books with an array of suspects who may or may not be the culprit. Creating...
by Susan Van Kirk | Aug 7, 2023 | Blog, mystery, suspense
One of the things I love about writing is that I get to research things that interest me under the guise of work. When I was planning Murder in Trastevere, one idea that kept calling me was the sport of ultra running. I can’t tell you how I got this bug in my bonnet....
by Susan Van Kirk | Jul 27, 2023 | Blog
One of the domestic jobs that makes me feel so very efficient and organized is lining the cabinets in my kitchen. Since it’s ridiculously hot and humid this week, I’m doing this little chore to make me feel like I’m accomplishing something in the heat. Stay in....
by Susan Van Kirk | Jun 25, 2023 | Blog, mysteries, publishing, writing, writing novels
I must admit I laughed a lot when I read this post by Amy Young. She, too, is a fellow writer with books published by Level Best Books. Enjoy! When I began writing my second novel, a thriller, I had an idea, some notecards, and maybe most importantly for me, drive. I...
by Susan Van Kirk | Jun 19, 2023 | Blog, mysteries, reading, suspense
I’ve been posting guest writings from my fellow Level Best Books authors for the past few weeks. Here is a new one by DonnaRae Menard, author of Murder in the Village Proper. And here she is… While I was lying on the gurney in the ER contemplating how one...
