by Susan Van Kirk | Jun 17, 2018 | Blog
I’ve always loved jigsaw puzzles, whether putting them together by myself, with my children, or with my grandchildren. Maybe that’s why I also write and read mysteries. Recently, I thought about how my efforts in solving a jigsaw puzzle were like writing a mystery....
by Susan Van Kirk | Jun 2, 2018 | Blog
So, what do writers do when they aren’t writing? They read. Currently, I’m working on my own new mystery and sending out the last one to publishers. However, I also must keep up with my reading, both in my genre as well as with books outside the mystery realm....
by Susan Van Kirk | Apr 16, 2018 | Blog
Janet Lynn and Will Zeilinger write mysteries both individually and together. Their latest book, Slick Deal, is about the interesting history of a location in Southern California. They’ve posted on my blog before about their Skylar Drake murder series, and they...
by Susan Van Kirk | Feb 28, 2018 | Blog, mysteries, writing
I read the first Charles Lenox mystery, A Beautiful Blue Death, in 2007. Browsing through the new library books, I plucked it from the shelf, read it too quickly, and enjoyed it immensely. Charles Finch, the author, has now written thirteen books in the series, and I...
by Susan Van Kirk | Jan 27, 2018 | Blog, mystery, Susan Van Kirk, suspense, writing
I’ve never met Micki Browning in person, but I did see her step off an elevator at the Malice Domestic Book Conference in Maryland. Does that count? Even at a distance, she is as lovely as her author photograph. We are as different as people could be since she lives...
by Susan Van Kirk | Jan 1, 2018 | Blog
Today I’m welcoming Judy Penz Sheluk to my blog as a guest author. I first met Judy at the Malice Domestic Conference in 2014, and I’ve read both of her first mysteries in her two series. Loved them both! Judy is from Canada, and writes the Glass Dophin...
by Susan Van Kirk | Dec 15, 2017 | Blog
If Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were alive today, he would be 158 years old. The fact that his creation, Sherlock Holmes, is alive in the twenty-first century in newly minted versions on the screen and in books, is a testament to the lasting power of Doyle’s amazing...
by Susan Van Kirk | Nov 11, 2017 | Blog
As we move into the holidays for 2017, I am astounded to look back and discover I’ve done thirty-one book talks, book signings, or both. Jim Jacobs, another author, has really nudged me about doing these events, and I am thankful he has. Going out on the road with...
by Susan Van Kirk | Nov 5, 2017 | Blog, Susan Van Kirk
Recently, I went to a local jeweler because prongs that held the stone in a cherished ring needed tightening. I have worn this ring every day for decades, and while it isn’t valuable in the financial sense, I love it because my parents gave it to me on my sixteenth...
by Susan Van Kirk | Jul 8, 2017 | Blog
Best-selling New York Times’ authors often acknowledge their experts who have pedigrees like “Head of the FBI” or “Los Angeles Police Department Forensic Expert” or “the Medical Examiner of Cook County.” You probably won’t see those experts in my own book...
