Talking Page-Turners, (or: How To Add Suspense To Your Writing)

Popping in from my winter (and writing) hibernation for a moment to tell you about a class I'm teaching over at Savvy Authors on how to add suspense to your writing. Find out more here. This is one of my favorite classes to teach, since it always makes me think of the great page-turners I've read recently.

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus is great (I'm reading it now, it's a YA). 
Perspective shifts seem to be trendy now; not a favorite device for me, but this one is a real page turner that I can picture making a great movie. 

Check it out if you get a chance.

In middle-grade, I just read The Truth As Told By Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor. 

This one is suspenseful mostly because you're waiting for Mason to figure out what happened to his best friend (whom he found dead). This book won some awards--more a literary middle-grade than a suspense, but a page-turner all the same.

How about you? Read any page-turners lately?

Where to find me this Fall

Fall! I know, aren't you irritated when you see fall-themed decorations in the store when it's eighty-plus degrees outside? Let us have our summer, people... I'm looking at you, Hobby Lobby: Christmas décor is just not on in August.

But I did want to share some places I'll be speaking/signing this fall, plus a podcast. In case you're looking for some writing inspiration, as most of these events are for writers. I'll be cruising around on my trusted ol' Honda Element.

Sept. 8-10, 2017, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference:  I'll be talking about marketing plans for writers, the kidlit market (everything you need to know if you want to write for kids), and I'll show you how to outline your novel using plot points.

There's even a podcast of me talking about all this stuff, in case you're interested...

Sept. 16th: I'll be signing books at the Lone Tree Library (Denver), along with all my Rocky Mountain Chapter Sisters in Crime friends. If you're into mysteries, this seems like the perfect way to get the scoop on your local mystery authors.

Oct. 7-8, 2017, Rocky Mountain SCBWI Conference: This is a conference for kidlit writers, so if this is you, come on and join in on the fun! I'll be talking about how to write a MG/YA mystery, and how to put together a marketing plan (yes, you need one). There are some awesome speakers there, including Matt De la Pena...

Okay, so this is where my self-promotion ends. Although to tell you the truth, these events are pretty awesome for all the other speakers and stuff...

Hope to see you there! Seems like Denver is the place to be this Fall.

Talking Paris, And Middle-Grade Mysteries

The hardest part of being an author with a book fresh off the press? It's that I feel like I'm always talking about myself...

But I hope you'll come check out my post over at Lara Britt's blog, about Paris and researching location.

And I'm also in the SCBWI National Bulletin, talking middle-grade mystery.

That's it. Back to your regular programming...