Wednesday, May 30, 2012

New indie bookstore near Manteo, NC

I was so excited to read this morning that a new bookstore is opening in Duck, North Carolina, a tiny town in the Outer Banks! The store is called Duck's Cottage Downtown Books and features a hand-picked selection of books, as well as tea and coffee and toys for the kids. Read all about it in the Outer Banks Sentinal.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

The science behind fiction

If you're a crime or mystery writer, you may want to check out Marianne Wheelaghan's blog, where she gives a great overview of a talk by forensic anthropologist Sue Black. Attending talks by people in the police/forensics field is an excellent way to do background research for a novel. I went to a similar kind of talk a few months ago --  a Crime Scene Investigator from the Durham Police Department discussed taking photographs at crime scenes. I learned a lot about how the police secure a crime scene, document all angles of the area, and manage to take photographes in the pitch black to capture as much information as possible. After the talk, I realized I hadn't thought through the murder scene of my novel thoroughly -- it was a real wake-up call!

I don't know how up to date it is, but WritersWrite offers some good links for authors needing to research the police and other justice/crime info. And if any local groups in your area feature guest speakers from the police department, it's definitely worth checking out.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Southern mysterioso...

Hello, Everyone! I have another batch of new Southern fiction for your perusal, all dealing with  mystery in some way. Nothing is off limits -- we even have a psychic waitress who sees vampires!

A Grown-up Kind of Pretty is Georgia resident Joshilyn Jackson's fifth novel, a mystery about a family of young mothers. Here's what it says on her website about this novel: "When a long-hidden grave is unearthed in the backyard, headstrong young Mosey Slocumb is determined to investigate. What she learns could cost her family everything…"

Mississippi Cotton is Paul Yarbrough's first novel. He was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, and his novel describes rural Mississippi in the 1950’s, as told by 10-year-old Jake Conner. Although the novel begins with a murder, the tale is more about the history of the Southern people and their controversial relationship with the Civil War.
Deadlocked is the 12th in Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series and follows psychic, small-town Southern waitress Sookie Stackhouse as she works to solve a murder case. Harris is a native of the Mississippi River Delta area and has been publishing novels since 1981. 

Monday, May 14, 2012

"Southern Sin" essay contest

The magazine Creative Nonfiction, in association with the Oxford Creative Nonfiction Conference & Workshop, is seeking new essays for a special "Southern Sin" issue and contest.

THE SOUTHERN SIN ESSAY CONTEST
Deadline: July 31, 2012

Creative Nonfiction (CNF) and the Oxford Creative Nonfiction Writers Conference & Workshop are looking for essays that capture the South in all its steamy sinfulness--whether you're skipping church to watch football, coveting your neighbor's Real Housewife of Atlanta, or just drinking an unholy amount of sweet tea. Confess your own wrongdoings, gossip about your neighbor's depravity, or tell us about your personal connection to a famous Southerner headed down the broad road to Hell. Whether the sin you discuss is deadly or just something that would make your mama blush we want to hear about it in an essay that is at least partially narrative--employing scenes, descriptions, etc.

Your essay can channel William Faulkner or Flannery O'Connor, Alice Walker or Rick Bragg; it can be serious, humorous, or somewhere in between, but all essays must tell true stories, and must incorporate both sin and the South in some way.

Usually the wages of sin is death, but this time we're making an exception. The selected essays will be published in Creative Nonfiction #47, and CNF and Oxford will be awarding $5000 for Best Essay.

Creative Nonfiction #48 will be launched at the 2013 Oxford Creative Nonfiction Writers Conference & Workshop (March 2013).

To submit, visit: www.creativenonfiction.org