A reviewer from THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS had some nice things to say about SUSPECT: “Suspect is a quick and easy read that will satisfy lovers of mystery and suspense. The edgy romantic component will capture the imaginations of others who will certainly want to know, at the very least, how that particular … More Review from NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS
Sure, Amazon has been selling SUSPECT for weeks now. But today, October 1, is the official release date of SUSPECT. It’s a bit like the due date for a baby. The little one may arrive early unless the author is a big name like J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins.
Everything I ever needed to know about writing I learned at an SCBWI conference. Okay. That’s a bit of an exaggeration. I’ve read some very good books on writing like Natalie Goldberg’s WRITING DOWN THE BONES and Christopher Vogler’s THE WRITER’S JOURNEY. But I tended to get these recommendations from people that I met at … More The Clues that Whisper
Sometimes it can take a long time for an idea to become a book. I remember that the initial idea for SUSPECT came to me in 1997 when I was reading about a winery in either Hermann or Augusta, Missouri. It was reopening some of its old cellars after years of disuse. I remember thinking “What … More The First Draft of SUSPECT
I don’t remember how I heard about the Missouri Mentorship for the first time. It could have been a mass email. Or the announcement could have just come in an article for MO SCRIBBLES, Missouri’s newsletter for the local chapter of the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). But when I found out about the opportunity … More The Missouri Mentorship
The driver of the shuttle van rolled down the window and spoke rapidly in French. Shortly after the answering squawk from the speaker phone, the gate swung open slowly, untouched by human hands. Intellectually, I knew that a small motor was performing the work, but the grounds of the Abbaye de Royoument had already begun to … More “Don’t treat your characters like marionettes!”
There are plenty of legendary stories about how many times Dr. Suess’s MULBERRY STREET and Madeleine L’Engle’s WRINKLE IN TIME were rejected. (Both were around forty!) Such tales tend to give hope to struggling writers everywhere. My friend Jeanie Ransom had a rather epic number of submissions for her divorce book, I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT … More Fifteen Rejections
One thing about blogs is that people will generally read things from newest to oldest. So I’m going to work my way backwards from my decision to submit SUSPECT to Peachtree to how I came up with the original idea for SUSPECT in the first place. It was essentially a ten-year journey from my first scribbles on … More Reverse Chronological Order/Explanation of Dedication Page
SUSPECT’s first review came in from Kirkus, and it’s a good one! In fact the title of this post was also the subject line from my editor when she sent me the review. She noted that it can be hard to get a good review for mysteries, especially in the world of YA. But here … More A Sparkly, Sparkly Review
Every year the Mystery Writers of America give out Edgars to writers for a variety of projects. I wasn’t surprised to discover that Peachtree had submitted SUSPECT in the young adult category. They had actually submitted SAVING THE GRIFFIN to the juvenile category back in 2007 since it had an element of mystery to it. In contrast, SUSPECT falls firmly … More The Edgar Award Submissions
Kristin Wolden Nitz 