"Our readers know that we made them up — but they want to experience our stories as if they’re real."

"So much has changed in the years since I was a young person, yet the feelings are much the same."

"When your beloved character confronts an untenable situation, a reader will root for them to the end."

"When your beloved character confronts an untenable situation, a reader will root for them to the end."

It’s a delight to welcome back Janet Raye Stevens to my blog as she embarks into the world of YA fiction with her new pen name, Evie Kelley. Below are her responses to my interview questions:  As some...

"Don’t discredit the small stories. Sometimes it’s the everyday events in life that produce the best emotional stories."

"I just need that chance, that break. If I don’t get it, then so what—at least I’m still getting stuff into the world on my own terms."

about everything PI ...

Its limitations and capabilities, based on my experiment with Agatha Christie's And Then There were None

"I can’t write desperate stories, even if the world as we know it has been destroyed!"

Celebrating the accomplishments of my past interviewees!

"I’m happiest when I’m diving headfirst into something complicated that I know nothing about, whether it’s in a classroom, a novel, or a game engine."

"Cozy means you have to use wit and humor and secrets and respect and love as your weapons."

"India flavors my life."

"It was there I found Holmes for the first time."

"I love that there is never a typical day."

"I love that there is never a typical day."

"There’s so much beauty and joy in the world, but you have to actively look for it."

"Restricting access is the quickest and surest way to kill a kid’s love of reading."

"Restricting access is the quickest and surest way to kill a kid’s love of reading."

A newsletter written by Reda Rountree, all about The Classic Murder Mystery — whodunits, twists and turns, with memorable detectives — in all its forms. Click to read Only Murders In The Inbox, by Re...

"The question of what-if is only as interesting as the human element affected by the technology."

"You can consider the disease microbes as the criminals, although they’re just trying to survive like us."

"I had to stop and pet every dog that I saw."

I had the pleasure of talking with Pamela Ruth Meyer, recipient of MWA-NW’s 2024 Leon Burstein Award. She’s as delightful as her fiction, so fasten your headphones for this casual chat about her life,...

Confession: In sharing this creative autobiographical essay, I feel strange.

A Wisconsin mystery writer talks about her debut novel

"Sometimes, just one small thing separates them from the listener or reader."

Mystery/thriller author interviews, book recommendations, random bookish facts, and updates on my writing. Click to read Meredith’s Substack, by Meredith Rankin, a Substack publication. Launched 6 mon...

Fiction often treats second language fluency as an all or nothing issue. In this guest blog, Meredith Rankin highlights the true complexities of language learning.

"It occurred to me that an opera house was the perfect setting for a murder mystery."

"Life took me to other places but that heart-bond never changed."

"Life took me to other places but that heart-bond never changed."

This is the eighth installment of these nerdy linguistic posts, an accidental series I stumbled into on seeing how many of the Writer Unboxed community share my appreciation for the delights and id…

Aren't dogs supposed to be good judges of people?

A serial YA romcom

Fiction often treats second language fluency as an all or nothing issue. In this guest blog, Meredith Rankin highlights the true complexities of language learning.