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Kiss Me or Kill Me is coming soon.

May 26, 2015 by in category Events, Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , , , ,

What’s that? My online class for OCC, with the alternate name of Writing Cozy Mysteries 101 for Romance Writers. This will be my second time to present it.

The class will run from June 15 through July 12, and my intention is to have fun teaching my students how to have their characters solve murders while falling in love!

Here’s the class description:

All romances contain some suspense: will the hero and heroine resolve conflicts by the end and live happily ever after?

All cozy mysteries contain suspense, too, but do they always involve romance? Not necessarily, but the best ones do! Those romances seldom reach HEA by the end of the book, though. Cozies are usually parts of a series, and the suspense of romance can continue through subsequent books–even though the mysteries in each book must get resolved by the end.

What other similarities and differences are there between romances and cozies? They’ll be addressed in Kiss Me Or Kill Me: Writing Cozy Mysteries 101 for Romance Writers.

The class will also address the basics of writing cozies: choosing a protagonist and deciding how she’ll get involved solving mysteries; choosing a theme for the series; introducing and following through with a love interest—or not; throwing in a corpse or two, plus hiding clues for solving the murders; planning a series; and much more!

There will be online class discussions and writing exercises, too. Kiss Me or Kill Me will also contain enough basics on writing cozies that non-romance writers will learn a lot as well.

So… are you a romance writer who likes mysteries? A mystery writer who likes romance? I’ll be delighted to help you learn how to combine them.

I hope to see you in my class.

Linda O, Johnston

Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year. Since then, Linda has published more short stories, plus eighteen romance novels, including the Alpha Force paranormal miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne. Alpha Force is a covert military unit of shapeshifters, and the most recent book in the series is GUARDIAN WOLF.  She has also published three Nocturne Bites e-novellas and is additionally writing a novel for Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

 

Linda is also the author of the Pet Rescue Mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime which debuted in March 2011 with BEAGLEMANIA, followed by THE MORE THE TERRIER and HOUNDS ABOUND. The series centers around Lauren Vancouver, the dedicated administrator of a successful private, no-kill animal shelter who also finds herself having to solve murders. In the Pet Rescue Mysteries, “no-kill” means pets, not people! The Pet Rescue series is a spinoff from Linda’s Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter, nine-book mystery series, also from Berkley Prime Crime. 

Kiss Me or Kill Me is a 4-week online course that begins June 15, 2015 and uses email and Yahoo Groups. The class is open to anyone wishing to participate. The cost is $30.00 per person or, if you are a member of OCCRWA, $20.00 per person. 


For more information and to register go to http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassJune15.html        
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Loving Multiple Genres

May 6, 2015 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , , , ,
 

Those of you who know me also know that I write in multiple genres, which currently include paranormal romance, romantic suspense and cozy mysteries.  And I’m not the only one!

 
Last weekend I attended Malice Domestic, an annual conference held in Bethesda, Maryland, for readers and writers of cozy mysteries.  It was delightful, as always.  I was on a panel about pets in mysteries, and also participated in Malice Go Round, where readers sit at tables while authors, two at a time, sit down with them and get to talk about their work for two minutes apiece.  Exhausting, but fun!  That was in addition to parties and hanging around at the reception area talking with people and more.
 
One of the fun things I also got to do was to meet with several of the people who will be fellow panelists with me at July’s RWA National Conference!  Yes, we’re all attending both kinds of conferences this year.  Our RWA panel topic will be From White Collar to Red Herring, and we’ll be talking about our non-writing professional experiences not only for plotting, but also for managing our writing careers.
 
Come see us if you’re at RWA National this year!
 
Linda

 
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Linda O! Johnston
www.LindaOJohnston.comBITE THE BISCUIT, A Barkery & Biscuits Mystery
May 2015
LOST UNDER A LADDER, a Superstition Mystery
LOYAL WOLF, an Alpha Force Harlequin Nocturne

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Thanks for California Dreamin’

April 6, 2015 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston, Writing Conferences tagged as , , ,

I’m not the only one who enjoyed it. I’m not the only one to thank the four wonderful Southern California RWA Chapters. But I want to express my thanks to everyone involved in the wonderful California Dreamin’ Conference!

I knew it would be fun, since, as I said last month, I was on a wonderful panel about writing series with Judy Duarte and Janet Tronstad. I hoped our audience members enjoyed it as much as I did.

Even more, I found it great fun to get together with long time romance writer friends and make some new friends as well. The sessions and panels I attended were mostly about promotion, and I learned a lot there. I did some traveling between the time of the conference and now so I haven’t been able to try to implement what I learned, but I hope to soon.

I also had a lot of fun at the book signing–and even sold some books.

So, again, many thanks for an absolutely delightful conference. And now I’m looking forward to 2017!

Linda O. Johnston

Linda’s new Barkery and Biscuits Mystery series from Midnight Ink starts in May with BITE THE BISCUIT. 
 It’s about veterinary technician Carrie Kennersly, who seizes the opportunity to buy a bakery from a friend about to leave town. She changes half of it into a barkery that sells treats for dogs, including some healthy ones she created as a vet tech. But not everyone in town is thrilled with her new venture and yes, since it’s the beginning of a cozy mystery series a murder occurs.
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Upcoming Events

March 6, 2015 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , ,

March is a busy month for OCC and its members!

First is our regular upcoming meeting on March 14–which I intend to attend.

And that’ll be followed by the California Dreamin’ Conference from March 27-29. It’s the second California Dreamin’ Conference, and it’s hosted by all four Southern California Romance Writers of America chapters: OCC, Los Angeles Romance Authors, East Valley Authors and San Diego RWA. I’m proud to say that I’m a member of two of them: OCC and LARA. Plus, I spoke not long ago at an EVA meeting. Maybe I’ll get to attend a San Diego chapter meeting too someday.

Meantime, I’ll be on a panel at California Dreamin’: So You Want To Write A Series. My fellow panelists are Judy Duarte and Janet Tronstad. I’ve spoken before about writing series, which is a real passion of mine. I’m currently writing four of them!

I hope to see you at the chapter meeting and/or California Dreamin’. Hope you’ll be at both, too. And if you’re at the conference, be sure to attend my panel!

Linda O Johnston

Bite the Biscuit

Midnight Ink
May 2015
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Valentine’s Day Meeting

February 6, 2015 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , ,
 As you know from my last couple of posts, I was unable to get to the most recent OCC meetings.  But the next one?  I’m planning to be there.  Who can resist going to the meeting of a wonderful chapter of Romance Writers of America on the main day of romance, Valentine’s Day?
 
Of course the day before is Friday the 13th.  In addition to romances, I also write mysteries, and one of my series is the Superstition Mysteries.  So, I’ll have to keep my fingers crossed that all goes well then and that I’m able to attend OCC.
 
I’m particularly interested in this OCC meeting because of the online discussions that have been going on about the requirements for membership in PAW and whether, in today’s world, they should be the same as, or different from, membership in PAN.  It’ll be fun to hear the discussions in person, too.
 

Hope to see you there!
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