We’re not supposed to have favorites. Like, kids. I’m a mom and I’m not supposed to have a favorite kid. And I don’t. I might have a favorite kid on one day, and then another day it’s another kid. Maybe the kid who makes me coffee in the middle of the day because he notices I’m dragging, or the one who calls me just to say hello, or the one who plops down on my office couch and spontaneously tells me about his day without me having to drag it out of him … yeah, sometimes I have a favorite,… Read More

Remember when you were a teenager … or maybe more recent! … when you loved filling out personality tests to find out what kind of person you are? Ha … yeah, we already know, right? But now with the Internet it’s so much easier. Seriously, I never took much stock in personality tests. Sure, based on your answers they can tell you if you’re an introvert or extrovert (I don’t think most of us need a test for that); they might give you some insight into why you like a messy desk or a clean desk, or what sort of… Read More

Hi gang — first, if your comment doesn’t show up it’s because it’s in moderation. I’ve had a huge problem with spam and am trying to find a way to have legit comments just come up, without all the spam. When I woke up and saw 66,000 comments in moderation I realized EVERYTHING was thrown to “pending” not just the spammy links. Argh! Anyway, I’ll see it … just might take a day 🙂 I wanted to share some things with you all … First, I contributed a novella, MIRROR, MIRROR to a charity anthology benefitting domestic violence shelters. It’s… Read More

Criminal Element is celebrating “Allison Brennan August” — LOL. I cracked up when I saw the plan, but I’m really excited because my Maxine Revere/Lucy Kincaid crossover SHATTERED will be out on August 22 and leading up to it, Criminal Elements is reviewing all 12 of the Lucy Kincaid books, the 3 Max Revere books, and all their respective novellas. And today I have a guest blog! The end of last week and all weekend I was writing blogs and articles for different websites and my publisher. All things that need to be done … but isn’t actually writing. I… Read More

TWO TO DIE FOR is out this week in ebook! Yeah me! There’s a story behind these stories … and it starts with SHATTERED. SHATTERED is my fourth Maxine Revere cold case mystery. More than a year ago, I’d started writing a book I called THE EX-WIFE which had a completely different plot concept. I initially liked the idea, but I couldn’t get into the story. Then a series of small things happened. First, I saw an episode of some television show. I honestly can’t remember what show, probably SVU or NCIS, but it was a common enough plot for… Read More

This weekend, I finished editing my copy edits for SHATTERED, the 4th Maxine Revere cold case mystery (on sale 8.22.17.) I received them on Monday the 9th, but didn’t sit down to work on them until Thursday … and finished them in three days. Trust me when I say I never get through copy edits so quickly. I was worried, so I spent Sunday and Monday morning going through them a second time because for certain I had missed something. I made a few more tweaks, but in the end, I’m very, very happy with this book and will be… Read More

Two weeks from today … POISONOUS goes out in the wild. POISONOUS is the third book in the Maxine Revere cold case mystery series, but it can certainly stand on its own. You can find out more about Max and POISONOUS on my website. This story tackles cyberbullying gone too far … one girl killed herself, another girl ends up dead. But was it an accident? Suicide? Or murder? This isn’t the kind of case Max usually tackles, but the heartfelt letter from a grieving brother brings her to Corte Madera, California where she digs into the dark underbelly of… Read More

Today is the day I’ve been waiting for since last March, when I first turned in the revised manuscript for NOTORIOUS. Today is the day I’ve been waiting for since two years ago, when I signed the contract for my first hardcover thriller. Today is the day I’ve been waiting for since 2006, when my first book THE PREY hit the shelves in mass market paperback, and I dreamed of one day being in hardcover. NOTORIOUS is here.

A little bit of BSP … “Maximum Exposure,” the Max Revere prequel, will be out 3 weeks from today. It’s available for pre-order for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Apple, and probably all the other e-tailer sites. Maximum Exposure takes Max to Colorado Springs where she investigates the disappearance of a college student on a camping trip six months before. It takes place a full two years before NOTORIOUS, which will be out in hardcover on March 25. The reason I wanted to write about this now is because I’m fielding a lot of questions from readers, and I thought having a… Read More

One of my writing loops, which has both aspiring and published authors, had a recent thread about editing. Some of the writers had lamented that words and sentences had been added by their editor and they were appalled. I suppose I would be, too, if there was no reason for the change. One of the common themes I’ve heard from those who plan to self-publish is that they don’t want an editor to mess with their book. To me, a good editor doesn’t mess with the story. They make the story as strong as it can be. I’m working on… Read More