I deleted two chapters today and I feel good. Okay, not great, but good. No writer likes to delete their words. We want to think that everything we write is amazing when we write it and worth reading … but it’s not. I’ve never been afraid to slash and burn, but too many writers I’ve talked to are scared to death. They either think they’re amateurs who don’t know what they’re doing if they have to cut something, or they think they’re idiots who can’t write. Or — worse — they think everything they write is brilliant and if readers or… Read More

It’s been a busy couple of months! In addition to the release of TOO FAR GONE, the 14th (!!!) Lucy Kincaid thriller, I finished NOTHING TO HIDE, revised, and just received the copy edits today. I know what I’ll be doing over Thanksgiving break! NOTHING TO HIDE is the 15th Lucy book. It was one of those stories that I loved the concept, but was much harder to execute than I first thought. In the end, though, I was very happy with the way it turned out. Though I almost lost the copyedits — the package was nearly destroyed in… Read More

If you didn’t know, TOO FAR GONE is out and has been since last week. I’ve just been really bad about blogging for the last year (or three!) so forgot to announce (though I did send out a newsletter!) TOO FAR GONE hit the USA Today bestsellers list today at #35! (yeah!) I’m still mourning the loss of the NYT Mass Market list, because it would have most likely hit there as well .. only 9 mass markets were in the top 50 of the USAT bestsellers list. Sigh. TOO FAR GONE is the FOURTEENTH Lucy Kincaid/Sean Rogan romantic thriller,… Read More

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

Yes, I’m being tongue-in-cheek with my title because I’m writing today about adjectives and adverbs. On Twitter, the fabulous Manda Collins — a historical romance writer who I know and love — posted something that at first made me laugh, then made me cringe. Under the caption “This is terrible advice” she posted a screenshot of, well, some terrible advice. I’ve removed the advice-givers name — partly because I don’t think anyone should be personally attacked for their opinion (and I don’t want her to get hate mail!) but also partly because she removed the post. However, because I have… 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

First, before we get to our irregularly scheduled program, great news! SHATTERED is #67 on the USA Today bestseller list. via GIPHY If you haven’t bought SHATTERED yet, why not? Because it’s a hardcover? Get thee to a library! Or you can wait until May 1, 2018 when it’ll be out in mass market paperback. 🙂 SHATTERED is where Maxine Revere is forced to work with Lucy Kincaid to solve three very cold cases — the murder of three young boys — which began with the death of Lucy’s nephew, Justin Stanton. It’s the book my long-time readers have wanted… 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