Hello 2006!

The new year is upon us and I have to say I'm really excited about it. For one thing the Crime Sistahs, Pamela, Gammy and I, all have new books coming out this year. Pamela's debut legal thriller, Every Reasonable Doubt, will be released in February, Gammy's new book, Down & Dirty, the sequel to A Landlord's Tale, will be released in March, and my second Kendra Clayton mystery, Tangled Roots, will be out in either June, if you go by what Amazon says, or May according to my editor. I was really surprised to notice on Amazon today that a mass market paperback edition of The Company You Keep will be released this year in May as well. Who knew?

I'm anxious to see how my second book will be received. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I think my writing has improved and hope people will find it as entertaining as my first one. It will be interesting to see what my cover will look like and what my newly acquired and renamed publisher, Kimani Press, will be doing differently as far as promotion. I will be working with freelance publicist Susan Schwartzman again. Hopefully between Susan, my publisher, and myself we will be able to expand my readership. I'm currently working on the last book in my contract and can only assume that more Kendra books will depend on the success of the first three. So, I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the Kendra Clayton series will really take off.

This is also the year that I will be turning the big FOUR OH. Forty! Wow! Actually, I'm not filled with dread at the thought of turning forty. My only regret is all the wasted time and missed opportunities. But nothing is gained by dwelling on the past. I'm trully looking forward to 2006 and all the possiblities that come with it.

Angela

15 Facts Writing Facts About
Pamela Samuels-Young

Happy New Year to All!

Here are 15 facts about me as a writer.

1. Writing legal mysteries is my passion.

2. I'm a former television newswriter.

3. I'm glad my writing career began in TV news because it taught me to write quickly and concisely.

4. I'm not thrilled that my journalistic training effectively killed whatever literary talent (as opposed to commercial writing) I might have developed.

5. I can spend a weekend locked up in a hotel room and write non-stop. That's my most productive writing time.

6. I was the editor of my high school and college newspapers.

7. I type 80 words a minute.

8. I have story ideas for at least five novels in the bank.

9. I love listening to books on tape because it makes my morning and evening commutes go faster and it helps me study story structure.

10. I get lots of story ideas from my husband, who is a plumber and one of the funniest men I know.

11. I think it's important to solicit lots of feedback from "typical" readers before turning in a final draft.

12. I read more mysteries than anything else.

13. I recently read Michael Connelly's Lincoln Lawyer and wished I had written it.

14. I don't need quiet to write.

15. I like writing dialogue more than anything else.