Blog - Shelley Blanton-Stroud

Would you like a book club author visit?

Shelley Admin2023-01-27T22:47:59+00:00book club, Book Event, Book signing|

What a lovey dinner, wine and talk I enjoyed with Carol, Sue, Allison and Missy, at Bella Bru in Carmichael. [...]

TOMBOY: Strand Magazine’s 25 best mysteries of 2022

Shelley Admin2023-01-23T20:01:33+00:00#amwriting, Anne Cleeves, Best mysteries, Cara Black, The Strand Magazine|

The Strand was the very first magazine to publish Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories. So I coughed up [...]

Herb Caen: The Sackamenna Kid

Shelley Admin2022-11-27T14:54:43+00:00#amwriting, Fact and fiction, Herb Caen, historical fiction, History, library|

I'm thrilled to join Archivist James Scott 12-1:30 December 3 for a discussion about the Sackamenna Kid: Herb Caen. We’ll [...]

Just write

Shelley Admin2022-11-15T18:09:50+00:00#amwriting, advice, AUTHOR, Craft, creativity, Polly Laporte|

Write it anyway. This week, my artist friend Polly LaPorte (pictured above) delivered a portrait of my Grandpa Bates Jackson. I was [...]

Journalists as protagonists at BOUCHERCON

Shelley Admin2022-09-27T15:56:05+00:00Book Event, Book signing, Fact and fiction, historical fiction, journalism|

The Bouchercon Mystery Conference. I just returned from a week in Minneapolis with this observation: the crime-writing community is ridiculously [...]

Fiction, life, history, politics

Shelley Admin2022-09-27T15:30:17+00:00Book Event, Fact and fiction, feminist, historical fiction, History, ideas, politics|

I retired from teaching in 2021. One thing I really miss is talking about CONNECTIONS between fiction and life and [...]

Queen of Mean: Hedda Hopper

Shelley Admin2022-09-20T16:54:22+00:00#amwriting, Catriona McPherson, COLUMNIST, Copy Boy, Fact and fiction, Flyboy, Gossip, historical fiction, Interview, Mystery Review Crew, Research, Stories on Stage Sacramento|

Researching the third Jane Benjamin Novel (Flyboy, November 2023) had me reading quite a bit about 1940s gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. [...]

Who gets to tell the story

Shelley Admin2022-09-05T14:56:19+00:00#amwriting, Fact and fiction, History, Rosie the riveter|

I first learned about Betty Reid Soskin (above, in a photograph by Frederic Aranda for National Geographic Traveler) while visiting the [...]

Difficult? Horrible? Badass?

Shelley Admin2022-08-26T22:53:47+00:00#amwriting, audience, AUTHOR, Book Event, Catriona McPherson, Fact and fiction, feminist, Gossip, historical fiction, historical thriller, Interview, Tomboy|

Talking about Tomboy with very good friends. For the past three years I've co-directed Stories on Stage Sacramento with author Dorothy [...]

August 26–Stories on Stage Sacramento

Shelley Admin2022-08-09T17:14:26+00:00audience, AUTHOR, Book Event, Catriona McPherson, Craft, creativity, feminist noir, historical thriller, Stories on Stage Sacramento, Tomboy|

Words come to life on stage this month. It's a thrill to see your work interpreted by a gifted actor, [...]

Libraries from Auckland to Yolo County

Shelley Admin2022-08-06T21:31:30+00:00#amwriting, AUTHOR, library|

I knew I should be working on book three, but I didn't have the attention span for it. So I obsessed [...]

For Writers: Janna Marlies Maron’s curly hair and super-smart writing tips

Shelley Admin2022-08-02T17:30:12+00:00#amwriting, advice, AUTHOR, creativity, editor, ideas, Process, publisher, Publishing, subconscious|

When I read author, editor and publisher Janna Maron's most-recent newsletter, which I highly recommend you subscribe to at the previous link, [...]