The Blood Red Pencil - A Great New Resource for Writers

Ever wonder what happens when a group of editors gets together? What do they blog about? What do they argue, I mean disagree, about?

You can find the answers to these burning questions and pick up many editing tips to improve your writing. Just check out The Blood-Red Pencil. This is a collaborative blog - a group of editors and writers - whose goal is to help writers by blogging about what we know best – editing.

The founding members include:

Rhys BowenRhys currently writes the Molly Murphy mysteries, set in 1902 New York City and featuring an Irish immigrant sleuth. She has just begun a new series about a minor British royal in the 1930s--lighter and funnier than her previous books and pitched as Bridget Jones meets Charade as told by Nancy Mitford. Rhys's books have been nominated for every major mystery award and she has won eight including Agatha, Anthony and MacAvity. She is a transplanted Brit who now makes her home in sunny California and even sunnier Arizona.

Velda BrothertonVelda's work has been published in historical romance, regional non-fiction, articles in newspapers and magazines, short stories in anthologies and non-fiction in anthologies. She hopes to be found one day sitting at her computer, cold fingers in the home position, a smile on her face because she's gone doing what she loves.

Helen GingerHelen is a freelance editor, book consultant, blogger, and writer. She teaches public speaking as well as writing and marketing workshops. In addition, her free ezine, Doing It Write!, which goes out to subscribers around the globe, is now in its ninth year of publication. She's also an Owner/Partner and the Women’s Marketing Director for Legends In Our Own Minds®. And years ago, Helen was a mermaid, complete with shimmery tail.

Dani GreerDani heads up the Blog Blook Tours group (and started this group of fearless Blood-Red Pencil editors). She also has great information for authors trying to set up blog tours. You can find her all over the Internet, from Yahoo to Squidoo to Twitter and elsewhere.

Billie JohnsonBillie is a publisher with Oak Tree Press, located in Central IL. Oak Tree Press sponsors three annual writing contests and a writers conference. You can find out more about Oak Tree Press at http://www.oaktreebooks.com/.

Morgan MandelMorgan Mandel writes mysteries and romantic comedies while riding the Metra commuter train to work as an administrative assistant. Her recent release, Girl of My Dreams, is a romantic comedy about a straitlaced assistant who sets out to save a dying TV studio by becoming a contestant in a reality show. Her debut mystery, Two Wrongs, set in Chicago, reminiscent of a Charles Bronson movie, contains elements of a John Grisham-like courtroom scene and Danielle Steel second-chance-at-love.

Jean Henry MeadJean Henry Mead writes mysteries and historical fiction and blogs at Half a Pair of Jeans and Murderous Musings. She's also an award-winning photojournalist, former news reporter and magazine acquisitions editor. The author of ten books, three of them novels, her latest release isEscape, a Wyoming Historical Novel. Her magazine articles have appeared in the Denver Post's Empire Magazine as well as other periodicals published domestically as well as abroad. She served as national publicity director for Western Writers of America and established the Western Writers Hall of Fame.

Charlotte PhillipsCharlotte and Mark Phillips have been writing together for five years. Their first Eva Baum mystery was released in 2007 to favorable reviews and they are hard at work on the sequel. They have a great blog called News, Views and Reviews. You can find out more about their books and characters on their website. Charlotte is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Houston writing group The Final Twist where she serves as Publicity Chair.

L.J. SellersL.J. Sellers is an award-winning journalist, editor, novelist, and occasional standup comic, based in Eugene, Oregon. She is the author of the Detective Jackson mystery series (The Sex Club and Secrets to Die For). When she's not plotting murders, Sellers enjoys cycling through Oregon's beautiful Willamette Valley, hanging out with her extended family, and editing fiction manuscripts.

Chris VerstraeteChris has written a number of nonfiction projects, including interviewing mystery authors, as well as writing for magazines and newspapers, and now she’s created a fictional miniature art mystery series. Her YA mystery novel is called Searching for a Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery.

Marvin WilsonMarvin is a spiritualist, a writer, who has the audacity to write novels. On Free Spirit they talk about matters of importance relating to the advancement of human spiritual, emotional and psychological condition. And they have some fun. Free Spirit promotes excellence in the craft of good writing and features books on topics that matter, including those written by Marvin D Wilson and many others.

Hop on over to The Blood-Red Pencil, check us out, and leave a comment - tell us what you think about the blog, ask a question, or suggest a future topic.