Julie A. Carlson

A good mystery -- fact or fiction -- always piques my interest. This probably has to do with my former career in law enforcement. Yet, mysteries are extremely popular among non-police folk. I knew cops who never watched a cop show. However, I'm glued to TV crime and legal shows,...

Insane asylums. What is it about them that draws our interest? Is it the spookiness of the sprawling Gothic buildings once filled with the mentally ill? Many of these places used bizarre "treatments" such as lobotomy and electroshock therapy, including the use of drugs like Laudanum to calm patients. Some...

Katniss Everdeen better watch out because she has some stiff competition with Allison "Allie" Sekemoto of Julia Kagawa's The Immortal Rules. The novel is the first in her new post-apocalyptic vampire series, Blood of Eden. The New York Times bestselling author, whose Iron Fey series features the magical and dark...

Like many female mystery readers, I enjoyed diving into Nancy Drew books as a young girl. I would venture to say my interest in being a writer was sparked by the adventures of these stories. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys have never gone out of style, nor have mysteries...

There's no denying the popularity of reality dating programs like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, especially among young and older female viewers. According to TV by the Numbers, in March, the 16th season finale of ABC's The Bachelor came in second place to NBC's The Voice in adults...

When I attended Catholic school, the concept of assassin nuns never crossed my mind. Although I always did wonder if my fave second grade teacher, Sister Joyce Maria, had a hidden past or a secret identity. Don't laugh, just check out the true story of Martha Leiker, a...

For most authors, novels brew on the back burner in the corner recesses of the mind until they can no longer be contained and make it onto paper. Characters and stories are often found in the most unlikely places, yet more often than not, they are found closer to home....

Set in 1987 against the backdrop of the New England coast, The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont is an engaging and heartbreaking look into the life of a boarding school student who struggles to accept the past, the future without his best friend, Cal and his burgeoning sexuality. Even though...

At the heart of every successful writer is the perseverance and the willingness to never give up.

For the last 12 years, Mary Pauline Lowry has dedicated her life to writing literary fiction. However, she's worked in a variety of different fields -- forest fighter, open water lifeguard, apprentice carpenter,...

Since first viewing James Cameron's Titanic, 15 years ago, I've been fascinated by the history surrounding the tragedy and the passengers aboard the "unsinkable" ship.

April 15, 2012, marks the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. One hundred years have passed since that fateful day, when the...

The big trend in fiction, particularly, the young adult market is in dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories. Just look at the popularity of The Hunger Games and its upcoming movie release. If you're not familiar with them, dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels are filled with despair, political warnings, a controlling totalitarian government,...

Many Gossip mags, shows and websites love featuring the latest scandalicious news of the rich and famous from Hollywoodland. Readers and viewers eat up these juicy tidbits like candy -- speculating on who's wearing what on the red carpet, which couple is splitting up and who's looking way too skinny....