Marta A. Stephens's Blog

• My First Time

  August 5, 2009

  • I’ve been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with a great group of people at the small press that published my Sam Harper Crime Mysteries. Both my books received great reviews and notable recognition. Although the good certainly outweighs the bad, the one thing I regret most about my debut novel was having been so naïve during the editorial process. I edited “Silenced ...
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• Author Websites: Marketing Tools That Reach Readers

  November 6, 2008

  • I was preparing for a talk at one of our local libraries last week and as always, I tried to anticipate the types of questions those in the group might ask. One point of interest that always comes up is Internet marketing/exposure. Since one of the best tools at my fingertips is my website, I decided to take a look at the number of visitors I had received since I launched it on March 12, 2007. ...
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• Recent Happenings

  July 21, 2008

  • Life can only be described as having gone from hectic to frantic. The big news this month is that my debut novel, SILENCED CRY, received honorable mention at the 2008 New York Book Festival. Please click here for the complete list of winners.The second book in my Sam Harper Crime Mystery series, THE DEVIL CAN WAIT, is in my publisher's hands. We hope to have the ARC ready in a few weeks. I am ...
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• Writing a Series

  June 5, 2008

  • © Marta Stephens 2008 all rights reservedI never intended to write a series. It just happened -- couldn't get enough of the characters. But whenever I mention that my Sam Harper books are a series, the same questions keep coming up: "Are they a sequel? Does one book pick up where the other leaves off?"No, although subtle references are made in each subsequent book to previous ...
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• SILENCED CRY ~ EXCERPT

  May 22, 2008

  • SILENCED CRY© Marta Stephens 2007 all rights reservedChapter 1The hour-long sessions started at nine in the morning, twice a week, whether narcotics detective, Sam Harper liked it or not. The only good thing about this damp and cold Massachusetts morning was that it marked the midpoint of Harper's commitment. Internal Affairs had drilled him for three days in a row. Now the police shrink wanted ...
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• And Now, A Word From My Sponsors

  May 1, 2008

  • © Marta Stephens 2008 all rights reservedOkay, I'm going to age myself, but I grew up during the pre cable days of television. Unless you were lucky to have a small privately own television station in your state like we did here in Indiana, the choice of channels were limited to the major networks; NBC, CBS, and ABC. Of course, I'm talking about the 1960s, the days when most households had one ...
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• The Writing Life: One Step at A Time

  April 27, 2008

  • © Marta Stephens 2008 all rightsWhen word got out about my debut crime/mystery, SILENCED CRY, I was interviewed by several people. One local reporter noted in her article that: “Stephens’s life has had as many twists and turns as her novel,” and then went on to list some of my accomplishments. This encouraged me to take a quick inventory and draw up my own list.My life hasn’t been that ...
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