Mystery Writers' Websites

By Beth Terrell

I'm always on the lookout for good websites, books, and other resources for writers--especially mystery writers. Today, in lieu of a long involved post, I'd just like to share some sites you might find helpful--or at least, interesting.

Crimespace at http://www.crimspace.ning.com: This is a social networking site, much like Facebook or MySpace, but specifically geared toward readers and writers of crime fiction. Each member gets a page, a Crimespace email, and access to the discussion forums. It's not an extremely busy site yet, but I always learn something new there.

Mystery Ink, at http://www.mysteryinkonline.com: This site has author interviews, book reviews, and a list of other crime fiction websites.

Mystery Writers' Forum at http://www.zott.com/MysForum: The forums include discussions on publishing, agents, crime fiction sub-genres, mystery writing contests, and much, much more. The site also provides a list of resource links for mystery writers, including topics like police, forensics, firearms, private detectives, and poisons.

Agent Nathan Bransford's website at http://www.nathanbransford.com: Nathan's blog is not mystery-specific, but it's one of the most comprehensive agent sites, complete with a blog and discussion forums. His regular Friday post on "the week in publishing" is a must-read for anyone who wants to keep up with the latest news from the publishing world.

Absolute Write at http://www.absolutewrite.com: Again, this is not a mystery-specific site, but the "water cooler" forums have a wealth of information relevant to writers of any genre.

Happy surfing.