Grave Designs – Michael A. Kahn

Awesome Role Models for Rachel Gold–and All Women

Posted on April 22, 2019May 1, 2019 by Michael Kahn

As I would imagine is true for most authors, by the time we write that very first paragraph of our very first novel, our brains have absorbed massive amounts of fiction in the form of novels, comic books, fairy tales, short stories, motion pictures, and television shows. And this huge warehouse of information will impact…

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Maybe You Can’t Tell a Book by Its Cover, But You Can Sure Sell It That Way

Posted on February 15, 2019February 17, 2019 by Michael Kahn

I read a fascinating post on the Jezebel website by Kelly Faircloth in which she recounted the history–or, per the title of her post, the “steaming, throbbing history”–of the covers of romance novels, from the sweet innocent covers of the 1950s to the soft-porn bodice-rippers of later decades, many of which featured the male model…

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Can’t Leave Rachel Out!

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Michael Kahn

As you might infer, the main character in my Rachel Gold mystery series is named Rachel Gold. But back in the beginning, back many years ago, on the eve of publication of my first novel, Grave Designs, there was no Rachel Gold mystery series. Just a mystery novel featuring as the protagonist a savvy young…

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What’s in a name? More than you imagine!

Posted on May 8, 2017June 27, 2018 by Michael Kahn

“Mike, I have a better idea for your book title.” I’ve heard that from my editor three times over the years. All three times she was right. But first, some background: While you can’t tell a book by its cover, you might consider reading a book by its title. Nevertheless, the history of literature reveals…

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God or Huck Finn: Who Should Tell Your Story?

Posted on September 15, 2016September 14, 2016 by Michael Kahn

An online discussion among several of my fellow Poisoned Pen Press authors got me thinking about the one decision every fiction author must make before typing CHAPTER 1 at the top of the page. That decision? Who will tell your story? “Huh,” a baffled reader may wonder, “doesn’t the author tell the story?” Only rarely….

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A Shout-Out to Poisoned Pen Press

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Michael Kahn

On this, the day after Independence Day Weekend, I pause to give a shout-out to my publisher and its support of independent bookstores–the ones who still have bookshelves with books on them. Like most mid-list writers, each of my first seven novels eventually went out of print and were available only as eBooks. But then…

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“All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Michael Kahn

Ah, yes, Norma Desmond’s famous line from the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. And suddenly, compliments of another one of Marshal Zeringue’s cool blogs, My Book, The Movie, Rachel Gold may be ready for her close-up. Marshal seeks out authors of new novels and asks them to cast the movie version. So when he got word that…

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Where Did THAT Come From?

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Michael Kahn

Readers often ask, “Where did you get the idea for that story?” Most of the time, at least for me, the answer is, “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” But sometimes I do. The best example is the premise of my first novel, The Canaan Legacy (renamed Grave Designs in the paperback edition). That mystery opens with the…

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Untold Tales of Wild and Crazy Love

Posted on September 15, 2013October 23, 2013 by Michael Kahn

Love stories have generated mountains of literary analysis over the years. From Tristan & Isolde to Romeo & Juliet to Elizabeth Bennett & Mr. Darcy to Anastasia Steel & Christian Grey, the ins-and-outs (pun sort of intended) of the amorous relationships between fictional characters have been probed (guilty again) from every angle (ok, enough) by scholars…

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