A Resource for Writers and a Review of “Lowcountry Bribe”

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve got an extra post for y’all this week—a slightly different one than usual, since I’m profiling a particular writer. I wanted to mention both a resource for writers and a recently released novel by the author behind the resource.

C. Hope Clark has been editing the award-winning Funds for Writers website for years, listing grants, contests, and markets for writers. She sends out an informative free newsletter with featured writing opportunities (there’s also a larger version that’s a paid subscription).

Hope’s blog is also a great resource for writers.

If you’re considering freelancing for a living or looking for ways to make extra income as a writer, consider visiting Hope’s site for leads.

I’ve met Hope in person (she’s a fellow Carolinian) at at least one conference and found her just as organized and informed as she seems on her blog.

I also recently had the opportunity to read Hope’s new release, a fast- paced mystery, Lowcountry Bribe.

The protagonist, Carolina Slade, is a civil servant for the Department of Agriculture and makes loans to farmers for a living. This somewhat dry, bureaucratic job suddenly becomes more interesting when a hog farmer client offers her a bribe. When she reports his actions to her superiors, she’s shocked when the Feds become involved.

We learn that the Department of Agriculture office has recently had both a suspicious death and a disappearance. As the Feds set up a sting to arrest the corrupt farmer, Slade realizes that the investigators aren’t giving her the whole story on their interest in her office and the bribe. And now there are threats to both her own life, and her children’s.

Hope’s love for the region is evident in her loving and accurate portrayal of Southern life in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Her own background in agriculture lends the story real authenticity.

I thought her characters were deftly drawn, particularly her strong protagonist. And I also enjoyed the humor and lighter moments in the book—it’s tough to juggle both action and humor, but Hope did it well.

Now it’s your turn. Read any good mysteries lately? Located any great sites or resources for writers?

FTC Full Disclosure – The author sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it. This didn’t influence my review.