Kelly Sagert, Author at KB Sagert

Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple Series

June 3, 2021

Miss Jane Marple appears in 12 books and 20 short stories over a period of about 50 years. I was invited to write an encyclopedia entry on Agatha Christie’s amateur detective, Miss Jane Marple — and, as a huge fan, I was thrilled. And . . . the encyclopedia project got canceled. So, I thought I would share what I wrote here, with sub-headlines added. Who is Jane Marple? Jane Marple is a fictional character created by English mystery novelist Agatha Christie. She appears in twelve books and twenty short stories, starting in approximately 1926 and lasting through 1976; the

Historical Short Story: Digging Deep

June 3, 2021

This short story is posted in honor of and as a tribute to a former neighbor of mine who survived multiple Nazi bombings in London during World War II. She is the character of Viola (her real first name) and the snippet about her is historically accurate. Thank you for your service! I’ve been living with Uncle Reggie and Auntie Sal for about six weeks now and, even though I don’t like it when the windows shake from the bombing in the city or when the wind shifts and I smell gunpowder, I’m not waking up at night as much

Author Interviews: John Gilstrap, 06/14/97

June 2, 2021

This is one of the many author interviews I conducted in the mid- to late 1990s. John Gilstrap worries about falling asleep. He’s afraid of waking up and finding out that 1995 was only a dream. That extraordinary year was when Gilstrap sold his first novel, Nathan’s Run, to Harper Collins Publishers. His book earned a $400,000 advance with Warner Brothers snapping up the movie rights just two days after the book sold. The movie rights and paperback rights earned Gilstrap another $500,000, and the book will be translated and released in 13 foreign countries in 1996. When asked how his

Author Interviews: Interview with Ellen Hart, 07/22/96

June 2, 2021

This is one of the many author interviews I conducted in the mid- to late 1990s. Who: Ellen Hart What: Started writing her first mystery novel at the age of 37 When: Summer of 1986 Where: University of Minnesota, where Hart worked as the kitchen manager of a sorority Why: She figured it was now or never “I had my summers off at that time, and I wanted to try my hand at writing mystery fiction,” Ellen Hart said. “I’d always been a pretty good academic writer, but that didn’t mean I had the skills to sustain plot, character, tension—everything

How to Write a Book Proposal: Non-Fiction Example

June 2, 2021

I recently came across a book proposal that I’d written in 2013, one that was ultimately rejected because the publisher felt there were too many books on the subject already. So, I thought it might be helpful to share it with you, a guide to how to write a nonfiction book proposal. Note that I’m not suggesting that ALL book proposals should look this way. The publisher I was querying had specific requirements and I followed them. Having said that, this book proposal is fairly typical of what a publisher might want, although shorter than many others I’ve written.

Kelly Sagert

Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple Series

Historical Short Story: Digging Deep

Author Interviews: John Gilstrap, 06/14/97

Author Interviews: Interview with Ellen Hart, 07/22/96

How to Write a Book Proposal: Non-Fiction Example

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