Writers are busybodies. I expect that most of us come by our interest in everyone else’s business honestly. After all, we spend our days, nights and weekends making up the interior and exterior lives of our characters and, really, we must have material. We must have practice. So, here’s what I’ve been wondering about today …Read More

I’ve become totally dependent on the Internet! I turned on my computer first thing this morning, even before rolling the boy out of bed, even before letting the dog outside. It’s a terrible habit, I know, but one I can’t seem to break. In between setting out breakfast and rounding up backpacks, I checked email …Read More

Revisions on CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS continue apace–I wrote an entire chapter yesterday, which may be a record for me. When it was finished, I realized it had filled a large hole in the manuscript. But it put me a bit behind on the rest of the revision, which is due tomorrow. (Oh, Mr. Editor….) …Read More

I received a myspace friend request today from, Yu- Han Chao, a young Taiwanese woman living in California. She’s promoting her collection of stories, PASSPORT BABY, and she came up with this video book trailer. Here’s the quote she offers from the book: “You know what yuan zu socializing is, right? Like in Japan, the …Read More

Today I mentioned to Pinckney that I’m currently working to make a couple of the central characters in CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS a little more sympathetic when they’re first introduced. He said that he was doing the same thing for the screenplay he’s working on. We agreed that we need to show that our characters …Read More

I’m crazy about Jordan Dane. When we finally met in person at Bouchercon in Alaska, I felt as though I were getting together with an old friend. She has a big heart, and talent to match. On March 25th, she’s going to step out into the world with a brand-new book, her debut and the …Read More

What better way to spend a Saturday evening than dyeing Easter eggs and watching Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles in The Third Man? Carol Reed’s Brit noir film gets better with each viewing–whether one is pulled in by the stunning cinematography and sharp editing, Graham Greene’s atmospheric story that tiptoes between the gritty aftermath of …Read More

It is raining today. It has been raining here in Southern Illinois for over twenty-four hours–the flip side of the tender blessings of spring. Our pond overflowed its banks yesterday, sending torrents of brown water over the dam that is our driveway and up onto the boardwalk steps leading to the gazebo. When I awoke …Read More

Well, I think it’s now entirely obvious why I would make a terrible journalist! I had planned to blog each day of Left Coast Crime, but became distracted by MANY shiny objects. A few catch-up highlights: The debut author breakfast went swimmingly, and I even had five lovely new readers at my table. Afterwards, I …Read More

I took it as a good omen this morning that I turned the television on to see a shot from Hitchcock’s The Birds. I think it will be a fun day for mystery and crime writing fans in Denver! Yesterday’s panel with Peter May, Christine Jorgensen and Robert Greer went very well. The room was …Read More