Until last week I hadn’t been to Thrillerfest, the annual gathering of International Thriller Writers, in several years. Many of my friends refuse to miss it, and I understand why: it’s great fun. Plus, it’s always held in New York City at The Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Terminal, so there are endless things to do if …Read More

Way back in the day–July 18, 2008, to be exact–writer Kelli Stanley dropped by the Handbasket to blog about the background of her excellent debut novel, Nox Dormienda. You can visit Kelli’s website to read about the exciting things that have happened to her since then, including all the praise-filled reviews she’s been receiving for …Read More

I’ve been in an introspective frame of mind of late. Sometime around 2:30 this morning I finally completed the first draft of my latest novel, so I guess introspection has actually been required. The earliest file date I can find for this story is late November, 2008–which means I’ve been at work on it for …Read More

I had a great time in Denver at last year’s Left Coast Crime Conference, and was sad to miss the fun in Hawaii this week. The Hawaii conference was especially significant for my friends Tim Maleeny and Kelli Stanley, who both won Left Coast Crime Awards. Kelli–who just signed a new contract with Thomas Dunne/St. …Read More

Did anyone else have a terrible Valentine’s Day? P was out of town and the children were doing a school fundraiser, so I found myself alone with the dogs, a whole lot of laundry, a bit of leftover chicken and no dark chocolate. Yes, I was feeling very sorry for myself! P did make sure …Read More

I knew I would adore Kelli Stanley just as soon as I heard that she’d coined the term “Roman Noir” for her first novel, NOX DORMIENDA: A Long Night for Sleeping. My daughter is a scholar of all things pertaining to ancient Rome, and she even tried to teach her eccentrically-educated mother a little Latin …Read More

I received some amazing news a couple of weeks ago and have been dying to share it. Now I can! I’ve been invited to the 29th annual Kentucky Women’s Writers Conference in Lexington. It happens in September and I’ll be teaching a workshop, which I always enjoy. But the really exciting news is that I’ll …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