You want to know how to become a successful writer? Look at what Ian Rankin has to say on the matter. TO PLAY THE FOOL was the first book I wrote under contract. Sixty pages or so into it, my mother fell down and broke both her wrists. She could do nothing for herself. My…

Lee Goldberg has some interesting things to say (Oct 19) about rejection’e2’80’94or rather, passes on some interesting takes on his book from jaundiced editorial eyes. Nearly twenty letters turning him down, and the book goes on, when finally published, to great reviews. As I read through the above paragraph, an intriguing thing pops out at…

Please turn your thoughts to Ed Gorman, on his way to a scary procedure. Ed is one of the founding members of the mystery world as it stands today, and having him go shaky is frightening for us all. Strength, Ed. And we’e2’80’99re going to miss your blog. *********************And while we’e2’80’99re on grim things. Molly…

So, what do we think of the Quill awards? On the one hand, any group with the sense of humor to hand not one, but two awards to the Jon Stewart crew is my kind of people. On the other hand, the entire thrust is so commercial, it’e2’80’99s a little off-putting. On the one hand,…

The face of THE ART OF DETECTION was revealed to me, as in a dream’e2’80’a6 Actually, UPS brought it on Saturday in one of those brown envelopes that explode grey fuzz all over everything when you pull the tab. I’e2’80’99ll post it here and on the web site when they finish ‘e2’80’9ctweaking’e2’80’9d it and sent…

To everything there is a season, the Good Book tells us, and this week has been my season for housekeeping. Consider: January to June, first draft and first rewrite. A month of touring and conferences, followed by two months of intensive rewrite. Finally in September handing THE ART OF DETECTION over to my editor (to…

26 September I seem to have had some problems getting Sunday’s posting to link to Left Coast Crime. If your link didn’t work, you can paste in www.leftcoastcrime2006.com. This is your chance to meet all those English writers you’ve admired from a distance for so many years. Cornwall seems a very long way from here.…

Just so you know how very cutting edge this whole blog thing is, I am currently writing this in the kitchen of Adrian Muller, who is sitting five feet away, reading the blogs I posted last night. Hi, Adrian! The Sunday newspapers are a great source of perverse amusement. Not so much the Kate Moss…

Yesterday in St Just I came across a small store called Just Cornwall that specializes, as one might imagine, in material from Cornwall. Tapes to learn the Cornish language, necklaces made by local craftsmen, pots and T-shirts and Cornish fudge and coffee cups with the Cornish flag and of course books galore. I am now…

Today we did the other half of the Heligan story, the Eden Project. I won’e2’80’99t bother to explain, since I’e2’80’99m sure they have a superb web site (which my guide book tells me is at www.edenproject.com), but I can only say that at the end of our time there, my daughter and I agreed that…