Last night was the 63rd annual Edgars award dinner, the night when writers who usually work in their sweat pants climb into their best bib and tuckers, dust off the sequins, cram their feet into crippling shoes, and shine. The new MWA president, Lee Child, kept things moving nicely, and other than an unfortunate incident…
Read MoreWednesday was travel day—up before 5 to catch a 7:00 flight to New York, which meant I didn’t have time to check my email, much less post a blog. But it got on eventually, and I figure you’ll either forgive me or stop reading entirely, and in either case it’s not my responsibility. So, the…
Read MoreBook Passage has two stores, in a small shopping center in Corte Madera, north of the Golden Gate, and in the historic Ferry Building in San Francisco itself. The Ferry Building reinvented itself a few years ago to become a Mecca for foodies, and the bookstore went hand in hand, with a strong presence of…
Read MoreToday’s the day. The Language of Bees steps out to meet its public, and like a child headed onto the big yellow school bus for the first time, it makes its creator very nervous. Please, friends, treat my new baby with love… and if you come out to see me on the road, I take…
Read MoreOne more day until The Language of Bees hits the shelves—wheee! And, this is Week 13 of Fifteen Weeks of Bees, which means things are heating up in the online schedule as well. Russellscapes contest will close on Friday, May 1, so take a look at your competition and look at how to make an…
Read MoreSherlock Holmes was a beekeeper. According to Arthur Conan Doyle, he retired to Sussex in the early years of the Twentieth Century and divided his time “between philosophy and agriculture.” Later, details were provided when his hitherto unknown work on beekeeping played a role in breaking a spy ring on the very eve of the…
Read MoreThe video entries for this week’s contest were all excellent, so I decided to give them all a prize. TSDKerry won a hardcover of The Language of Bees for her video of Russell in San Francisco, and Canzonett won an ARC of The Language of Bees for her imagining of Russell’s rudely interrupted studies. Last…
Read MoreIn The Language of Bees, Mary Russell first meets the Reverend Thomas Brothers through his work of inspiration, which he calls Testimony. Testimony is his Bible, the holy writ that his congregation reads in their services, and describes how he came to know Divine Will. During the rewrite process of The Language of Bees, most…
Read MoreThe Bee is coming! That’s right: The Language of Bees launches on Tuesday, with a fiesta abuzz with bees and Bohemians and vintage aeroplane talk—at the great Book Passage store in San Francisco’s Ferry Building. And beginning Wednesday, I will post a blog about every stop I make between Launch Day and Mother’s Day. Here’s…
Read MoreAs has become our habit during the Fifteen Weeks, Thursday is guest post day. This time I’m visiting the Tome Traveller, who herself is just back from the UK. Her post yesterday is a review of The Language of Bees, although if you don’t want spoilers, you might want to keep your eyes averted from…
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