A novel of the future needs to feel familiar and plausible even as it presents a face we have never imagined before. I wrote Califia’s Daughters in part because I did not find that familiarity in the more famous dystopian tale by Margaret Atwood, which had been published two years before I started writing. Time has…
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I wrote Califia’s Daughters more than thirty years ago, but its meditations on the male/female relationships may be even more pertinent now than they were at the time. It’s a futuristic novel, although whether or not it is also dystopian depends on how you feel about today’s world. Our future is both set in stone and malleable as…
Read MoreFive hundred years ago, a popular novelist named Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo came out with a rousing adventure about a black queen who raises an army and sails away to join the Muslims doing battle in Constantinople. With her go hundreds of trained griffins —but unfortunately, it turns out that they cannot tell a Muslim…
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This past weekend, a lot of women (and yes, men) came together to reiterate their commitment to the sort of fair behavior that is not being found in our government. As my minor contribution to this discussion, my publishers agreed to put into special offer a book I wrote some years ago in which most…
Read MoreThanks to everyone who nominated Island of the Mad for a Lefty Award! Left Coast Crime is such a fun conference, I’m looking forward to zipping north to Vancouver, BC in March. And you? See the rest of the great nominees here.
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For the story I’m working on—a novella, in which SFPD Inspector Kate Martinelli revisits her past—I needed to have her look at some high school yearbooks. To remind myself what they looked like, I dug out my own. Now, I graduated in 1970. Ever since I bought the thing, I’ve wondered what the hell a “Micopacen”…
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I received a photo today from Our Lady in the Bahamas, Marcia Talley, that gives a tantalizing glimpse of some hitherto unsuspected case… Let’s see, January, 1926. Shortly after the matters of “Stately Holmes”. Hmm…
Read MoreHere on the left coast, winter is a really rocky time. Twice a day, we feel low…tide. We’re constantly on the cliffs around here. And yes, we’re all going to the dogs. But still, here’s some waves to you, from me and Steamer Lane.
Read MoreToday is Mary Russell’s 119th birthday! If you would like to wish the good lady happy returns for the day, you can pop over to her Twitter page, here. (By Elina, from Finland) Or perhaps you have an image of Miss Russell that you’d like us to add to the gallery? In any event, thanks for…
Read MoreThis is the last few days to download the free illustrated pdf version of “Mary’s Christmas”, here. Print it off, e-mail it around, send it to friends—but do it in the next few days, because it comes off the site on January 1. I hope you enjoy it!
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