So, day one of a very brief writing retreat: the good is that it’s gray and cool enough that I’m interested in staying indoors summoning words, at least until the sun comes out this afternoon. The bad is that the house doesn’t seem to have a coffeemaker.
Read MoreI need to write. I have two short pieces and a lot of thinking to do, and it’s hard to put words on the screen or thoughts in order when life is its usual chaotic self. So I’ve come to the coast for a few days, to write, here: I’ll let you know how it…
Read MoreI’m back in England for a few days, where the fields are considerably greener than they were when I was here in July and August. And the cricket players seem happier about it, too.
Read MoreMy grandfather (here) was famous for his ability to pack. His parcels for mailing were works of art: methodical, compact, secure. It’s a knack I inherited, and used to impress my husband when I could take his suitcase apart and re-pack it with half as much again inside. When I was in high school, back…
Read MoreI’m in Victoria, BC for a retreat with my Canadian Sisters in Crime. Not that they’re all Canadian, because there seem to be a fair number of folk from south of the border. And not that they’re all Sisters, since my friend Jim Ziskin is here (male Sisters are generally termed Misters, in SinC lingo.)…
Read MoreAnyone out there live in the vicinity of Victoria, Canada? If so, come around for this great panel-and-chat at Bolen Books this Saturday night. And if you know anyone there, let them know!
Read MoreA summer holiday in England is always a toss-up. I’ve had summers where even homo sapiens feel the sogginess of hoof and mouth disease, and other summers with dry reservoirs and lengthy hose-pipe bans. This is one of the Augusts when green is but a memory. So here in our holiday home just outside the…
Read MoreOne of the earliest sections written in what eventually became Lockdown was a story set in Papua New Guinea. I spent some months there in late 1970s, on my honeymoon (because yes, what else do academics do for a honeymoon than go visit a Stone Age community?) which makes for one of those illustrations that a…
Read MoreMy standalone Lockdown comes out in paperback today! Lockdown is a story of community. It’s a mosaic of a tale, about a day where all the lives in a school intersect: the cop and the would-be gang member, the principal’s mysterious husband with and his friendship with the school janitor, a girl with secrets and a kid…
Read MoreIsland of the Mad is joined by a number of other great historical mysteries in this new video production by the “video wiki” group ezvid. (Click here.) Other than a minor date problem, what do you think of their images?
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