One hundred years ago, the armies in Europe were locked head to head all along a line from the North Sea to Switzerland. In the past twelve months, hundreds of thousands had fallen, soldiers and civilians alike. An entire swath of Europe lay devastated, the technology of War was building. And Mary Russell met Sherlock…
Read MoreFools have always been a big part of my life. [Polite pause for a series of rude and knowing remarks.] I did my BA thesis on fools, and I’ve worked fools into a couple of novels (To Play the Fool introduces inspector Kate Martinelli to a Holy Fool among the homeless population of San Francisco, and…
Read MoreSorry kids, but here in the northern hemisphere, we’re getting close to the new school year. (Was that a chorus of parents saying Yay! I just heard?) So I thought I’d make another mention of the study program that two great Middle School teachers put together based on The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. As Jake and Katye…
Read MoreLast year on the centenary of the Great War’s beginnings,I began posting young Mary Russell’s War Journal. Her weekly reflections about the War, her drive to do something more than just be a fourteen year-old girl, (her mother is raising money for the British air force) and her suspicions about German spies weave in and…
Read MoreToday I did another of those bits of difficult research I force myself to pursue: I went to see Ian McKellan in Mr Holmes. Oh my, what an actor, slipping effortlessly between a vital 60 year old and a decrepit and confused man in his nineties. And the Sussex scenery is suitably gorgeous, the houses…
Read MoreI love maps. I’m always thrilled to have the excuse of a story that just NEEDS a map at the front (because honest, nobody knows what India looks like, or England, so we have to put one in there, right?) Anyway, when I was in London in May, I was headed to the Victoria &…
Read MoreThe Art department just gave me the cover! So, what do you think? Yummy, huh? Pre-ordering a copy lets Random House know you’re excited: Signed from Bookshop Santa Cruz or Poisoned Pen Books Unsigned or ebook at B&N/Nook or Amazon/Kindle.
Read MoreI’m off today to Thriller Fest in New York! (—and SO glad I wasn’t flying yesterday, when United Airlines was a parking lot.) This will be my first time at Thriller Fest, although I’ve been a member of ITW for a long time and I’ll know a fair number of the writers there. This is…
Read MoreI can’t resist new life forms, particularly when they inhabit fruit and vegetable stands. The other day I wandered into the one in the Stanford shopping center, and spotted a soft, heavy football with a scratchy skin. It wore a nametag: Mamay. Hello, Mamay. Mamay is a Cuban native weighing two or three pounds, which…
Read MoreAs you may have noticed (did you?) posts here on Mutterings have been both sparse and brief of late. Here’s why: First draft, 326 pages, with a strong beginning, wobbly middle, and an ending I absolutely adore. This is Mrs Hudson’s story (and yes, before you ask, I do fully intend to let Dr Watson…
Read More