A writer with a book on the brink of publication always holds her breath until the first shoe drops: will reviewers like the new book? Or will this be the one that exposes me for a fraud and a wastrel? Instead of the shoe dropping, will its owner come pounding down the stairs and stomp…
Read MoreThis is what the side of my house generally looks like when the sun is low in the sky, the light coming through the oak leaves: And here is what the wall looked like tonight, as the moon slipped in front of the sun, turning the circles of light to arcs:
Read MoreI said in the rules of the contest that mention of one of my books wouldn’t give a person any extra points, but… I loved the depiction of childhood glee in Susan M’s piece, since who wouldn’t love a secret passageway into a world of books? But honestly, I had to recognize Kathy Eliot, who…
Read MoreThe fourth winner in last month’s library contest is Beth Anne, whose piece offers insight into the richness and humanity of archival research. Archival research usually consists of long stretches of boredom punctuated by tedium, until bits of evidence start to tumble out of the documents. There is nothing like this sense of discovery, which…
Read MoreThe third winner of last month’s National Library Week giveaway, Ashley W. tells us about her “Thrill in the Stacks”: My most personal library thrill actually happened at an archives. The Archives, to be exact. A friend works at the National Archives and is a specialist in US Department of State records. He was taking…
Read MoreOur second winner of the National Library Week contest (and there is no rank among the winners, by the way, no first prize or runners-up) is by “EMB”. And how could it not be, coupling precision with the words “Bodleian” and “mitigation” in its very first sentence–then going on to a mystery involving the Tremulous…
Read MoreLast month, while I was away in Japan, we ran a contest with the theme “Thrills in the Stacks”—asking for some exciting event that happened in the library. I read the submissions when I got back 2 weeks ago, but although I don’t do jet lag, I do get really stupid for a while after…
Read MorePretty new covers from my UK publishers, for the paperbacks available the end of June. (And thanks to all my friends at Facebook who tried to help me with converting to jpeg: it takes a village to raise a blog post!)
Read MoreMalice Domestic is an annual conference held in Bethesda, MD, dedicated to the traditional mystery, gentle on its surface but roiling with deadly currents beneath. And guess who’s just been named next year’s guest of honor? Guest of Honor: Laurie R. King Toastmaster: Laura Lippman Lifetime Achievement: Aaron Elkins Malice Remembers: Dick Francis International Guest…
Read MoreAs I crawl out of the post-travel state of fuzzy-brain, I begin to make my way through three weeks of unanswered emails and un-posted blog entries. Among which is showing you the cover for Garment of Shadows. This was one cover the publisher and I wrestled over, since their initial version had the figure standing…
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