I had a conversation with a writer friend recently (yes, an actual conversation, phoning her up and hearing a voice, not just letters appearing on a screen) with the usual mutual groans and moans of the published (covers, tours, deadlines) and sharing of titles we’d fallen in love with recently. Then she said something that…

I did one of the more interesting interviews of my writing career recently, a podcast episode with Shannon Clute for Black Mask. Where most interviews run over pretty similar ground, this one chewed over a lot of meaty material—politics, writing techniques, history—well, a lot of material. Let me know what you think.

As an alternative recognition of Valentine’s Day, I’m going to get sexist here. Some years ago I stopped going to male doctors. Nothing to do with male eyes and hands, you understand—ging through a couple of pregnancies tends to leave a woman with little bodily modesty—but it’s to do with what comes out of their…

Isabella Mori does a blog on psychotherapeutic issues such as PTSD called Change Therapy. I did an interview with her last month and missed when it was posted, but if you scuttle over there, it’s still up. Because she talks mostly about To Play the Fool, I don’t know that it counts as a part…

Of course, when you get to my advanced age, which is (I’ll admit this) three years, you tend to forget birthdays, as I did yesterday. Yes, this blog started three years ago, with the first posting on the old site. So perhaps it’s time for an informal survey (and let’s hope the comments are working…

When my kids were small, I was very active in the Home and School club, like the PTA without the national clout behind it. This school was one where white faces were very much in the minority, where my two enrolled in Spanish as a Second Language by just walking into the classroom. Which is,…

Here’s another podcast from the golden voice of Rick Kleffel and our recent show at KUSP. Same scary picture, though. *** I am, finally, back in the swing of writing. The Language of Bees is now well over 100 pages, and growing at a rate of 2000 words a day, some more and some less.…

My good buddy Dana Stabenow has a new book out this week, not one of her Kate Shugak series but a standalone thriller. Although I’m not sure you can have a thriller that uses the word “snickerdoodles” or in which the characters discuss Robert Heinlein, but that’s Dana for you. Take a look at her…

My friend Rick Kleffel has posted an interview with me, accompanied by a really frightening picture, at his blog the Agony Column

The Touchstone tour was bracketed by my two beloved local bookshops. Capitola Bookcafe started things off on January 7th with a champagne toast, glasses (REAL glasses) of a very nice champagne for everyone at the event. It was a very nice event. I think. Anyway, I had a good time. Then on the 26th I…