Blog
Winter in Santa Cruz
Here 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 MoreHappy Birthday, Mary!
Today 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 MoreMerry night!
Happy Christmas Eve!—since we’ll all be too busy for checking screens tomorrow, but also because Christmas Eve is a day all on its own, with a turning-point feel to it that I particularly love. From the day’s last-minute busyness the day turns to a drawing-in of family, with a meal that (in our house) is…
Read MoreHeaven is dry stockings
Commemorating the end of the Great War, 100 years ago this weekend. From Justice Hall The War journal of Lt. Gabriel Hughenfort 28 January Never have I imagined cold such as this. Even the frost-rimed dugout the officers share seems an oasis of warmth. Heaven is dry stockings, even if they are caked with dirt.…
Read MoreHaunted Poveglia
In the spirit of the season, a sample from Island of the Mad, when Russell & Holmes set out for a haunted island of the Venice lagoon, Poveglia. Before leaving the hotel, Holmes and I had studied the general maps and my slightly more detailed sketch of this tripartite island. The boat-house, on the southern…
Read MoreMystery Week events!
It’s MYSTERY WEEK …for Mystery Writers of America, NorCal. And as it happens, I’ve been roped into three of the events: Saturday 20, 6:30: San Francisco I‘ll be moderatingNoir at the Bar for Litquake/SF at what looks like an amazing venue: Amnesia beer hall, at 853 Valencia. Come and raise a glass (they also have…
Read MoreHappy (?) Banned Books Week
Happy (yes!) Banned Books Week (and the Future of Democracy) September 23-29 is Banned Books Week from the American Library Association, with this year’s theme of “Banning Books Silences Stories.” My local library, in Santa Cruz, asked me to contribute to their video collection of local readers talking about a favorite banned book. And I…
Read MoreThe Writer on the Road
My 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 MoreLockdown & New Guinea
One 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 MoreIsland wiki-vid
Island 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?
Read More