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Fired up, thanks.
You may have heard that we have a fire going on here in Santa Cruz. Fires are, unfortunately, not unusual in California—generally in October, when the dry season is dragging on. But fires are now an annual, close, pressing presence, all over the state. For a quarter of the year, every year, our lives have…
Read MoreThe Case of Laurie and the Monegasque Prince
The Case of Laurie and the Monegasque Prince One morning, the following email greeted my insufficiently caffeinated eyes, arriving as a message through my web site: On Jul 11, 2020, at 6:48 AM, {Name (First):1.3} {Name (Last):1.6} <noreply@authorbyteshosting.com> wrote: Name Stefano Casiraghi Email 24hoursred2@gmail.com Message I am Stefano Casiraghi Jr, and I…
Read MoreYes: Black Lives Matter (5)
What do I do? I began this week of Black Lives Matter thoughts by saying that the music industry’s #TheShowMustBePaused mission had prompted my (as their statement had requested) honest, reflective and productive inner conversation—with myself, on my own responsibilities when it came to the Black lives in my country. Race in this country is…
Read MoreYes: Black Lives Matter (3)
#SayTheirNames Black lives lost are swept up in the busy-ness of life: a sad shake of the head, a purse of the lips (“He should have known better than to pull out his phone/ run at night/ hit a cop/ drive there/ live…”) before the name fades. But the entire planet now knows the name…
Read MoreYes: Black Lives Matter (2)
“The actions we need to collectively take to support the Black community.” I live in the publishing community. My publisher is the biggest gorilla on the street, and I am actively involved in Mystery Writers of America, both of whom have come out with public statement on the #BLM movement (here and here.) And…
Read MoreYes: Black Lives Matter (1)
Black Lives: a marker of progress for white lives? I haven’t said much about the state of our world since the May 25 death of George Floyd (other than the introductory remarks in my last newsletter, here.) In part, I felt that #BlackoutTuesday and its basis, #TheShowMustBePaused, were meant to focus the world’s attention on…
Read MoreRussell’s Nurse Friend
One of the people I follow on Facebook is a long-time admirer of the Mary Russell stories who came into the fold when she was younger than Russell is in Beekeeper. She did some of the illustrations we’ve used in various projects, like this one of Baskerville Hall: (She was one of the few artists…
Read MoreThe Beekeeper’s Jeopardy
The sign of Really Having Made It: The sign of Well Not Quite So Great: Nobody got the right answer. Ah well, it was only $400, but clearly there were no mystery fans on Jeopardy tonight.
Read MoreGrandparents’ Day
Happy grandparents day, all. And here’s to the kids, who bring a sense of wonder… and curiosity… and open the door to new experiences… and make for a gift that keeps being opened.
Read MoreThere be dragons
So, I have this grandson, who was having a birthday. And the kid loves dragons–really loves dragons. So I thought I ought to make him a blanket as I did for his brother a couple of years ago (the brother wanted snakes. Surprisingly cheery, in fact.) And since my town actually has a genuine fabric…
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