2016 ended on a high note for me, literarily speaking. I read some extraordinary books in November and December. As this is one of my favorite blogs of the year, I can’t wait to share them with you. America’s First Daughter, a historical novel by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie is simply an extraordinary read. Based on […]
“All crime novels are social novels,” says Laura Miller in her recent article “Try To Remember” in The New Yorker, an article devoted to Dublin-based mystery writer Tana French (Oct. 3, 2016, page 72). Unlike many articles in The New Yorker, this one cuts to the chase. Says Miller, “Most crime fiction is diverting; French’s is […]
The Tucson Festival of Books is all about Story. Last year, some of you may remember, I attended as a participant. This year, my friend Mary Leatherman and I traveled south for a little getaway, and have been enjoying timeshares in Sedona, and now Tucson. Sedona has great hiking; Tucson has the Tucson Festival of Books, […]
TUCSON, AZ.–Not all that often does One submit an away-from-home blog, but that’s what One is doing today. My sister Janet, her significant other, and I spent the day recovering from what I have christened the Book Slut Weekend (BSW). In normal parlance, this weekend is known as the Tucson Festival of Books. Janet and […]
“If it weren’t for a ridiculous snobbery about ‘crime writing’,” John Mortimer once observed, “Ruth Rendell would be acclaimed as one of our most important novelists.” This is a mouthful from the late barrister, screenwriter, and creator of “Rumpole of the Bailey”. Now 82 years young, Ruth Rendell, as I recently discovered, is author of […]
If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut. –Stephen King, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” Imagine reading Stephen King’s “Great Commandment” if you’re a writer. It’s […]
Not too long ago, I wrote my first sex scene. And then mystery author Craig Johnson posted this for Valentine’s Day. I laughed so hard I had to hold my sides…probably because it was familiar territory. Craig was good enough to allow me to share this with my readers. Thanks, Craig. And to the rest […]
Craig Johnson rode into town on a balmy night last summer to promote his latest Walt Longmire novel Junkyard Dogs. Until that night, I’d never heard of him. But, as he was reading at one of my favorite indie bookstores, Murder By The Book, we decided to check him out. He looked like a cowboy. He […]