Stories I Love: Vera (The DCI, Not the Waitress)
When I first began sharing Stories I Love, I focused on the mysteries that I return to again and again, like comfort food for the story-lover’s soul. Over the past year, I’ve worked my way through most of those, and the Stories I Love have expanded to include other character-driven narratives that I’ve happily stumbled across, but haven’t made it into my regular rotation yet. (I’ve learned that character-driven narratives are what my brain craves like Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter World. Mmm, peanut butter.) This week, I was thrilled to binge-watch a new show with my husband, and even Read more…
Watch Out! I’m About to Get Grounded (With a Different Kind of Release Date)
I mentioned last month that the Birthday Crab (sort of like Santa Claus in Bermuda shorts) came to visit me, but not how many times he has done so. It doesn’t matter. I’m old. And I have been for a while. How do I know? Because getting grounded sounds like a good thing. Obviously not everyone on the InterWebs is American, and sometimes things get lost in translation, so let’s make sure we’re on the same page. (Just an Americanism, or an expression with a global pedigree?) I love the versatility of language, and it turns out “grounded” is quite Read more…
Writers: Beware the Bardo (Getting Lost in the In-Between Times)
You may recall (unless your mind is like mine) that I’ve been feeling a little scattered lately. It’s partly the dreaded, double-barreled heat and humidity (Summer Days Make Me Feel Stupid), although in recent days east Hawaii has been mostly dumped on by another weather system in need of some serious Prozac. In fact, my primary productivity culprit is more existential. I sailed through my editor’s feedback from her first pass on No Safe Winterport earlier this week, which was an awesome feeling. (It is funny though, how I seem to develop different weird spelling/typo/punctuation tics for each project; this time Read more…
Cover Reveal for No Safe Winterport, The Fourth Sydney Brennan Mystery
It’s been raining here a lot lately. I’m not complaining—my whiteboard has fallen off the wall (with 15 pieces of “permanent” mounting tape) and my dog-walking sneakers haven’t dried in about five days, but the daily drenching has definitely provided a welcome relief from the heat. (Okay, maybe I’m complaining a little.) Last night, we had occasional thunder between waves of rain that pounded the metal roof hard enough to loosen your fillings, which is unusual for Hawaii. (The thunder, that is—rumbling in the distance here is more likely to mean the military is playing with its boom-boom toys in Read more…
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