Magpie Moments: The Lost Art of Hand-Kissing
Rudy took my right hand gently in both of his and raised it to his lips. His eyes flicked to mine for my reaction. I don’t know what he saw. For him it was an effortless gesture, over before my brain could engage. My whole hand tingled, and I wasn’t sure if he’d kissed the fingers, the back of my hand, or both. I’d never had a man kiss my hand before—not seriously anyway—and I found the sensation both thrilling and repulsive. Back to Lazarus, Chapter 27 Rudy Nagroski isn’t based on any particular person, but his penchant for hand-kissing Read more…
Magpie Moments: Care for Some Sulfur with Your Tea?
This is the fourth in a series of what I’m calling Magpie Moments, things that I snagged from real life and repurposed into fiction. I’ll add something new to this series every week until the next Sydney Brennan release. And SPOILER ALERT: you may not want to read these if you haven’t read Back to Lazarus yet. We ate at a Mexican place where everything was drenched with cheese and the iced tea tasted slightly of sulfur. It was no Rosalia’s by any means, but when I switched my beverage to a Corona, the taste of the food improved dramatically. Back to Lazarus Chapter 26, Read more…
Magpie Moments: The Toxic Town of Lazarus
This is the third in a series of what I’m calling Magpie Moments, things that I snagged from real life and repurposed into fiction. I’ll add something new to the series every week until the next Sydney Brennan release. And SPOILER ALERT: you may not want to read these if you haven’t read Back to Lazarus yet. Ida set her tea glass down and rested her elbows on the table. “I don’t grow fresh mint anymore. I guess you saw Mr. Phillips next door, with his greens and tomatoes in buckets. The EPA man told him it wasn’t safe to eat anything that grew in Read more…
Magpie Moments: Wearing a Skirt with a Shiner
This is the second in a series of what I’m calling Magpie Moments, things that I snagged from real life and repurposed into fiction. I will add something new to the series every week until the next Sydney Brennan release. And SPOILER ALERT: you may not want to read these if you haven’t read Back to Lazarus yet. When I was a sophomore in high school, I caught an elbow playing pick-up basketball and ended up with a hell of a shiner that covered half my face. It was beyond makeup, even if I had owned any and known how to use it. Instead, I Read more…
Introduction to Magpie Moments: Suicidal Superman
David Sedaris is one of those people who could make a to-do list funny, interesting, and sometimes even insightful and transformative. I am definitely a fan. He often talks about cannibalizing his own life for his writing. For example, one essay in the fabulous Me Talk Pretty One Day centers around his compulsion to share a personal story that his sister forbids him from telling. (As he points out, it’s not like she’s doing anything with it.) I doubt that fiction authors are any different from essayists. I’m always incorporating bits of my life or the lives of others into my writing, sometimes Read more…
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