While I could regale you with the yummy lit details of the Icelandic mystery novel I’m reading, or tempt you with illicit morsels of killer poetry from a certain wicked blogger chick, or even whine about the fascist foolishness of the TSA, I’ve decided to ply you with chocolate, instead. If you make this shamelessly …Read More

A couple months back at our super-fun Noir at the Bar appearance in St. Louis, P and I made a new writer friend, the inimitable J. Travis Grundon. Not content just to write books, Grundon has begun selling them, as well. When I heard that he and partner B.C. Brown were just about to open …Read More

I taught myself how to make bread years ago because I wanted to be able to do one thing well.  I started with books, as I do with most anything I want to learn to do. Julia Child’s The Way to Cook was my bible. She uses lots of photos and step-by-step instructions for every …Read More

I’ve been listening to Elizabeth George’s novel, This Body of Death. Since my attention issues have come to light in the past two years, I’ve found I get much more out of a novel when I hear it being read, rather than following the words on a page. The first (adult) audio novel I listened …Read More

One of the many fun things that came out of my Wardrobe by Sam project–besides many recent shopping trips to replace all those cut-rate fall & winter clothes–was an invitation to submit a piece of fiction to a new crime anthology, Discount Noir. During all the days and hours that I spent in Wal-Mart and …Read More

Today is magic day for Susan Henderson. Up From the Blue, her debut novel, is finally available! It’s hard for me express to you how happy I am for her. I confess that I’ve never met Susan in person, though I know many people who have. Such is the force of her personality that everyone …Read More

(photo link) A few days ago, I attended a social function during which one of my husband’s academic colleagues politely asked me what I was working on. “I’m 1800 words into a new novel,” I replied, quoting that day’s Facebook status. “I’m not sure what it will end up being, but it seems to have …Read More

This morning I took the dogs for a walk in the deer pasture overlooking our house. We don’t cultivate the acreage specifically for the deer who feed in it. They just show up daily for the grass and other tender bits. We keep a path mowed through it throughout the year, but its body is …Read More

Last summer a house wren nested on our front porch in one of the empty planters on top of the potting table. It wasn’t a terribly organized nest, but it was in a corner, high off of the ground, and so was pretty safe. I spent a fun morning watching the fledglings flinging themselves about …Read More

Given that I’ve had such a busy work and play week, I’m stunned to find that I didn’t jot off a little something for a regular post. Goodness, here it is S.O.S. already. I have rice cooking issues. While I won’t say we eat a lot of rice, it is a staple in our house–particularly …Read More