I tried to pack light for my 5 day, 4 night trip to Manhattan. I really did. And I still had trouble lifting my carry-on into the overhead bin. In fact, I have a vague memory of a flight attendant rushing to help me get the last corner up and in. (Thank you, Delta. …Read More

  “If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.” —Heraclitus This Sargent painting lives at the Cincinnati Art Museum. It’s a stunning painting–despite its obvious artifice, the two girls are so of a piece with their surroundings that they look …Read More

    About a year and a half ago, I attended a wildly fun day-long conference in Milwaukee called Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee. During my panel–and I can’t for the life of me remember what the subject was because we laughed a lot–I sat beside the delightful mystery writer, Lori Rader-Day. Lori is young, …Read More

  The novel I just finished writing is a little different from the others. Change can be a good thing, yes? I’ve had six novels published, and every one of them has been a ghost story. No, scratch that. Every single one has been a mystery with ghosts in it. To me, every novel is …Read More

Happy Wednesday, my dears! One week from now, I’ll be at the 2017 Edgars Symposium in NYC. I’m thrilled to be on a panel moderated by the remarkable Jeffery Deaver with a lot of other cool folks. Then the banquet is next Thursday, where I’ll be waiting nervously to hear about the Best Short Story …Read More

  Oh, no! I missed blogging on Monday–the first time this year. But things happen, yes? And I promised it was for a good cause: editing, editing, editing. I’m SO excited about this new manuscript, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it…soon! I took hundreds of pics at the St. Louis Comic con …Read More

  Mark 16 5-7 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. …Read More

Easter Eggs, Cat Armor (!), and Books by Friends 5 Beliefs About Anxiety That Can Make You Even More Anxious. As someone who has a lot of anxiety, I find these all very familiar. At tinybuddha.com. We are at our happiest at ages 23 and 69. Here’s the original abstract–more detailed, and requires close reading. Gorgeous …Read More

I’m worried about my flower garden. With the exception of a couple trays of annuals, it has been on autopilot the last two years. Five or six years ago, we did a large planting with some hummingbird sweet bushes, evergreens, a small Japanese maple, and a lovely butterfly bush. But the hummingbird sweet bushes have died, …Read More

    Let’s pretend I didn’t use “birthday” as a verb, and move on, okay? It’s weirdly appropriate in this case, but I know such a slip can be triggering for my grammar-faithful friends. Husband’s birthday was this week, and he wasn’t in a great mood. In fact, he didn’t really want to celebrate his …Read More