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Forensics & Faith
Here we are with Photo Friday for March. (Can you believe it's March already?) PF runs monthly on Forensics and Faith. For you new readers, here's the scoop: Write the best caption, win your choice of one of my novels. Enter as many captions as you like. Come back over...
Major congratulations to Stuart Vaughn Stockton, who has won this year's Eppie Award in the science fiction category for his debut novel, Starfire. Many of you know Starfire is dear to my own heart. Stuart allowed me to use Starfire as the novel written by my character S-Man in the...
Try Reading This Fan Letter Without Smiling
Some of my most fun fan letters have come from younger readers. This one is particularly young to be tackling one of my books. You can't read the letter without smiling. I'm running it here as is--no spelling/grammatical fixes. I have blocked out certain plot details, using underlining in their...
The Effect of Free E-Books on Sales
Yesterday Publisher's Lunch linked to this interesting paper: The Short-Term Influence of Free Digital Versions of Books on Print Sales, by John Hilton III and David Wiley. I'm interested in the topic after two of my novels, Dark Pursuit and Exposure, were offered free on the Kindle for about the...
Recently on an author e-mail loop someone raised the question about the spiritual message in Christian fiction. The writer wondered if the message should be "hidden" in order to better reach non-Christians. This writer's manuscript, as described, had little Christian message until the very last. That tactic had been criticized....
When You Don't Know the Word--Make It Up
Ever needed just the right word to explain something--and the word didn't exist? It may now--through The Unword Dictionary. As purveyor of Today's Word on Twitter and Facebook, I love learning new words. Even so I often find in my writing that as my fingers fly I make them up....
A Novel Idea
Please address my package to "The Duchess"
Yet another reason why it would be completely aweseome to live in the UK: lots of "Title" options when you're shopping online: I think I would like to be The Countess Anna Claire of Volleria, or maybe the Marchioness of Lovliness. JB would probably pick something like Wing Commander J.B. Awesome. What...
Sometimes it's like pulling teeth, trying to make myself sit down and write more of my novel's rough draft. I either get plagued by doubt and insecurity over my writing, or I get sidetracked by e-mail and oh look Banana Repulic has free shipping today so maybe I'd better head...
Judging by the cover, or a nerdy way to waste time online
I could spend hours ogling interesting, beautiful or just freakin' cool book covers.Here are a couple of sites where you, too, can waste time ogling book covers: The Book Cover ArchiveThe NY Times' Book Design Review blog's Favorite Covers of 2009 (with links to previous years' lists)Via Cup of Jo....
Just wanted to alert you to a new book released yesterday that has a high probability of being completely awesome. It's The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn. She's the author of the Lady Julia Gray series which I reviewed here, here and here, and also one of my favorite (living) authors. Her books...
I work in a Cubicle City, and it's hard to find ways to brighten up the institutional teal walls surrounding my desk. Which is why it's so much fun to play with my work computer's desktop wallpaper. I found some way cool (and offbeat) designs at Totally Severe. Sarah, the...
Late last summer, I wrote about why I hate August.Well...I don't hate it so much anymore.Something super cool is due to happen in August......So I might as well tell you.......You know, get it out......Out there in the open......(BTW it's not a book deal)......Just spit it out there......So here goes......Deep breath......*inhales...
Meanderings
THE GOOD BROKE LIFE IN SUNNY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In the winter, when my mom was a kid growing up in Los Angeles, sometimes she'd take the train up to the snow in the morning and go sledding. Then she'd head back into the city around lunch time, hopping off the train at one stop to pick some oranges...
"THE MEDIA" OWES US AN APOLOGY
NOT TIGER WOODS. I just tried watching his public mea culpa and I had to turn it off. If he wants, he can go ahead and apologize to his wife, his family, his business partners who have lost some money. But me? I don't need to hear it.Now sure, on...
As any long term reader of my blog knows, I love tattoo expos. As a photographer, my favorite subject has always been people. A lot of people are shy about having their picture taken. Not, however, at tattoo expos. That's part of the enjoyment of the experience for people in...
COUGARS, NAZIS, TICKS - OH MY!
Not to rub it in, but today was a fairly typical Los Angeles January day: temperature in the mid to upper 70s, views from the ocean out to the snow capped San Gabriels in the east (taller than any mountains east of the Rockies), a slight breeze. You get the...
I woke up far too early on this the last day of 2009. I was somewhat compensated, however, by the view from the bedroom window of the moon setting over the Hollywood Hills. Groggily, I went for my camera:...
EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING IT, SO WHY NOT ME?
THIS YEAR'S SUMMATION:I don't like Top Ten lists. For one, I usually have more or less than that to go on the list. For two, I tend to see most things in a bewildering array of shades of gray. For three, I break things down into an enormous number of...
My Weblog
by Hank Phillippi Ryan I saw a robin! A big fat bouncy robin. And it was instant spring! It made me look for the crocus shoots. ( I saw some, I know I did.) It made me check for the......
Pirates, Superheroes & Time Travelers Save Civilization
Everybody loves superheroes. It's not just because they possess super powers, like the ability to fly or to swing between skyscrapers by means of super-tensile spider webs, though those are pretty impressive, I must say. The world loves them because......
Award season (and Agatha Best Short Story nominees!)
by Dana Okay, hands up: who watches the award shows in late winter? How about the Olympics, a special addition this year? They saturate the media on every level, from advertising to the pre-shows to the events themselves to analysis.......
How to Do Some Killer Promotion
Today, the Femmes Fatales welcome guest blogger Penny Warner. Take it away, Penny! HOW TO HOST A KILLER PARTY, the first book in my new mystery series, debuted February 2nd, 2010. After a year of writing and rewriting and rewriting......
by Donna As the daughter of a gardener, I grew up knowing that each season had its own special task. In spring, you planted and in summer you tended the garden. In fall you reaped the harvest of your labors.......
By Kris Since I’ve always believed that we writers are products of the paths we’ve followed, in art and in life, it’s not a surprise that I write madcap mysteries like my Tracy Eaton mysteries — the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity......
The Murder Book
Not only is crime down in NYC, so is 'crazy crime...."
Yep, there's no doubt that NYC in 2010 is a much cheerier place than it was in the bad old days of the late '70s and early '80s. The murder rate has dropped from 2,200 homicides a year to under......
Number of murders in NYC for 2009 will be lowest total ever...
NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg were positively giddy today and with good reason -- the number of homicide victims in NYC in 2009 will be the lowest ever, or at least since accurate records were kept.......
Murders are down in NYC but so are the number solved...
There have been only 399 murders so far in NYC this year compared with 452 homicides last year, a drop of more than 11 percent. If the trend continues, this could be the fewest number of homicides recorded in NYC......
Two high-profile murders do not inspire confidence in men....
The murders of Yale student Annie Le in New Haven and Essex House resident Andree Bejjani (photo) in New York are especially troubling because both women were murdered in places where they probably felt completely safe. In fact, it would......
Naked woman stabbed to death in Central Park South condo...building employee in custody....
The naked body of a young female resident of a high-end condominium in the Essex House on Central Park South was found in her bedroom with a knife sticking out of her neck Saturday afternoon, according to police. (photo Daily......
Did suspect in case of Yale student strangled drop his pen?
Some of the best reporting on the story about Annie Le, the Yale student strangled and found dead on what should have been her wedding night, is coming from Michael Daly, the NY Daily News columnist with close ties to......
Beth Groundwater
My Medical Thriller Author Guest, D. P. Lyle, MD
D. P. Lyle's upcoming April release is Stress Fracture. In the book, Dub Walker, expert in evidence evaluation, crime scene analysis, and criminal psychology, has seen everything throughout his career—over a hundred cases of foul play and countless bloody remains of victims of rape, torture, and unthinkable mutilation. He’s sure...
Tomorrow's Guest Blogger: D. P. Lyle, MD
Tomorrow, medical thriller writer, D. P. Lyle, MD, will be a guest on my blog. He is the Macavity Award winning and Edgar Award nominated author of the non-fiction books, Murder and Mayhem, Forensics For Dummies, Forensics and Fiction, and Howdunnit: Forensics: A Guide For Writers as well as the...
My mystery author guest: Penny Warner
Penny Warner's most recent release is How to Host a Killer Party, the first in the Party Planning mystery series that will include party planning tips in each book. Mixing fun and fundraising for charities seemed like the perfect job for Presley Parker when she’s suddenly downsized from her position...
Tomorrow's Guest Blogger: Penny Warner!
Tomorrow fellow mystery author Penny Warner will be a guest on my blog. Penny has published over 50 books, both fiction and non-fiction, for adults and children, including over a dozen party books. Her latest book, How to Host a Killer Party, is the first in a new mystery series....
I'm in an interesting situation with my Work-in-Progress, the second book in the Rocky Mountain Adventure mystery series that I'm writing for Midnight Ink. However, because of the way I write, it's a situation I've been in before and one that I deliberately put myself in.I'm working in three places...
A lovely review from a lovely reader!
Leola, who writes the "I Love to Read" book review blog, recently read my To Hell in a Handbasket mystery, the second in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer series. She decided that its winter sports focus, with skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling scenes set in Breckenridge, CO, was a good...
Kitty Litter - A mystery writer's rants and raves
I expect four-legged and winged beings to have more sense than humans, and I didn't like the idea that female birds could be as obstinately idiotic as female humans....
I suppose in time, like Adela Rogers St. Johns, I'll put all the fear and confusion and sadness of the last weeks into a fictional character....
White Beans With Sea Scallops and Spinach
A reader emailed asking for the recipe for a dish that Dixie Hemingway's brother, Michael, makes on page 118 of Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof. ...
If I could speak cardinal language, I'd go outside and tell her, "Honey, it never would have worked. He was only a pretty face." ...
CAT SITTER ON A HOT TIN ROOF is one of the nominees for a Mary Higgins Clark Award. ...
As bad as it has been, and while I sure as heck never want it again, I'm thankful for this awful bug. ...
Mystery of a Shrinking Violet
My dad, Don R. Walker, passed away yesterday, with my sister and brother, Helen and Doug, by his side. He was 86 years old. As my sister mentioned in her message to relatives and friends, my dad was proud to be a veteran who served in the US Army during...
I know it’s fall in a lot of other places in the northern hemisphere this time of year. But we don’t usually see evidence of it here in Southern California until later, toward the end of October. My mom used to say that Halloween was usually when we had to...
We’ve had temperatures at or near 100F for three days now. I say “at or near” because it hasn’t quite hit three digits at our house but has very nearby. We happen to be on a hillside that catches just a tad more breeze than some other parts of this...
I’ve been meaning to blog about our new family member, Raven. I wanted to wait until I’d uploaded some decent pictures of him, and he’s a bit camera shy. At first he was shy of us, and the camera was just a big scary eye staring at him. He...
Piano cat wants to play. (Click on photos for larger views.) Let’s see, this note is … here … Darn humans with cameras! I’m outta here....
You can read my article, “The Interdependent Language of Tarot,” in this month’s Newsletter issue #77 of the Association for Tarot Studies....
Terry's Place
Friday Field Trip: The Everglades
While we were traveling from Florida to Colorado, Jason was doing the reverse. Since I haven't had a chance to do much Colorado photography yet, I thought I'd share some of his wildlife pictures from his trip. I think you'll agree, he got some great shots.This batch was taken in...
Roads – we've been driving on a lot of them. Through major cities, around major cities, and out in the middle of nowhere.When we started, as I mentioned earlier, we took the 'meet at a designated rest stop' option. Throughout Florida and Mississippi, they tended to be about 30-50 miles...
Thanks, Jenny! I was also one of those horse lovers. I enjoyed your post, and thank you for being my guest. Our road trip is technically over by the time you're reading this. We have one more driving day (Tuesday) but will end up at our daughter's house, so this...
Today I'm welcoming Jenny Anderson to Terry's Place. Jenny grew up bouncing between city and farm, hating cities yet spending her whole adult life in them. She's been a wife, mother, geologist, mineral museum curator, soda jerk, materials analyst, antique jewelry dealer, and student. Her master's thesis turned into...
What I'm reading: Inside Out by Barry EislerDespite the hectic schedule and stress of a conference, the three-day break from driving was welcome. I met with two agents and an editor, and all requested pages. Considering I hadn't thought about my romantic suspense in some time, I'm pleased that I...
On the Road - and SleuthFest Sex Panelists
Normally, I'd have a Friday Field Trip posted today, but I've been taking a 'real' field trip, but at 70+ mph on the Interstates, there aren't a lot of nifty photo ops. Plus, I'm not exactly sure where I packed the cables that let my camera talk to my laptop,...
It's a Writing Thing
Between Scylla and Charybdis...a.k.a. internet providers tend to suck
I'm right smack in the middle of a dilemma, gang. Comcast Internets (which I current have) is being a massive PITA about getting an order in to transfer my service to my soon-to-be new digs. Long story short: 2 attemps = 2 FAILs. I don't know why this is so bloody...
This is what happens when you start changing things
I began the Great Declutter project months ago, tired of all the crap I've managed to accumulate over the past nearly 10 years here in DC. When I first moved here, I came with me, my ancient computer and whatever I could fit into my 1998 Nissan Sentra. Wasn't much....
I've been meaning to do a post about minimizing--getting rid of the garbage in your life, whether it's stuff, or habits, or whatever. Then yesterday evening, I saw Wil Wheaton's tweet that Andrew Koenig's body had been found. I didn't know him or his parents, other than having seen his dad...
Many of these great links are thanks to AfterElton.com blogs:Wherein I say LOL and you say, I did laugh merrily in an out loud fashionSam Adama's tats have history...plus bonus!pics!Gorgeous fairy tale artsuricattus doth speaketh the truth: writers, don't fuck it up!Agatha Awards noms announced (special woo-hoo to my buddy-in-crime Dana...
I'm excited to introduce a new blog, Hooked on Heroines, a new group blog debuting this week. Who are we? Linda Robertson, author of the Persephone Alcmedi series from Pocket/Juno booksLaura Bickle, author of the Lantern series from Pocket/Juno; and her alter ego, Alayna Williams, author of...
While seanan_mcguire gleefully posts about her bookstore display (also starring robgoodfella and antonstrout ), I have the utmost pleasure to announce that I will have a bookstore display from April 13 - 26, 2010 in Barnes & Noble stores, featuring a special vampires & werewolves promo with my books and Carole Nelson Douglas'...
The Outfit: A Collective of Chicago Crime Writers
By Kevin GuilfoileIt's that time of year when I point the readers of this site to one of my other Internet side projects. The Sixth Annual Powell's/Field Notes Tournament of Books has started over at The Morning News, where I am a contributing writer. If you're unfamiliar, this is the...
Should You E-Publish on Kindle?
by Joe Konrath Joe Konrath, a Chicago author and a friend of many Outfit members, has been getting a lot of attention lately (including Entertainment Weekly a few days ago) for the number of books he’s been selling on Kindle, books that he hasn’t otherwise sold to his publishers. ...
By Bryan GruleyMy first novel came out last March. But I knew what the protagonist’s name would be more than twenty-five years ago.Honest.At signings and book clubs, readers frequently ask, “Where do you get the names of your characters?” Maybe the better question is, “Where do you get the characters...
Writers, The Oscars, and “Sickly little mole people”
I laughed at Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr. when they faced off while presenting the original screenplay award. Their byplay was light, comic, and had just the right amount of truth about how writers feel about their words. But the question remains: are we writers “sickly little mole...
by Libby HellmannThere are signs of spring on the North Shore of Chicago: the cold is loosening its grip, the sun has returned, the crocuses are poking up, and the air is scented with…The stink of skunks.Those of you who live up here know there has been a population...
by Barbara D'AmatoYou're writing a crime novel. You've worked out a surprise ending. You want it to make sense when the reader arrives at the end, but not to be so obvious that readers go "Aw--I saw that coming." Since readers differ in their ability to deduce, as well as...
When the Muse Strikes . . .
RESCUING OLIVIA hits US bookstores today!
Rescuing Olivia officially hits bookstores today! I'd love it if you'd help me spread the word. Wondering how you can help? Here are some ideas:1. Look for Rescuing Olivia in your local bookstore. If they don't have it, ask them to order it. (If it's there, and your phone has...
Nice profile in The Big Thrill, ITW's newsletter
Lj Sellers did a really nice profile piece of me and RESCUING OLIVIA in the February issue of The Big Thrill, the online newsletter of International Thriller Writers, that just came out today. Thanks Lj!Here's the link: The Big Thrill...
Thank you Naples Florida Weekly for a great review of RESCUING OLIVIA!
Naples Florida Weekly had a really nice write-up of Rescuing Olivia in this week's print edition. The online link won't be available until February 11, but here's a taste:"Ms. Compton paces the story majestically, giving just enough new information in each scene to raise new questions that pull the reader...
RESCUING OLIVIA is in Stores! (A bit early . . .)
Stopped by the Barnes & Nobles on Colonial here in Orlando to see my book on the shelf. (When I was talking to the manager the day before, he mentioned he already...
Should a seven year old child be in a tanning booth?
A seven year old girl spending time in a tanning booth? And everyone from her mother who called to make the appointment (who I have to believe is the instigator of this activity) to the employee at the salon taking the call, thinks it's okay? When Rick came home...
Please meet . . . Margaret Reyes Dempsey, author of THE BENEFACTOR!
Today I'm delighted to introduce Margaret Reyes Dempsey, the author of The Benefactor. My friendship with Margaret is another one of those "would have never met her but for my book" type of stories. Interestingly enough, Margaret and I attended the same university, Washington University in St. Louis, and we...
Freedom From The Mundane
Image: Colin Galbraith I’m shattered. My eyes hurt, my head is sore, I have that run down snivelly thing going on and I want to sleep for hours while at the same time go out and let my hair down. Maybe I can do both. Scotland are playing England at rugby...
Image: Eye Make Art I chanced my arm on a whim and logged into my account at the St. Mirren ticket office over lunch yesterday. Lo-and-behold the cup final tickets were available early for non-season ticket holders!! I got two briefs for the League cup final against Rangers on March 21st, Block...
Image: Macbitz After much tinkering with the email client on my PC I can formally announce I am now 100% back in action. But I’m still not happy; not happy with the fact I have to go through this every time I have to reinstall the O/S, which quite frankly shouldn’t...
Image: Woodley Wonderworks I watched an excellent film from Lovefilm last night. Once is a “modern day musical” about an Irish busker and a Czech immigrant, who come together on the street and end up recording some music before going their separate ways. An excellent film; beautifully shot, a wonderful script...
Image: PC Repair My family loves pizza. It’s official. When Gail was given the choice of where she wanted to go for her birthday meal she chose Pizza Express on Leith’s Shore. She made her decision shortly before we left, and so I wasn’t surprised to see it was full when...
Image: Online Casino Dear Lord, I thank myself for my blessed foresight when I purchased a Netbook last year, for it has gotten me out of quite a few scrapes already. I bought it to support my writing in a mobile environment, but it has also given me the ability to...
Getting Medieval
Left Coast Crime L.A. Friday Night and Saturday
Last night the conventioneers were invited to Metropolis Books for a wine and cheese gathering and as you can see we were pretty much crammed in there. I got my free wine, a bit of salmon, bought a book or......
Left Coast Crime LA Thursday & Friday
Musso & Franks, the oldest restaurant in Hollywood (since 1919) with more here: Fellow Sisters in Crime below. From the OC chapter (and friends) from left, El Presidente Me, Debbie, Maria, Nanette, and Rob: From the online group called the......
Live! From Left Coast Crime Los Angeles
This weekend I will be reporting from Los Angeles--my hometown--at the Left Coast Crime Conference. I will have pictures of the Biltmore (the hotel I'm staying at down the street from the convention hotel, a much better choice for it's......
Scooby-Doo versus Sherlock Holmes
It's not so crazy a thought, really. Well, add a few margaritas and it's not so crazy a thought. Looking through some Sherlock Holmes stories the other day, I was struck at how simple some of the plots are, and......
The Demon's Parchment Release Date
I gotta a date for the release of the third Crispin Guest novel, The Demon's Parchment: October 12, 2010! Just before that, on September 29, 2010, Serpent in the Thorns will be released in paperback. Be on the lookout for......
Alf Oliver's farm will never be the same. This is the bloke who has an arable farm just off the old Roman road from Atherstone to Leicester in England. According to today's article in the London Times, to get to......
What Fresh Hell...?
I'm in Los Angeles at the moment, waiting for the start of Left Coast Crime. Always a fun convention, it feels odd to be back in my "home town" after so long, and yet... it's not really my home town. LA is the big city and I really grew up...
Mario Acevedo is over at Bitten By Books for the next 24 hours, biting back and giving away a $50 B&N gift card. Go harass him!...
Searching for the Lady of the Lake
Doing research for Greywalker #6, I've been looking into the Legend of the Lady of the Lake. But she is no legend. Hallie Latham Illingworth really lived, and died, at Lake Crescent and her saponified body rose to the surface of the beautiful glacial lake nearly three years after her...
Kat Goes Forth (and back and forth and back...)
So... after the Friday from Hell, things are much improved. Looks as if the bookmarks will be redone in time thanks to the fabulous Thing One and Thing Two agreeing to play bookmark shepherds while I'm out in the wilds of Researchlandia!Meanwhile, I'll have to spend a bit of Monday...
Ah, today... how you sucked. I mean... serious, sweaty-donkey ball sucakage. Like deep space cosmic implosion suckage. I'm not just saying, here, I'm SAYING: you sucked, Friday February 26. Total, utter, freakin' suck.How have you suck'd? Let me count the ways....You suck'd at midnight when the pressure plummeted half an...
My friend Rob Thurman would really like to make it onto the New York Times Bestseller list for mass market fiction paperbacks--who wouldn't?--and, if you're in the US (alas, non-US sales aren't counted), you can help her by buying her new book, Roadkill, between March 1 and March 6--that's next...
The Graveyard Shift
The sun is shining here in the outskirts of Mayberry. And, it’s also nice and warm. Birds are chirping, plants are budding, and I actually think I saw a butterfly fluttering in the back yard. Now I’m ready to pack up the SUV and head out on a real road...
Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen
Officer Christopher Arby Upton, 37 United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations March 10, 2010 - While on routine patrol, a man hunting for coyotes mistook Officer Upton for game and shot and killed him with a night vision-equipped, high-powered rifle. Officer Upton leaves behind his wife and four-year-old...
Stephen D. Rogers on “Shot To Death”
Stephen D. Rogers is the author of SHOT TO DEATH (ISBN 978-0982589908) and more than six hundred stories and poems. He’s the head writer at Crime Scene (where viewers solve interactive mysteries) and a popular writing instructor. For more information, you can visit his website, www.stephendrogers.com, where he tries to pull it all together. SHOT...
Southland: Butch and Sundance - A Review of the Police Procedure
Last week’s episode of Southland hit the ground running, and things were no different this time around. Butch and Sundance, the title of last night’s show, was written by television veteran, Mitchell Burgess. You might remember Burgess from another little project of his called The Sopranos. He also had a...
Castle: The Mistress Always Spanks Twice - A Review of the Police Procedure
The Mistress Always Spanks Twice, tonight’s episode of Castle, was written by San Jose, Ca. native, Kate Sargeant. Since I’m also a former resident of the Silicon Valley, I’ll try to play nice. But that may prove to be a bit difficult when revisiting a few sticky spots in this...
Naples, Fla. - The Collier County Sheriff’s Office settles two TASER cases in Federal court. In the latest case, where officers used their TASERS on a handcuffed man, the department agreed to settle for a sum of $95,000. One day earlier, the same department agreed to pay a settlement of...
Books, Boys, Buzz...
Most of you know that I work at Microsoft during the day as a software engineering lead. Well, last year the fantastic Windows 7 launched (my baby!). As a special treat, the company who did the ad campaigns for the launch chose a few engineers from the Windows team to...
Don't you just love the first warm day after a harsh winter? Okay, so maybe you're reading this from Hawaii and just don't have the appreciation for a warm almost spring day like a Midwesterner. But here in Illinois, after a particularly cold winter, we've had two wonderful days in...
I was very sad to hear about the death of Corey Haim. He was a big star when I was a teen. Just last week, I was in Santa Cruz, passing the boardwalk where they filmed The Lost Boys. I was remembering the movie and thinking of him as the...
Buzz Girl in the Windy City...and a Winner!
I'm trying something new today...blogging from the front seat of my car as we close the distance towards The Windy City - Chicago! I'm speaking tonight at the Plainfield Public Library in Plainfield, Illinois to their Teen Writing Group. If you're anywhere in the area, I'd love to see you....
Last week I was a baaad Buzz Girl. I totally forgot to post. And you wanna know why? Because I was kicking off my big seven week adventure with a few days in the NYC. Specifically, Tuesday was the day I met with my editor and got taken to lunch at...
Something quite odd has happened in my life...in my house...well, in my room. The mile-high pile of books that has kept me company for as long as I can remember has been dwindling...What's the story here? Well, three things...1--I have been reading a lot;2--I have started buying and...
Reading Proust In Foxborough
The blogger in the link below takes exception to one of Proust's "euphemisms," but I really liked it because Proust didn't use whatever the current euphemism was (and there were probably many). Instead Proust used something very specific to Swann and Odette, something with meaning to them, and I thought...
All Things Proust, Both Large and Small
I found a web site that gives Proustian facts in a nutshell. The brief, most unProustian of answers about the great man. I am amused. Here is the link. http://answers.encyclopedia.com/question/marcel-proust-jean-santeuil-296239.htmlI have been too busy writing and preparing and delivering a Toastmaster's speech to read anything except the daily papers and The New...
In the twenties, that most fertile period in English (and French) literature, Virginia Woolf read Proust. She probably read him in French. I cannot imagine reading those endless sentences and paragraphs en Francais, but of course well-educated writers of that time would have little difficulty. Strangely enough, the beginning of...
Difficulties with Reading Proust
The great work is temporarily stalled on my nightstand. Proust in Pictures has languished since Christmas. I read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which scared the bejesus out of me, and started The Girl Who Played With Fire which also seems pretty scarey. Too many projects afloat. Need to give...
Here is a review of the Proust movie, Time Regained. I actually saw this movie a few years ago in Harvard Square and thought that they did an excellent job considering how notoriously difficult filming Proust's work must be.Read on.http://moviesuntildeath.blogspot.com/2010/01/time-regained-1999.htmlOdette...
I really like The Cork-Lined Room. The discussion of Proust is excellent with its use of quotes and detail and yet is something every reader can follow--in other words its not too "academic." Small confession: I used to be in the academic camp and somehow migrated to genre fiction where I'm...
Ellen Byerrum
Fashion, Journalism, and the Oscars
The Oscars are days away and I suppose I will turn on the broadcast and occasionally even watch, but I do this for one reason only. Yes, that’s right. The clothes! I’m also curious about a few of the performances that will be rewarded with an Oscar.I’d like...
Seasonal Apparel Disorder Strikes Again!
An epic snowstorm has started and is expected to once again pound the mid-Atlantic region into submission. The weathercasters are tying themselves into knots trying to capture each and every snowflake and predict the exact amount of white stuff. Will it be 20 inches or 30 inches? Will we be...
I'm in The New York Times. Well, sort of. A Sunday New York Times article in the Arts & Leisure Section (Jan. 31, 2010) mentioned the Hostile Makeover computer game, but we almost missed it. The article, "Damsels in Distress, Bozos in Heat," compared and contrasted cable television stations for...
Maintaining the Mystery-- Random Thoughts
J.D. Salinger died today after keeping his legend alive for nearly fifty years. How did he do it? By hiding away and never again speaking publicly. Never giving interviews or doing book tours. Never again publishing. Did he keep writing, locking novels away in a safe? No one knows. He...
Hey, You Look Exactly Like. . .
It happened again. A complete stranger asked me if I was someone else, someone she knew, someone named Rosemary. “No? Are you sure? You look exactly like Rosemary!” The woman based her identification on the resemblance of the back of my head in the movie theater to that...
Congratulations to Helen Kiker, the winner of my book giveaway, which I held this past weekend in conjunction with the Stiletto Gang’s Hallopalooza Scavenger Hunt. Helen won signed copies of Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover, the first and third books in my Crime of Fashion mystery series, which were filmed...