Secret histories
A weird thing happened when I started to write my new novel, Maggie Dove and the Lost Brides. (Coming on November 9!!!)
Read moreA Blog for Readers and Writers of Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction
inspiration
A weird thing happened when I started to write my new novel, Maggie Dove and the Lost Brides. (Coming on November 9!!!)
Read moreLast week my husband and I spent the better part of a day trekking on Dartmoor in Devon. There we saw stone walls built in the 1300s. The stones, we were told, were so skillfully fitted together, they rarely fall. These dry stone walls have long outlived their human makers. They have witnessed births and deaths, celebrations and wars, abundance and famine. If walls could talk, think of the untold stories they would tell.
Read moreI was honored to receive an advance copy of Death at Greenway annotated by the author Lori Rader-Day, which I won in a charity auction. I made myself read it slowly, savoring the experience of having the insight of the author as I read her fabulous story about Agatha Christie’s holiday home. Lori generously answered a few of my questions to share with Miss Demeanor’s readers.
Read moreRecently I spent twelve days in the hospital. One thing I discovered is that there is actually a limit to the number of Law & Orders you can watch. But, when I turned off the TV, I discovered myself awash in some of the most profound and moving stories I’d ever heard.
Read moreWhile images of James Bond and his martinis and Nero Wolfe and his beer, and apocryphal quotes about the degree of inebriation best suited to writing, come readily to mind, no one thinks as much about a character’s favorite shade of nail polish or preferred aftershave. The Missdemeanors were up to the challenge, however. I asked them, You’ve been hired to create a new cocktail, ice cream flavor, or lipstick color. You have to name it after a book, fictional character, or author. Who’s it named for and what’s it like?
Read moreYou can say that all books are about a character trying to attain a perfect state of being–a perfect day.
Read moreI don’t know who needs to hear this but… Churchill didn’t quit. Neither did Ray Kroc. Need some more inspirational[…]
Read moreI was roaming around the woods yesterday when I came upon this hole. Immediately I was intrigued. Perhaps a horse[…]
Read moreIt is a truth universally acknowledged that an intelligent woman who turns to Twitter for information will soon find herself[…]
Read moreMy dreams fall into two categories. In the past, and now. I’m not a medical expert but I think the pandemic changed them.
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