by Clea | Dec 30, 2021 | Hold Me Down, Polis Books, Uncategorized
So, I wanted to write a Ten Best list. This isn’t it (for one thing, I’ve included 13 titles — plus a ringer). Instead, these are books that stayed with me and a few that I’ve been dipping into when I want a break (looking at you “Around the...
by Clea | Dec 28, 2021 | Uncategorized
As many of you know, I still review for the Boston Globe. I don’t share all my reviews, but this was a particularly timely book – a Zen take on the Nativity (with a gorgeous illustration). Read it online here. BOOK REVIEW Away in a manger in ‘The First...
by Clea | Dec 24, 2021 | Uncategorized
Iceland’s Jólabókaflóðið – which translates to “book flood” – is a great holiday born of necessity. Although this northern nation has a great literary history, its island location has at times left it isolated. In the lean years following World War...
by Clea | Dec 20, 2021 | Hold Me Down, interview, podcast, Uncategorized
That’s the name of Shawn Reilly Simmons’ podcast, and now I know it’s true. Shawn — an author and one of the brains behind the annual Malice Domestic traditional mystery festival — is super easy to talk to, and that means we authors tend to spill the...
by Clea | Dec 16, 2021 | music, Uncategorized
I read Gina Arnold long before I met her. When I was coming up as a music writer, in the ’80s, she was already an established critic, with bylines in Spin and the Village Voice. Somewhere in there — in between gigs with Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and a...
