Blog
The readers brigade
I'm beginning to get comments back from my first line of defense: the friends and colleagues who read my first draft. They're an invaluable help, catch all the things I haven't, and might not, before I send the ms. off to my editor.So far I've heard the...
Where do our characters spring from?
All cats are not created equal. While Cyrus was a quiet cat, the dignified, strong and silent type, Musetta is a little loudmouth. In fact, since we were just away for a week, she's been quite chatty. Some would say demanding. And last night, I realized something....
Where’s my beignet?
Wow, it's hard to get back to work. Just enjoyed a week of music, food, dancing, and, yes, mud, at and around the 39th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest. (Yes, it continues this weekend. You can tune in at WWOZ, the great local public station. (I'm listening...
Ankle deep mud notwithstanding…
Just back from Jazz Fest. More in a bit, but first, "The World That Made New Orleans," Ned Sublette's wonderful new book.
Yikes! I am TAGGED!
Yikes! Linda L. Richards has tagged me! The deal, she says, is that those tagged must:1. Pick up the nearest book.2. Open to page 123.3. Find the fifth sentence.4. Post the next three sentences.5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged YOU.So... here goes: Lucky...
Reprise….
Because I just can't watch this too often. Dance, kitties, dance!Have a great week, everyone!
Art and the muse
One of the wonderful things that happens when the writing has gone well is that on re-reading you discover you were writing more than you knew. To explain, as I'm re-reading "Probable Claws," which is simply intended as a fun mystery, I'm realizing that the theme of...
How big is too big?
I've finished – at least I think I've finished – the first draft of Probable Claws. It's a little over 85,000 words. Is that too big?Tomorrow I start reading it through to see if it makes sense.
The Gossip
The band, not the dirt, that is. But for any reader out there who wonders what Violet Hayes's band sounds like, well, if this guitarist were a short woman with purple hair, this would be it:
Slightly overstuffed, but fun
"A Carrion Death," Michael Stanley's debut, resembles its protagonist, Detective Kubu. Sensory overload, but in a good way.Speaking of... I just had one of those marvelous moments that you writers will recognize. Partly, it's that I was coming back from the gym and...