Reviews
Roasted author!
Yikes! I'm on the skewer today over at Book Roast ! I've already answered a bunch of questions for the moderator and handed over excerpts, bits and pieces, and along the way some trivia that nobody else knows in preparation. I'll be taking questions (and, probably,...
R.I.P., Tony Hillerman
Tony Hillerman has died at the age of 83. Over at her blog, Sarah Weinman rounds up the tributes of this wonderful writer, who brought the Southwest and Native American culture alive for so many through his mysteries.
Oooh…. scary!
Walking home from a concert last night, we saw lots of small groups wandering the streets - most in costume. It was a blustery night, not too cold, but windy and rainy, and often we'd see couples with raincoats and umbrellas. Not till we were close would we notice the...
“Oui, On Peut!”
Oh, I love this video! Black and white, male and female, cajun (fiddle) and zydeco (accordion) musicians together, singing a pro-hope, pro-Obama "Oui, On Peut!" ("Yes, We Can"). Lousiana may be a red state, but it's got a blue heart – and you can dance to it! (The...
End of an era
Well, here it is, my last Boston Globe "Radio Tracks" column. The summer Arbitron ratings are out, but I figured I'd close out with something fun – and give a last boost to college radio, my favorite form of the medium. Maybe not my best written column, but I had a...
The fear factor
It's now 2 p.m., and I've only read 14 pages. But hey, at least I've read 14 pages!No, despite my post of a few days ago, I have not yet geared myself up to read my ARCs of Probable Claws. (I know! I know!) Instead, I'm back into a project that I put aside a few...
End of an era
Well, I'm not the first and I'm afraid I won't be the last, but I'm now a victim of the economy. Although I focus this blog on my crime fiction (and occasional book reviews), for the last 12 years I've also written a weekly column for the Boston Globe about radio. But...
Interview: John Hodgman
I sat down with the funny man for the Boston Phoenix.Long before John Hodgman became universally recognized as the systems-challenged PC in Apple’s ads, he was writing fake trivia for such publications as McSweeney’s and the New York TImes Magazine. Discussing his new...
You’re dead to me!
Oh, lordy. My ARC (advance reading copies) of Probable Claws have arrived. The new mystery doesn't publish until April, but these are the advances that go out to Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, Kirkus, and other long-lead reviewers. Because Poisoned Pen...
Traps to avoid (when you’re writing your mystery)
I'm a member of Sisters in Crime (a great organization that's open to male mystery writers and mystery fans of all genders, too) and today the group's chat invited suspense master James Frey to answer some questions. One of the first was "What are some common mistakes...