Longing for Lakes

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I’m filing this dispatch from Minnesota, where I’ve arrived early for a mystery convention. The last two Bouchercon gatherings of 2020 and 2021 were virtual, making this year’s gathering in Minneapolis especially tempting to me, not only to see mystery friends but to revisit the beautiful “City of … Read more

How I Edit

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. The longer I spend as a writer, the more the profession teaches me. It’s only recently that I’ve figured out that the more important part of building my novels happens when I’m editing them. That’s not to say I want rather be an editor, rather than a creative … Read more

A Showdown of Peaches

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I consider myself tolerant of heat. Yet over the last few days, I’ll admit that the air in Baltimore, Maryland, has felt like a poison gas sauna. And it’s not just me. Even Daisy, my energetic Yorkshire terrier, refuses to take a walk. At the same time, the … Read more

A Writing Room in Paradise

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. What makes a perfect writing room? Or better yet—an ideal writer’s house? Because I love rooms almost as much as books, this is a question I’ve pondered for years.  In my childhood in Minnesota, and during college in Baltimore, I could think of nowhere better to write than … Read more

The “Wife’s Help”: Writing about abortion in historical fiction

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. About two years ago, I started work on a new book in the Perveen Mistry historical mystery series. The beginning is a lot of fun. Searching for historical events and themes to explore is typically a magical period of big dreaming. To coax out story ideas, I reach … Read more

An Invitation to The Bangalore Detectives Club

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. This week, I request the pleasure of your company for tea and conversation at The Bangalore Detectives Club. This ‘club’ is a gathering of sleuths who populate Harini Nagendra‘s dynamic historical mystery set in 1920s India. If you fancy the idea of tracking a murder mystery through a … Read more

From Solitude to Left Coast, Malice, and Edgars

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. One hundred years ago, only a science fiction writer could have dreamed that being a writer would involve much more than a pen, typewriter, and some paper. Bookstores would take care of selling one’s work, and there would be the occasional exciting invitation to lecture at a private … Read more

The Book Challengers

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I was messing with my books today and turned them so that the spines were hidden. No titles, no idea of content. They seem like a visual representation of how powerless books are if we don’t see what they’re about. Blank books remind me of silenced voices. The … Read more

Staying Above Water

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. It takes just two tanks of gas to get the 1,100 miles between here and Southern Louisiana—and no tolls to pay, either. I know this because last week, I drove there with my husband to see his mother and brother and the rest of the family. Sharing the … Read more