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
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
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
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
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
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
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. As a teenager, I loved to read bodice rippers. That passion faded. I explain it this way: I grew up to be a mystery writer. Romance novels don’t hold my interest because the outcome rarely varies from my guess on Page 20. I’m sure I sounded like a … Read more
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
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
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