I think it’s time I take a little break from all the raging and talk about something positive for a change. So: cemeteries! No, seriously. My friend Cornelia Read and her friend Peter Riegert are working on a documentary about the reclamation of the oldest cemetery in Jamacia, Queens, and they’re funding the initial phase … Read more
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I got an iPad* for my birthday. (I did? Well, you might have forgotten.) And the first thing I did, after holding it up over my head and dancing around with it like Clara at the beginning of The Nutcracker, was to install the Books app and … Read more
This is Cornelia. She is a writer and she has a new book coming out. A book I love, even though, in the very opening scene, the heroine mocks a woman for wearing stiletto heels. It’s just that good. A person who has a book that good coming out and is going on a book … Read more
This is Sophie: Sophie is an author. More to the point, she is a mystery author. Even more to the point than that, she is a mystery author whose debut novel has been nominated for the 2010 Edgar Award for Best Debut Novel. Yay, Sophie! The Edgar Awards are given out at a banquet/ceremony in … Read more
Kitten! That’s right, in accordance with blogging rule 7, section 33a, subsection q, I am posting pictures of my cat. Specifically, of the new kitten captured by a friend of my mom’s from a colony of barn cats. Sex unknown, name as yet undetermined*, he or she is currently passing the time by hiding (somewhat … Read more
First, two book trailers: For Sophie Littlefield’s upcoming debut novel, A Bad Day for Sorry: And Louise Ure’s latest, Liar’s Anonymous: Then, not embeddable but worth watching, Terry Pratchett’s acceptance for the LA Times book award for Nation. Comes with bonus cat!
The last blog post of a trip is always a tough one to write. Not because the end of the travels is so incredibly sad, though I wouldn’t have minded having more time pretty much everywhere, but because, generally, by the time you are writing it you’re back home, unpacking your dirty laundry, catching up … Read more
The Edgar Awards (named for Edgar Allen Poe, the founding father of the modern mystery story) are given every year by the Mystery Writers of America to, as they say, honor excellence in crime and mystery writing. I attended last year, in support of my Close Personal Friend Cornelia Read, who was nominated for best … Read more
New blog project! (Blogect? Prog?) For my next trick, I will be reading all the books that have won the Edgar Award for best novel in the history of the award. I got the idea from a suggestion for starting a book group to read every Pulitzer winner, which sounded educational but not like a … Read more
Sadly, it appears that Cassie Edwards will not be eligible for the National Book Award, due to a little-known provision in the rules that prevents a book from winning if more that 10% of said book has already won the Pulitzer. But it seems like a shame to waste such an excellent, and I feel … Read more