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The Dearly Departed

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I miss my daughter sometimes more than others, and hearing of David Bowie's death made today one of those times. This isn't one of those "poor me" essays. Death is part of life, and I don't want any sympathy. What I want is to say there are times when we'd really like to talk to someone, but that someone is dead. It's a weird feeling, like not being able to finish a task you really need to do. My daughter was a HUGE Bowie fan. I can't tell you how many times I watched Labyrinth and listened to "Let's Dance" in the '80s. Like a lot of working moms, I wasn't that tuned in, but it was nice to have things we could talk about without me cringing or her rolling her eyes. I was okay with David, Adam Ant, and George Michael, because I liked (most of) their music and understood that their oddness appealed to girls of her age. When I heard this morning that Bowie died, I wanted to call my daughter and talk about it. I can imagine what sh

Blood & Guts in Mysteries

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 In classic Greek theater, violence happens offstage. If someone's going to kill himself, he tells you so then exits. If the hero and the bad guy engage in a duel to the death, they'll thrust and parry "stage right and exeunt." Only one will return. It's partly good taste, the belief that audiences shouldn't have to see such things. I suspect the other part is more practical: a good death scene is difficult to stage--and what do you do with the corpse afterward? Shakespeare takes the easy way many times, too. People come in carrying dead bodies, like Lear bearing poor Cordelia; or parts of them, as Macduff does with Macbeth's head. Easy to make a fake head, not so easy to make it appear the head of a living actor is being separated from his body. Today we have all kinds of tricks to make on-stage deaths look real. If you've seen the Three Musketeers decapitate the evil Milady just as the theater goes dark, or the trick of light in Les Miserables t

Soon-to-Be Book--Not What You Expect

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Many years ago, my first book came out. Macbeth's Niece is a romance set in--well, the time of Macbeth, around 1053. Here is what Five Star Publishing did for its cover. And here's what I did when the rights reverted back to me and I re-released it as an e-book. Theirs is prettier, but mine shows more of Tessa's fiery personality. Why did a mystery writer start with a romance? Well, they say to write what you know, and as a long-time English teacher, Macbeth is very familiar to me.  I always loved the story and felt sorry for Macbeth, who didn't comprehend that things seldom turn out the way you imagine they will until it was much too late. The story of a girl living at his castle who has her own adventures and comes to the same conclusion (though with a happier ending) seemed to form itself in my head without much effort (though writing it down was a little more difficult.) I was shopping two books at the time, and two different agents tried to find a pub

A Writer's Twelve Days of Christmas

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On the First Day of Christmas, my agent sent to me: a huge check for royalty! On the Second Day of Christmas, on Audible for me: new audio files On the Third Day of Christmas, the artist sent to me: one awesome cover On the Fourth Day of Christmas, the tech guy sent to me: epub mobi formats On the Fifth Day of Christmas, the readers sent to me:   Five Star Reviews! On the Sixth Day of Christmas, some good luck gave to me: promo on BookBub On the Seventh Day of Christmas, my publisher decreed: major U.S.   book tour On the Eighth Day of Christmas, the news announced to me: New York Times top listing On the Ninth Day of Christmas, an editor told me: “Couldn’t find an error.” On the Tenth Day of Christmas, a beta said to me: “Next book’s even better!” On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, my PR girl told me: Outsold Evanovitch! On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, some clerk called to tell me: “Oprah loves your book!” (Yes

30 Days of Christmas Day 30: A Pet Quiz

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1. A dark science room                                                   ____Chow Chow 2. Teutonic minder of ewes                                             ____Black Lab 3. Colorful insect chaser                                                 ____Papillon 4. Pugilist                                                                        ____Mexican Hairless 5. Food-food                                                                   ____West Highland Doxie 6. French butterfly                                                          ____Husky 7. Scots mountain girlfriend                                           ____Bluetick Hound 8. Bald southern neighbor                                                                          ____German Shepherd 9. Not fat, just over-sized                                                                            ____Saint Bernarnd 10. Beatified author Cornwell                                                                   ____Boxer

30 Days of Christmas Day 29: Another Type of Quiz

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Fill in the first word, which will help with the next circle  Answers to yesterday's quiz: 10,8,6,1,9,4,7,2,3,5

30 Days of Christmas Day 28: A Christmas Quiz

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By this time in December you've heard all of these songs a thousand times, so match the Christmas song lyric with its title. 1. ...and folks dressed up like Eskimos. 2. You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear... 3. With the angels we will sing, "Hallelujah to the King!" 4. What can I bring Him, poor as I am? 5. "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep." 6. But the very next day, you gave it away. 7. Give him a hammer with lots of tacks... 8. I put a tack on Teacher's chair... 9. For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. 10. Let's hope it's a good one/without any fear ____ "So This Is Christmas" ____"I'm Gettin' Nothin' for Christmas" ____"Last Christmas" ____"The Christmas Song" ____"The Hallelujah Chorus" ____"In the Bleak Midwinter" ____"Up on the Rooftop" ____"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" ____"Silent Night" _