A Cautionary Tale

New Lagniappe story up, set in my dawlin' New Awlins. Check it out.

A snippet: 

"Pretty soon, though, some disturbing news filters its way down to Ed. The newspapers are full of it. Some society babe, apparently, last year’s queen of Comus, has had her house on St. Charles burglarized. Nothing missing, ma’am, except her shadow. This is a new one, even for New Orleans cops. They sit around scratching their heads and sipping hot coffee even in the heat, because that's what cops do."

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Pup

 Something a little different: a great profile of yours truly by Jule Ward at Jule Ward Writes. Jule is an old Chicago friend as well as a formidable writer herself. Check out some of her blog posts while you're over there.

A snippet:

When it comes to writing, however, he likens his mind to a popcorn machine. “I can take a scenario and play a thousand different variations on that. It’s hell for solving real-life problems, but it works pretty well for fiction.”.

The Power of Voice

 Here's a link to an excellent column by Patricia MacEnulty of the Historical Novel Society called 

The Power of Voice in Historical Fiction.

Here's a snippet:

"I start by asking the character, what’s going on? What is she worried about? How does she feel about the situation she finds herself in? And most importantly, what’s she going to do about it? Usually I’ll get some kind of response. Sometimes the answer is a complete surprise."

Good stuff, eh? Okay now: the paragraph I didn't quote

-- some very nice words about my novel. 

What restraint on my part! 

How modest! How self-effacing!

Go READ it already.

Stranger Day

 Unfortunately, Stranger Day festivities have been canceled this year due to, uh, circumstances. Some have even accused last year's festivities of, uh, exacerbating circumstances. To which we reply with a resounding, uh, uh, hummnnnuh.

Join us next year, April12th (unless we've met) for all the fun and unfellowship the day deserves.